While rewinding in my mind images from the Autumn/Winter 2010-11 collections presented on the London and Milan runways, I suddenly found myself thinking about a work of art by Scottish artist Jim Lambie, a wall made of fabric bricks that I saw a while back at Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art.
The colourful bricks came indeed to my mind when I saw a few collections in which the patchwork technique had been employed to create a strong visual impact.
In Milan, Angela Missoni presented a collection that was essentially still based on the traditions of this seminal fashion house, and in particular on that infamous ‘put together’ that made Missoni famous all over the world.
Cropped sweaters, jackets and tweed-like shorts matched with ample capes gave a touch of freshness to Missoni’s classic warped knitwear.
Yet it was the patchwork theme that prevailed, adding a note of fun and providing also some references to Ottavio Missoni's pieced tapestries.
Knitted pieces in autumnal shades, such as beige, grey and brown or brighter nuances like pink and red, were mixed with fur in wrap skirts and day coats, while for the evening patches decorated with sparkling sequins or metallic elements were integrated in the looks to create armour-like motifs.
Even crochet tops and dresses that revealed the body, illustrating a more sexy look, didn’t escape the patchwork treatment, while black was employed to add a bit of sobriety to a collection that showed strong links with Africa and Scotland (maybe the opening of the Edinburgh-based Missoni Hotel influenced somehow the choice…) especially in the tartan and tribal patterns, blanket coats pinned at one shoulder and Masai inspired necklaces and bangles courtesy of Margherita Maccapani Missoni (Angela’s daughter).
Examples of the patchwork trend were spotted also during London Fashion Week.
Trying to push the boundaries of hyperrealism, Basso & Brooke reinterpreted the patchwork trend in a more modern way, coming up with body-con dresses in which digitalised and blown up images of fur, sequins, crystals, gems, chain mail, marble, Vienna straw, knits, snakeskin, padded leather, woven baskets and other assorted bits and pieces were mixed and matched to create complex patterns and cause your senses to go into overload.
The effect worked quite well in mini-dresses and scarves, while contrasts were created by applying the engineered prints to more classic pieces such as coats and parkas.
A few designs also incorporated prints that seemed to take their inspiration from architecture, a theme that introduces us to the third fashion label mentioned in the title of this post.
Maybe moving from their main inspiration for this collection, interior design from the 70s, Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos explored the possibilities "architectural" patchwork could offer.
Traditional patches were indeed transformed into brown, orange or silvery leather panels and fur bursts and incorporated into tailored designs.
The design duo perfectly managed to balance all the elements they integrated in their creations, from the materials – such as tweed and leather – to the techniques like draping, employed to reproduce asymmetrical motifs.
Prints were filtered through the patchwork technique and digitalised images of mercury were mixed with paisley prints and bright orange and sage green splashes.
If that's the future of patchwork, you can bet that, very soon, there will be many converts among the patchwork hating fashionistas out there.
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