Congratulations to Mary Tyler Moore on her Screen Actor's Guild Lifetime Achievement Award! I loved seeing the retrospective of her life and career but it was her great style that I enjoyed the most. She really knew how to wear a scarf!  And if that style of hat isn't named after her yet, it should be. But like Dick Van Dyke said in his introduction, it was the smile that really helped her 'make it after all.' That IS the best accessory :)

I always thought the color yellow looked amazing on people with red hair.  I captured this shot at a meeting last week at the Echo offices of Sharon wearing our Hydrangea Garden scarf in clementine.  She rolled the scarf and then added knots every 2-3 inches, then tied it behind her neck. The result is a great pop of color, much like a statement necklace or interesting collar.  Yellow is the new pink this spring - how will you add yellow to your wardrobe? 

In 2005 “The Gates,” designed by the famous artist Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude, filled Central Park’s 23 miles of pathways with 7,500 saffron colored portals. Echo was asked to make a scarf to coincide with The Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibit of Christo’s drawings of this project.  Sarah Frank, one of Echo’s senior designers, created a magnificent scarf that was technically difficult to achieve. The scarf has 22 screens showing an actual Christo drawing, a sketch of the elevations and an astonishingly close reproduction of the actual fabric. We are very proud to have been asked to produce this scarf, and know that in some way we were all involved in a part of history and this once-in-a-lifetime project.

Christo has just received clearance to pursue his next project, tentatively titled "Over the River."  His works often need government approval due to the local environmental, economic and aesthetic impact.  This is an intentional side effect, he said in a recent New York Times article: "Every artist in the world likes his or her work to make people think. Imagine how many people were thinking, how many professionals were thinking and writing in preparing that environmental impact statement.”

 "Over the River" will be an installation suspended over 5.9 miles of the Arkansas River in Southwest Colorado. As with "The Gates" Christo will use panels of fabric, in this case 8 panels in blue.  Some of the reasons for concern as a result of the installation would be the effects on the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep native to the area, as well as potentially hazardous tourism access via a narrow canyon highway. Christo's sketch of the final work is below and his site provides a great virtual tour of a recent exhibit of more drawings from this new project as well as from his drafts for "The Gates." 

Paisley is a recurring design pattern in Echo's design history. Almost every season, our designers update this iconic design element into new patterns with modern colors and fabrications.  From the more traditional and classic use of paisley in neutrals and jewel tones in our Paisley Oblong Scarf, to the bold, impactful artistic and overblown colors of our Oversized Paisley Square Scarf and Mosaic Tile Square Scarf from our Holiday 2011 collection, this pattern that has origins in the 7th century is anything but antiquated. We asked one of our designers, Nadia Klionsky-Olidort, also an artist, why this pattern has such longevity and what about paisley inspires her when designing artwork for any of Echo's designs.  
Paisley can be traced back to Central and South Asia.  It has a strong legacy in Persian culture from sometime before the 7th century C.E. The Boteh shape (which takes its name from the Hindi buta, “flower”) was originally embroidered onto fabric. And the name “paisley” came in the 19th century from the town of Paisley, Scotland where these designs were first manufactured on cotton and wool.  In the 1960’s and 70’s, Paisley prints experienced a revival in America and Europe, to the extent that even John Lennon was said to have had a paisley pattern printed on his Rolls Royce.
We always come back to paisley because it is timeless. The harmony of lines combined with exquisitely detailed motifs encourage us to renew our appreciation for the traditional. Trends come and go but we inevitably strive to identify that which is enduring.  Perhaps this explains why paisley never goes out of style. As a classically trained landscape painter, I have always had a deep sense of respect for the tradition.
For as far back as I can remember I have been fascinated by nature and by its timeless beauty. In my own landscapes, I give particular attention to scenes that, for me, convey the passage of time. In much the same way, the paisley—both a part of nature’s elegance and a design tradition that stretches from the Bay of Bengal to the Beatles— is a reminder of the importance of our histories in the development of contemporary art and design.

 

There are many, many ways to wear a scarf and the fashion world cycles through each style just as it cycles through seasons.  Since the scarf remains a consistent accessory in every season, appearing in versatile patterns and colors, often one method will stand out as the trend in itself.  For Spring 2012, it's the headwrap.  Take a second to see how easy it is to tie and wear a headwrap - and be sure to bookmark all our how-to videos for quick wardrobe inspiration. 

