Welcome to Work in Progress, our weekly update on the stores, the buy and so much more. Join our team every Saturday as we dive into what’s going on in the world of beauty, both behind the scenes and on the global stage.
PATTERN PLAY
The Power of Motif
Solids and neutrals certainly have their place, but after a few weeks of plain cotton weaves, you will find us dreaming of, nay… craving, a change of pace. Enter pattern and print in all their ornamental, vivacious glory. Repetitive motifs, photographic reproductions, splattered paint… decoratives tend to dominate in times of both stagnation and strife (often as an emphatic acceptance of the self and a countermeasure to stuffy traditionalism.)
Historically, pattern has reflected the values, beliefs and aesthetics of their creators and wearers alike. Think floral brocades in Japanese kimonos to evoke elegance or Scottish Tartan representing clanship. In all their forms they are totally communicative, slyly sharing a vision of the self to all who behold it. Designers who master the wiles of this medium know this tenet well: to work with pattern is to celebrate expression.
Designer Chinar Farooqui envisions her pieces from the threads up, divining prints and patterns from traditional Indian textile methods such as Jamdani and Bhujodi weaving.
Dries’ full delivery for spring revives an intricate floral print from his archives–rendered in the tangy, jewel-tones we crave for spring. In classic Dries style, silver embellishments, such as snap buttons and hanging beads, are layered on top adding an edge of industrial cool.
This earthy, provocative collection proves pattern does not have to be bright to be striking. Using atmospheric effect to her advantage, Uma Wang explores delicate brocades and subtle iridescent finishes that shift depending on the light.
Pattern lies not only in what can be printed on textile or woven in contrasting fibers—it can be something as deceptively simple as a puckered length of silk. Artists who excel at the woven arts, such as Alabama Chanin, Walid al Damirji and Sophie Hong, recognize texture as a visual medium in itself, striving for pieces that delight the eye as well as the hand.
A world of bohemia opened when we unboxed Ōtzĭo. In the shoot, Shobhan, Tim, May and Sita took inspiration from designer Claudio Artizu’s beachy aesthetic. Taking a page out of Dries’ book, they juxtaposed the silks wildly: mixing pattern, shape and finish before wrapping it all in a vintage Ifugao Ginuto shell belt from the Philippines.
Among the silky cashmere and soft cotton bouclé textures for spring, designer Mirko Ghignone has keenly slipped in a handful of upgraded floral prints into the Avant Toi collection. True to the style of this studio, the prints are stamped on raw fabric before being dyed by airbrush—a handwork technique that creates a unique spray of color across each piece.
Audrey Hepburn once said that to plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow. We have spent the last week with our hands in the dirt… Shobhan, Morgan and May potted flowers galore to decorate the newly reopened Wild Life and our finally sunny sidewalks. Like Audrey, we find gardening useful for both meditation and manifesting… a practice that both calms and inspires the spirit.
