It’s getting a bit scarfy at the moment in London. Has that entered the Urban Dictionary yet? I think it should do so that we can all discuss things in terms of how ‘scarfy’ the situation is. E.g. “It’s frickin’ cold here… me thinks it’s time to get scarfy!” or “Argh….a stash of vintage Hermès silk has just landed from my mum. Let’s get scarfy!!!”
Alright, the last one is hardly going to happen with my own mum (actually, I’ve already raided her entire wardrobe…). Still, let’s get scarfy on the vocabulary agenda, yeah? Liberty can surely get in on the act as they’ve just hosted their Season of Scarves fortnight with peeps like Christopher Kane and Richard Nicoll dropping in and Vogue’s Sarah Harris doing scarf styling as well as scarf monogramming. Then there will be scarfing activity this week in from East London to West when Hermès pops-up with their ‘J'Aime Mon Carré’ stores in Shoreditch and then Notting Hill (Matt Irwin’s photos for the project are sort of amazing when paired with the instructional scarf-styling cards…).
I’m kicking off the week with a super scarfy find that is about the most exhuberant thing I’ve seen in a while. Testament to this, I saw Lousada Heyhoe’s scarves in Paris in October and semi-hunted her down to see what it is that made her put together these patterns that are part traditional, part familiar with inventive colour combinations and motifs given a ‘twist’ – basically, a whole lot of JOY compacted into a 90 x 90 cm silk square (cashmere, silk cotton too…). I couldn’t articulate exactly WHY I Lousada Heyhoe’s patterns instantly caught my eye so I went to her house instead to try and find the reason.
Lousada is in fact the designer, Alison Heyhoe’s married name. After graduating from Brighton, Alison has spent years as a print designer freelancing for the likes of Cacharel and Clements Ribeiro (who she still works for now…) and for two seasons has struck out on her own as Lousada Heyhoe, wanting to express the ideas she has had bubbling in her head on her own terms.
Resisting the ugly urge to get all house-jealous over her LOVELY abode, we headed up to her loft-space studio where her accumulation of books, inspiration images and textiles go some way in explaining the unique mix which culminates in her work. These artefacts travel around the world, through different cultures, artistic/craft-based techniques and all the references come together along with her own take on colour combinations, which she describes as ‘odd’ but to me are instant eye-candy. On top of that are the embroidery, beading and embellishment work that picks out parts of the designs and goes beyond the duty of a simple silk scarf and on a practical level weights down the scarf so you can jauntily tie it around your neck without it backfiring onto your face.
Phyllis Galembo's photographs of African/Carribean masked costumes… one to add to the XMas list…
Alison's textiles collection unravels in her studio in both neat folded piles as well as enticing scraps draped around…
I loved her wall of 'randoms' – her children's paintings, postcards… the bits and bobs that I have a two bulging bags of but no wall space to tack them up onto…
Alison was in the process of painting a few designs that she may scan into Illustrator later as she likes to combine freehand processes with the digital…
Me thinks I prefer a pretty blackboard to list out 'Films to Watch' as opposed to a Netflix queue…
You might recognise these prints from Clements Ribeiro S/S 11 collection which had a beautiful floral pattern with a gradiated peach-to-white background…
Then these are the scarves themseleves from the new S/S 11 collection, the ones which caught my eye inexplicably. After a good nose-around her studio, I don't think I've found a finite answer to why Alison's patterns on a scarf are so damn enticing, making me want to own one of her pieces and make IT the centrepiece of an outfit as opposed to using a scarf as an afterthought accessory. Perhaps I don't need one because patterns like these just sort of hit you and little cartoonish hearts start hovering over your eyes. I have however been enlightened to Alison's processes that leave me excited as to what Lousada Heyhoe brings.
Pattern overload! And Lanvin print caught my attention. There is not much else to say other than that I love here investment in textiles.
I can’t wait too touch them! Scarfy may not make the urban dictionary, but it might by spring
Well, it’s time to get scarfy in Dublin, it’s freezing! Beautiful patterns!
Love this post – amazings! Also, loved the images especially the collage second half of the post x
AMEI TUDO !!!
http://www.ilovenystyle.blogspot.com
some of them really look like that they were made for to lay on a table :-p
but most of them are B E A U T I F U L!!!
hopefully not just for girls 😉
Loved this post, so timeous! Was in Liberty this weekend and spent over an hour in the scarf section as they have some beautiful silk scarves on sale. Noticed they also had the buckles so you can tie your scarf to the slits and create a different belt out of your silk scarves… have asked santa to put one in my stocking… with maybe a etro scarf if he feels generous! love your blog Miss Bubble. http://www.fashioninfidelity.com
How do I get one of these?!?!
Scarves are by far my favourite accessory pieces and these are simply gorgeous.
I love every single one!
Gorgeous prints!!
I love the collage you made, now I’m gonna go dig around and find my old printed scarves…
Wow!! What an AMAZING post! Thanks so much for sharing…all the prints and colors are so very inspiring!
http://www.scubaduval.blogspot.com
Yes, London is so friggin’ scarfy and I love it!
yum! all those patterns smashed together I love layering on the patterns sooo much! Suno is my hero
winnsomesmile.blogspot.com
Love this post – am currently working in an accessories buying dept – so have an unhealthy obsession with scarves! Definitely up for getting scarfy this autumn 🙂
…ps check out the blog
http://www.becomingraje.blogspot.com/