The Archives
In the year 2000, fashion designer Natalie Chanin conducted interviews for a short documentary film, entitled Stitch, and created a collection of 200 one-of-a-kind T-shirts, hand-crafted by artisans in and around the Shoals community of northwest Alabama. This work, originally called simply “Alabama,” is today the foundation of three connected organizations:
Alabama Chanin—A brand that designs and produces textiles and fashion through commitments to sustainable design, preservation of artisanal craft, organic supply chains, and local manufacturing.
The School of Making—Workshops, conversations, and experiences that explore creativity, craft, and design through the act of making, focusing on cultural preservation and education.
Project Threadways—A 501c3 not-for-profit created to document, study, and interpret history, community, and power through the lens of fashion and textiles. Programs seek to understand the impact of textiles and their creation—from raw material to finished goods—on local communities, the American south, the nation, and the world.
Alabama Chanin—A brand that designs and produces textiles and fashion through commitments to sustainable design, preservation of artisanal craft, organic supply chains, and local manufacturing.
The School of Making—Workshops, conversations, and experiences that explore creativity, craft, and design through the act of making, focusing on cultural preservation and education.
Project Threadways—A 501c3 not-for-profit created to document, study, and interpret history, community, and power through the lens of fashion and textiles. Programs seek to understand the impact of textiles and their creation—from raw material to finished goods—on local communities, the American south, the nation, and the world.
School of Design and Early Work Life
1980-1989
Photography and Film
1990 - 1999
Venezuela To Brooklyn
1999 - 2000
Brooklyn to Chelsea
2000
Alabama Collection
2000
Stitch
2000
Chelsea Hotel
2001
Julie Gilhart - Barneys New York
2001
Sally Singer
2001
Orders
2001
Project Alabama and Partners
2001
The Corset
2001
Steven Smith
2001
Chelsea Hotel and 9/11
2001
Collaboration
2001
Lola Schnabel @ Project Alabama
2002
Nicole Phelps
2002
Vogue and Julia Reed
2002
Picnic
2002
Stenciling and Lean Method
2002
Paris and Oscar Wilde
2003
Laura Vinroot Poole
2003
Emerging Designers
2003
Jennifer Venditti
2003
Prom Night
2003
Billy Farrell
2003
Bloomers
2003
Fernando Sanchez Collaboration
2003
Stitch Book
2003
Tomas Maier Collaboration
2003
Habitual Jeans Collaboration
2003
Organic Cotton
2003
Studio Job Collaboration
2004
Project Alabama Machine and Hôtel de Crillon
2004
Eva Whitechapel Collaboration
2004
Rob Ryan Collaboration
2004
Michi Meko Collaboration
2005
The Kitchen Project
2005
Angie Mosier
2005
Alabama Adventure Weekend
2005
Sarah Cristobal
2005
Alabama State Council on the Arts
2005
Collaborations
2004–2006
Bryant Park and UPS 10 to Watch Prize
2005
Women's Wear Daily
2005
National Design Awards
2005
Maria Cornejo
2005
CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund
2005
Tina Lutz
2005
Council of Fashion Designers of America
2006
Alabama Chanin Founded
2006
Online Store and Journal
2006
Diane Hall
2006
Textile Story Quilts
2007
From Lovelace Crossroads to The Factory
2007
Future Fashion
2007
Alabama Stitch Book
2008
Charles Moore Collaboration
2008
Lisa Fox and LF8
2008
A World of Folk
2008
Ceremony
2008
Goods of Conscience Collaboration
2009
Ethics + Aesthetics = Sustainable Fashion
2009
Songbirds and 1 Turtle Dove
2009
CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund
2009
Gary Graham
2009
White House Christmas
2009
Creating a New Craft Culture
2009
Commune Design
2010
Roman Alonso with Lisa Eisner and Wyatt Troll
2010
Alabama Studio Style
2010
Why Design Now? - National Design Triennial
2010
Heath Ceramics Collaboration
2011
Cathy Bailey
2011
The Cultivated South
2011
Vivian Howard
2011
Alabama Studio Sewing + Design
2012
Jessamyn Hatcher
2012
Makeshift - Design Week 2012
2012
Zoe Turnbull and Serious Business
2012
The Organic Cotton Project
2012
Rinne Allen
2012
The River & the Thread
2012
10-Year Vision
2013
CFDA/Lexus Eco-Fashion Challenge
2013
The Camellia Pattern
2013
Kerry Diamond
2013
Makeshift Tote Bag Project
2013
Eileen Fisher - Women-Owned Business Grant
2013
Building 14 Founded
2013
The School of Making
2013
Jennifer Rausch
2013
The Factory Café
2013
Yewande Komolafe
2013
The Factory Store
2013
Little River Sock Mill Collaboration
2013
Maira Kalman
2013
Patagonia Truth to Materials Collaboration
2014
Friends of the Cafe Dinner Series
2014
John T. Edge
2014
Gael Towey
2014
Alabama Studio Sewing Patterns
2015
Stella Ishii + 6397 Collaboration
2015
Alabama on Alabama - Heath Ceramics
2015
Bon Appétit and Heath Ceramics
2015
Brooks Reitz and Jack Rudy
2015
Alabama State Council on the Arts Fellowship
2015
Erin Reitz
2016
The Shelter Collection Collaboration
2016
Flags of Hope
2016
Scott Peacock and Indigo Dyeing
2016
The Geometry of Hand-Sewing
2017
Hambidge Residency
2018
Zero Waste - Burt's Bees Baby
2018
The Gathering
2019
Malia Mills and the No Bullshit Breakfast
2019
Project Threadways Symposium
2019
Heath Ceramics - Jewelry Collaboration
2019
COVID-19: Alabama Chanin Pivots to Face Masks
2020
CFDA/Vogue "A Common Thread" Fashion Fund
2020
Left on the Café Table
2020
Women Who Revolutionized Fashion
2020
Nest Partnership
2021
Mary Celeste Beall + Blackberry Farm
2021
Peter Stanglmayr
2021
Kimry Blackwelder
2021
Trend Union and Philip Fimmano
2021
Acknowledgements + Gratitude
21 Years
2021
A History of Collaborations
21 Years Index
Embroidery: Threads and Stories
2022
What We Are Reading
2023
Business of Fashion
2023
Project Threadways Symposium: The Future
2024
Far West
2024
New Headquarters and Community Space
2024
