It may be difficult to talk about hosiery, art and architecture in the same post.
Yet, luckily, there is an Italian designer who managed to produce hosiery moving from very artistic inspirations, Emilio Cavallini.
Born in San Miniato in 1945, Cavallini graduated in economics and soon after decided to follow his passion and dedicated himself to fashion and style.
During his frequent trips to London he also met Mary Quant who turned into one of the first designers he collaborated with.
Cavallini opened his own company, Stilnovo, in San Miniato in 1970.
To experiment further he acquired a hosiery stock from a factory that was closing down and started re-elaborating it, adding striped and polka dot motifs (fashion design students pay attention!).
The entrepreneur and designer actually took inspiration from art when he started working on the decorative motifs to decorate his hosiery, trying to turn this simple accessory into a vitally important part of women's wardrobes.
His geometrical styles, black and white optical motifs and bold colours quickly became very successful, marking a boom for Cavallini's products between the end of the 70s and the early 80s (a pair of Cavallini tights was the epitome of stylishness when I was a young girl...).
In the 80s the brand expanded into the ready-to-wear market, while continuing to produce hosiery and collaborating with famous fashion houses and labels, including Dior, Balenciaga, Gucci and Alexander McQueen.
As the years passed, Cavallini also focused on new passions, such as maths and architecture, using these disciplines to create innovative and modern patterns (check out the embedded video at the end of this post for further architectural and arty inspirations also regarding surface elaborations), while experimenting with new technologies and launching seamless designs in natural and synthetic fibres.
A recently released book entitled Magnificent Obsession and published by Skira celebrates Emilio Cavallini's story. The best parts of the book are definitely the ones dedicated to the designer's inspirations that combine art, architecture, geometry and graphic design. Highly recommended if you're into these disciplines and looking for a book to add to your personal Christmas Wish List.
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