Fiber Artist and Fashion Designer Keila McCracken seeks a sustainable clothing paradigm; leaving fashion school with questions of environmental and human rights, she brings an antique British loom “across the pond” to northern Minnesota, learns the mechanical loom’s eccentricities, its many delicate operations & controls, then begins to produce beautiful, sustainable clothing. Filmed over 4 years
PBS Common Ground Documentary
In the Village: Human/Environment Impact with Keila McCracken
July 05, 2016
A reflective piece from In the Village, a series of short interviews from speakers and teachers at Holden Village, a remote retreat center in the Cascade mountains that concentrates on community, sustainability and encouraging growth.
Call of the Wild: Weaver and Sustainable Fashion Designer in Bemidji
October 18, 2016
Milt Lee talks with Keila McCracken, weaver and sustainable fashion designer and owner of Bare Cloth Studios in Bemidji, MN. Keila makes sustainable fabric and clothing using local fiber & dyes, and a foot-powered Hattersley loom, named 'Maurice'.
Area Voices: Sustainable Fashion Designer Keila McCracken Dreams of Fibersheds
January 18, 2016
Keila McCracken says that clothing can tell people who we are, what we like, and even where we're from. And she should know. She's a sustainable fashion designer who studied in New York at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Keila runs Bare Cloth Studios, where she uses a pretty unique loom to weave her own fabrics. Her loom was built in the 1940s, so it's considered a new model. Keila's a Bemidji native who moved back to Northern Minnesota with one purpose: to start a fibershed. Don't know what a fibershed is? Don't worry! Keila explains in this interview with Area Voices producer Alauna Yust.
Fiber Arts Trail Feature: Keila’s newly acquired Hattersley Loom is her cloth making machine.
August 16, 2016
Strongly influenced by her values of environmental sustainability, social justice and economic resiliency, Keila plans to design clothing using fabric made from locally sourced materials and animals on Minnesota’s northern tier.
