Photo by KT Auleta, courtesy of Elle Magazine

I love that this Fall’s fashion is celebrating the hand made with more knit and crochet garments appearing on runways. But the newest line from Christopher Kane just doesn’t cut it for me. This article on Elle talks about how he is “taking the grandma out of crochet.” I thought that we had been taking the grandmother out of knitting and crocheting for years, but apparently not. C. Kane has done it for us and now crochet “suddenly got cool.” Ick.  This skirt, for example, is made from two giant granny squares sewn together on the side seams. Lesley, our resident crochet expert, reports that she knows for a fact that the same square appeared on the Hard Times horse about a year ago. (and she would probably know about that little incident…) I guess the Hard Times horse is very fashion forward..spotting a trend a full year before this designer.  It would take even a novice crocheter about 60 minutes to make this, and I am not even sure that this one uses a natural fibre yarn. It is a great deal at $1,300. I would happily make this custom for anyone who wants it for $1,300. I will even use a high quality merino. Could it at least be made of several smaller squares? Could it involve a better color palate? Throw me a bone?

Then his collection goes a step further. If it were the late 90′s and I was still in college, I might write a piece about how postmodern this one on the right is…a photo of a crocheted skirt on a skirt – something distinctly .hmm…. At least it is leather and not vinyl. But still. Why? It sells at Neiman Marcus for $2,555. Again, I would be happy to replicate for a REAL crochet skirt for that price, should someone want it.

So then take a look at the newest pattern from Spud and Chloe…a company whose primary mission is NOT fashion. But certainly, fashion plays a huge part in their work. The Seeing Stars Blanket is classic yet modern, full of mod colors, and unique in that it isn’t simply squares. The pieces are hexagons. I love it. I would totally wear a skirt made of these little dudes. I still wouldn’t pay $1,300 for it…but I would consider wearing it. Thank you Lindsay Ingram and Spud and Chloe for bringing us some true fashion

Seeing Stars pattern available at the shop