“Natalie Chanin designs world-renowned textiles from small town Florence, which she has helped put on the national map over the past decade. Step inside The Factory for a one-on-one with Natalie.”
Words: Tiffany Bell
All of your pieces are hand-sewn by local artisans using only recycled or organic fabric and materials, and it’s been that way for more than a decade. Why have those principles always been so important to you?
Using local artisans is important because it keeps work in our community. The Shoals area lost quite a few jobs with the passage of NAFTA and the promise of cheaper labor elsewhere. Part of our mission is to create job growth within this area and for our artisans. Alabama Chanin is about making beautiful products in an ethical way. That also means that we have to be conscientious in our methods and materials. We use organic cotton because we believe that it is healthier for the wearer or user. We believe it is healthier for the earth and for our environment. Our customers know that we always strive to provide sustainable and beautiful products.
Your work - whether it’s a garment, film or recipe - always tells a story, has a story behind it or invites the imagination to create one. Can you tell us a little bit about your story?
I studied Environmental Design at North Carolina State University, at what is now called the Annie Albers program. This program was based on Bauhaus teaching methods, allowing me to study design theory alongside manufacturing methods.
After graduation, I worked for a short time in New York, eventually moving to Austria for 10 years. Everything that I learned in that city, working as a designer and stylist,/* helped form the person and the designer that I am today.
Returning home from Vienna, I had knowledge of materials, colors, textures, things that are important in when you begin to define yourself as a “designer”. Then I had to teach myself all of the not-so-fun things about business: logistics, supply, and finance. I should own stock in Quickbooks, as often as I’ve recommended it to others. Smile.
I have read that you started out in Europe in set and costume design - how did you end up on that path? That must have been quite a move from Florence, Alabama...
In 1999, I took what was meant to be a sabbatical from my work as a stylist in Austria. I moved to New York City and stayed longer than I’d planned. I made myself a shirt and people really responded to it. So, I had an idea to create 200 one-of-a-kind shirts to sell during New York Fashion Week. I realized that what I was doing was mimicking stitches I’d seen my grandmothers make while quilting. So, this idea brought me back to Alabama and to my community, where I knew I could find skilled seamstresses. It was quite a transition for sure, but more than a location shift, it was a life change – a change in ideology.
What (or who) inspired you most in the start of your career? How about these days - where do you draw continuous inspiration?
I think that truly the beginning of my career as a designer was a glorious accident – the perfect storm of people, places, and ideas coming together at just the right time. I’ve always had a desire to make things and my studies in design school really helped define that desire. I had an amazing professor, who became a friend, who came into my life and helped shape me with his guidance. His direction helped me to understand myself and how I wanted to design.
These days, I’m inspired by my community, by the talented artisans that work for Alabama Chanin, and my family.
Tell us about the T-Shirt that started it all. We have to ask - do you have any clue where it is today?
Oh – that storied t-shirt. If you have heard the story, please forgive me. While on that previously mentioned sabbatical, I moved, for a time, to New York City. One night, while dressing for a party, I had that moment that many women have – the feeling that you have “nothing to wear.” So, I cut up a t-shirt and sewed it together with the seams on the outside and some appliqués on the front. Everyone seemed to respond to it. Even in super cool New York City. That shirt is now stored in our studio, buried in a box somewhere.
What was it about Alabama that brought you back after spending years in cities some of us only dream of living?
Initially, I didn’t really intend to stay in Alabama for good. As I mentioned, this trip home was only part of a supposed sabbatical from my work in Vienna. But, when I had the idea to make those 200 one-of-a-kind shirts for New York Fashion Week, I found that no one in New York thought it was possible to make what I envisioned and still turn a profit. That’s why I came home to Alabama – I knew there was a workforce here that understood how to make, to sew by hand, to create quality goods.
We’ve heard a lot recently about your organic cotton endeavors in Florence. What has surprised you the most about growing and harvesting organic cotton? Has the greater community been receptive to help harvest as you’d hoped?
There are so many things about the process that surprised me – primarily how difficult each step would be. Simply acquiring organic cottonseed became a seemingly impossible task. We’ve really studied the process and have hopefully learned so much along the way – through research and through trial and error.
We were touched and surprised at each step by how our community embraced our efforts. Of course, there will always be those that think you are on a fool’s errand when you attempt something new. But, the number of people who were willing to physically help us – weed, cut, even pray – was a wonderful surprise.
And it was wonderful to collaborate with the whole team at Billy Reid.
What do you love or appreciate most about living in Florence now?
I love seeing the artistic community grow and flourish. This area is filled with talented artists, photographers, musicians, etc. The resurgence of the music scene in The Shoals is incredible to watch – and hear.
When friends and family visit you in Florence, where do you take them?
The first place I take most people is The Wall, a mile-long rock wall near my home built by family friend, Tom Hendrix, in honor of his great-great-grandmother, a Yuchi Indian woman. It’s a sacred place for our community and for me, personally. We also have a local house designed and built by architect, Frank Lloyd Wright – a perfect example of the beauty of great design. The Shoals is known for its recording history, so I like to take visitors to FAME Studios to see where people like Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, and Etta James recorded. And, of course, we must have a chicken salad sandwich from Trowbridge’s in downtown Florence.
You mentioned (in a recent interview), there was never truly a “plan.” That seems to have worked out quite nicely. What about now, do you have a plan or vision for Alabama Chanin for the next 5-10 years in mind? When are we going to see Alabama Chanin boutiques?
It has always been a goal of Alabama Chanin to collaborate. We want to continue to connect the makers with the users and the manufacturers with designers. Reaching out to other like-minded companies and artists is a wonderful way to expand upon this conversation. This will be part of our plan for the years to come.
And as for an Alabama Chanin boutique – perhaps someday…
Any films, books, art projects in the works in your “spare time”?
We look forward to our continued collaboration with Heath Ceramics. We also plan collaborations with artists like Arkansas photographer Maxine Payne, about main street photographers in the Depression-era south, like Disfarmer.
How about a plan for tomorrow? What does a day in the life of Natalie Chanin look like?
We have several plans in the works for the long and short term. At the moment we are working toward creating a machine manufacturing facility in our studio building that will allow us to create a new line of machine-made knit products. That’s our next big goal.
As for my life, every day in my life brings a different, exciting challenge. That’s the joy and the risk of being a business owner. But, an ideal day would probably involve the smell of delicious coffee, the sound of work and laughter in The Factory, Patty Griffin on the stereo, and dinner from my garden with my family.
Do you have a favorite or go-to meal for dinner around the table with your family?
Breakfast for supper.
There’s certainly a lot of buzz and excitement going around about you visiting Montgomery for Southern Makers. Is there anything you’re particularly excited about for this event?
I look forward to meeting other makers and creating that connection. And, of course, all of the delicious food.
Can you tell us what’s in store for the 25 lucky workshop goers attending your 2 hour Sewing Workshop?
Oh, stories, laughter, and sewing… Participants will select one from a list of our DIY Kits and we will provide the materials and instruction necessary for them to begin the project. This 2 hour Workshop is great because both beginners and experienced sewers can participate and find common ground in the middle.
Best advice you were given?
Don’t look, just leap.
Any final tips for new crafters?
Persistence. Practice. Patience. All with a bit of fun and lightness of spirit…