Leutton Postle offers up truly wearable works of art. They love to experiment with knitwear and push the boundaries of both hand and machine knits to create unique and colorful textiles.
Designing collections together for three years, Sam Leutton and Jenny Postle first met at Central St. Martin's in London, where they earned undergraduate degrees in fashion design and graduate degrees in textiles and knits.
The first three pieces shown here are from their SS12 collection. Isn't this a great look? I love the layers of textures and patterns and styles that all hold together.
Even though the pieces are made using domestic knitting machines, the work is painstaking, because the yarns are hand threaded into the machines.
Here's how Leutton describes the knitting process in an Idol Magazine interview: "The beauty of machines is that you couldn’t do what we do by hand, it would be impossible to get the variety of yarns or the same finish. Although this is the simplest of knitting machines it still takes several weeks to make a dress."
The hand-crafted elements include the beading and tassels.
The pieces below are from the 2012 Autumn/Winter collection.
Some of their ground breaking techniques draw from Leutton's six-month stay in China, where he learned new technical methods by working for a German company that manufactures innovative knitwear.
Let's hope that Leutton and Postle continue their unique work using small scale manufacturing. They seem to place a lot of value on craft. It would be great if they continue in that mode and not water down their work for the sake of becoming a big brand. Time will tell.
You can see more at Leutton Postle.
Great stuff!
Posted by: JuzoDesign | November 19, 2012 at 04:14 AM