Los Angeles, CA — Shop our one-of-a-kind Linen Camp Shirt with Crochet Pockets, Crochet Bomber Hoodie, as well as our newest Men's Crochet Mules and Women's Crochet Mules. Read on to learn the brief history of crochet as well more about our process for making the "granny" square crochet patterns into our one-of-a-kind collections at our Marrakech atelier.
A Brief History of Crochet
The word crochet was born from the French word croche, or hook, but the technique predates the French. Crocheting is defined as:
"Needlework consisting of the interlocking of looped stitches formed with a single thread and a hooked needle" - Merriam-Webster
In the modern western world, crocheting is inspired by the long-standing Asian, Middle Eastern, and African crochet styling traditions dating back thousands of years. It has evolved across civilizations and centuries as a means of creating necessary items, such as hats, socks, and blankets to modern uses for mostly leisure and luxury goods.
Crocheting, has always been rooted, and especially in early American history, as a method of creating textiles by repurposing the fabrics most readily available, including yarns and threads, and mostly used as a means to make ends meet and create needed clothing and goods. In early American history, crocheting was one of our first forms of repurposing: women used scraps of yarns, old socks or sweaters, and then up-cycled the fabrics into blankets, robes, and other home decor. In other cultures, crocheting has been around for thousands of years and been used for creating clothing and other decorative purposes. In east Asia, crocheting was used to create dolls dating as far back as China's Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 B.C.E.).
During World War II, American women crocheted to provide soldiers with sweaters, caps, and scarves, and back home, to save money and resources, crocheted to create basic household needs including. It was not until the post-World War I and II in the 20th century and on that crocheting for a means of leisure and luxury clothing became popular globally and across modern luxury fashion houses and runways. In the 1960's and 1970's, crocheting took on more funky designs and the popular style of crocheting "granny" squares took hold. The style has persisted in various degrees ever since!
Res Ipsa Crochet
Res Ipsa shoemaker Mohammed finishing our crochet mule collections
At our Marrakech atelier, our tailors and shoemakers design each product by hand. Our crochet shirts, jackets, and mules are inspired by this long-standing textile creation tradition. One reason why Res Ipsa opened its atelier and showroom in Marrakech is because we knew from our travels to the ancient city what it would offer by way of its sustainable fabrics and textiles. Our atelier allows us to create products with low-impact, up-cycling practices headed by our production team.
Each crochet square up-cycled at our atelier is made by local craft-women in Marrakech using hand-selected wool yarns. At our atelier, we design each shirt, jacket and pair of mules by hand using unique pairings of crochet squares to create incredibly vibrant and beautiful collections. Shop our one-of-a-kind collections below.
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