A Case for Wearing Patchwork This Winter

A traditional crafting method once solely reserved for repairing threadbare clothing – or recycling scraps of surplus fabric – fashion is no stranger to adopting patchworking as its own, transforming it into a statement. Whether Yves Saint Laurent for his Spring/Summer 1969 collection or Marc Jacobs for Perry Ellis in the early 1990s, each utilised the technique to reference homespun, countercultural movements (for Saint Laurent, it was hippie, for Jacobs, grunge).

While patchwork has stuck around in the years since, waxing and waning with each passing trend, the A/W18 season proved it was back with a vengeance. It began with Raf Simons at Calvin Klein 205W39NYC, where the designer paid tribute to the great American quilt with accessories, chiffon dresses and coats nodding towards blankets crafted on the plains of the mid-west circa 1895. Stuart Vevers at Coach 1941 – another sartorial bastion of Americana – then followed suit, showing several iterations of shearling-trimmed outerwear incorporating tesselating textiles. 

Here, Chloe Grace Press and Chris Rhodes present some of the key patchwork pieces spotted on the runway. Including Simons’ embroidered opera-esque gloves, and an elegant ponyskin bag by Bottega Veneta, each makes a persuasive case for wearing it this winter. 

Make-up: Sandra Cooke at the Wall Group using Lord & Berry. Models: Rue Ingram at D1 Models. Casting: Svea Greichgauer at AM Casting. Set design: Amy Stickland at Webber. Manicure: Saffron Goddard using Le Vernis and La Crème Main by Chanel. Lighting: Emma Ercolani. Photographic assistant: Fuminori Homma. Styling assistants: Charis Lorraine and Benedetta Baruffi. Set-design assistant: Nienta Nixon. Production: Webber. Post-production: D-Touch Studio.

This story originally featured in the Autumn/Winter 2018 issue of AnOther Magazine which is on sale internationally now.