by Marko.

OK, so Suzy Menkes noted that knits are undergoing a certain renewal (also see Kim’s entry here on Trendbites), not really a revival, of course. If I’m not mistaken Suzy wrote about knitwear for the current fall/winter season. Anyway, read her article on iht.com and see for yourself. Perhaps we can move on to summer knits, mentioning the likes of Louise Goldin (please see her excellent collection on style.com). First, let’s juxtapose two pictures, one of Jil Sander and the other of Prada. Both display knits under transparent fabrics. I thought this would be an interesting game of fabric superposition for you to contemplate (Lagerfeld did something interesting for Chanel spring 2007: he enveloped denim in tulle, softening and creating shades, as if moulding the body and/or apparel). As for transparency/veiling, it is interesting to juxtapose these three with Dior’s spring 2006, especially considering how light fabrics were treated and in Dior’s case made to look heavy (or wet) by giving the impression that they were dipped or partly dyed in colour. Prada will give you a heavy print, and at Jil Sander the lightness will be pushed to the limit – appreciating the moment of perishing. In fact you can compare those collections, especially particular outfits, and in certain moments you can go down the road of what the Japanese designers did years ago.

……… Prada S/S 08 ……………………. Jil Sander S/S 08

……… Dior S/S 06………………………….. Chanel S/S 07

One more thing you can notice though: one can really see where exactly Raf Simons’s principle of repetition comes to the fore. Notice how he developed the idea of the »twosome« (together with colour blocking), as I like to call it, now infusing it with imaginary light (the idea of light or glow was definitely best displayed in his men’s Spring/Summer show for Jil Sander). This has been present for a couple of seasons now, and you can really trace its development. It can go into Prada’s experimenting with weaving (fabric into fabric) in her fall/winter 2007 collection, juxtaposing two colours, tonalities, gradation, one colour going into the next, also giving the feel of shade, of one colour being softly spray-painted on the other, it can go towards Prada’s vernice sfumato shoes, etc. Louis Vuitton’s fall 2007 men’s collection also had many examples. Forget it, it is everywhere, taking more and more different paths, but in the end it is about juxtaposing and combining of almost everything, especially opposites (from fabrics, layers, colours, proportions, to the mix of all those at once – one look, filled with contrasts on many levels). This does create a very powerful statement and visual delight. They’re playing with your eyes…and fingers.

……………… Prada F/W 07 …………..

………..Raf Simons F/W 07 …………….Louis Vuitton F/W 07

Bookmark