New pieces from Avant Toi clothing collection will be arriving soon! Avant Toi is the cutting edge of luxury knitwear. Forward thinking, innovative and out of the ordinary, Avant Toi revolutionized the idea of what cashmere knitwear can be: distressed, urban, avant-garde while still maintaining elegance and a sophisticated essence. Superior quality Italian cashmere knits are created with artisan craftsmanship and then defaced, stained and maltreated to create Avant Toi’s signature juxtaposition of a grungy take on luxe.
Founded in 1994 by the Liapull production group, Avant Toi breaks the rules in regards to stylistic and aesthetic standards, giving life through innovative techniques and painstaking manual procedures to a new way of wearing and interpreting clothing as pieces of modern art. Artistic director Mirko Ghignone continually pushes the boundaries of dyeing and fabric manipulation of cashmere, silk and linen luxury yarns. Pieces are smoked, torn, destroyed, blended and spray-painted to become singular creations, refined yet provoking. Mirko’s originality creates distinctive character and unrepeatable colors that emphasize the texture and beauty of the knit. Each is a masterful work of art that is ultimately defined by the wearer.
The use of scarves only adds to Avant Toi’s extraordinary individuality. Vintage printed silk scarves and specialty prints of Mirko’s original paintings are felted onto a cashmere silk blend, treated with airbrushing and then hand painted. By creating collections alive with contradiction, Avant Toi has perfected a broad experimental language that finds relevance with all. An artist at heart and in practice, Mirko finds inspiration from fine art and possesses an uncanny eye for both color and composition. His profound love of color and its emotional potency creates the soul of Avant Toi’s clothing. This collection will include vibrant floral patterns and colors that put a unique and romantic spin on traditional print and color making.
Kantha is part of the four thousand year old living legacy of quilting in India. A timeless textile tradition, it dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of the Bronze Age. It is a technique central to the Bengali area, spanning several Indian states and Bangladesh. There is a myriad of stitching styles, patterns and themes that vary based on region.
A utilitarian yet intimate practice, Kantha is sewn for loved ones to keep them safe from harm. Kantha, meaning “simple stitching” in Hindi, has a long and honored tradition. It is defined by the running stitch that bonds two or more sari fabrics together. The name kantha can refer to both the running stitch as well as to entire textile patchworks.
[Kantha are] a work that gives wholeness to things that were of no use anymore, to fragments without any significance.
Quilts of India: Timeless Textiles by Patrick J Finn
Kantha was born out of ingenuity. The repurposing of valuable leftover fabric scraps is part of deeply rooted socio-religious customs and ritualistic dynamics attached to the alteration of cloth.
Cotton, Silk Embroidered Kantha, from the 1800’s. Bengali. Image via: RISD Museum
Much of kantha’s history is not documented in writing, instead passed along as an oral tradition. The earliest believed depiction is carved into a sculpture from the Kushana period, created sometime between first century BCE and second century CE. Because kanthas have a long history, it is difficult to pinpoint their original intended use. It appears they were first used for utility and practicality; other ornamental styles came later in history.
In various regions, the patchwork style has its own connotations. Certain Indonesian and Indian patchwork is associated with the Buddhist vow of poverty, whereas patchwork coats worn by Javanese shamen are said to carry potent magical connections. Meanwhile, patchwork jackets worn by the sultans of the city Yogyakarta, Java, have been handed down from father to son since the early nineteenth century. The Javanese believe this jacket made from fragments of old, auspicious textiles harnesses supernatural protective powers.
There is a tale about a sadhu, or holy man, who offered his carefully stitched kantha to a woman named Gitali and her child. Having lost her husband during a dreadful monsoon, Gitali is searching for refuge carrying only a lamp, two mangoes and her feverish son Viraj. Feeling helpless, she lights her lantern while they rest for the night and prays for her son. The sadhu appears before her, asking to share her light and in return offering the safety of his fire.
After a night of mangoes, music from the sadhu and the warmth of his shared kantha, Viraj’s fever breaks and Gitali feels renewed hope. Though the sadhu is nowhere to be seen, his flute, water pot and kantha remain to confirm her mysterious visitor. The rest of her day is filled with small miracles: more fruit is found in her bag along with a new sari for her and later she discovers the kantha is lined with money. In honor of the sadhu’s assistance, Gitali uses white threads from her old sari to stitch images of the night the sadhu saved them onto the kantha he left behind.
Because of this tale, kanthas are often attributed with transformative properties. White threads became the traditional color of stitches in a kantha piece. Kantha making is seen as a ritual, an action intended to catalyze physical, emotional or spiritual change by interacting with the divine.
Throughout the 20th and 21st century, cross-cultural and historical influences exerted a profound impact on fashion design. Paisley or geometric, stripes or flowers, patterns ebb and flow based on the influence of culture and the environment of the designer. Designs, styles and materials of other times and cultures became more accessible to designers through travel, cell phone photography, access to historical texts, access to auctions and global resellers and the availability of handcrafts and antiques online. And since fashion is intertwined with art, culture, social change and is in constant search of new. The result is that isolated aesthetic motifs and patterns are in a constant process of being uncovered and reinterpreted in fashion and for the home. These patterns and prints have a huge impact on product development, from elevating the everyday to the complex to making luxury simple.
