Autobiography
Luiven Rivas-Sanchez
Born Venezuela, South America.
My studies in medicine at The University of Zulia in Venezuela were short lived in preference to a career in Art. As a result, I attended a two year course at Cleveland College of Art and Design in the North East of England where I was encouraged to develop textile designing. On completion, I applied and was subsequently accepted to do a Bachelor of Arts degree course in Fashion/Textiles at Central Saint Martins in London (1981-1985) where I graduated with a First Class Honours Degree. It was during this early period of my career that I began designing printed textiles for John Galliano and Timney-Fowler in London. An early appointment as assistant designer to Katharine Hamnett upon graduating from SCM led to a significant career in textile designing. A prestigious clientele including John Galliano, Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garcons, Richmond-Cornejo, Deborah Milner and Jasper Conran soon developed (1985-1992) during which time an encapsulated range of printed/embellished silk designs were also presented at the Couture House of Christian Lacroix in Paris.
I have represented the United Kingdom at the 1987 International Textiles contest held in Tokyo, Japan, a prestigious event judged by international designers including Issey Miyake and have on previous occassions been commissioned to design couture prints for the prestigious textile manufacturing company Bianchini-Ferrier in Lyon, France. My work has been published by V&A, Thames & Hudson publications and featured in International Textiles magazine; British, French and Italian Vogue as well as British Elle. The twenty first century textile gallery at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London hold a selection of printed and embellished samples previously commissioned by John Galliano and Jasper Conran. A selection of paper prints have been sold in Europe, the US and Japan. I have been a guest lecturer at Universities and Institutes of the Arts in the UK, the Subcontinent and Europe and have participated and delivered key presentations at renowned International Symposiums on the use of natural dyes in fashion. I continue to enrich my knowledge of natural dyes and pigments with a vision to create a range of products using sustainable materials ideal for global marketing. I am currently writing a book entitled “Dyes in Fashion”: a highly colourful exploration into the world of natural dyes, being considered for publication by Thames and Hudson in London. I independently work as a colour trend forecaster using sustainable colours and fabrics. I am a member of TSA (Textile Society of America) and WSN (World Shibori Network).
Printed/Embellished silk crépe-de-chine. V&A Museum, London.UK
Silk crépe-de-chine leaf print. V&A Museum, London.UK
Printed/Embellished silk crépe-de-chine. V&A Museum, London. UK
Printed/Embellished silk crépe-de-chine. V&A Museum, London.UK
