Knitwear: Chanel to Westwood
The show was
based on the collection of Mark and Cleo Butterfield and was just as
interesting as a show about a collection as about knitwear. The earliest works
were from the late Victoria period with two lovely knitted men’s waistcoats
which could still be worn now.
The show was
beautifully arranged with dated and themed displays in wooden crates creating
little scenes. I love the fact that one figure had broken out of its crate and
was sitting on the top as this just broke up the regularity of the display. I
also liked the mix of designer wear and homemade.
I loved the crate
on Second World War make do and mend as my mother had helped at those evenings
as a child carrying round a box of samples of work on a ribbon round her neck
to show the audience. There were fun colourful jumpers made of all sorts of ends
of wool.
I also liked the
crate called “Artistic afternoons” which showed that knitted designs, being
made up of square stitches, are inherently cubist. This was all very Virginia
Woolf in style.
Upstairs I was
amused at the 1980s jumpers and thinking about what design trends I am been
unwittingly influenced by!
Comments