ENTWINEMENTS

When one looks at an individual craftsman one can always invent some reason why their business has declined (not enough new stuff, only party clothes,....) but if one looks at their vendors one can can get a bigger view of the market.

I've talked to two silk vendors that service the wearable artists. Both agree that there has been a drastic downturn in the market since 9/11. One said last year sales were down by 20% and that it had been like that since 9/11. Asked how much of that was due to artists, she said that she didn't know the overall decrease was for all-- artists, fabric stores and manufactures. One new trend is the delivery of silk to overseas locations.

The other silk vendor said it all started 9/12 when everyone cancelled their orders. The silk was on the boat (it takes long lead times to get silk from China) and they had three quarters of a million dollars of silk that it took a some years to liquidate. They say that artists that used to buy $25 000-$40 000 each year have gotten out of business an now just buy $1 000 in a year. They now have a additional new, different, business that consumes half of their efforts.

To me this is even more telling than the loss of one of the artists. These vendors sell to all tiers of the crafts market and to people who do many techniques and all over the country.