You knew it was coming, didn’t you? The night of this show, Michaela and I both received a wacky text from our friend Nicholas (who was seated front row). His question: “How can I make this?”

Last season’s fashion fake was the Fauxdarte (which I’m still working on — the move got in the way), but for AW10, I guarantee that it will be the Maison Martin Margiela cable knit…thing. Is it a sweater? Is it a poncho? Is it jewelry? Who knows. It’s a Margiela concept, and that’s all that matters at the end of the day. Given some gumption and huge needles and some Cascade Magnum, it’s also criminally easy to recreate. You can bet we’ll get started on that right away…meaning after we finish up what we’re both working on. But if you see a tall, greyhound lean boy with fantastic hair working this in Chinatown, that means that Nicholas got to it first. Or possibly ordered the Margiela.

A.F. Vandevorst is a label I appreciate academically. It’s yet another small label that offers similar products to other small labels, only with its own edge. That’s what you get when you’re into black drapey things. Each maker of black drapey things has their own agenda which appeals to different people in different ways. A.F. Vandevorst is pretty uniquely Belgian, which creates its own flavor separate from Scandinavia, France, etc. I’m not sure how to put my finger on it, but I like it.

The backstage collection shots on Garbage Dress last week didn’t show any of the knits. Zana tends to focus on wovens, tailoring, leather and accessories, which makes sense because they’re the things she wears and makes. When the collection ran on Coûte this morning, however, I was really excited by what I saw. Except for the item above. Do click through to see the collection. The trenches are absolutely fantastic and the draped charmeuse combined with harder pieces is truly beautiful, as is the color(!). Of course, for me the standouts are the knits, and that’s where I have a couple of things to say. Especially in regard to the garment shown above.

With this particular garment there is a complete construction fail that should not have been sent down the runway. This may have happened with the other knits, but they’re disguised or camouflaged by the styling. Here, it just didn’t work.  What am I seeing? A garment that should be absoultely smashing that looks like amateur knitwear design. Could it be a handknit? (Actually, yes, it might be.) Or is this bad programming for a knit-in-one reminiscent of the Margiela sweatercoat from two years ago that was a construction disaster for anyone who knows about knitwear? What I’m looking at specifically is the collar. On the left, where the zipper is set, the knit is pulling badly making a seam that should be invisible obvious. It’s not helped by a slight gauge problem (the knit equivalent of putting combining a 110 weight wool with a 120 in the same color and hoping that no one will notice). If you follow the collar around the opposite side, the seam and gauge issue is even more pronounced, which makes the collar look bulky and distorted, when it should hang, stretch, and flow freely like the other draped pieces. Without seeing the garment in person, I don’t have a whole lot of information about how it’s constructed, but to me it looks like a handknit or a programmed production knit was approached like a woven, rather than a jersey. Judging by the drape on this garment and the way in which front of the garment and neck are linked with the back, the body, collar and back should have been knit as one piece with set-in sleeves. Instead there are multiple seams and some weird ribbing that fills in the gap at the shoulder. I’d love to see the back, and my cynicism suggests that they’re might be yet another unneeded seam or graft. Granted, attacking a garment of this size and structural complexity (even in its simplicity) creates a situation in which there would be holds and short-rows, but the break that makes this possible for a handknit or a machine is the fact that there’s a zipper. I’d really like to be able to look at this garment, spread it out, and figure it out. This is a gorgeous collection and this garment is truly the weakest link. From a design perspective, this is the most minimal — and arguably the strongest — knit piece, but the execution and construction just sort of cut it off at the knees, which is disappointing.

OK, so technically this is a break from knits for covetous discussion. And do trust that there are some things in the works that are more about what we’re doing and some things that we’ve seen. It’s just busy over here.

