{{Short description|American textile house specialising in tie-dyed fabrics}} '''Up Tied''' was an American textile house specialising in tie-dyed fabrics founded in 1968 by the husband and wife team Will and Eileen Richardson and Eileen's brother, Tom Pendergast.<ref name=blass>{{cite news|last=Lady Fare|title=Bill Blass Named to Hall of Fame|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7ZlIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vgkNAAAAIBAJ&pg=699,7047025&dq=up-tied+eileen+richardson&hl=en|access-date=14 December 2012|newspaper=The News and Courier|date=29 September 1970}}{{Dead link|date=January 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> They won a special Coty Award for "major creativity in fabrics" in 1970.<ref name=blass/><ref name=mcdowell>{{cite book|last=McDowell|first =Colin |title=McDowell's Directory of Twentieth Century Fashion|publisher=Frederick Muller|date=1984|pages=299–301|isbn =0-584-11070-7}}</ref>
==Company history== Will Richardson and his wife, who had worked as window-dressers,<ref name=erin>{{cite news|last=Weinger|first=Erin|title=Fashions to tie-dye for|url=http://www.tampabay.com/features/fashion/article461744.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080425055941/http://www.tampabay.com/features/fashion/article461744.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 25, 2008|access-date=14 December 2012|newspaper=Tampa Bay Times|date=19 April 2008}}</ref> were given fabric samples by the Rit company, which Will declared he could do better.<ref name=time>{{cite news|title=The Psychedelic Tie-Dye Look|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,878729-1,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070712124808/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,878729-1,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 12, 2007|access-date=14 December 2012|newspaper=TIME Magazine|date=26 January 1970}}{{subscription required}}</ref> When challenged by Rit to prove it, Will and Eileen taught themselves in four days to tie-dye, producing a range of fabrics which met with the company's approval.<ref name=time/> The Richardsons subsequently showed their tie-dyed velvets and chiffons to fashion editors and designers, although with little success until Halston, who admired the technique's "limp, sensuous quality", placed a $5,000 order.<ref name=time/><ref name=erin/> When made up by Halston, Up Tied textiles were worn by the likes of Ali MacGraw, Naomi Sims, and Liza Minnelli.<ref name=time/><ref name=look>{{cite news|title=Tying Up the Best Tie-Dyes in Beachwear|newspaper=Look Magazine|date=1971}}</ref>
The Richardsons, after less than a year in business, were being called the "best tie-dyers in the city",<ref name=time/> namely, New York City where they had a studio near Chinatown, Manhattan, on the floor above the Chinese American Democratic Union.<ref>{{cite news|last=Harris|first=Joann|title=Small Outfits Make It Big In Tie-Dye|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/baltsun/access/1759883462.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Nov+22%2C+1970&author=&pub=The+Sun+(1837-1985)&desc=Small+Outfits+Make+It+Big+In+Tie-Dye&pqatl=google|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130201060030/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/baltsun/access/1759883462.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Nov+22,+1970&author=&pub=The+Sun+(1837-1985)&desc=Small+Outfits+Make+It+Big+In+Tie-Dye&pqatl=google|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 1, 2013|access-date=14 December 2012|newspaper=The Baltimore Sun|date=Nov 22, 1970}}</ref> In 1970, they were awarded a Special Coty Award alongside a number of other designers, such as Giorgio di Sant' Angelo, Alexis Kirk and Clifton Nicholson; whose work combined ethnic themes and influences with fine craftsmanship and an appreciation of folk art techniques.<ref name=el>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Eleanor|title=Ethnic Theme Monopolises Front Seat in Fashion|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2506&dat=19700919&id=45lIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vgkNAAAAIBAJ&pg=4164,4626742|access-date=29 November 2012|newspaper=The News and Courier|date=19 September 1970|archive-date=6 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200506060453/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2506&dat=19700919&id=45lIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vgkNAAAAIBAJ&pg=4164,4626742|url-status=dead}}</ref> Up Tied's use of what was described as an "ancient Oriental art" of dying textiles fitted in with this theme.<ref name=el/><ref name=blass/> For the Coty fashion show, Up Tied's section was modelled by six dancers choreographed by Murray Louis.<ref name=blass/>
Along with Halston, the fashion designers Donald Brooks and Gayle Kirkpatrick also used Up Tied fabrics.<ref name=blass/> In 1971, the Richardsons gave a how-to lesson to ''Look'' where they demonstrated techniques for creating tie-dye fish and origami patterns upon alongside men's vests to create swimsuit tanks for women, alongside images of military surplus garments which they had customised by dying.<ref name=look/> According to Eileen, tie-dye fashions represented a "youthful trend away from rigidity and conformity".<ref>{{cite book|last=Hoffmann|first=Frank W.|title=Fashion & merchandising fads|year=1994|publisher=Haworth Press|location=New York|isbn=1560243767|pages=[https://archive.org/details/fashionmerchandi00hoff/page/257 257]|url=https://archive.org/details/fashionmerchandi00hoff|url-access=registration|author2=William G. Bailey }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|2}}
{{Textile designers}} Category:American textile designers Category:Design companies established in 1968 Category:1968 establishments in New York (state)