In 2024, as the organization enters its 25th year, Project Threadways, Alabama Chanin, and The School of Making prepare to move into a new home in the heart of Florence. After two decades of visioning and planning, we purchase a historic warehouse downtown and begin transforming the iconic space into a new headquarters and community hub.
"Jess Turner is Helping to Change the World" Jess Turner is a badass. As COO and Studio Coordinator of Alabama Chanin, she has been the right hand to founder Natalie Chanin in building a reputation as a leader in the world of sustainable design for over two decades. Jess and I have gotten to know each other over the past two years as we shared a dream of a future collaboration that gave a new life to old textiles, which came to life as the Reclaimed Collection in 2023.Alabama Chanin is in the midst of a revolutionary transition into Project...
The annual Project Threadways Symposium brings together scholars, activists, makers, and thinkers to present research, share stories, and encourage dialogue about history, community, and power—all through the lens of fashion and textiles. Presentations, dinners, exhibitions, and workshops create a multi-day experience in Florence, Alabama, centered on material culture and making. Conversations begin in our community and expand throughout the region, nation, and around the globe. In 2024, our theme was The Future. On April 19-20, 2024, we gathered at The Factory in Florence, Alabama, and remotely to imagine a better way for textile manufacturing. Presenters considered the balance between art and...
Above: Natalie Chanin by Rinne Allen "Why This Fashion Brand is Becoming a Nonprofit" by Sarah Kent A little over 20 years ago, Natalie Chanin cut up an old T-shirt, collaged it back together and wore it to a party in New York City.Chanin, who was working as a stylist at the time, received so many compliments that she decided to make more one-of-a-kind tees to sell during New York Fashion Week. First, she called workshops in the city’s Garment District, but none were able to deliver the detailed embroidery she was looking for. Then she thought about her home...
Above: Fashioning America: Grit to Glamour, edited by Michelle Tolini Finamore. Read (or listen) along with us. #AlabamaChaninBookClub(Updated August 21, 2023) Some of the links below contain affiliate links. By purchasing a book or audio recording at these links, Alabama Chanin, The School of Making, and Project Threadways may receive a portion of the purchase price. Thank you. Summer 2.0: The August Edition Tom Lake, Ann Patchett’s new book—read by Meryl Streep. I’ve listened to favorite parts over and over again. It reminds me in equal parts of Out of Africa and Cookie’s Fortune, two movies I’ve always loved where Streep has defining...
In October of 2016, Natalie, a group of friends, and her daughter (then ten years old) take a roadtrip to visit Scott Peacock at his home in Marion, Alabama. They are joined by a group of makers: Rinne Allen, Kathy Hattori of Botanical Colors, Hunter Lewis and Liz Sidamon-Eristoff of BDA Farm, and Ozella Thomas—native to (and expert on) the Black Belt. Not knowing where to begin writing about their adventure-filled weekend in the Black Belt, Natalie calls Scott a few weeks later to reminisce, and question him, about some of the more memorable moments.
Natalie Chanin’s sixth book, Embroidery: Threads and Stories, is published on October 18, 2022. Natalie and our team set out on a book tour to host events, workshops, and book signings across the nation starting in the fall of 2022 and continuing into 2023. Purchase a signed copy of Embroidery: Threads and Stories here. Explore our full event schedule here, including upcoming events in your city and in our own community of The Shoals. If you’ve had an itch to plan a road trip to The Shoals, explore our #Travel series on the Journal for must-see spots along the way....
We express our deepest gratitude to all of the friends, colleagues, and guests who have contributed to our 21 Years celebration.
Here’s to 21 years, and many more to come.
Natalie and Peter Stanglmayr first meet in the mid-1990s in Vienna, Austria. After reconnecting in Brooklyn in the spring of 2000, Natalie attends Peter’s birthday party, sewing her first deconstructed t-shirt to wear for the occasion. The two go on to collaborate on photography projects across two decades. In 2021, Peter travels with Kimry Blackwelder across the boroughs of New York City to photograph Sally Singer and Maria Cornejo for Alabama Chanin’s 21 Years Celebration—what you are reading today is the culmination of that work. The following conversation between Peter and Kimry Blackwelder took place on September 3, 2021—with Kimry writing from Bridgehampton,...
Kimry Blackwelder and Natalie meet in New York City in the early aughts, and quickly become friends through their shared Southern roots. Over the years, the two remain connected through mutual friends including Maria Cornejo, Sarah Cristobal, Billy Ferrel, and Zoe Turnbull.
