Merletto

We wanted to work with crochet cotton this year, so we did, no other reason than that. This piece started on the cutting table as a test of the fabric itself, cotton crochet stitched into panels wide enough to hold their own as an abaya.

The pattern is inspired by tilework our designer photographed years ago in a courtyard somewhere between Puglia and the Amalfi Coast: circles nested inside squares, repeating across the floor like a mosaic left out in the sun too long. We wanted that same rhythm running down the body, so the panels are cut to keep the motif whole rather than chopped up at the seams.