must be the season of the horseshoe cable stitch


must be the season of the horseshoe cable stitch
Photo: Belstaff advert spread Vogue, September 2012 

Even Clare Waight Keller has included this stitch in her S/S 2013 collection for Chloe, what did ecomodista do with that spread? While it may be more exciting to work in Paris, I loved the innovative knits she designed for the venerable Pringle label. Chloé was founded by Gaby Aghion in 1952, and was the first to produce luxury prêt-à-porter in the 1950's. Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney and Phoebe Philo have designed for Chloé over the past 2 decades. Waight Keller designed a cream sweater with small horseshoe cables, and another beautiful sweater this season, is knit with a heavy marled wool, in a zig zag basket weave stitch on the chunky bodice.  


Photograph: Waight Keller for Chloé no horseshoe cable here...

Belstaff, began producing technical sports wear for pilots and motorycyclists at Stoke-on-Trent, England in 1924. Founders Eli Belovitch and Harry Grosberg developed a waxed cotton among other textiles while their leather jackets were popularized by iconoclastic actor, Steve McQueen and legendary revolutionary, Che Guevara. Guevara wore the Trialmaster jacket on his motorcycle journey in Latin America (see the film, The Motorcycle Diaries http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318462/) Waxed cotton is no longer in evidence, at least in their advert spread in Vogue's September issue. Instead models loll about in sleek leather jackets and sumptuously chunky cashmere sweaters, especially the most stunning pullover with one massive horseshoe cable centered and running up each sleeve. 

Belstaff created the jacket worn by Leonardo DiCaprio in "The Aviator." Their jackets have also appeared in "Ocean's Twelve," and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." American, Martin Cooper, Belstaff's chief creative director finds immerses himself in the company's archives, and having worked at Burberry prior to this position, he understands the allure of British heritage. "I did rediscover the brand through the archive, those iconic garments from the twenties onwards," he says. "I wanted a holistic approach for both sexes, and 80 percent of the concepts are the same for the men's and womenswear."
Photo: Belstaff advert spread Vogue, September 2012 

Where oh where could one find such chunky cashmere wool? Perhaps Rowan's Big Wool, except ecomodista has a problem with it losing its loft in hand laundering, and although she recently threw a Marni cardigan into the dryer for 5 minutes to "firm it up," it's doubtful that Big Wool would do anything other than drastically shrink given such treatment.





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