Dries Van Noten, the master of color. The way in which Van Noten was so particular about color is incomparable to how other designers take it. In 2018 A/W season, we saw items with unique, poisonous marble pattern, which was created by Dries himself. By dripping oil paint on water, he used special tools to stretch out and drizzle the paint to get a one-of-a-kind pattern, which was then printed on paper with a technique called "paper marbling". The pattern was then brought down to textile. You can watch the whole process on Van Noten's website, which is worth taking a look.

Dries went mad with his attraction for color. On the runway of 2019 S/S, marble print was overwritten with many items featuring wave like patterns that were expressed with vivid colors. It is certain that anyone who had seen the collection had their breath taken away from the powerful and beautiful usage of colors.

This time around, the patterns were not Dries' ideas, but came from modifying the color scheme and the color ratio used in the work of an architectural designer. Although Dries is already skilled enough to create beautiful patterns of his own, he felt that he could not imitate the work of this other designer. So who is this designer that Dries was so drawn by? He is Verner Panton. Born in 1926 in Denmark, Panton studied architecture at the Royal Danish Academy of Art. Afterwards, he worked and practiced under master architect Arne Jacobsen, and then moved on to successfully starting his own design and architectural office in 1955, when he was only 29 years old. Unfortunately, Panton passed away in 1988, but he still remains to be acknowledged as one of the best mid-century designers. Even if you do not know his name, you would probably recognize the "Panton Chair" that was released in 1960.

Instead of using traditional wooden material, Panton used only plastic for this chair. The novel design caused a huge sensation in the design industry at the time, and still continues to fascinate people.
With the "Panton Chair" being one example, Panton designed and created various neo-futuristic furnitures, lighting, and space using his unique sense of color. His aesthetics was revitalized on runway 20 years after his death by Dries' effort. Dries stated that he wanted to "create a collection that is fresh and overflowing with colors." To make this happen, Dries directly contacted Panton's family, and kindly requested that he would like to make the coloring even more beautiful on textile than seen in the actual work. As a result, Dries was able to produce a collection that combined his tailoring skills while keeping Panton's original revolutionary color aesthetics. After some time-travelling, Dries Van Noten's collection was completed as a chemistry of two color masters. It would be ideal to feel happiness through wearing this work of art.

Text_ SOHEI OSHIRO