Jackets inspired by Walter De Maria‘s Lightning Field , New Mexico
We spend a few days in a wooden blockhouse at the other end of the world, located in the high desert at an elevation of 7200 feet and situated on a flat plain in New Mexico. Although it was quite hot during daytime the mornings and evenings became very cold, which made us think of some traditional garments worn in the mountains back home. Spending those days away from civilisation and encapsulated from the busy world we chatted about garments to reflect this idea of pure and rough nature. In the end we came up with a line up of parkers and winter blousons in Loden fabric padded with real down. Loden traditionally used to be the most durable cloth produced by peasants in Bavaria and Austria. It is a thick, water-resistant and wind-proof woollen material with a short pile. To produce Loden fabric, strong yarns are woven loosely into cloth which then undergoes a lengthy process of shrinking, eventually acquiring the texture of felt and becoming quite dense. It is then brushed and the nap is clipped, a process which is repeated a number of times until the fabric provides good warmth for the weight, and is relatively supple, windproof, and extremely durable. Today there are only a few specialist weavers left in Austria that still produce Loden in different qualities. We chose Loden Steiner and Leichtfried wools because of their incomparable fine fabrics and the added benefit of an additional water repellent finishing. For us this Loden fabric is a piece of homeland but sitting in the dust of New Mexico it is still contemporary and has it’s eligibility even a few thousand miles from home.
