Karen Walker debuted her February 2019 collection, Bad Apple, at her Grey Lynn workroom on Wednesday, 5th July. Read on for details, as well as thoughts from Karen on the collection.
Inspiration
The inspiration behind Bad Apple is partly Eve (the original rebel girl) and partly one of Karen’s favourite 20th-century rebel girls – Sissy Spacek’s character in Badlands.
Bad Apple Tree
The tree featured in the print and in a stand-alone scarf is the biblical tree of wisdom executed in a style of a medieval woodcut. Notice the snake wound around the branch? “In Japan, they refer to that sort of surprise element in a piece of design as adding a little poison,” Karen said.
Fabrics
Bad Apple features staple Karen Walker fabrics including luxurious cashmere, denim and chunky knits. The collection reintroduces a robust corduroy, and we are excited to reveal the brand’s first exploration of snake print on Crêpe De Chine.
“Fabric for our ready-to-wear is sourced from New Zealand, China, Italy, France, Japan and Korea’, Karen said. “Over the past two years, we have traced all 11 fabric mills that supply fabric to us and we will continue to only work with fabric mills that are traceable, and transparent with us. We are one of only a small number of fashion houses conducting independent audits of fabric suppliers.
“Our suppliers are strictly prohibited from sourcing fabric from the stock market. It’s common practice in the industry to buy from the fabric stock market through third parties as it is often cheaper and requires shorter lead-times but we firmly will not work in this way as there is no traceability to source and origin. The mill this season’s “Lucifer” Tweed is from is based in Tuscany and we’ve been working with them for 10 years (though they’ve been around since the late ’50s).”
Jewellery
Customise your ears with these cute alphabet earrings in both stud and dangly options.
Accessories
Gorgeous leather bags featuring the signature arrow in sympathetic tones of the collection. The latest eyewear features frames in metals, print and bold acrylics.
Stay tuned for further updates and more information on the beautiful new collection.
