Fashion collection moodboards can be quite tricky things: the visual backbones of any designer's collection, they may lead to confusing presentations if they are too rich or end up displaying a lack of research when they are too poor. Yet looking at the moodboard for a yarn collection may be an entirely different and maybe slightly more complicated experience since you have to take into account various aspects at the same time.
"When it comes to yarns you have to consider their structure, colours, finished fabrics, or if you're doing yarns for men or womenswear or for both," Todd & Duncan's Creative Director Melissa Strong explains.
"Some people may think you can summarise things in a concise way, but usually inspiration comes from lots of different places and fields. This is also the nature of the time we're living in since we're used to receive a lot of visual stimuli from various places at the same time."
The Spring/Summer 2014 yarn collection by Loch Leven-based historical Scottish cashmere spinner Todd & Duncan is actually extremely rich when it come to inspirations, ideas and stimuli: its moodboard includes indeed the Bauhaus and Russian Constructivist artists Lyubov Popova and Aleksander Rodchenko; Denmark and Danish architecture, art and mythology; trendy Korea, the country that in the last six months has been ruling in terms of art, fashion and music icons, with colours and moods that go from the traditional Korean dress called Hanbok to fashion shoots from Korean Vogue.
Todd & Duncan's S/S 14 collection also includes three new products, Tweeddale, a summer tweed knop yarn, and two products from the T-shirt line - Cruise and Safari - in new weights and more relaxed looks.
"The mood and atmosphere are crucial elements that inspire the shapes and forms that you can create with those specific yarns," says Strong. "For what regards Todd & Duncan, we have two main important points to take into account, the colours we are working with and the way the yarns are then translated into knitwear."
Many of us may actually find it difficult to imagine how the graphic art and colourful abstract paintings of Popova, the images of Rodchenko and the style of the Bauhaus can be channelled into a “simple” yarn, but when you see the geometric patterns, stylised motifs, intarsias, jacquards, squares, rhomboid and rectangle shapes borrowed from typography and spirograph drawings, that can be created in a finished piece, you easily realise that even a yarn can be defined as “Constructivist”.
“Geometric and constructivist concepts can be applied to the actual structure of a yarn that can be approached also from an architectural point of view,” Strong states. “In the case of this collection, the Bauhaus and Constructivist references inspired not only the colours but also pointed me towards other influences such as Russian avant garde artist El Lissitzky who also travelled a lot and studied in Western Europe.”
In the drawings, cushions and swatches around the Todd & Duncan stand at Pitti Filati 72 there were indeed geometric elements that called to mind El Lissitzky's abstract, geometric paintings that he called Proun, embodiments of his will to inject into suprematism his passion for architecture and for three-dimensional spatial concepts.
Colour, volume, mass and rhythm are architectural elements that El Lissitzky - who became very influential on the Bauhaus and the Constructivist movement and, in later years, also on many graphic designers - included in his Proun works. But the dynamically visual code that characterised El Lissitzky's art also featured letters and symbols.
"Geometrical and futuristic forms are very relevant at the moment as we move and live in a very visual world,” Strong explains, “but I was also interested in typography, monograms and the graphic elements in the Constructivist artists and in the Bauhaus movement. Some of the political posters created by these artists had crisp and clear lettering and the contrast of colours was strikingly fascinating.”
Colours are key elements in Todd & Duncan's new collection: confident shades that go from dark to sensual, from sky blues to lime greens and lobster pinks prevail. “I love blues in general, some of them are borrowed from Danish landscapes and art, and I really enjoy the luminosity of some of the yarns,” Strong states.
“I wanted their names to be poppy so you get a bright yellow named 'Sunray', a zesty orange called 'Orange burst' and 'Strobe', an intense blue. These names inject a new life into a yarn and were inspired by the amazing lights, energy and movement that you may see at a music festival.”
A world leader in colour and product quality exporting cashmere yarns on a global basis to top fashion brands, couture houses, and international contemporary designers, Todd & Duncan marked another successful year. “It's interesting to see how while other markets may be going through tough times, yarn manufacturers and spinners seem to have a stable base of loyal clients,” says Strong. “Fashion designers work with cashmere at different times of the year, so there is always a demand for it, even in summer. Feedback at Pitti Filati 72 has been really positive, and that's also thanks to the new colours offering very versatile and exciting palette."
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