The Quilt Goes High Fashion
Sam Rockwell takes risks with his clothes that work out far better than you might expect. From saggy suits to out-there outerwear, the actor can pull off some seriously brave clothes. And as with most style rebels, Rockwell is well-versed in the art of the statement shirt. Having already dabbled in tropical prints and Western embroidery while promoting his latest film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Rockwell has moved onto a trend that isn't all over shelves quite yet, but is catching steam: patchwork quilts. Yes, as in the blanket on the spare bedroom at your grandma's house. Yep: the quilt is fashion now.
Emily Bode is the designer behind Rockwell's brown overshirt, which he wore with a slim black Valentino suit on his way into Jimmy Kimmel Live earlier this week. Her line Bode reworks antique and vintage textiles to create new garments for men, and it's developed a cult following in a short amount of time. And she's not alone: other influential fashion labels have been helping to stoke these same folk flames. Calvin Klein designer Raf Simons incorporated vintage patchwork quilts into his recent Kardashian-fronted ad campaign and e-commerce offerings. A.P.C., naturally, has been making limit-edition quilts for years. And Japanese designer Hiroki Nakamura—the guy behind hyper-folk label Visvim—has been known to use patchwork elements in his collections.
The look works: the right kind of weighty, and handmade at a moment when craft seems to matter more than ever. The only problem? Shirt or blanket, these pieces don't come cheap. Patchwork quilts are time-intensive, hand-worked artifacts, and faking the look tends to result in objects that look, well, fake. Your local mall brand has had no trouble riffing on the botanical prints that have been popular recently, but this type of statement will be harder to successfully recreate on the cheap. So if Rockwell or Calvin Klein or Emily Bode have you craving the country vibe in your closet, you have two choices: shell out the dough for something you'll own for the rest of your life...or learn to quilt and start upcycling your old, worn-out workshirts and corduroys. As much as we appreciate modern convenience, both sound like great options to us.
