Wrap up in Wolves with Antonio Marras

It's no secret that I love a good animal motif, so it's no surprise that the Antonio Marras show at Milan Fashion Week caught my eye. Actually, I don't usually keep up to date with many fashion shows that happen outside of LFW, but when I saw a couple of pictures from the show, I knew I had to investigate further. Pretty much everything from the show is right up my street; a dark colour palette, lace, embroidered flowers, bulky knitwear, but most important were the wolf motifs that ran throughout the entire collection.

All photos from Vogue.co.uk

I love how oversized this jumper is - perfect for midwinter, si? I also really like the Navajo feel to this jumper, but I doubt it would be something I could carry off on a trip to buy some milk. Want to make one yourself? This is knitted, but if, like me, you're not a fan of crazy amounts of intarsia, I would simply intarsia in the main sections, like the wolf, and embroider in the rest. I'd pick a fairly standard roll neck knitting jumper pattern to begin with, and then chart out my design on graph paper. Not a project for the weak of heart. 

In contrast to the above jumper, I think this jacket has a more Oriental feel. Loving the symmetry too. You could take this idea and translate it easily to a dress, a top or a t-shirt. There are a few ways you could recreate this look. Are you fairly artistic? How about using some fabric paint to paint some wolves onto the top or dress of your choice. I think it would look particularly nice on silk. An easier and lazier way to get the same look would be to use photo transfer paper. Simply find a photo of wolves you like, print onto your paper and then iron over the paper to transfer your image. Simples!

This is my favourite look from the whole show. This jumper is a statement piece without being too much, and I can imagine this working great off the catwalk too. I've never knitted a jumper before, but desperately want to do so, and this might be the photo that gets me started. Who knows - if I start now, maybe it will be finished in time for next winter? The jumper itself is a fairly standard shaped jumper, so the hardest part would be designing the intarsia motif on graph paper. Wish me luck! 

Have you ever designed your own intarsia motifs for knitting? Any advice?