In 2017, it is 100 years since De Stijl (the Style), the Dutch art movement, was founded. What started out as the eponymous art journal grew into a fully-fledged movement in the first half of the 20th century, becoming Holland’s most important contribution to modern art. De Stijl started in Leiden in 1917 when De Stijl magazine was established by Theo van Doesburg. De Stijl artists search for a completely ‘new art’ that is also expected to renew all of society. Piet Mondrian is a role model for all De Stijl artists. Even today, the principles of De Stijl continue to inspire many designers including us at DTMX socks dedicating 3 designs of our FW17/18 collection to Piet Mondrian. Piet Mondrian is undeniably one of the great designers who’s work has crossed over into multiple disciplines of design, specifically his artwork Composition II in Red, Blue and Yellow. As one of the founders of the Dutch modern movement De Stijl, he is recognized for the purity of his abstractions and methodical practice by which he arrived at them. He radically simplified the elements of his paintings to reflect what he saw as the spiritual order underlying the visible world, creating a clear, universal aesthetic language within his canvases. In his best known paintings from the 1920s, Mondrian reduced his shapes to lines and rectangles and his palette to fundamental basics pushing past references to the outside world toward pure abstraction. His use of asymmetrical balance and a simplified pictorial vocabulary were crucial in the development of modern art, and his iconic abstract works remain influential in design and familiar in popular culture to this day. A theorist and writer, Mondrian believed that art reflected the underlying spirituality of nature. He simplified the subjects of his paintings down to the most basic elements, in order to reveal the essence of the mystical energy in the balance of forces that governed nature and the universe. Mondrian chose to distill his representations of the world to their basic vertical and horizontal elements, which represented the two essential opposing forces: the positive and the negative, the dynamic and the static, the masculine and the feminine. The dynamic balance of his compositions reflect what he saw as the universal balance of these forces. Mondrian's singular vision for modern art is clearly demonstrated in the methodical progression of his artistic style from traditional representation to complete abstraction. His paintings evolve in a logical manner, and clearly convey the influence of various modern art movements such as Luminism, Impressionism, and most importantly, Cubism. Mondrian, and the artists of De Stijl, advocated pure abstraction and a pared down palette in order to express a utopian ideal of universal harmony in all of the arts. By using basic forms and colors, Mondrian believed that his vision of modern art would transcend divisions in culture and become a new common language based in the pure primary colors, flatness of forms, and dynamic tension in his canvases. Mondrian's book on Neo-Plasticism became one of the key documents of abstract art. In it, he detailed his vision of artistic expression in which "plastic" simply referred to the action of forms and colors on the surface of the canvas as a new method for representing modern reality. The refinement of Mondrian's abstractions as well as the utopian ideals behind his work had an immense impact on the development of modern art, both while he was still alive as well as after his death. His work was immediately referenced by the Bauhaus, particularly in the simplified lines and colors of the school's aesthetic, as well as its ideal in which the arts could bring concord to all aspects of life. Later on, Mondrian's style can be seen in the developments of the Minimalists of the late 1960's, who also opted for reduced forms and a pared down palette.
Not only influential within modern art, Mondrian's far-reaching impact can be seen across all aspects of modern and postmodern culture, from Yves Saint Laurent's color-blocking in his "Mondrian" day-dress, to the use of Mondrian's Neo-Plastic style and palette by the rock band the White Stripes for the cover of their 2000 album, De Stijl, as well as his name as the moniker for three hotels, the "Mondrian" hotel in New York, or DTMX Mondrian socks.
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There are three different ways that the toes of socks are finished: hand linking, 'rosso', and 'melo'. These days, almost all socks are done by the rosso method. By the 'melo' method, the toes are simply sewn closed by a sewing machine and so there is a significant ridge of material that remains. Furthermore, because rosso technology has advanced greatly, there are no advantages of efficiency of the 'melo' method, so it is very rarely used these days. All socks are made on circular knitting machines, a machine invented in the early 1800’s. Back then, the knitting machines were manually operated. A crank would set the gears in motion that power a circular set of knitting needles. The uncompleted sock would come out as a tube of fabric at the lower end, and all the socks required was ‘pressing and a little hand-stitching to close the toe’, according to this old advertisement for the ‘auto-knitter’. Over the years, these hand-powered machines have made way to industrial examples, but the process remained largely unchanged. Thread is spun and guided to the knitting machine, where stitch by stitch and row by row the socks is built up in circular form. The only difference being, that with all stages of the production automated, hand linking the toe quickly became the most time-consuming step in the process. Many factories chose to cut down on cost and labor, and when the fabric comes out of the knitting machines, simply close the sock with a seam stitch using cheap nylon, and chop of the excess. This leaves a bulky, uncomfortable seam on the inside of the socks. Hand linking is a technique where the craft's person matches every single stitch that is sewn together to close the toe of the sock. In the case of high-gauge socks, such as business or dress socks, there is demand for socks with the lack of ridge of leftover material at the toe, and so this method continues to be used even now. However, when it comes to hand linking socks, production efficiency drops and there is a need for specialized skill. Thus, compared to the rosso method, it is several times more costly, which, when coupled with the decreasing cost of casual socks, there has been less and less demand for the hand linking technique. Because there is less hand linking work to be done, the hand linking machines have been abandoned or disposed of. DTMX odorless socks is one of the few manufacturers of odorless socks that still operate in the old way, with the socks closed by hand. What this implies is that, when the sock leaves the knitting machine, it is moved to a separate flat-bed machine, where the points of the sock (the final stitches on the outer edge of the sock) are matched together one by one on a serrated wheel, and looped together with a single thread of cotton, wool, silk or cashmere fabric. This results in a seam so flat, that you cannot feel it when wearing the socks. Here are just a few designs from the DTMX funky odorless socks first collection "Night to Day".
Each has its own name inspired by eponymous clubs and locations from the past, present or future and reflects specific architectural shapes, geometric patterns and funky colors. Our designs arose from personal experiences and is a homage to the people, music, locations, clubs and awesome memories. Let us know which ones you like the most and share. |
AuthorDTMX is a brand of funky odorless socks for comfortable, healthy feet, that incorporates fashion, sustainability and innovation. dtmxsocks.cz Categories
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