New York: Creative Textile Design

Every time there’s a print-related trade show in New York, I make every effort to go. This season’s no different and if you’re local, work in the business of prints + patterns and are curious about market influences for the coming year, I recommend popping into the Altman Building for the Direction Show by Indigo. As I weaved through the isles yesterday morning, a few things caught my eye. In no particular order, here goes:

1. Animal prints merged with lace
2. Cityscapes, windows and urban landscapes
3. Vibrant watercolors
4. Coral Coral Coral
5. Cute French conversational prints
6. Monochromatic metallics accents, gray + silver/gold + amber
7. Digital camo with stain glass effects
8. Ikat interpretations via embroidery, watercolor and embellishments

Today’s your last day to check out the floor and if you happen to swing by, do linger at the Garreau Designs, Fortier Price and Westcott Design tables, as their print libraries are wonderful.

April 14, 2010 | By: Shayna Kulik

Trend: Tribalizing Tanagrams

When was the last time you thought to yourself, bold and simple’s the way to go? Perhaps yesterday? Dusen Dusen, a new label by Brooklyn designer, Ellen Van Dusen was featured in a Daily Candy mail out this week, adding fuel to a quickly growing fire that graphic designers are embracing triangles, squares and circles again.

Whether the patterns are primal and bold, as exhibited by Dusen Dusen and Suki Cheema, or being used to manipulate text, as evident by Urban Outfitter‘s most recent logo design, one thing’s for sure, mismatched shapes aren’t going away anytime soon. Suki Cheema’s recently launched home collection was one of the best displays at this year’s gift show, and a breath of fresh air from endless aisles of Tory Burch-like geometrics. Using just a grid and creative geometry, designers are proving that primal can be interesting, so long as the shapes convey color and movement.

March 25, 2010 | By: Shayna Kulik

Trend: Texturizing the Pyramid

We’re all aware that pyramid studs have been around for a while. They’ve been paired with linen, leather, lace and nearly anything that can be punctured by tiny prongs. When it comes to trends, it’s always interesting to see each season’s new experiments and this year it appears as though designers are embracing the concept of 2D embellishments.

Designs ranging from crisp and shiny to textured and washed-out are being translated onto a wide range of materials. This Fenton necklace reminds us of the eclectic mix that can be applied when making spot graphics. If you’re going for an all-over effect, this Corto Moltedo Thunderbolt tie dye clutch is the perfect example of worn-in glam. If you’d like to keep things crisp and simple, this black denim all-over stud pattern from Paris is a reminder that polished edge is here to stay, be it bumpy or flat.

March 23, 2010 | By: Shayna Kulik

Fashion: Gemliners

Not long ago, AnOther Magazine released their Decade of Style issue. Celebrities from all walks of life donned the pages of this monumental influencer edition. Everyone from Santigold to Chloe Sevigny to Carine Roitfeld was photographed in shape-shifting pieces indicative of the past decade. One of the most memorable layouts captured Charlotte Gainsbourg in gem patterned underwear by Vivienne WestWood. Interestingly, the diamonds are framed with smaller diamonds, a trend that’s taken the wedding industry by storm over the past few years. Mimicing this design, these Sylva & Cie ring stacks remind me of Westwood’s linear print pattern. Be it 2D or 3D, gems are a designer’s best friend, particularly when edgy, beautiful, and styled with precision.

January 20, 2010 | By: Shayna Kulik

Artful Antfarms and Social Media

What do ants, art, fashion and social media have in common? We’ve been asking that very question ever since reading Noah Brier’s fascinating take on the power of colonization and it’s relation to the internet. The idea that “ants don’t really ever exist on their own, all their power comes from their ability to organize themselves in groups,” directly parallels social media’s impact online, particularly in relation to traffic, viral marketing and cross pollination.

The use of ant farms to contextualize larger societal microcosms have been popping up in every media form, from literal depictions in Mad Men to more abstract print parallels, such as this Hermès map of Paris. Toying with the idea of national identity and cross pollination, Japanese artist, Yukinori Yanagi brilliantly displays the world through the eyes of the ant in his 1990 installation entitled, The World Flag Ant Farm. Using a series of interconnected boxes, each filled with colored sand in the pattern of a national flag, Yanagi releases a colony of ants into the system, allowing them to travel freely. “The border crossings” result in an intermingling of color throughout the system, a stunning visualization of our cross-cultural networks. Bringing this concept to the masses on a more playful scale, Stine Gam and Enrico Fratesi merge ant farm living with brocade wallpaper patterns, proving mass mobilization can create tangible and beautiful results.

By: Shayna Kulik

November 14, 2009 | By: Shayna Kulik

Fashion: The New Face of Lace

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There’s true intrigue when it comes to lace. Delicate and dainty, it both conceals and reveals. While we’re all accustomed to seeing its multitude of personalities in fashion, home goods and accessories, reoccurring ties to privacy and obscured visibility have been a constant theme over the past few seasons, making us wonder if everyone’s watching Eyes Wide Shut all over again.

The editors at Dazed and Confused are continuing to manipulate eyes in sadistically interesting layouts just as designers are racing to reinterpret them into tactile accessories. This Karl Lagerfeld tote is brilliantly inaccessible and proves our point with it’s € 1500.00 price tag.

Uma Thurman’s styling on the May ‘09 NY Times Magazine cover adds a layer of intrigue just as the geometric lace pattern on these Urban Outfitter curtains convey feelings of graphic obscurity. Pulling from past influences, Aperture’s Weegee Spoofs the New Spring Hats spread by Michael Caccaro provides a playful window into the world of advertising and photography in 1957. Fast forward 52 years and Jean Paul Gaultier has created his own interpretation of hooded mystery.

Bringing beauty back to the forefront, this delicate Shu Uemura portrait paired alongside this seductive Dazed spread, reveals the ease with which we can jump mediums and industries, proving sexy or sweet, lace is truly a gatekeeper.

Coverage by: Emily Gup, Kelsey-Lee LeGassick and Shayna Kulik

October 20, 2009 | By: Shayna Kulik