Herringbone and houndstooth are classic fashion fabrications making their mark in the Fall 2019 collections. In addition to more traditional menswear garments, this season is punctuated by designers using material in novel and unexpected ways. 

Herringbone

The herringbone pattern is a classic, versatile and nearly 4,000 year old pattern found across a variety of mediums throughout history. The key characteristic of the design is the broken zigzag resembling the bones of the herring fish, or an up and down arrow effect, created by columns of parallel lines slanting in opposite directions and alternating colors. 

The design origins of herringbone are found in the jewelry of ancient Egyptian royalty, basketry of indigenous peoples and brick roads built during the Roman empire. Roman roads are most often credited with the beginnings of herringbone because of their visibility and longevity.

The earliest herringbone textiles were found across Europe: woven horsehair cloths in Celtic regions and textile fragments in present day Austria and Italy. Herringbone translates well to woven fabrics as it is a variation of one of the most basic techniques, the twill weave. Twill weave is a repeating pattern that forms diagonal lines; herringbone, also known as Broken Twill Weave, creates an offset of diagonals going in the opposite direction instead of continuing indefinitely.

Herringbone’s longevity is due in part to its versatility. From flooring to fashion, when repeated on a large scale the pattern can be bold and striking, however on a small scale it is quite subtle and reads as solid from a distance. 

Houndstooth

Houndstooth is an equally iconic pattern in fashion albeit a more recent development. It is a very distinctive symmetrical pattern originally created in weaving by alternating columns and rows of four dark and four light threads, with twill diagonal lines extending from the sides of the squares created by the different colors. The resulting pattern makes an abstract checkerboard with the lines differentiating the design from a standard check pattern by giving the impression of jagged edges, creating a shape reminiscent of a hound’s teeth. It is also referred to as dogstooth, puppytooth when a very small pattern and as “pied de poule” (chicken feet) in French. 

A textile found in a Swedish peat bog and dating back 2,000 years is the oldest known evidence of the houndstooth pattern. However little is seen of the design throughout history until it began appearing in the Scottish lowlands in the early 1800s. It was mostly used by shepherds and as outerwear for laborers until the British Prince of Wales, Edward VII, began wearing the print in the 1930s. Houndstooth rapidly ascended in popularity, appearing in Christian Dior haute couture designs in 1959 as a printed pattern as well as woven and establishing its place in American fashion by the mid 1960s. 

Designers are going wildly creative on the runway, trying to break down barriers, elicit strong reactions and entertain with an otherworldliness that makes many question practicality or even beauty. The converse of this trend is to work with anchoring elements in new and interesting ways. This season, we see these quintessentially menswear fabrics as a base for juxtaposition and intrigue when combined with feminine, whimsical details or layers of artfulness. 

The poncho is a ubiquitously simple garment with a colorful history and unlimited potential. Born out of the necessity to keep warm and protect from the weather while maintaining freedom of movement, the poncho is a rectangular cloth with an opening in the center for the head and unsewn sides. Found as a folded piece of fabric, or two pieces of fabric joined together, it is designed to be worn over the head or wrapped around the body. 

The oldest surviving pieces are elaborate burial ponchos and wraps found in Paracas, along the coast of Peru. Part of the Andean civilization, the pieces range from 2,000 – 2,500 years old. The designs are vibrantly colored intricate embroideries of birds, animals and warriors on a solid colored woven cloth. The exact origins of the poncho are debated with similar designs to the Paracas pieces found in the artifacts of many indigenous cultures throughout South America. The shape and construction have remained constant for thousands of years, with the biggest changes occuring in who wears a poncho: it has traveled the gamut from being designated for only the most elite men to utilitarian outerwear for farmers and shepherds to luxury high fashion for women.  

The poncho has featured strongly in the last few fall/winter seasons. It showed on the runways of Valention and Gucci and was part of layered looks by designers such as Agnona, Brunello Cucinelli and Avant Toi. This collection below reflects some of our most iconic pieces from I Pezzi Dipinti, Alonpi and Etro.