The Renaissance is unanimously considered as a key period in history: art and civilisation changed during it, marking the transition from the darkness of the Middle Ages to the modern world.
Human beings became the centre of the universe, and the notion of the uomo universale (universal man) - that is someone who could master all areas of knowledge and be a scholar, but also an architect, scientist, mathematician and painter - quickly spread becoming a pillar of modernity.
The best-known Italian uomo universale remains Leonardo da Vinci, who was considered by author Giorgio Vasari the "founder of the High Renaissance".
The Renaissance and da Vinci are the main inspirations for Ecafil Best's Autumn/Winter 2015-16 yarn collection and were the main themes for the company's stand at Pitti Filati 75.
The company employed its wintry natural yarns in mohair, alpaca and wool in natural shades or in a soft palette of pastels to create Renaissance inspired embroideries on the external walls of the stand, and for the samples of tops with collar and sleeve details directly borrowed from the costumes seen in Renaissance portraits.
The technique employed by early Renaissance artists consisting in adding gold leaf to wood panels, was reproduced in printed rubbery effects in silver or gold on scarves and tops made with Mongolia yarn (in the last few years, Ecafil has actually been working on innovative ranges of printed patterns and special refinishing processes).
The bra-like vests with Renaissance embroideries made with lurex yarns were among the best pieces in this section of the stand.
Most of these pieces were matched with skirts made with Baby Kid yarn on which a selection of refined and elegant paintings was reproduced, among them Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus" and "The Allegory of Spring", and Michelangelo's "The Creation of Adam" from the Sistine Chapel.
Leonardo da Vinci was the main inspiration not just for the installations decorating the stand but also for the structure of some of the sample garments.
Apart from reproducing da Vinci's drawings and sketches such as his Virgin and Child with the Infant John the Baptist and St. Anne on the walls of the stand, the company also made a few pieces based on Leonardo's studies for his flying machine, coming up with a pair of wings - obviously covered in knitwear – and with a wooden version of Leonardo's Vitruvian Man, again wrapped in colourful yarns.
Leonardo moved from anatomy and mechanics when he started designing his flying machine and the company included in the stand a jumper inspired by his studies that incorporated iron thread to create a sort of movement and dynamic effect in the design.
Leonardo believed in active human flight and in the final phase of his life aerostatic flight constantly occupied his thoughts.
Maybe combining da Vinci's passion for the human body and proportions and for dynamic and kinetic forces could lead to the creation of interesting structures (including wing-like effects) in knitwear and, while this is supposed to be a trend for the Winter 2016, starting experimenting with it now may not be such a bad idea.
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