Drawing inspiration from American artist Gregory Crewdson, Namachecko’s International Woolmark Prize collection is inspired by creating a character who is a culmination of a traumatic youth and emanates a sense of lost elegance, delivered through rich textures and embroideries.
Namacheko was born from a place of internal curiosity, the search for identity and purpose through two contrasting disciplines in the arts and science. The sibling founders Dilan and Lezan Lurr were born in Kurdistan and raised in Sweden, with the brand now calling Belgium its base.
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Rapidly building an esteemed reputation for its ability to balance artistic integrity with wearable menswear pieces, Namacheko’s founders draw on their studies in civil engineering where they learned the art of mathematics, transforming this into garment construction. By mirroring the way architectural objects are constructed Namacheko’s artistic references are embedded into each collection to explore identity, boundaries and freedom. Each garment is designed with a core focus on tailoring, craftsmanship and durability.
Over the past seasons, Namacheko has used fictional characters and past experiences as key reference points around which it built the collections. For the Belgian brand’s International Woolmark Prize collection, it was an introduction into the universe of infinite obsessions within film and the most important of all, Gregory Crewdson, with whom they collaborated.
“The project takes inspiration from Gregory´s work and his reference to Hitchcock and David Lynch,” explains the Lurrs. “Shapes have been informed by Dior’s New Look and Balenciaga from the 50s and 60s, while colour and texture is in reference to the raving 60s and 70s. The blending of different eras is an allusion to Crewdson’s philosophy of timelessness.”
Namacheko has taken inspiration from the full lifecycle of wool - from yarn creation to its use phase and after life - to develop knitting and fabric structures throughout the collection in every look and piece. From spinning and combing yarns to twisting the fibres they are all reflected in the textures and fabric developments.
Wool has always been core to the Namachecko brand, with knitwear making up a large part of each collection. A large focus has always been placed on quality and weight, with the design duo using the International Woolmark Prize journey as an opportunity to push wool’s innovative boundaries into the future and also educate their customers about the fibre’s infinite potential.
“Our approach to innovation in this collection is portrayed through the use of surplus fabrics during the cutting process. By switching the synthetic materials with these reusable scraps, the consistency of natural fibres is ensured, and the waste of fabric is reduced to the possible minimum.”
“Our approach to innovation in this collection is portrayed through the use of surplus fabrics during the cutting process. At the outset we implemented idea of reusing offcuts to create the fundamental assets of a garment such as interlining or as textile decoration. By switching the synthetic materials with these reusable scraps, the consistency of natural fibres is ensured, and the waste of fabric is reduced to the possible minimum. With each and every remnant being unique it creates garments that are individual, with a different story behind each piece.”
Another approach to innovation is through education, directly related to development of the fabrics’ texture. These innovations are designed to add to the story behind each piece and also seek to educate consumers into how to approach sustainability.
