Brocade - the new it material

Beginning in September, the history books will be dusted off as fashion has decided to borrow one of the 15th century's primary materials. Conceived by the Chinese, developed by the Byzantines, and brought to its peak by the Genoese weavers, brocade fabric might be in the process of recovering a bit if its former glory thanks to Balmain and Etro.

For most of us, this rich, gold-thread fabric known as brocade was more associated with the luxurious wall hangings of another era than with a material susceptible to resurfacing in prêt-a-porter. During the Italian renaissance period, the members of the court would wear brocade, but due to the fabric's heavy weight, it was relagated to being a prestigious furniture covering beginning in the 17th century.

Brocade in its original state may have lost ground in the clothing domain, but new techniques requiring less precious metals gave birth to a lighter version around 1800, enabling the "spirit" of brocade to endure in fashion. It was nevertheless surprising to see one of today's fashion world princes become infatuated with brocade, which had seemingly lost its place in prêt-a-porter.

Having been bit by the baroque bug, Christophe Decarnin set out to bring this technique back to life, embroidering gold thread into the majority of the pants, body-conscious dresses and jackets of his last show. Balmain's creative director might have seen in brocade a new way to treat the idea of glitter so dear to him.

It remains to be seen if the current baroque tendencies will succeed in cohabitating with the 70s mood previewed for the new season. By the way, the full regalia Balmain bell-bottoms may find their perfect expression only the slim legs of Emmanuelle Alt, but a pair of Etro low boots would perfectly dress up a pair of denim flares.