Style Notes

Spring/Summer 2013 will open its doors to very fine, semitransparent knits that might seem stiff, but are actually – and unexpectedly – light and supple. The yarns are flowing, but textured and even raw, sometimes with a deluxe core emphasized by high-tech touches. The hands are dry, ever ready to surprise with fresh touches created by special twists and there are heat-treated crêpe yarns with a truly extra-dry feel. Fine cottons mean fine gauges and luxury; smooth cotton crêpes with a tense freshness give lightweight knits a crinkly, semitransparent look. New special effects: the yarns are compressed and flattened to the point of becoming ribbons, then they swell and fill. Delicate, matte elasticized viscose, soft cashmere cottons with a cool, coated hand, in ribbon-yarns that generate new surface effects. And…printed, slippery, compact viscose yarns that are as feminine as organza and as shiny as the moon’s reflections on a pond.
Viscose: the season’s headliner
Make way for viscose, the timeless vegetable fiber that breaks down seasonal barriers and is so versatile that it can play any role. Viscose can move in opposite worlds, with its shiny fibers that created unusual plays of light and shadow and volumes. From the ultra-fine shiny nylon/viscose blend that creates embossed surface effects and airy plissés to fluid viscose with dégradé colors, to embroidered viscose that astounds with brilliant transparencies. Stretch viscose yarns overturn standards of perfection and function as they cling to the body. Knits follow the figure’s curves for constant comfort, as if they were custom made for the season’s rounded, clinging shapes. And finally, the skin-like shiny elasticized viscose is the ideal material for a glamorous and exotic on-the-beach look.

The evening’s sparkling spirit
The evening lights up with the glamour of yarns that sparkle like stardust. Very fine cotton and lurex blends hypnotize with their metallic sheen, glimmering lurex in every possible shade, shining two-color cotton and asymmetrical lurex intertwine in innovative yarns to create sparkling illusions. Infinitely fine, impalpable gauges play games with iridescent, sfumato, mother-of-pearl and chameleon-like effects.
A luminous palette that adds sparkling effects to a natural base
Nature, with her perfect atmosphere is the inspiration. Incredible yarns capture reflected light. Sunrays reflected off leaves or paving stones warm colors to create soft nuances that are perfect companions to all shades of blue softened by a hint of yellow. Or they bounce off the earth creating fuller shades. Circles of light on water generate glimmering, colorful chiaroscuro reflections. Light, fresh tones blend into one another, with shaded liquid effects that recall Japanese watercolors.
Mix & Match and neo-experimentalism
It’s a creative spirit that ventures into the world of free and fanciful interpretations characterized by style and taste: thick and thin, flat and embossed, pure and sophisticated. And if nature, with her integrity and contradictions is always the main model, the mixtures open the path to an innovative range of plant and tech-natural yarns that take full advantage of the fibers’ intrinsic features. The qualities of pure fibers are enhanced by the tech effects of the manmade: fine-gauge linen blends discover a new linearity and when combined with printed cottons they create unique chromatic effects. Combining genuine raw linen with cotton creates crisp, embossed surfaces. Wool and cotton team up with viscose in yarns with an intriguing feel, and slightly textured surfaces that play games with full-and-empty or shantung-like shiny-matte effects. Nylon gives added sheen to cotton tape yarns; when used on special looms, ultrafine lurex can create metallic knops and all sorts of special effects on the finished garments.

The names in excellence at this edition of Pitti Filati include:
Filartex - The Filartex slogan is "Yarns Every Wear". Under the management of Mauro and Paolo Bonadei, the firm that was established at Palazzolo sull’Oglio in 1958 makes 3,000 types of yarn based on 35 different raw materials – alone or in blends: cotton – wool – linen – hemp - cashmere - coolmax - thermolite - Lycra - Xstatic (silver fiber) just to list a few that they transform into smooth, shot, corespun, mélange, twist, spiraled, raw and colored yarns. Filartex is the only company in Italy that makes yarns in Sea Island Cotton, the world’s finest cotton; Puros is the Filartex 100% cashmere made with innovative industrial processes; and Tricot-Jeans is a denim yarn for knitwear.

Filivivi – From the raw material to the finished product, Filivivi is a totally integrated organization that manufactures in-house. This means that it can monitor the entire production process and guarantee quality and service. Filivivi product quality is based on the careful selection of raw materials and the company’s years of experience in working with natural fibers such as fine merinos wool and luxurious cashmere.

Filmar - Filmar manufactures and sells superior quality cotton yarns with a distinctive Made in Italy flair. Since 1958 the company has been devoting resources, research and passion to ennobling the finest variety of this truly ancient fiber: 100% Egypt cotton. The quality begins with the Egyptian cotton growers from whom they buy the raw material. The Excellence line offers the finest of all 100% Egypt cottons such as Karnak Menoufi and ELS 45; outstanding workmanship produces the shining-mercerized Flare, the Rouches crepe yarn, the multistrand twisted Wiri, the superfine Thin and the elasticized Comfort series – once again all made from 100% Egypt cotton for those who know how to appreciate textile quality.

Hasegawa – Straight from the Land of the Rising Sun, the Hasegawa Corporation is the leading manufacturer and seller of silk yarns, offering extremely high quality levels and a very specialized product.

