Pringle of Scotland AW15

Initial reaction:

Popping the cork for it’s 200th anniversary (the menswear show is the first event during the brand’s 200 year celebration), creative director Massimo Nicosia’s telescopic collection fêted both Pringle’s Scottish heritage and – through 3D knits and tapestry prints – fixed its gaze on the future.

3D-printed evolution:

With one eye sunk deep into a magic 8-ball and the other fixed firmly on the past, Pringle manages to highlight technical innovation while nodding to profound heritage. Woven through the heavy knits that came trudging down London’s Middle Temple Hall are 3D-printed, chainmail-like front panels made from nylon powder. "I found it interesting mixing artificial and natural,” Nicosia says backstage. “It’s a way to look at the trend, not only in a retrospective and nostalgic way, but to really look forward into the future.” Pringle also advanced full throttle into the future with graphic heat sealed leather overcoats and pixelated prints in slate, earl grey and burgundy.

Tapping into tapestry:

At first glance it looked like a map of ye olde world, but a second inspection of the birdseye jacquard jumpers and jackets lifted the rug on Nicosia's influence: "It’s a tapestry, it’s literally a Flemish tapestry that I found in Edinburgh,” details the designer. “I was walking through Edinburgh’s Prestonfield House taking pictures, just recording life, and I was trying to work with the same image in several ways.” The digital print in double knit cashmere and polypropylene looks like “a pixel that you are toying with in Photoshop.” Through Nicosia’s techy innovation and a back catalogue of heritage to pull from, Pringle is cementing it’s place as an innovator for another 200 years.

The soundtracks to Pringle of Scotland AW15: