Label Under Construction (Luca Laurini)

[cremaster]

Wow you guys can be tough!
I think it is great. The morse code works so well.
To me the "text" doesn't read literally rather works as an ethereal impression in the fabric.
I could frame a couple of them and hang them on the wall!

[Eye]

Thanks for the pictures cjbreed !

I appreciate the work on these pieces. Its definitely experimental, and it offers a unique vision of clothing led by the extreme attention to texture and dye of the clothes. That's what i like about luca's projects, even if i'm not figuring myself in these.
I find these bicolor printed knits hard to associate, but there is a few ones i'd like to own, especially the fourth knit (color and shades are ... wow) and the all-black cardigan. And of course that horse leather-like eternal has described.

[lowrey]

LUC's becoming too 'graphic' and not concentrating on the unique cutting/shapes that used to 'define' the label... recent stuff (albeit the [small] innovative methods in knitting, printing, etc) are extremely uninteresting... seem to have lost his 'edge'...

what goes for being graphic, thats partially the point of this project. I think its great that he has the medium of these side projects to experiment with.

as for unique cuts and shapes, I don't see any departure from this in the mainline, a majority of it is classic LUC cuts in beautiful materials and colours as well as great attention to detail and finishing. of course, there'll be some new things as well.

[Faust]

i just have not been excited by anything LUC has produced over the past couple of seasons... main label or side project wise... LUC used to be one of my favourite labels, and what i thought was one of the most conceptual, post-cdiem... anyway, to each his own opinion ;)

perhaps i'm just getting jaded over all this... everything seems to be 'converging' into the same aesthetics/cuts/looks... that's also perhaps why there've been the recent 'renewed' interest in paul harnden lately... at least what he is offering still holds 'difference'... 'personality'...?

Of course :-) Yes, it does make sense on a certain level, and I feel the same frustration sometimes. But I think in terms of proportions Luca offers pretty classic stuff - it's not extreme goth ninja stuff.

[CUTUP]

While I find the concept of " signals" kind of gimmicky, the quality and technique still seems apparent in the pics

As far as what grabs me, I really have a strong urge to handle that first piece in person, it looks like it would be wonderful fabric to touch

[kuugaia]

^ Agreed. The pattern moves all the way down the neck to the sleeves without a seam breaking it up as well. I really like that, as well as the pattern itself.

[Chinorlz]

Keepin the thread going....

This is the LUC space at Lift

[Faust]

Sick...

[ink]

I was in the showroom and i think the collection is really really awersome, especially the waxed sweater and waxed pants. Best of the Best. If you are the fans of LUC i am sure you will like it.

[DHC]

Close up image of text on the wall please! ;)

[kuugaia]

Taken from Faust's interview with Luca:

'I collaborate with a screen printer who still uses silk-screening and print one piece at a time, each one comes out different'

Anybody care to explain if this silk-screening process is any different from normal screen printing? Or is it just called 'silk-screening' because it uses traditional silk as the screen compared to today's modern choices?

I ask because I am really impressed with the reversibility of the tops.

[Faust]

Silk-screening is the traditional process of dyeing, where the image is made on a screen and the dye is poured over through the screen and then a roller is used to press it in. It's handwork, and only one piece at a time can be dyed. I am not sure if picture quality is superior to the industrial method - I think it is (otherwise I don't see a reason for doing it). Someone who knows more can elaborate/correct.

[Chinorlz]

Silk-screening is the traditional process of dyeing, where the image is made on a screen and the dye is poured over through the screen and then a roller is used to press it in. It's handwork, and only one piece at a time can be dyed. I am not sure if picture quality is superior to the industrial method - I think it is (otherwise I don't see a reason for doing it). Someone who knows more can elaborate/correct.

Short maybe increasing of the size of the silkscreen's dimensions, the tops seem to be done in the same manner as one would silkscreen designs onto t-shirts. Luca's approach is actually easier because he is just printing a single solid color onto the front and back face of a shirt (hence the white you may see if you were to unroll the neck fabric a little or you see where the fabric was folded on itself a bit as the silkscreen was pressed on and ink applied).

This technique has been picked up by lower end brands as I'm seeing the method used on shirts from Gap-type places. It certainly was not something inherently special to begin with, but Luca's execution and utilization of the method combined with impeccably knit garments came together to become something really nice.

You can buy a small scale setup of this pretty cheaply and many places will silkscreen for you any way you want to order:



Since Luca is pressing the full knit front and then back, it doesn't require any pattern to be imbued on the silkscreen (typically done to apply a design or to apply colors incrementally). Just lay and apply the dye evenly and then do it on the back of the shirt. Each is done individually like they would in a custom screenprint shop so there will be some irregularities between them depending on how the knit is laid on the panels.

This is a small-scale setup that one can have in their studio... set you back about $2-3k if you buy it now.

[kuugaia]

^ So all in all, Luca isn't doing anything innovative or different with the screen printing. It's just the flawless execution paired with great knits?

Can always rely on Chinorlz to lay it down. Thanks.

[Chinorlz]

^ So all in all, Luca isn't doing anything innovative or different with the screen printing. It's just the flawless execution paired with great knits?

Can always rely on Chinorlz to lay it down. Thanks.

AFAIK and from the pieces that i've handled and those that I own, it's not inherently an innovative technique. The execution and application of the existing silkscreening methods for whole-garment dying is clever and has a really nice result.

Flawless execution of a classic coloring method paired with ultra high quality garment construction is all you need. Luca does more than enough with his actual knitwork in terms of innovation and experimentation. He doesn't have to push the field of dyeing ;)