Fendi, SS14, Milan.
In an era where designer collections are increasingly copied, textile innovation and signature textile designs become an important way for designers to separate their own work from the imitations.
At the Fendi collection for Spring-Summer 2014 a wide variety of textiles were on display with beautiful examples of laser cut layering, intricate fur appliqués, and brocades woven with custom designs. These textile ideas were worked into a variety of silhouettes and fabrications using a vibrant colour palette of scarlet and cobalt over graphic black, white and a soft grey.
It is interesting to consider the ways that the sheer layering was used in the collection. At times strong rich colours flowed to pastel tints, while at other times the same fabric was layered on itself to create varying depth of colour, or to simply create subtle textural effects.
What appears to be velvet flocking in the collection actually appears to be tiny cut patches of shaved fur that have been meticulously applied onto a sheer backing fabric.
A careful balance has also been struck between the fabrications and the use of angles in the collection. For example, the gradients of colour become less romantic when edged with a raw zig zag shaped hem, and rich brocades are rippled like a circuit board. The use of storm trooper style panels and leather facets also play into the hands of the designer when they can be used to absorb the body shaping that would otherwise require a dart or seam line.
Images from Vogue.co.uk»
Detail image from Style.com»