In yesterday's post we looked at inspirations that can directly be borrowed from your granny's house. The trend continued during New York Fashion Week, especially at presentations by smaller and more independent labels, but the interesting thing is that it was interpreted as a strong desire to borrow from traditions or to reintegrate something handmade in a design, following a punkish DIY aesthetic.
Spanish designer Alejandra Alonso Rojas moved for example from her family pictures, but also from traditional knitting and crocheting techniques for her A/W 2017 collection.
The designer visited her grandparents home in Madrid and looked at photographs of her relatives – from her grandmother to her great aunt's. The latter – a woman pilot – inspired her leather combos that featured a corset-like top with a silhouette that called to mind 18th century stays, while the designer reinvented old mantillas, coming up with a long crocheted gown and cashmere sweaters and tops in which the classic crochet square was reinterpreted in a three-dimensional construction.
Yet, while in this case traditional crochet patterns were used as the starting points to create new luxurious pieces, on the Gypsy Sport's runway they were a way to celebrate freedom, inclusion, diversity and subcultures.
Encouraging people to "come together and unite" against hate, Rio Uribe presented a collection of designs that combined hippies and friendly Frankenstein's monsters in camouflage prints and tie-dyed hoodies. His gender-bending lineup of models sported a mix of colourful garments – from oversized graphic hoodies to a rather unsafe safety-pin tank top. At times the garments were restitched together from repurposed crochet dollies or they integrated dollies, employing them as appliqued decorations. Everything looked as if it had been haphazardly put together, though it reintroduced a do-it-yourself aesthetic currently missing in the fashion industry.
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