With an obvious eye for detail Kit Willow develops beautiful, original prints each season, looking to intriguing and unusual textures for inspiration; including human hair, wild zebra mohawks, eroded underwater rocks, sea sponges, hessian, and vintage weaves. Perceiving fashion as “art commercialised”, each of her collections have a strong conceptual focus, with print playing an important role.
Willow’s Fall 2011 collection, ‘Urban Rider’, was an exploration of the formality of dressage horse riding. As an ode to her subjects, her prints were created from a macro shot of woven horsehair prepared in three colourways; teal, black and fawn. With the help of digital printing technologies, the result was a detailed checked-style print that captured the flayed texture of strands of microscopic horsehair woven over each other.
Her Resort 2012 lookbook has just been released with prints taken from vintage woven fabrics in neutral colour tones, along with a beautiful coral version. Cut in familiar Willow-style sharply tailored jackets, draped skirts, bustier tops and printed canvas shoes, with suprising splashes of apple green.
Willow Resort 2012, with prints inspired by vintage woven fabrics
Willow Fall 2011 ‘Urban Rider’; macro woven horsehair prints
Willow Spring 2011 ‘Untamed Wisdom’; prints taken from zebra’s mohawk and human hair
Willow Resort 2011; prints inspired by shells
Willow Spring 2010; prints inspired by sea sponges and eroded underwater rocks with pearly button embellishment
