The aesthetic and textural richness of these stunning embellishments from Mary Katranzou's A/W 14-5 show earlier this month totally threw me. Everything about them makes me want to touch. They're like fashion microcosms that are in fact only a tiny part of the whole look - and that whole look is just as visually delicious as you'd expect. Moving away from the CAD work of the digital prints which were so highly praised in Katranzou's work before, these intricately crafted 3D elements collage together with a variety of tactile fabrics. Yet this seemingly traditional hark back to tangible design techniques only makes me think how she will oppose such an approach in her next collection.
Perhaps it's because I'm surrounded y it because of my job, but the natural progression I see for Katranzou in the future is the 3D printing of such elements. Although this suggestion appears to undermine the hand-crafted, unique, non-digital aim of this beautiful collection, I can't help but to be slightly jarred by the disjointed variety of processes involved in the outfits that were walked. To me, it seems obvious that the complex, custom-made laces involved in some of the looks might be developed in the next few months via 3D print technology. These laces could be made not only to match an original aesthetic, but could be produced in an original material.
The textural chain mail certainly makes the critical first step towards options for 3D print progression in her work. I'm very much looking forward to seeing her work develop - and whether 3D printing is involved or not, I'm convinced that Katrantzou will continue to maintain the alternating technical aspect to her work.
