In her ‘Species’ knitted collection, Nanna van Blaaderen allowed herself to be guided by the idea of offering an alternative for animal skins as a fashion and interior product. Fascinated by the beauty and diversity of the animal kingdom, she designed a series of knitted fabrics that represent the coats and markings of various animal species in their three-dimensional tactility and textures. She drew inspiration from images of animals and animal skins. She elaborated her ideas for the ‘Jaguar’, ‘Zebra’, ‘Cat’, ‘Zebra back’, Giraffe’ and ‘Scale’ knits at the machine.
In her quest to match the texture and markings of animal skins in knits produced on the Stoll Knit & Wear machine, Nanna van Blaaderen experimented not only with yarns and colours but with the gauge of the knitting stitch as well. In the test for ‘Giraffe’ she combined alpaca, cashmere and cotton, which did not yield the desired flexibility. The ‘Cat’, knitted with big stitches in brown, proved to be far too coarse, while the ‘Jaguar’ in white merino wool and cotton failed to yield the appropriate traction. Lastly, ‘Zebra’ was knitted in a combination of acrylic and cotton, which did not look rich enough and was lacking in three-dimensionality. For the definitive fabrics she primarily used merino wool, which consists of thin hairs and is therefore very soft.
