Louise Armstrup SS 10

Danish born Louise Armstrup studied with Alexander McQueen before starting her own line in 2006. For her Spring/Summer 10 collection shown at London fashion week, the prints and cuts were inspired by shattered mirrors and a surrealist perspective. Everything about this line is so futuristically now, and the McQueen influence is evident but not overbearing. This type of mirrored, psychedelic print direction is something near and dear to Pattern People, and we've been working on some new prints in this vein that we're super excited about! Sneak previews coming soon!

Spring 10: African Prints

Issey Miyake, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Givenchy, Eley Kishimoto, Suno
African prints have been trending for a few years now, and seem to be gaining steam with heavy hitters like Marc Jacobs, Givenchy and Eley Kishimoto using them generously in their Spring 10 collections. Lively mixed prints, jagged organic shapes, batiks, and colorful messy stripes are all looking playful and fun right now. Take a look at some more inspirational textiles on the Pattern People blog.

Pantone for your iPhone

Has everyone seen the new Pantone app for iPhone? It's called myPANTONE, and marries the power of the iPhone with the inspiration of PANTONE Color Palettes, enabling designers to be creative whenever inspiration strikes them. Providing a digital, portable design studio and essential color tools at their fingertips, myPANTONE gives designers the freedom to access PANTONE Colors anywhere, without the need to be in their office or carry around cumbersome guides. For more information go to http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/pantone.aspx?pg=20698&ca=10.

Umbro Contest Winners

Umbro has unveiled the finalists for their competition to customise the sole on a pair of "Specialis." Although many of their choices seem dated and/or bizarre, above are ones we thought were pretty nice. Take a look at the other finalists on the Umbro blog.

Spring 10: Japan Fashion Week: Geos

Mint Designs, Matohu, Mint Designs, Matohu, Tiny Dinosaur

Matohu
Japan fashion week is a sea of inspiration. Geos from Matohu and others look new but familiar, and the cuts and drapes are impeccable.

Spring 10: Japan Fashion Week: Florals

Somarta, Yuma Koshino, Dress 33, Yuki Torii, Somarta
Japan's fashion week looked to be on a caliber all its' own. Beautiful prints, gorgeous cuts, and soft sillouhettes dominated. Giant head adornments were prevalent as well. The florals seen above seemed to tie back to the floral trends happening all over. Cabbage roses, soft smudgy textures, and ditsies.

Spring 10: Tie Dye

Cynthia Rowley, L.A.M.B, Blumarine, Helmut Lang, Lela Rose, Ports 1961
Tie dye and dip dye are all the rage right now, on runways and in retail, and luckily it's easy to reproduce the look at home. I've been doing some dip dying and "twist" dying myself, with a jar of black rit and some Hanes t-shirts. Check out photos and instructions from my last tie dye session on Pattern People's blog. --Claudia

INTERIORS: Panic Lobby

Print: Pattern People. Interior: Holst, Osmose. photo: Chris Hodney
For the lobby inside of Portland-based software company, Panic, we created a pattern which was initially based on a persian rug. On close inspection, you can see that the entire rug is drawn by hand, and incorporates a story personal to Panic. There are hamburgers and chips, alluding to the staff's love of late-night snacking, an original Mac computer, as a symbol of the company's dedication to Mac software, and a few of our takes on their logos. We worked with Andee Hess of Osmose Design to bring this to fruition, and it was a daunting but fun project indeed!