KNITWEAR: Chanel to Westwood

Any excuse to go to the Fashion and Textile Museum and I'm there! Yesterday I saw the museum's 'KNITWEAR Chanel to Westwood' exhibition. I was curious to see the wide variations of how wool can create different looking textures and I was shocked by what knitwear can actually achieve!  As a Julien Macdonald fan, I was impressed to see a metallic blue number on display which I had previously drawn when Shakira wore it to a red carpet event. I was wowed when I took a closer look and on inspection noticed just how much of it had been knitted. 

The exhibition consisted of a number of over-sized, wooden-looking boxes which contained different themed knitwear, the categories were:

A functional art

Stylish everyday

Les sportives

Chic crochet

Make do and mend

Artistic afternoons

Fashionable folk

The fair isle

Crotchet your way

Knit American style

Cocktail hour

The future starts here

1980s excess

Animal rainbow

Designing the 1970s

The novelty factor

A new era

My favourite display was 'Cocktail hour' as it comprised of some stunning, heavily embellished jumpers and dresses. The 1950s welcomed the embellished jumper and I must say, it looks stunning. I was amazed at the 'Les sportives' collection as I can't quite understand why a knitted swimming costume was either practical or thought of! One swimming costume in particular looked very much like Lycra and I was amazed that it had actually been knitted. On the second floor there was a Julien Macdonald display which featured about five or so garments designed by Macdonald, and they were all so amazing. Not only did they look complex and a work of art, but the fact they had all been knitted really made them look impressive.

Overall, KNITWEAR Chanel to Westwood was another successful exhibition curated by the Fashion and Textile Museum and I was pleased I went to see it. My only criticism was the lack of ambiance, having been to the previous Bellville Sassoon exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum, I was impressed by the stunning decor and film clips to compliment the exhibition which KNITWEAR Chanel to Westwood seemed to lack.