Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 57

products

proﬁle

christina dent
By Alissa Ponchione
Photography by Kelly Marshall

1

PATTERN MAKER
A designer weaves both her logic and
creativity into textiles

Christina Dent wasn't sure what career
path to take when she went off to Carnegie
Mellon University in Pittsburgh. The
school-which has a strong reputation in
both arts and sciences-seemed a perfect fit
for Dent, who enjoyed art and engineering.
Her education led her to a degree in
theatrical design, followed by internships
designing amusement park rides and toys.
It was a design position with Starwood
Hotels & Resorts, however, that elevated
her work and proved a natural progression
for the thoughtful artist. Dent approached
hotel spaces much like a set from a play, its
guests as characters. Hotels are "a livable
space joining design and functionality,"
she says. "All of those things work with my
dueling background in theatrical design and
engineering."
After Dent left Starwood, she worked at
manufacturer's representative Beachwood

Collective, then in a consulting role with
BBG-BBGM (now HOK) until last year when
she started Alchemy Workshop in New York,
which focuses on design, consulting, and
product creation-namely textiles for now.
While Dent spent many years vacillating
between her analytical and creative sides-
two seemingly disparate qualities-it's in
textiles that those dichotomies converge. She
looks at patterns like an equation, enjoying
their repetition and the technical aspects
as well as the stimulation she gets from
creating them. "I have the design side where
it's very creative and ethereal. The other
facet is taking a slightly more engineering
approach," she explains.
This affecting approach led to a
partnership between Dent and Fabric
Innovations-the linen, bedding, and
fabric company's first with a designer. Her
collections deconstruct simple ideas and
transform them into complicated pattern
work. For example, her fascination with the
ripped edges of a piece of paper inspired
the Torn collection. Wanting to "know what
else could be done with it," she painted
some pieces of paper, tearing others only to
weave them back together, and layered even

2

1. Dent's Torn collection
with Fabric Innovations
was inspired by a ripped
piece of paper.

2. When designing
fabric, Dent's method
is to take simple ideas
and create texturally
interesting patterns.

4

more to find "the beauty in the destruction
of something," she says. Dent's other
collections for Fabric Innovations include
Tulle (based on women's lingerie), Blended
(a marriage of colors with a watercolor
effect), and Exercises (based on an artist's
process), which launched in November.
Textiles offer Dent an outlet to create
something visually stunning and texturally
interesting. "I have a huge affinity for
fabric, the history of it, how it's made, the
texture and feel, what you do with it," she
admits. "Textiles are where my heart is
right now." hd
alchemy workshop .cc ; fab ri c i nnovati o ns.co m

hospitalitydesign.com December 2014

057
http://www.alchemyworkshop.cc http://www.fabricinnovations.com http://www.hospitalitydesign.com
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