Ever wonder where designers' inspiration comes from? It can be a book, a movie, a real-life character -- but rarely do you see such a direct inspriation-to-apparel move as with our wool pennant shawl cardigan. Based on a hand-pieced blanket our design team discovered in a thrift store, this sweater comes with an Ivy League pedigree and a mysterious back story. Get the scoop on the season’s most unique item after the jump.
“We were so psyched when we found the blanket, but the most intriguing part is the mystery of how it came to be,” says concept designer John Fiske. The hand-stitched blanket is made up of school pennants from northeastern high schools and colleges and a center piece with the embroidered name “Kate Remly” and the year “1929.” Now, we’re not entirely sure what went down, but we think a group of friends got together to create a friendship blanket. It looks like they began in highschool, hand-stitching signature pennants from their respective private schools into a wool blanket. After moving on to college, they continued the tradition and added college pennants to their creation.
When our design team reinterpreted the blanket as a Rugby cardigan, they recreated the impeccably hand-stitched patchwork and thick Shetland wool (so the pennant sweater is warm enough to double as a winter coat). Hand-crafted and only available in limited quantities, the pennant cardigan is as much a collector’s item as the blanket that inspired it.
Sure we’re a little obsessed with it, but that’s because there’s so much mystery behind it! Who were these crafty friends who had time to stitch this thing together? How many blankets exist? Was 1929 the year they started or completed the blanket? And who the hell is Kate Remly? If you know a KR, let’s us know. We’re very curious.
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