Amacata Design Concepts
Daphne Woo is the natural dye artist and slow fashion advocate behind AMACATA. Her prior experience includes garment development for international sportswear brands, after graduating from KPU in 1995 with a Fashion Design & Technology diploma. Amid more than 20 years in the apparel industry, Daphne steadily grew weary of contributing to mass consumerism. In 2016, she made the leap out of corporate apparel. She craved to contribute towards solving a problem rather than feeding into a capitalistic mindset. Consequently, while AMACATA was born in 2010, it was rekindled in 2017 as a social venture, breathing with new purpose and joining the revolution against fast fashion. Daphne was first introduced to natural dyes and the craft of Shibori in 1991 from then instructor and now dear friend & mentor, Yvonne Wakabayashi. Gravitating towards Japanese artistry, Daphne observes sustainable ways of being & creating through appreciation for nature, transience, and the quality of evolving beautiful things. She is further influenced by having lived in The Netherlands for a decade, before returning back to her birth city of Vancouver, Canada. As Daphne transitions from Product to Art, it seems more so that Art encourages her towards her authentic self.
Artist Statement
Through my work, the intention is to spread awareness towards slow fashion alternatives and (re)connectedness to nature, as a means to alter society’s reliance on fast fashion. With nature as my guide, the hope is to tap into the Slow Movement through alternatives to a connected life. Advocating a cultural shift toward slowing down life’s pace, thus supporting socially and environmentally conscious living. The return to harmoniously working with nature rather than against it.
This naturally dyed collection, “Under Blue Skies” has been dyed primarily with Indigo. Some accents of other plant-based dyes have also been used. All fibres are natural including Japanese hemp, cotton, linen, and various types of silk. The emphasis here is on using quality pre-consumer refurbished materials. While some materials have been acquired through travels to Thailand, many others are from the extraordinary collection of dear friend and award winning textile artist, Yvonne Wakabayashi. Furthermore, some are acquired through local businesses working hard to collect scraps and factory ends in order to prevent them from going to waste.
Cube Lamp
Cotton (dyed in Indigo), Styrene, Aluminum
26cm x 26cm x 23cm High
Daphne Woo
Image Credit: Noud de Rover
6 Moons Wall Hanging
Japanese Hemp (dyed in Indigo), Bamboo
120cm Long x 45cm Wide
Daphne Woo
Image Credit: Daphne Woo
Under Blue Skies Lamps
Silk (dyed in Indigo & Fustic), Styrene, Wood, Metal
44cm H x 12cm D x 43cm W
Daphne Woo
Image Credit: Daphne Woo
