The Florence-based event for yarn experts and knitwear designers Pitti Filati 73 closes today, but we will be looking at yarn trends for the next Autumn/Winter season in the next few weeks. From what regards the industry, it is clear that there is still a lingering crisis in Europe: fewer companies have worked in a very coherent way on the stand presentation, focusing on more basic and functional styles to showcase their products (but it must be highlighted that there was at least one excellent presentation at museum level and we will look at it in a future post).
That said, quality and research remain the key words of the yarn industry and the companies working on designing new yarns and the anonymous professionals developing new stitches and trends for them should be praised for being the humble backbone of a fashion industry that quite often proves of being tremendously ignorant of the real people sustaining it.
Trend-wise there are two directions that will become one in the next Autumn/Winter season, nature and technology: this dichotomy is already ruling our lives, but by 2014 we will maybe manage to reconcile our constant thirst for a technological lifestyle with our human need for more natural rhythms. The nature/technology divide is embodied by 100% natural yarns such as cashmere, camel, lambswool or yak (and blends as well like cashmere and cotton/cashmere and silk), accompanied by plasticised and rubberised yarns.
Filpucci played around with technology/science a bit renaming some of its yarns "Quantum" (66% Extrafine Merino Wool, 26% Polyamide Fibre and 8% Polyester), "LED" (a dark background sparkling with starry greenish dots; 46% Polyamide Fibre; 24% Superkid Mohair; 12%Viscose; 13% Polyester; 4% Wool; 1% Elastane) and "HD" (an aqua green background with a sort of golden coating; 47% Polyester, 27% Wool and 27% Polyacrylic fibre), and coming up with a glow in the dark yarn as well.
Despite such yarn may be considered by most of us as more indicated for rave clothes than for everyday wear, matching it with a strong and solid dark yarn and creating a pleasant geometric pattern with it in the sample Filpucci displayed at their stand proved the effect is not so bad at all. Which painfully hip designers will be using this yarn in their next knitwear collection? Bets are open, but expect it to reapper on many runways frm New York to London pretty soon.
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That is the coolest thing. I'd like to be able to visit a textile event one day.
Posted by: Cheryl W | July 15, 2013 at 01:48 AM