At any rate, this piece is a preview from KTZ’s AW10 line. They do menswear and womenswear. It’s all vaguely (vaguely, who am I kidding?), scratch that, totally reminiscent of Eurotrash clubwear. It’s so Eurotrashy that I hear Belgian New Beat. Is premium activewear. (If you get that one, you get a dollar…it involves Eugene Hutz being really louche in a tracksuit.) That being said, a lot of KTZ’s menswear shapes are pretty edgy. Fashionisto described them as “challenging.” I’m inclined to agree, because a lot of their shapes are a deathwish by daylight unless you can work it with complete insouciance. Also, in general, they’re not looks I find particularly attractive…but wait! Their nylon outerwear — this piece in particular — is to die for. It’s all heavily reminiscent of Norma Kamali’s infamous sleeping bag coats, one of which I have and have and have almost literally worn the tail off of. I want this KTZ coat and don’t even care that it’s menswear and probably too big.

I leave you with some Miss Nicky Trax from 1988.

Oh James Long, how I love you. I’m thinking handknit. I’m thinking single-ply silk blend. It doesn’t look quite heavy enough for spun silk. I’m also thinking “gorgeous.” I’m also thinking a twisted rib wouldn’t have opened up quite as much on the bottom ribbing. See the collection at Coûte. There are marled yarns, mohair and…chenille!…something that looks like sheared chinchilla.

Knit leather. Knit jersey scrap. Horse hair. Bones. Metal. Nicomede Talavera, BA candidate, Central St. Martin’s. See the collection at Coûte que Coûte. It’s worth the click, even if you’re weirded out by this stuff. This collection is so much more mature, polished and less…well…girly than the SS10 collection.

Yes, womenswear (via Kingdom of Style)! Slovenian born Nika Radnik has shown her niOka line since 2008. Ms. Radnik sums up her line as follows:

niOka’s conceptual design is inspired by ‘the ugly and boring side of life’… niOka observes the insignificant details, mainly overlooked by others. In niOka’s world the lead story revolves around the colours and the patterns, upgraded by shapes. niOka’s design is defined as pompous minimalism, combining avant-garde simplicity with artistic craftsmanship, tender provocation and timelessness.

The AW10 collection, inspired by “(in)visible scars, emotional or physical, that can mark us forever,” featured wool knits, digital printing and saturated color with deconstructed shapes and tons of volume. Though Radnik describes her style as avant-garde, in this collection I see heavy play of art deco. This makes me happy. As do sweater coats. I’d wear everything in this collection.

Oh, Sibling. You cheeky kids, you. I can’t wait to see more, and really can’t believe that I missed the preview on Dazed last month. “Scary fair isle” indeed. (Photos from Fashion 156.)

If I was inclined to write a big sappy love letter to a designer right now, it would be to Asger Juel Larsen. Late last fall I talked a little about his 09 collection which included a host of handknit rubber pieces that totally wrecked his hands. This fall, hes got knitted elastic, quilted leather, polyvinylchloride, and this thing above that Ash Stymest is working. It’s like an underivative, unholy hybrid of Gareth Pugh’s slashed knits and the massive neckpieces from Lanvin’s AW09 collection. What’s more is that it works. The AW10 collection includes 20 pieces, which I assume are individually constructed by him (hopefully fueled by Joy Division). It’s presented in part at Fashionisto and via Fashion 156.

So why the love letter? Larsen has produced two effortless-looking, yet bleeding edge collections that incorporate fashion foundations — tailoring and utter exploitation of materials and their properties — and his atelier website is on blogspot. (I’m a fan.) He’s pushing the envelope with knits, incorporating hand and machine knits that utilize non-traditional materials to bend the properties of the textile normally created with those techniques. (Super stretch, super strength, super hero). If this is futureshock, I like it. Also, the current collection referenced Julie Taymor’s Titus. (Beat that with a stick.)

The Grand Cotton Festival was held 1938-1941 and again in 1946 after World War II to showcase the area’s textile manufacturing industry and to celebrate the emergence from the Great Depression.

From Craftzine (via Vonelle).