Millar, L., Kettle, A., 2018.

The Erotic Cloth

The publication The Erotic Cloth - Seduction and Fetishism in Textiles constitutes new research on the aesthetics of cloth as a sensual medium and its relationship to the body. This book is the first critical examination of the erotically charged relationship between the surface of the skin and the touch of cloth, exploring the ways in which textiles can seduce, through interactions with the body. It has been critically reviewed internationally, Sandra Alfody, Novia Scotia College of Art & Design, Canada saying it "...will profoundly affect fashion scholarship."
The book was funded by MMU, UCA, and Bloomsbury and emerged from the eponymous colloquium. It has been the subject of 3 academic seminars, a paper at the 'Joy of the Erotic' conference Palermo Sept 2018, the European Textile Conference 2019, a performance at the NAO performing arts Festival Milan 2018 and informing the major exhibition 'Fabric, Cloth and Identity' hosted and funded by Compton Verney Art Gallery 2020. The exhibition includes works from the Tate collection, contemporary artworks, new work by Kettle Japanese artist Riko Sudo.
The volume was co-edited by Kettle and Prof Lesley Millar, Director of the International Textile Research Centre, UCA Farnham. It includes a co-authored introductory chapter and 15 international contributors in fields of fashion, textiles, philosophy, performance and history. Chapters range from Prof Malcolm Garrett on the sexuality of punk, Dr Claire Jones on 19th century marble sculpture to Prof Catherine Harper on eroticism and death.
The research contributes to material culture and haptic studies through a trans-disciplinary approach and posits that cloth as a sensual material language permeates other fields of practice including art, design, cinema, politics and dance. Organised into four cognate sections, on representation, design, otherness and performance, the research addresses the elisions and frictions of the erotic in cloth as a cross-disciplinary enquiry.