I may have spoken too soon. Apparently I hadn’t entirely given up hope for the Pre-fall 2013 collections, and this late entry by one of my perennial faves, See by Chloé, somehow caught me by surprise. There are tons of non-knit looks I am over the moon for (particularly this one), but I also really love the detailing on these two sweaters — looks #24 and #15.
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Yes, I said two-thousand-eleven. The pre-fall 2013 collections have mostly just bored me to tears. If I had to pick a favorite look from it all, it would be this prissy uptown ensemble turned into logowear, from Allesandro Dell’Aqua at No. 21. (I love the shape of that pullover. And ohhh, camel.) But that look — and all the boredom — made me nostalgic for Dell’Aqua’s pre-fall 2011 collection, which I never tire of looking at. And since it predates this blog, here you go! What I loved about this collection was the truly odd — but totally brilliant — color palette, (and the print, and the parkas, and the gloves, and those bizarre fringed tights!,) and all the simple sweaters dropped into these eccentric-elegant ensembles. I still want to redo my entire wardrobe in these colors, including the knitting of multiple ultra-boxy short-sleeved pullovers to wear with narrow pants in Dell’Acqua-ish prints. I mean, don’t you?
Hopefully this will tide us over until the Fall 2013 clothes start walking down the runway … very, very soon.
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OK, it’s neither. I haven’t seen the best yet, hopefully, and Karl Lagerfeld’s latest Chanel collection is my pick for worst. (A crime against knitwear, if you ask me.) (Not that anyone did.) But I can’t decide whether I love or hate this Stella McCartney peacock-blue bouclé sweater. I’ve been trying to think what breed of Muppet my friend Leigh would class it as (Leigh?), and yet I love the proportion, and it’s weirdly compelling with those amazing pants. Makes you wonder what it would be like to knit an entire sweater in loop stitch.
What do you think — thumbs up or down on this one?
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Speaking of Carven, Guillaume Henry’s Pre-fall 2013 collection is the first to make my heart race a little bit. And not just for the sweaters, but yes, the sweaters. There are a couple of great black cabled beauties. But I have to tell you, the only thing I love as much as a great sweater is a great jacket — and this collection pairs beautifully colored, hand-knit, mohair turtlenecks with jackets I’d kill for. That sweater on the right has me especially curious. The cuff is a different color than the neck, and it looks like there may be some colorwork on the front. So I’ll be watching for images of the sweater on its own in late summer. (Also, may I please have this dress?)
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Thus far, I gotta say, the pre-fall collections have been generally pretty underwhelming, and shockingly short on knitwear. Thankfully, there’s Thakoon Addition, routinely one of the best sources of inspiring knits. I love this series of sweaters — two with their subtle geometric fields of yarnover holes on the yoke, and three with the leather touches. And while I would never wear those knitted sweatpants in public,* after running around SF in the rain all day Saturday without an umbrella, I would have loved to have had them to come home to.
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*I have a strict policy against any clothing that gets saggy in the butt over the course of the day. Never a good look.
That incredibly great Chloé sweater from the Fall 2012 collection can now be yours — for just $1560 at Net-A-Porter. Of course, if you had the good sense to become a knitter, you can make your own version for a fraction of the price.
Start with a chunky turtleneck pattern, such as Forester, by Michele Wang — knit a size with little to no ease, skip the waist shaping if there is any, and adjust the length to hit you mid-hip. Consult a stitch dictionary or favorite cable-sweater chart and incorporate the stitch pattern of your choosing between the neck and bust-line. (Or start with something like this cabled-yoke Norah Gaughan pattern, knitting full sleeves and again omitting the waist shaping, adjusting the calculations to a chunkier gauge.) Then hold multiple strands of yarn together throughout. The Chloe sweater is 4 strands: mint, baby blue, and pale pink, plus a cobweb mohair in what looks like a golden yellow? For the lower extremes of the body and arms, it’s three strands of just the pink. Forester is designed to be knit with two strands of worsted-weight yarn, so you could simply pick two and then switch to one for the solid sections. Or choose a fingering or lace-weight yarn that would give you the correct gauge when held together as more than two strands. Or, of course, stick to one color. Here’s an all gray, raglan, upper-cables-only turtleneck to die for. (No idea whose work it is.*)
Bonus: Your version needn’t be 10% polyester.
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*Update 11.12.12: Found it — Sunghee Bang FW2012
I’ve been enjoying the slightly kooky knits at A Détacher the past few seasons, but from the Spring 2013 collection I seriously love these two loosely ruched sweaters — one being a cardigan over patterned shorts, and the other being the upper half of a nouveau onesie.
Which reminds me: We saw a beautiful ruched baby blanket at Stitches Midwest that I wanted to do as a rectangular wrap: Baby Babar, it’s called. Now I’m imagining some combination of these ideas …
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