Creative minds know that inspirations can come from the most unlikely places. Season after season Loch Leven-based yarn manufacturer Todd & Duncan makes for example an effort to look for very original inspirations, usually characterised by an arty twist.
For its A/W 22-23 collection, the Scottish company found for example two vintage books – British Birds' Eggs and Nests by Eric Pochin (1946) and The Observer's Book of Birds Eggs (6th Ed., 1960).
Leafing through their pages you will spot colour prints and etchings of eggs and nests and these were exactly the starting points for Todd & Duncan's new yarn collection.
Egg markings and the shape of nests instantly became an inspiration for yarn colours inspired by nature, ideal to create maybe knit stitches with tiny imperfections evoking the patterns on eggshells.
Nature and birds were the main themes for a calm and balanced collection of 24 two-colour cashmere marls: in this case the company focused on sustainability (the company has been working on biodegradable cashmere yarns and repurposed 100% cashmere twisted yarns for a few years now) making each colour from 50% to 90% undyed cashmere fibre to create a palette that can be used with an easier conscience, but offers beautiful chromatic colours.
The cashmere collection also features soft eggshell tones and neutrals with yarns characterised by bird names (Heron, Finch, Redstart and Pintail) or by names inspired by nature (Aniseed, Cranesbill, Hawthorn, Wood Sage, Bergamot and Wild Cherry), while the Slub collection with its Heritage melange colours is dedicated to those designers looking for an irregular textured consistency in their knits.
These eggshell/bird inspirations were combined with Wintry frozen patterns and forms that the company translated into lace stitches and openwork, while the arty touch came instead via Japanese American Sculptor Ruth Asawa and her wire sculptures, and interdisciplinary artist Naomi McIntosh and her installations such as "Quiet Garden" made with interactive suspended wooden sculptures.
Both Asawa and McIntosh represented for Todd & Duncan the possibility of rediscovering the power of tactile exploration in a world that lost it due to the Coronavirus pandemic, but also the chance to develop new dimensions in high-tech knits thanks to yarns that can help designers creating innovative volumes, shapes, forms and patterns.
For those designers who would like to know more about the new collections, Todd & Duncan uploaded on the company's site digital shade cards that allow to discover more about the new fibers and the inspirations behind the various yarns.