IAFIL - Industria Ambrosiana Filati - Carefully selected raw materials; technologically advanced spinning systems; environmentally correct dyeing processes that enhance the fibers’ natural characteristics. Iafil produces ELS (Extra Long Staple) cotton yarns in gauges ranging from Ne 3 to Ne 180. The company puts strong emphasis on Sea Island Cotton, with its unique and very long fibers; this cotton is grown solely in the Caribbean – the British West Indies to be exact – with its ideal climate. Suvin Els Cotton is a harmonious blend of Sea Island and Sujata Cotton: this very rare cotton from India has extremely thin fibers that generate yarns with an extraordinarily soft and silky feel. Iafil complements its specialties with some of the world’s finest natural fibers: Cotton Cashmere and Alpaca.

Monticolor – Monticolor applies the same principles to dyed and raw yarns: quality, research, careful selection of raw materials, outstanding production processes and service for a market that demands full in-stock availability. The firm focuses on Biocolor, a biological cotton and more…a natural yarn project for ecological-ethical fashions and a contribution to the environment evolves into a philosophy – a sustainable biological product from the seed to the finished garment. Rieco is an eco-innovative yarn made entirely from reusable materials that are regenerated to the fiber state and put back into the textile manufacturing cycle. And there is more: Riciclo – the line of PET-based yarns made from recycled plastic bottles, USA Cotton and Bamboo.
And, in the Fashion at Work Area:
Cmykol - Webcolor Italia s.r.l. was established in 2009 with a specific concept in mind: to create the first 360° color portal on the web. Its users are the professionals who demand total color precision in the their fields: stylists, architects, interior designers, graphic artists, color technicians. The goal is the utmost in technology, in quality control, in color standards and classifications. In quality control and technology Cmykol works with X-Rite the world leader in hardware and software, for color standards and classification with partners such as Munsell; and mainly as official Pantone distributors.
Nastrificio Fiorentino - A full range of accessories and a continuously developing product offer that is fueled by the company’s unceasing research. The new products that enrich the base collections year after year are what make the Nastrificio Fiorentino offer the most dynamic there is on both the domestic and international markets.
Stylesight – Stylesight – a special feature in the Fashion at Work area – is the leading supplier of technology and global contents to style, fashion and design professionals. By combining futuristic visions of trends and in-depth analyses in its online worksite, the Stylesight multilingual website was designed to help analyze and anticipate what is happening on the continuously changing market. Stylesight has offices in New York, London and Hong Kong.

The Spazio Ricerca is always interesting, but this time Angelo Figus and Nicola Miller pulled out all the stops with FUTURAL. This was a clear message about the solid, honest values of the countryside. The non-conceptual layout of a line of mannequins flanked by tractors was perfectly in tune with the current demand for simple, re-assuring and genuine stories. Particularly appealing to me was what Nicola Miller referred to as “a sweet return to beginnings in the kind of things you learn first, but forget later about knitwear – pretty flower patterns and intarsia”. I also liked the fact that Pitti had teamed up with New Holland Agriculture, part of Fiat Industrial Group, underlining the importance of cross-fertilisation and the fact that fashion cannot exist in isolation but needs to cross ideas with partners in very different fields of industry. T4000 tractors and farmworkers decked out in the latest yarns? Brilliant!

The show answered a lot of questions about colour for me. With the shops full of orange and yellow brights, I wanted to find out what was happening next. Brights still continue but Lanificio dell’Olivo showed me a new possibility by combining fluo brights with ecru and neutrals in intimate blends of yarn dyed linen/polyester or cotton/nylon. The company still believes in gold, but with oxidysed versions becoming more important. Meanwhile Fausto Caletti, consultant at Iafil, with its Pimafil Stock Service of 150 colours, had a new turn of expression for the season when he said, “we were moving from bright colour blocking to multi-colour!”. Meanwhile, Cariaggi, the top-end cashmere specialist with a reputation for colour expertise, backed up by an unrivalled stock service, confirmed the importance of pastels - something no one else was showing, but I believe hugely important for next summer.

There are complaints that the High Street has become boring, merchandise to basic and everything cloned. Pitti confirmed that Italian creativity is as great as ever and if there is any lack of new ideas, it is because knitwear manufacturers and retailers, especially in today’s tight economic conditions, are afraid of the new and lack the necessary courage to take risks with creativity. No surprises amongst the fibres. What was interesting was the confident proposal of cotton (after all the ups and downs in raw material costs), the amount of summer cashmere blends with cotton, silk and linen on show, and the strong presence of viscose and stretch viscose. The novelty of the season lay in the use of twist yarns for crêpe and frisé effects, the amount of intimate blending to create new colour effects, and the continuing importance of light and lustrous effects from mother-of-pearl iridescence to glints of gold. On the economic front, this Pitti reaffirmed Italy’s commitment to a textile future. The country’s spinners have been decimated in the last 10 years, but Alessandro Bastagli, the new president of Lineapiu Italia Spa, confirmed the company had not only survived but was 5 per cent up on budget and that morale was high while continued investment in technology meant Filclass could offer qualities that once cost €20 for €16 per kilo. Last but not least, there’s always the art! Zegna Baruffa Lane Borgosesia, beautifully situated at the entrance to the show displayed its precious fibre yarns in a series of natural coloured exquisitely executed, retro swimsuits knitted up by Alessandro Meregalli. The attention to detail and the brilliant crafting of stitch details was almost worth the trip to Florence alone. A timely reminder that a work of beauty lasts forever!
I was not sure that I needed to come to Pitti Filati 70. I was wrong: I did!