Tom Scott A/W 09

Tom Scott has been steadily building up his reputation as a niche knitwear designer and though international recognition has been coming his way through when he was a finalist for the inagural Woolmark Prize awarded in Paris, his work is still little known outside of New York. A graduate of University of Arts in Philadelphia, Scott is known for architectural constructions and his unexpected twists and turns in his knitwear. One of his early pieces that got him started off was a manipulated scarf that resembled a warped vertebrae, both hard and soft at the same time.

For his latest collection, he claims the collection is about the "things I don't like" drawing inspiration from the elements he finds uncomfortable. Fur, "Golden Girls" sweaters, sports uniforms and cable knit cardigans, all laden with their own cliches and expectations get turned upside down by Scott. Fur is reinterpreted and rendered as hairy alpaca, cable knit is turned upside down with the yarns distressed and so on and so forth. He has also expanded his line into home items that blur the line between clothing and object. Presented in a small space made to resemble an eerily empty laundrette, the cute touch came from the hangers declaring We Heart Our Customers.