Stamperia Bertozzi and les Papiers Dominotés Français
Stamperia Bertozzi is a third-generation, family-run workshop of a small collective of artisans who engage in centuries-old traditional Italian block-print methods. Over the past hundred years, Bertozzi has curated a design archive of more than 1,000 motifs that can be used in endless combinations to suit any style. From traditional to classic to contemporary, each design is painstakingly hand-chiseled by the highly skilled craftsmen at the stamperia.
For the coming Spring collection, Gianluigi Bertozzi found inspiration in an out of print book, French Dominated Papers by Marc Kopylov, in which the author captures the book and brochure covers of France from 1750 to 1820. The book is comprised of a rich panorama of the motifs used by the artistic craftsmen specialized in engraving and printing. Since replicating the charm of these patterns is quite impossible, Bertozzi set out to develop their own pattern that would embody the charm and whimsy they saw in these historic patterns. This pattern was then printed onto napkins, dish towels, runners and tablecloths.
Cultural exploration, world travel and family tradition define Etro. Founder Gimmo Etro’s travels to India led to his obsession with the tear-drop shaped motif, a passion shared by Mughal Empire courtiers and 18th-century Parisians before him. The paisley design originated in ancient Mesopotamia, where the pattern symbolized the seed of the date palm and ultimately the tree of life. Gimmo began collecting rare and antique scarves and shawls with this impeccably detailed pattern, which became the foundation for the family’s extensive textile library.
Etro’s archival textile library contains pieces dating back to the fifteenth century, a wealth of textile history informing a myriad of modern prints. The family has sourced their collection through travel and personal purchases, textile dealers and through specific auction houses specialized in antique fabrics. For over 50 years, the Etro family has collected colors, patterns and experiences from all over the world, elegantly translating them into a playful and modern interpretation for the independent woman.
Uma Wang and Textile Innovation
Uma Wang is a continual force of textile innovation on the international scene. By intimately knowing her fabrics, Uma masterfully drapes silhouettes with a refined ease and simplicity, allowing the exquisite and unique textiles to shine as the focal point. Uma collaborated with a revered Italian fabric maker who assisted her in bridging the gap between fashion and art. This experimental and cerebral textile designer developed some of the most wild and complex fabrics for Uma’s designs. The patterns are often recreations of ancient Chinese motifs derived from old weavings, hand painted porcelain and art reproduced into both woven jacquards and printed fabrics. The fabrics are made in Italy, woven with traditional methods that infuse the materials with mystery and complexity. Only chemical-free dyes are used to create color variations that are truly one-of-a-kind and improve with age.
Dries Van Noten nimbly blends ancient and modern styles while mixing a sense of humility into his operatic designs. Because prints and pattern are central to his collections, Dries is personally involved in designing over 90% of the fabric, imbuing the collections with his signature lush complexity and setting the global standard for print design. For example, “some of the fabrics from the Women’s SS 20 collection are detailed reproductions of 19th century jacquards found in the archives of one of the last surviving textile makers of the famous ‘Soierie Lyonnaise’. The Soierie Lyonnaise is a group of specialized silk weaving mills, established in the region of Lyon, France since the 17th century to present day. Dries’ fabric design seems to embody perfection while simultaneously breaking all the rules. His voice is remarkably distinct and completely independent, creating glamour, contesting notions of masculinity and femininity and even guiding us to reconsider how we define beauty.
Brunello Cucinelli runs his namesake humanist enterprise from a 14th century castle in the hamlet of Solomeo, Italy. For over 30 years, Brunello has acted as a steward for the medieval property as well as for the small 12th century village, converting the hamlet into a community of artisans and craftsmen. Instead of effacing the heritage of Solomeo with new developments, Brunello has worked tirelessly to restore and preserve the rich cultural legacy already existing.
The fragments of medieval frescoes, tilework and archways influence Brunello’s minimalist designs in palette/spirit if not in print. The luxurious garments reflect the colors of thousands of years of design/pattern and the rich depths of the Umbrian countryside.
Recalibrating our busy lives often leads us to dream of relaxing on hazy sun-soaked islands. We long for the quiet of beaches tucked into hidden coves, the rejuvenation of the ocean and its wildness, tranquility and turquoise waters, lively pastel-colored small towns alive with culture in the form of food, family, music and folklore. We search for freedom, comfort and the joys of simple living.
Carsten and Lenka Rundholz found exactly this in Martinique and Curaçao, the island inspirations for Rundholz Black Label SS 2020. Light-weight fabrics come to life in breezy bright blues with prints that evoke nautical life: patterns of speckled fish and rays in sun-dappled waters. Playful chambray denim pieces speak to a boho life lived lost in the islands. White, pebble and rock round out the neutral palette that makes the collection work whether island hopping or hard at work in the city.
This second delivery of Etro resort features elegant flowing pieces alive with the vibrant colors of Morocco, from spice markets to lush garden oases and desert skies. Brilliant florals with intricate details and airy cotton and silk fabrics give the feeling of wandering the lively streets of Marrakech. Bougainvillea in vivid pinks, oranges and reds swirls with succulent greens are integrated into dynamic designs on soft sandy neutrals. Enjoy this journey through the luminous colors and textures of Morocco.
