”I THOUGHT EPAULETS WERE TOO HEAVY HANDED FOR TOWER, BUT FOR SPRING I AM JUST LEANING INTO EPAULETS UNABASHEDLY. THE EPAULET AS A SYMBOL OF AUTHORITY AND TRUST- LIKE AN EMPEROR OR AN AIRLINE PILOT. OR A CAR RENTAL MANAGER.” -RICK OWENS  

SWISS-BORN, LONDON-BASED DESIGNER LUCAS MORETTI @LUCAS____MORETTI GRADUATED FROM THE MA FASHION DESIGN PROGRAM AT CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS IN 2025.

HIS PRACTICE IS CENTERED AROUND A SIGNATURE MACRAMÉ TECHNIQUE THAT HE DEVELOPED AND REFINED OVER SEVERAL YEARS, TRANSFORMING TRADITIONAL KNOTTING METHODS INTO COMPLEX STRUCTURES THAT EXIST BETWEEN TEXTILE, OBJECT AND GARMENT.

”MY RESEARCH ON MACRAMÉ INITIALLY STARTED AS A STUDY ON THE CRAVING FOR A SENSE OF BELONGING. LOOKING INTO MY CULTURAL BACKGROUND - ITS ARTS AND CRAFTS - I STUMBLED UPON MANY BOOKS ABOUT MACRAMÉ. I WAS  INTRIGUED BY THE TECHNIQUE OF IT, THE FACT THAT IT WAS ALL HAND-MADE AND HOW, THROUGH KNOTS, YOU COULD CREATE PATTERNS, VOLUMES AND ALMOST WHOLE FABRICS. THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING THIS TECHNIQUE HAS BEEN VERY INTUITIVE.-I EXPERIMENTED UNTIL I FOUND SOMETHING I FELT RESONATED WITH ME. MACRAMÉ HAS NOW BECAME A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF MY IDENTITY AS A DESIGNER, IT SPEAKS ABOUT MYSELF, MY ANCESTORS AND WHERE I COME FROM. IT’S A WAY FOR ME TO FEEL CONNECTED TO MY HERITAGE THROUGH MY CRAFT.” -LUCAS MORETTI

”EXTENDING THINGS BEYOND THE NORM IS EXTRAVAGANT AND OPULENT AND SUGGESTS ASPIRATION.  I USUALLY HAVE THINGS DRAG, TOO, WHICH MIGHT SUGGEST COLLAPSE AS WELL.” -RICK OWENS

EACH MASK AND TOWER GOWN IS CREATED ENTIRELY THROUGH HAND-KNOTTED CONSTRUCTION AND REQUIRE 3000-4000 METERS OF WAXED CORD AND UP TO SIXTY MEDITATIVE HOURS TO COMPLETE.  

”LUCAS’S ARTISANAL PROCESS APPEALED TO ME - LIKE BRUTALIST LACEMAKING. I DIDN’T THINK OF THE MASKS AS MENACING… IN THOSE SOFT COLORS THEY FELT LIKE GRACEFUL ART DECO TASSELS…..” -RICK OWENS

”THE ORIGINAL IDEA OF THE MASKS CAME FROM RICK HIMSELF. THERE IS A RAWNESS, AN ALMOST BRUTAL APPROACH TO RICK’S WORK THAT ALIGNED PERFECTLY WITH THE TECHNIQUE ITSELF. IN MY WORK RESIDES A SENSE OF SENSUALITY THAT THE MOVEMENT OF THE MASK REPRODUCES. I WANTED TO ALLOW THE PIECES TO FUNCTION AS A HEAD ARMOR, BRUTAL YET SOFT, PROTECTIVE BUT INTIMATE.” -LUCAS MORETTI

OUR BOILED WOOL AND WOOL WHIPCORD DEVELOPED FOR THIS COLLECTION ORIGINATE FROM THE TEXTILE DISTRICT OF PRATO, TUSCANY, AN AREA HISTORICALLY SHAPED BY WOOL MANUFACTURING AND MATERIAL EXPERIMENTATION.

ROOTED IN A LONG-STANDING TEXTILE TRADITION, THE MILL PRESERVES THE TACTILE RICHNESS AND STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF WOOL WHILE MAINTAINING A CLOSELY INTEGRATED LOCAL SUPPLY CHAIN.
PARTICULAR ATTENTION IS GIVEN TO RESPONSIBLE MANUFACTURING PRACTICES, WITH A FOCUS ON THE LONGEVITY OF MATERIALS, THE OPTIMIZATION OF RESOURCES AND THE PRESERVATION OF SPECIALIZED CRAFTSMANSHIP. THE RESULTING FABRICS BALANCE DENSITY AND SOFTNESS, PROVIDING THE SCULPTURAL QUALITIES REQUIRED FOR THE COLLECTION WHILE MAINTAINING THE AUTHENTICITY OF THEIR ORIGIN.

