Color Palette #Olive

Natural Light

One important thing to consider during the garment production process is how a final product will look in natural light.

Earlier in the year, we held a staff meeting by the northern Italian Lago Di Garda. Our team consciously gathered outside on the patio when finalizing the fabric colors for the new collection, in order to see how certain colors would change appearance in natural light.

In another similar episode whilst visiting a Florentine atelier, we were in search for a very particular olive green; a well-balanced color to become the inspiration source for one of our future products. We turned off all room lights and opened every single curtain, then proceeded to lay out forty or so, vintage and archive pieces across the floor for study. The various depths and nuances in the fabric colors immediately became clear to everyone in the room. Under fluorescent light these differences were so slight that it was almost impossible to discern.

At first I didn't have a thorough understanding of it either. But as I continued to observe fabrics in different lighting situations, I began to feel that natural light somehow allowed products to be viewed in a more honest way.

These days, whether at home or at my atelier, I try to not use artificial lighting as much as possible. I don't want to miss the hidden textures and color palettes that may be found in the most unassuming places.

Visvim

Supreme X Toshio Maeda

Born in 1953, Toshio Maeda is erotic manga artist who was prolific in the 80s and 90s. In 1986, he created his infamous work, Urotsukidoji: Lengend of the overfiend establishing him as the pioneer of the genre known as Hentai.

This Fall Supreme will be releasing a collection of items featuring original artwork by Toshio Maeda. The collection consists of a Coaches Jacket, Zip-Up Sweatshirt, Long Sleeve T-Shirt, two Short Sleeve T-Shirts, and a pillow.

Product Introspection: Limonta Nylon

Limonta

There is a city located in the proximity of where the European Alps begin. Como, located in the north of Italy is home to textile manufacturing company that weaves some of the most beautiful fabrics in the world.

Packed inside a massive warehouse with high ceilings are rows of racks that stand so tall they seem to almost touch the roof. This storage facility stores all the fabrics that have been produced here since the 1860's. Every piece of fabric has been archived and stored in 1 meter pieces. They are carefully managed and tagged with a serial number. Several thousand Jacquard patterns can be found. Even the original sketches that inspired those fabrics have been carefully preserved here. This vast archive is truly an unbelievable collection making the place seem like a museum for fabric.

The fabrics woven on wooden looms over 100 years ago have a rich feel where each piece is unique and possess a warmth to it thanks to the subtle touch of each individual craftsman. It is impossible to recreate this feeling with modern day machinery. A craftsman from today shared their thoughts though by saying, "It is not our intention to recreate fabrics that were hand woven from 100 years ago, but rather to take the newest machinery and technology to create new fabrics that feel no less than what the craftsman from 100 years before was making."

- Hiroki Nakamura

Developer Interview

Developed for visvim, there are two main technical detail highlights for Naycer Light and Naycer Ultralight IRRDY.

Basically, the research for developing these new materials was inspired by Hiroki's particular interest towards a traditional satin-weave nylon textile we created; Naycer, which revisits the elegant mood of '90s couture evening shoes and handbags, but updated for modern casual fashion. Our goal and focus was to achieve a fabric that could be powerful in colors, similar to original silk yet simpler for use with everyday products. This led us to intentionally making the surface of the satin looked used and aged naturally, almost like a dancer's pretty shoes had she worn them daily for training routine.

Hiroki had asked us to make a lighter version of the fabric, with the possibility to be overdyed in order to increase an unevenness effect for his garment designs. After discussing with my team, we identified a lighter yarn could be used in the weft of the satin; and in order to create a duller color effect, we would use an irregular gluing treatment of the nylon to vary the water absorption capacity of the yarns during the dyeing process. The machines involved are normally used to make flocked yarn, however we were instead using them to apply the glue treatment at a variable speed - (this was a really crazy process!).

Our dyeing team was then instructed to use a specific ink originally for raw silk purposely without any adjustment-balancing solutions, whilst the yarn was free to move and ply on the machine. This operation produced different dyed strengths of color; each and every meter of fabric unique in its own.

In my opinion it is obvious that this process could only be used by a designer with specific vision and ability. Today the majority of the garment industry could not possibly use such an irregular product for their design, given their obsession to control every detail of the manufacturing process; using robots instead of human intelligence.

