The 2024 collection started from a few seeds of inspiration - 50's frill swimsuits, vintage Vogue holiday shoots, beach umbrellas and the Italian coast. It turned into a wonderful journey in design, learning, collaboration, and organza frill!
Follow our journey step by step in this blog post on the making of Il Parasole.
Inspiration and ideas
I don't know exactly when I was first drawn to the similarities between parasols and hand-fans, with their central pivot, curved edges and sun-related function, but immediately I was excited to try and manifest the swirl and whirl of the beach umbrella, trims, stripes and all, in a magnificent and unique fan. The sketch book was soon full of different ideas...
The mood and spirit of the collection came to life after seeing a vintage image of beach umbrellas on the Amalfi Coast. Their beauty and charm instantly took me to the romantic and charming scenes of Italy, to the photographs of Slim Aarons and Norman Parkinson, to the beautiful films set in 1950s Italy like Ripley and Roman Holiday and to images of Jackie Kennedy and Grace Kelly on holiday there.
I wanted the fans to exude the same style and elegance of this stylish époque, to capture that dreamy time, filled with beautiful scenery, flamboyant fun, and a pinch of decadence too.
Production
We discovered early on the fan sticks would have to mounted with the fabric first and the curved edge would be cut afterwards with a laser machine. As a result the frill would be the final detail and stitched onto the mounted fan.
We used old sticks and fabrics during testing, then finally we tested with the actual design in paper to check composition before going to print.
To see the four colours being laser cut, head to YouTube.
Producing the sticks
The sticks were made in Spain using traditional techniques and machinery. Fernando's family-run business has been manufacturing fan sticks (varillas) since 1942 and they know everything there is to know about the fan-making process. For more info on the steps required to make the fan sticks go here.
Colours and Pantone Matching
Choosing the colour palette was super fun and, in part, dictated by the organza frill colours that were available. Because we needed the organza frill and wood stick colour to match, we worked on the paint work first before doing the fabric print.
Screen-Printing the Fabrics
Our partners-in-print, Lanevera Ediciones, never fail to show their prowess in the screen-printing field. From Pantone colour matching to the perfect register, Jussi and his team were able to create beautiful hand-screen printed fabrics in 4 different colour ways with a beautiful finish.
Watch the screen printing in action here.
Mounting the fabrics to the fan
Marie-Carmen has years of experience as a 'teladora' (hand-fan fabric worker) and is continuing the skills her family taught her. This artisanal skill is only obtained from years of practice.
Watch Marie-Carmen in action here
Frills and stitching
The final stage was the application of the frill to the hand-fan. No easy feat this finish means stitching with the fan pre-mounted, navigating wooden sticks along the fan edge and requiring two special machines to stitch the organza frill in a way that matched the natural finish of the frill itself.
I worked with Fidel Emmanuel, a master with the machine who has done an amazing job. Here is the man himself in his workshop in Valencia.
Y voila! The clever hands of many artisans bring you the Il Parasole collection.
We hope you love these frill-tastic additions to the Khu Khu collections.
For more on the Il Parasole Collection launch video.. watch this space.
Arrivederci! (for now)
Victoria & The Khu Khu team 🪭
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