over the undies: Digital Prints

Showing posts with label Digital Prints. Show all posts

Natural Wonder

I first came across Serial Cultura a year ago, and was immediately taken in by the dynamic prints and fluid cuts. Each season, designer Jennifer Jennings creates a new batch of lovingly hand-painted patterns, which are then digital printed onto the fabrics. I love the combination of old world craftsmanship with modern day technology, and both processes serve to infuse each print with wildly varied colors, which work perfectly with the flowing and organically draped silhouettes. This season, Jennings was inspired by natural topography, aerial views of landscapes, and elements of the environment. These subjects have been abstracted beyond recognition, but still can be felt in the rich hues, which echo minerals and rocks, as well as the sky at sunset. As if the garments weren't hypnotizing enough, they're also made from organic and sustainable fabrics.

-Tiffany

Like It's Your Birthday

All photos by Rob Sheppard

I found out today that my toddler nephew Charlie has taken to rejecting the outfit choices laid out for him by his Mom, sending back his practical playground attire, and demanding "Happy Birthday clothes." I can only assume he's referring to the more formal outfits he wears for Birthdays. Who can blame him for wanting to dress like it's his birthday everyday? If I had to dress like it was my birthday everyday, Belle Sauvage might be a good option. Designers Christian Neuman and Virginia Ferreira consistently present collection of riotous colors and clashing prints, in unconventional silhouettes and shapes. This season, the collection took a romantic twist, with plenty of cascading digital print florals and rococo elements mixed with tufts of tulle and floor length hemlines. I think Charlie would approve.

-Tiffany

Good Vibrations

If I wrote down a checklist of all the things that I currently obsess over in fashion, Timo Weiland's Spring collection would somehow manage to hit a fair amount of them all at once. It has a decidedly feminine side, with plenty of flouncy, pretty dresses, yet also has an edgy tomboy feel that comes in the form of cropped sweaters, bandana printed jackets, and mesh tops. Add to this a set of colorful prints, and you have a collection that I was essentially in love with at first sight. While Weiland and his partner Alan Eckstein worked with digital prints, rather than printing sleek and photo-realistic images on fabric, they chose to do a clever reworking of classic fusty florals, spiked with a technicolor twist. The Timo Weiland florals are giant lilypads, or coastal florals flecked with little birds, and you can almost feel the sea breeze drifting off of the garments. On one strikingly adorable dress, a layer of printed sheer chiffon dances over cotton fabric in the same print, creating a dreamy and semi-hallucinogenic effect. I feel like Langley School's cover of Good Vibrations serves as the perfect soundtrack, encapsulating the ethereal and coastal cool that is built into these clothes.

-Tiffany

Rust to Rust

An evening dress printed with the image of a rust covered steel wall. All lookbook photos by Julia Chesky.

I always look forward to seeing Jonathan Cohen's new collection every season, and finding out what completely random item or material he managed to transmogrify into an incredible print. For Spring 2012, he started with an image of a rusted over steel wall, and then slowly built off of that theme of gentle decay with images of rusted bike gears and a set of ivy covered lockers. None of these things are immediately recognizable until they are explained, and a small nail head or the handle of a locker is spotted amongst the otherwise abstract looking image. Even though the fabrics are digitally printed photographs, they have been manipulated to have a washed-out, painterly effect, rather than the uber-realistic feel of most digital prints. The painterly effect of the digital print pieces were also mirrored in a hand-painted leather dress, which mimicked the photograph of the ivy covered lockers. In the lookbook photographs it is hard to distinguish which is the painted version, and which is the printed one, and the entire collection plays around with these faded perceptual boundaries.

The hand painted leather dress.

This print is a photograph of a rusted over bike gear.

-Tiffany

Hyères --> New York

Michael Kampe's amazing digital print parka. I know someone who would look amazing in this...

This afternoon, Brandon and I stopped by the Premiere Vision textile show with the intent of taking a look at the newest textiles and materials available for clothing and accessories design. I came out rather disappointed as a jewelry designer, as there wasn't much that I could use, but I did appreciate the fact that they had some of the designs from the Hyères Festival finalists on display. I've read and heard much about the famous design festival, but have never been, nor have I ever seen any of the pieces in person. While they did not allow photographs to be taken of Festival winner Celine Meteil's designs, I actually found that I preferred the work of a couple of the other designers who were displayed. My absolute favorite was a digital print structural Men's parka designed by Michael Kampe that would look perfect on the gay hubby. Wish I could lift it for him, but alas, it was too bulky to stuff under my skirt. I was also obsessed with Emilie Meldem's cage dress, that was constructed from leather straps and linen petals. I can't help but think it was made with Susie Bubble in mind.

A close-up of the digital print

Emilie Meldem's cagey dress

Maryam Kordbachen

Juliette Alleaume & Marie Vial

Oda Pausma

-Tiffany

Rorschach Mania

My favorite dress from the collection, featuring a Rorschach inspired digital print.

This past Friday, I was invited to stop by the Sachin + Babi Resort lookbook shoot, to get a glimpse of the new collection, and take some backstage photos of the pieces up close. Husband and wife design team Sachin Ahluwalia and Babi Ahluwalia have a long and storied history in the textile design industry. Both Sachin and Babi grew up in families involved with the textile industry in their home country of India, and then ended up meeting while studying Textile Design at F.I.T. They first started their textile company, ANK, in 1996, providing fabrics to legendary fashion houses like Oscar De La Renta, YSL, and Derek Lam, before launching their luxury home line, ANKASA in 2004. In 2008, the couple launched their ready-to-wear line, and the clothes heavily feature their background in textiles. Each garment is made from their custom prints and fabrics, and often feature three or four contrasting fabrics mixed together.

This season, Sachin + Babi drew inspiration from Rorschach test ink splatters, starting with a distorted digital print of the original ink splatters rendered in a rainbow burst, which was meant to have the appearance of a modernized Ikat print. They also laser-cut the ink-splatter silhouette into the fabric, and created leather ink-splatter cut-outs, which they applied to their bags and accessories. My favorite pieces however were the jewels of course, and I totally fell for the giant collars made out of metal cutout Rorschach splotches.