Those readers who saw Mike Leigh's 1999 film Topsy-Turvy may remember not only the plot, revolving around the relationship between W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan trying to work on a new opera, but also its rich and lavish costumes and sets.
After “Princess Ida”, the playwright and composer find themselves in a creative rut that puts their artistic partnership at risk. Mrs. Gilbert indirectly rescues them from the crisis when she convinces her husband to take her to an exhibition about Japanese arts and crafts.
Inspired by the exhibition and by a katana sword he purchases there, Gilbert comes up with a story set in Japan that, accompanied by music by Sullivan, turns into "The Mikado", one of the most successful operas by the duo.
The film features some great scenes based on historical incidents providing some insights into Victorian society and life, but also rich costumes by Lindy Hemming (Topsy-Turvy received the Academy Award for Best Costume Design and the Academy Award for Makeup).
The colours of the kimonos donned in one scene came back to my mind after seeing the colour palette for the “Hagi” 100% silk yarn from Hasegawa's A/W 2013-14 collection (second row, third from the left in the picture in this post).
Hasegawa's "Hagi" is a super thick yarn in tussah silk filament. The final yarn is composed of 240 original filaments and retains all the shiny and bulky consistency typical of tussah (if you're interested the Item Number is HKA1307; Catalogue Number: HC-70).
I found this connection interesting since usually it's easy to spot links between fashion collections and film costumes, but I don't think that a specific yarn/yarn collection ever made me think about a film. Guess that, from now on, I will have to start looking at yarns with a cinematic eye...
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