Milan Fashion Week knitwear round-up

Milan fashion week is over and Paris kicks off today. Obviously I'm extremely excited to see what some of my favourite designers are going put out (Celine, Stella McCartney and Isabel Marant, to name a few). 

But first, here are a selection of my favourite knits sent down the catwalk by the Italian contingent over the last few days. Designers, top to bottom: MSGM, Trussardi, Salvatore Ferragamo, Emilio Pucci, Jil Sander, Roberto Cavalli, Tods, Sportmax, Etro, Stella Jean, Gucci, MaxMara and Les Copains.

It's Fashion Revolution Day

Today is Fashion Revolution Day. Be responsible, ask where your clothes are made, who made them and how. 

On 24th April last year, 1133 people were killed and over 2500 were injured when the Rana Plaza factory collapsed in Dhaka in Bangladesh.  

When we started Amy Hall in 2010 it was a reaction against mass production and disposable fashion. We wanted to create a brand that championed and produced high quality, handmade, beautiful knitwear that would last a lifetime. Four years on we still have the same values and feel even more strongly than ever about responsible production and consumption. 

Feature in the Times' Eureka magazine

Both the Sycamore beanie and Hazel wristwarmers have made an appearance in Eureka magazine today as part of their fashion feature.

Yohji Yamamoto: superstar

The other week I went to the V&A to see the Yohji Yamamoto exhibition. It was a gorgeous sunny day and I was on my bike, so I was already feeling pretty excited and inspired.

I can't get enough of Japanese fashion. I think some of the most innovative and fearless stuff in the industry comes from them - and the Belgians of course. Yamamoto in particular uses the most amazing pattern cutting, as well as having some beautiful lookbooks going back over the last few years (of course it does help when you're working with photographers like Nick Knight and Paolo Roversi). The few knitwear pieces they had on display were fluid, super soft and mixed varying textures. There was also a dress that I would kill for - black crepe with buttons running down the sides from top to bottom. If anyone knows where I can get my hands on that, I would be pretty damn happy!

As usual I walked away full of ideas of what to do next. S/S has already taken on a direction of it's own, but I'm fairly sure you'll see some of Yamamoto's influence creeping in there somewhere...

[Images taken from the V&A website]

Inspiration

I went to the Future Beauty exhibition at the Barbican yesterday and it sent my brain into a frenzy. The shapes and texture and unashamed use of almost architectural structure in the garments is so typical of Japanese fashion and has given me hundreds of ideas for the next collection.

It's definitely a must-see, so go and check it out.

[Image taken from Barbican website]