Painterly Details at Rodarte

Rodarte, SS12.

The Spring-Summer 2012 collection from Rodarte centered around the colours and textures that Vincent van Gogh used to great effect in his oil paintings. The tones were at times as vibrant as van Gogh’s depiction of sunflowers, while in other garments the tones were muted and murky as in Starry Night Over the Rhone (1888).

Much of the surface texture of the collection focused on different ways to translate the artist’s brushstrokes into textile manipulations and embellishments. The circular movement of daubs of paint were translated into swirling embroideries or lines of sequins in jewel tones. The thick, glossy texture of oil paint bubbled into lines of thick organic pleating in pastel greens and mauves.

The most literal applications of the paintings, which came in the form of digitally printed silks, gave a nod to modern technology as the thick painterly marks were mixed and blurred with different sized sections of pixelation. The varying pixel sizes also echoed the metallics that were mixed in with the collection which acted as a reference to van Gogh’s use of shimmering light in his paintings.

Images from Vogue.co.uk».



American Craftsmanship

There have been times in the past where a theme of hand crafts running through the collections can be a little too dowdy and kitsch. This time around at the New York Autumn/Winter 2011 shows, the American craftsmanship coming through is focused and comes in sophisticated colour combinations. Some of the looks seem to have stemmed from the colour blocking ideas of recent times but has morphed into an obsession with patchwork and a new confidence in throwing unexpected textile combinations together. It has also resulted in some amazing knitwear and textile patterns that seem to fall somewhere between pixels and tiny quilting squares.

Proenza Schouler, AW11.

Rodarte, AW11.

Catwalk images from Vogue.co.uk - ProenzaSchoeler and Rodarte.



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