Winter Collaboration – Kate Gibb – Folk

In Conversation –

Kate Gibb is a self-proclaimed ‘silkscreen obsessive’ and printmaker based in London. A long-standing friend of Folk’s, you may have seen her beautifully designed wrapping paper in our stores. This season, we’ve been lucky enough to extend that conversation and collaborate with her on our offshoot winter collection. We shot the pieces in her wonderfully eclectic studio in Kentish Town where we watched her go through the motions of making a print. Shadowing her for the afternoon, we were able to sit down with her and chat about all things colour, shape and the playfulness of happy accidents.

I’m so interested to know what your process is, how do you come to think about a print?

My work is all about experimenting really, that's exactly what Folk have picked up on in the collection – Often with work if I'm struggling with a commercial job, getting the colour right is half the battle. Thirty years down the line you still get a different outcome with every print. I like to play around with what I would call ‘bad printing’: thanking chances and not using a strict, repetitive format whilst also manipulating the techniques to get varied results. That’s how I think about print: as a process that continually evolves.

Colour seems to be really important to you, what is it about the sort of vibrant shades that attracts you?

You immediately respond to colour, don't you, even if that reaction is negative. It's just like light, it sets a mood. But equally, I like working in monochrome which is what I’ve done with Folk. Then you're looking at mark making, shape, form and composition – you can't hide that with the colour that comes afterwards. The main blue in the Folk work is what we call a process blue, almost out of the pot. In this case I played around with the ink’s opacity and the textures so you can really see how it sits on the paper or garment.

What's the best thing about what you do?

Oh my God there's so many nice things. I mean… this? Being your own ‘boss’ is a silly word isn't it, but being allowed to live your life creatively. Making pictures every day is a total joy, I never tire of printmaking. Even when the admin gets boring or things are slow or stressful, sometimes that’s when you make your best work because you’re not complacent. Sharing that work, meeting and collaborating with other creative people and everything that comes with it – it's always fascinating.

Why do you think that you and Folk are a good fit?

When I first met Cathal twenty five years ago, I quickly felt we liked lots of the same things or we approached things in a similar way. He would leave t-shirts to be battered by the weather on the roof of his studio; I loved that. I like things to look like they have a soul or some history to them and I think that that's what resonates for me with Folk’s aesthetic and the style: it’s friendly and familiar and there’s joy in that.

How does it feel to see your prints reimagined on garments?

Yeah, wild isn't it?! It's really interesting to see people interpret your work in a different way. One thing I love about Folk’s clothes is how they age. I've got cardigans here from Cathal’s first collection twenty+ years ago and they’re still just as valid. And so suddenly to think that there's a fleece or a shirt that I've had a part in making is really big for me.

What's coming up for you, do you have any projects on the go?

I've been spending more time on printmaking, mostly creating bespoke commissions for private clients, tailored to specific spaces. I've worked with a variety of mediums—paper, linen, and even a pair of handmade doors. In addition to that, I’m excited to release the full, uncropped sleeve artworks I created for The Chemical Brothers, starting from their 1999 Surrender album. When these pieces were originally released, they had to fit different retail formats—cassettes, CDs, DVDs, and vinyl. This meant the artwork was often cropped, and consumers only saw part of the full image. So now’s my big reveal…