Process has always been paramount to Ace & Jig’s Jenna Wilson and Cary Vaughan—in their own work, but also, as Spring tells it, in that of others. The pair were particularly fascinated with the German conceptual artist Wolfgang Laib, who worked heavily in natural materials, memorably gathering pollens of different consistencies and hue (dandelion, hazelnut, et al) and creating geometric shapes from them. Some of Spring’s myriad prints nodded to those forms, but there are plenty of inherent parallels to the duo’s process. The looms in India that their cotton gauzes are woven on are traditional and time-honored, a far cry from fashion’s heavily automated present.
Textiles are always the real news for Ace & Jig, and Spring’s most winning developments included a graphic black-and-red stripe, pitch-perfect as a column gown, as well as nods to kente fabrics. Warmth has long been a distinguishing characteristic of Wilson and Vaughan’s clothing—that came through here in spades. Best of all was a stunning kimono with a hand-woven collar, created in collaboration with Los Angeles textile studio All Roads.