- Celestino (Limonta: Visvim's fabric development supervisor)

Visvim

Dance

이루마

Product Introspection: Hollow Fiber

We are constantly rethinking the inherent functionality and textures of natural materials, and invest significant efforts into pushing the boundaries for how these materials can be used. There is, however, a certain uniqueness to synthetic fibers as well. Gore-Tex, with its long-lasting waterproofing and insulation properties, is a synthetic material I am particularly fond of; I've been incorporating it into my designs ever since I first started my apparel collection. Of course, as a synthetic coating, Gore-Tex is most compatible with other highly stable, synthetic materials. With this in mind, we collaborated with a fabric maker based in Ishikawa, Japan to develop a 100% synthetic fabric for one of our new coats that mimicked the look and texture of a natural textile. We called this resulting fabric 'hollow fiber' fabric. As the name suggests, this fabric is composed of hollowed out, tubular fibers, and is laminated with Gore-Tex. Even in a 3-layer construction, it maintains exceptional comfort and lightness.

In order to mitigate against future deterioration, we decided to undergo the painstakingly difficult process of lining an entire coat with vegetable-tanned sheepskin. The removable sleeve detail was inspired by an old flight jacket I found during my travels.

The main material for this coat is also made from 'hollow fiber' fabric, and despite being lined in sheepskin, is surprisingly light and comfortable. The nylon fabric has a natural handfeel and still retains its water-repellant qualities.

*Hollow Fiber

This material is made from yarns with hollow fibers. Hollowing out the fibers reduces the weight of the yarn by approximately 40%. Using fabric made from hollowed fibers eliminates the need for a stiff, bulky silhouette typically characteristic of heavy outerwear. The garment is shaped through an additional processing technique, resulting in a lightweight, cotton-like piece that is actually 100% synthetic nylon.

Visvim

Product Introspection: Wool Fabrics

Wool Fabrics

NIKKE is a venerable Japanese textile maker founded in 1896, with whom we worked together with in developing wool fabrics for visvim products. We spoke with the development supervisor of our fabrics, during a visit to their archive room, which houses an extensive collection of textile swatches dating back to 1860.

Melton

It started with an early 1900's hunting jacket found in London; attracted to the strong energy exuded in its highly compressed wool fabric, an idea was inspired to create something with similar charm.

After consulting with fabric makers around the world, we discovered that manufacturing a fabric with such a high-density level is something rarely seen in the industry today. At long last, we met NIKKE, a long established Japanese textile maker, specializing in woolen yarns and fabrics.

They had developed a double woven material for us; repeating the process of shrinking and dry decatizing the fabric in order to rid it of any wrinkles from the shrinkage. A lot of time and effort went into making this extremely dense, velour-like melton. The shrinking and compressing process in particular requires the masterful touch of experienced artisans.

This compressed woolen fabric is both water and cold resistant; a thick, high-performance material that even with the edges left roughly cut, maintains a refined and classic appearance.

Mohair

We developed this mixed wool fabric for the inner layer of our liner jacket, introduced in FW15-16. In order to recreate that textured, dry feel of a worn-in material, varying hues of mohair were specifically blended with an original filament yarn, and finally woven so that the pile heights were all random. The look and feel of this fabrics has a true vintage spirit, and the insulation properties are exceptional.

Survival Cloth

NIKKE has over 100 years of experience manufacturing military uniforms, and in particular a wool serge survival cloth used for the Japanese Army.

We scoured their vast archive for a pattern resembling the envisioned design- no small feat, as the archives contain fabric swatches dating back to the Taisho Period (1912-1926).

It wasn't enough to simply create a durable fabric that could withstand oppressive conditions; the fabric also had to have an aesthetic quality that would work with our new designs.

Utilizing and sharing respective years of accumulated knowledge, we were able to develop a dry fabric with ample body and weight, successful in representing our original concept in mind.

Visvim

Warcraft: The Beginning II

Warcraft: The Beginning

Warcraft: The Beginning I

Warcraft: The Beginning 2016

Duncan Jones, Travis Fimmel, Ben Foster, Paula Patton