Contemporary Design Inspired by Gabrovo’s Industrial Heritage

From April 23 to 27, 2025, the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Center in Gabrovo hosted a creative residency with fashion designers Mariela Gemisheva and Nikolay Bozhilov, textile artist Nevena Ekimova, and curator Wiete Sommer (Germany). Titled Metamorphosis of Workwear, the project aims to rethink the design of workwear for the professions of today and tomorrow, inspired by the industrial legacy of six European cities: Chemnitz, Łódź, Manchester, Mulhouse, Tampere, and Gabrovo.

Nikolay Bozhilov, Mariela Gemisheva, Wiete Zommer (curator of the project) and Nevena Ekimova in workwear, at the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Centre. Photographer Ilina Peneva.

Over the course of five intensive days, the participants immersed themselves in the local context – from visits to active factories to walks across the city and encounters with its industrial memory. The residency began with a tour of the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Center – a building that once housed Gabrovo’s Textile School and now offers space for creative freedom and contemporary art. The city itself – historically known as the “Manchester of Bulgaria” – provided a rich backdrop for exploration.

The day continued with a visit to the Interactive Museum of Industry and a walk through the city in search of traces left by once-thriving textile giants – including the former Kartalov factory, now a second-hand clothing store, and the still-operating “Krushata” factory.

On April 24, the residents visited “Mak” – one of the last remaining textile factories still operating in the region. Their meeting with the factory’s owner, Mr. Bizhev, who personally guided them through the space, was a significant and emotional moment in their research journey. We are deeply grateful to him for his generosity and time.

On the final day of the residency, the artists presented their initial ideas for contemporary workwear designs inspired by the spirit of the past. Their concepts revealed each participant’s unique approach – from workwear designed for angels and visions for the future rooted in durable, sustainable materials, to an algorithm for designing garments for an army of artists. All drew deep inspiration from Gabrovo’s rich textile legacy and the energy of the spaces they explored.

Mariela Gemisheva presents a workwear design project she will be working on in the coming month. Photographer Ilina Peneva.

Nikolay Bozhilov presents a workwear design project she will be working on in the coming month. Photographer Ilina Peneva.

Nevena Ekimova presents a workwear design project she will be working on in the coming month. Photographer Ilina Peneva.

The Metamorphosis of Workwear project continues! Follow our website and social media for updates on the artists’ work-in-progress, the upcoming exhibition in Chemnitz (Germany) in September 2025, and the final fashion presentation, which will take place in Gabrovo in May 2026.

Metamorphosis of Workwear: Chemnitz, Łódź, Gabrovo, Manchester, Tampere unite to Explore Europe’s Industrial Heritage

Metamorphosis of Workwear is an international project that brings together six European cities with rich industrial legacies – Chemnitz, Gabrovo, Łódź, Manchester, Mulhouse, and Tampere. Funded by the Creative Europe program, the project seeks to explore, reinterpret, and present the industrial past through art, culture, and community dialogue.

Between January and June 2025, three residencies in Chemnitz, Łódź, and Gabrovo will bring together three artists from each city to create designer pieces inspired by local industrial heritage and culture. Through visits to operating or abandoned factories, conversations with workers, experts, and residents, the artists will explore the evolution of the textile industry in these cities, weaving their discoveries into artistic expressions.

As a project partner, the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Center plays a pivotal role in actively engaging the local community, collecting and preserving stories from Gabrovo’s industrial heritage, and inspiring new artistic interpretations. In collaboration with the Interactive Museum of Industry in Gabrovo, the center will spotlight the city’s history, industrial development, and the sustainability of its processes, solidifying Gabrovo’s reputation as the “Manchester of Bulgaria.”

The Textile Technical School, the building housing the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Center, has been a cornerstone of Gabrovo’s textile production history, serving for decades as a generator of skilled professionals for the city’s factories. Within the project framework, we will trace the school’s history through personal stories shared by its students, teachers, neighbors, and enthusiasts to create an archive preserving these memories for future generations.

In late April, in a residency program we will welcome three artists who, over the course of a week, will work with the collected archive, expand it through new meetings and visits to the city’s still-operating textile factories, and intertwine these threads with their own creative interpretations to design contemporary workwear. The names of the participating artists will be announced soon—follow our social media channels for updates!