”THE TOWER OF LIGHT PRINT IS THE GLAMOROUS FLASH OF A COSMIC BENEVOLENT STAR” -RICK OWENS

”I AM ALWAYS LOOKING FOR NEW WAYS TO FRAME AND DISPLAY THE FACE.  THE COWL WAS JUST ANOTHER VERSION OF A RUFFED COLLAR FROM A VAN DYCK PAINTING - OR BOWIE ON THE COVER OF LOW, OR DRACULA.” -RICK OWENS

TANYA ROMANO IS @SARUTANYA, BORN IN BELARUS AND ADOPTED IN NAPLES AT 11 YEARS OLD, TANYA WAS INTRODUCED TO CROCHET IN CHILDHOOD - A CRAFT THAT WAS WIDELY PRACTICED IN THE ORPHANAGE WHERE SHE GREW UP.

IN 2020, DURING THE COVID-19 LOCKDOWN AND THE RESTRICTIONS THAT ACCOMPANIED IT, SHE UNEXPECTEDLY REDISCOVERED A CROCHET HOOK. WHAT BEGAN AS A SIMPLE PASTIME TO COPE WITH THE ISOLATION OF THAT PERIOD QUICKLY EVOLVED INTO A GENUINE PASSION, EVENTUALLY BECOMING HER PROFESSION.

DEDICATION, ATTENTION TO DETAILS, AND EXCEPTIONAL PRECISION ARE THREE ESSENTIAL QUALITIES REQUIRED BY THIS CRAFT. DESPITE THIS, TANYA DESCRIBES CROCHET AS A DEEPLY MEDITATIVE AND RELAXING ACTIVITY THAT HELPS HER TO CLEAR HER MIND AND FOCUS ENTIRELY ON THE CREATIVE GESTURE AND THE MAKING PROCESS ITSELF.

HER AESTHETIC HAS BEEN INEVITABLY SHAPED BY THE TEN YEARS SHE SPENT WORKING WITH RICK OWENS, AN EXPERIENCE THAT PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN DEFINING HER VISUAL LANGUAGE. AT THE SAME TIME, HER CREATIVE RESEARCH IS DRIVEN BY A CONSTANT OBSERVATION OF THE WORLD AROUND HER.

”I SEE THESE COLLABS AS A WAY TO MEET NEW PEOPLE AND ASK THEM TO PLAY WITH ME. A ONE-MAN-SHOW CAN GET A BIT STALE AND IF IT CAN BOOST SOME YOUNG FREAKS TO GET STRONGER, THAT’S A LOVELY THING.  THERE ALSO MIGHT BE A BIT OF A PATERNAL URGE AT WORK HERE.” -RICK OWENS

”JULIA HAD INTERNED WITH US IN THE FABRIC DEPARTMENT - I NEEDED A FIT MODEL ONE DAY AND ENDED UP DOING FITTINGS WITH HER FOR A WHILE.  I KNEW WE HAD COMMON INTERESTS AND I KEPT UP WITH HER AFTER SHE LEFT - I WAS HAPPY TO SEE I COULD ASK HER TO ADD SOMETHING TO THE COLLECTION.” -RICK OWENS

ORIGINALLY FROM ESTONIA AND NOW BASED IN PARIS, JULIA TROFIMOVA COMBINES A BACKGROUND IN FASHION DESIGN, WITH A TEXTILE PRACTICE CENTERED ON LARGE-SCALE HAND-TUFTED “YARN PAINTINGS.” HER WORK EXPLORES TEXTURE, MOVEMENT AND MATERIAL TRANSFORMATION THROUGH LAYERED SURFACES AND TACTILE EXPERIMENTATION.

HER CONNECTION WITH RICK OWENS DATES BACK TO HER TIME AT THE OWENSCORP FACTORY IN CONCORDIA, WHERE SHE WORKED WITHIN THE MATERIALS AND RESEARCH DEPARTMENT. AFTER LEAVING TO FOCUS ON HER ARTISTIC PRACTICE, THE RELATIONSHIP CONTINUED, EVENTUALLY LEADING TO A COLLABORATION WHEN OWENS RECOGNIZED THE POTENTIAL DIALOGUE BETWEEN HER TEXTILE WORKS AND HIS GARMENTS.

THE PIECES DRAW INSPIRATION FROM THE IDEA OF A GLOB: A DENSE ORGANIC MASS IN MOTION THAT STRETCHES, DRIPS AND TRANSFORMS FROM ONE TEXTURE INTO ANOTHER. THROUGH HAND-TUFTING AND THE APPLICATION OF SILK-CASHMERE YARNS, THE WORKS EVOLVED THROUGH AN INTUITIVE PROCESS GUIDED BY THE BEHAVIOR OF THE FIBERS AND THE PHYSICAL MANIPULATION OF THE MATERIALS.

THE COLLABORATION REFLECTS A SHARED INTEREST IN EXPERIMENTATION, MATERIAL RESEARCH AND TRANSFORMATION, BRINGING THE TROFIMOVA’S TEXTILE LANGUAGE INTO THE COLLECTION THROUGH GARMENTS THAT EXTEND HER WORK INTO A NEW CONTEXT.

YOU CAN SEE MORE OF JULIA’S WORK BY VISITING HER WEBSITE HERE (WEBSITE WWW.JULIA-TROFIMOVA.COM )

THIS MEDIUM WEIGHT MELANGE WOOL HAS A SOFT HAND-FEEL. THE PARTICULAR MELANGE EFFECT IS ACHIEVED BY BLENDING TWO COLORS OF HIGH-TWISTED SLUB YARNS.