Majestic + Warhol, Circa 1960

The power of the internet never fails to amaze me. I recently got an email from online friend Betts. She was sending an article she thought I’d be interested in concerning an exhibition of Andy Warhol designed fabric from the 1950s and early 60s. I knew he designed prints before his artist days, when he was a mere illustrator for magazines and ads and… fabrics.

What I wasn’t prepared for was spotting a fabric that I have had in my collection since 2010.

See the article at Studio International.com.

According to the exhibition catalog, this fabric dates to 1958 – 59. That makes sense. The former owner remembered that she bought it in the early 60s. The shirt was made by Majestic, which was primarily a maker of women’s blouses and shirts, back in the days when manufacturers often specialized in one type of garment. Interestingly, there is a Majestic shirt in this print in the exhibition, but the design is different.

I had always wondered what the fiber content of this shirt was, and the catalog cleared that up for me. It’s lycron, a long-forgotten synthetic. It looks like silk, but feels more like acetate. It’s wonderfully smooth.

Now I’m wondering how many more Warhol prints are out there. The book documents almost forty different prints, with some of them being printed in several different colorways. That nautical print in the article came in a smaller version and in different colorways. It’s one for the “in search of” list.