Welcome to MONOMERCER

Here you will find a collection of handwoven and handmade utilitarian items for home and body that I design and create in Kerhonkson, New York, at the foot of the Catskills.

The idea started in early 2015. I had been living in Maui, Hawai’i for eight years when I decided to explore a longtime passion for weaving. I bought a loom and taught myself the craft. I began selling towels to a local merchant under the name The Maui Mercer with great success. I rebranded as MONOMERCER when we moved back to NYS. But fate had another plan. I lost complete vision in my left eye resulting in monocular vision.

After a brief hiatus, I am pleased to announce my return with a new name and look.

My boundless creativity won’t allow me to stick solely to woven products. In addition to the handwoven towels, throws, scarves, and pillows, I also make driftwood and shredded fabric garlands, handwoven and upcycled-fabric zipper pouches, beaded tassel necklaces, and more.

THE NAME:
Now that I live in Upstate NY, I wasn’t comfortable using “Maui” as I no longer live there. I felt it might be convey that I am still a Maui based business, but I wanted to keep “Mercer” for a little continuity.

MONO: Mono; ma·no, \ˈmä-nō\ A prefix that means “one, only, single; with an extreme, singular character to the point of dominance or exclusion”.

MERCER: Mercer; mer·cer, \mər-sər\ refers to people who were formerly cloth merchants/traders. Historically, inventories of small town mercers suggest that many were shop keepers who dealt in various other dry commodities... not only cloth.

THE LOGO:
Two twisted lines depicting yarns create a single (mono) eye, representing my monocular vision and an eye on a heddle or a needle. The pupil is represented by a single yarn or thread going through the eye of a heddle or needle.

THE DESIGNER:
I am a self taught fiber artist who has always been fascinated with the structure of cloth and the endless combinations of yarns to make textures, plaids, checks, stripes, and new colors. As a boy in my hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana, I never met a plaid I didn't like. I vividly remember one of my favorite outfits—a burgundy, navy, ivory, and grey plaid pant paired with a crisp navy or white button down, topped off with a burgundy sweater vest that had an intarsia grey bicycle in the center of the chest. You could barely keep me out of it. Or the navy and white herringbone bell bottoms with Mickey Mouse doing somersaults on the inside waistband that I religiously sported in second grade until I fell on the playground and ripped holes in the knees. I literally sat there and cried.

After high school, I studied painting and sculpture for a year at John Herron School of Art in Indianapolis before moving to Chicago in 1985. There I studied fashion design, sewing, pattern-making, knitting and painting at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago.

I moved to NYC shortly after graduation in 1989, where I worked for Gemma Kahng and Todd Oldham, two of the 90s hottest fashion designers. Both are known for creating their own bold textiles and prints and I learned a great deal about fabric from both of them.

In 2007, I moved to the island of Maui with my partner John. We both worked as freelance graphic designers for four years, creating websites and branding for clients all over the globe. In 2011 we found ourselves landing dream jobs in paradise. John was hired as the creative director for Maui No Ka Oi Magazine and I became the style editor responsible for the Great Finds column, shopping guides and all the fashion features. After 12 spectacular years, we left Maui in 2019 and moved to Upstate New York to be closer to John’s family.

THE PROCESS:
Most of the products are woven on one of my two 4-shaft looms — a LeClerc Nilus II 60" floor loom or a vintage 1967 Nilus 45” floor loom. I primarily work in natural fibers like cotton, linen, bamboo and wool, but I’m also a big fan of metallics and reclaimed fibers/materials.

Creating textiles by hand is a slow and deliberate process and I weave for for the joy of it. It’s my hope that everything I make is utilized. A hand towel that never gets used is my worst nightmare. I don’t try to hide flaws or nubs. That’s what tells you something was made by hand.

Whenever possible, I avoid plastic in my packaging. My glassine envelopes and kraft paper mailers are recycled materials and both completely compostable along with USPS flat-rate packaging. My eco-awareness extends to the adhesives too. I use a kraft paper flatback tape with natural and synthetic rubber adhesive backing. Padding is recycled kraft paper when needed. Please recycle packaging.

I am not accepting custom orders at this time.

Thank you for visiting,
Conn Brattain, aka MONOMERCER