 

 

On Friday, the New York Times T Magazine published a little teaser on the scarf headwrap trend for Spring 2012.

I've often talked about the versatility of a scarf.  It's the one fashion accessory that can be a shirt, belt, wrap, jewelry, hat and framable artwork outside of it just being really good at being itself: a scarf.  It can be symbolic of a charity (Dress for Success, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, etc.) and of special moments in your life (wedding, first job) or of a sentimental token handed down from one generation to the next.  But it also makes friends. One New York Mom met a Mom from London and the subject was scarves.    Let me introduce you to Britt and her blog FanFamFun where she writes about her family and life as an illustrator and a mom.  For Britt, the scarf is all of these things - and a lot more - with which I'm sure many other moms will agree! "You should treat yourself to one. I think that out of all the baby things I had for my two kids a scarf is the most important. Sounds crazy, but totally true. If you make sure you wear a scarf every day when you leave the house you will always be prepared. x Britt" 

Here's her list of great ways to use your scarf.  

When you need to carry your baby it's a sling.
When your toddler's bored it's a scary ghost costume.
When your child's tired it's a comfy blanket.
When your little one needs an emergency change of clothes it's a skirt (or a kilt!).
When it starts raining it's a rain cover for you or the kids.
When the sun is shinning it's a sun shade on the stroller.
When it's lunch time in the park and you've forgotten your picnic rug, it's a... can you guess?
When your baby needs changing it's a changing pad.
When your little monkey needs entertaining it's a 'peekaboo' game.
When you need to nurse in public it's a nursing cover.
When you're on a beach it's a beach towel or a sarong.
When you need a stylish scarf, oh yeah, almost forgot, it's a scarf,
the most versatile thing a mum can own.

  

illustration courtesy: Britt Louise Hanson

Echo's solid wool wrap with silk protein was featured in the October 2011 issue of Real Simple magazine in a one of fall's bright bold colors: chartreuse!  This wrap is the perfect accessory for fall.  It hits a beautiful functional note by keeping you warm when you wear it over a jacket, but it's also pretty as a melody when added to any outfit.  As one of Echo's most popular styles, it has a range of colors and has a unique manufacturing element.  You may be wondering, 'what exactly is silk protein?'  Was it made with silk from a silkworm on the Atkins diet?  Not exactly.  The wrap is 100% mercenized wool, meaning that it's a high quality wool that is treated with an alkali to increase its strength and receptiveness to the dye which also gives it a silky look and finish.  The end result is a super soft, beautiful and very versatile wrap that will take you from the office, to an evening stroll, from a shopping trip to a fancy dinner.  That's really simple ;)

Mixing patterns works not only in fashion but in how you fashion your home. Work within a similar color palette and let your imagination run wild. 

The traditonal definiton of the word scarf brings to mind soft fabric wrapped around the neck for comfort against the cold. But we know that function will never upstage fashion. So your scarf choices should clearly not be based on function alone. Nature's red carpet event is Autumn and she's not showing up without some flair; why should you? Our designers find inspiration from patterns in nature for our print scarves as well as for features added to scarves. This fall, feathers are a major influence. This particular scarf below is a simple, easy shape - a triangle - and worn with each end knotted.  It's made of soft tubular silk satin and embellished with real ostrich feathers.  It's a simple piece that makes a statement.   Nature is always trendy!

Frida Kahlo said "I paint flowers so they will not die."  Although Kahlo's still lifes were an attempt to deal with a fear of separation and death, the idea of painting flowers so that they remain at once vibrant and permanent is an understandable one.  The moment we attempt to capture their beauty is the very moment it eludes us. Forever.  The stem is cut and it's life is cut short. The beauty will soon fade.   Kahlo's work was filled with symbolism and in one painting she uses an airplane and an alarm clock possibly to convey the thought that time passes so quickly. Life is short and over too soon - which is a well-known common thread in her work.  But it's human to marvel at what nature creates, as is the need to understand it.    Kahlo's love of color was obvious not only in her art but her wardrobe and accessories.  It's true that much of Mexican culture includes big, brilliant flowers on everything from wraps and shawls and scarves, to skirts and bags. But perhaps having a floral accessory is possibly one way Kahlo could maintain a connection to the color and vibrancy without cutting the stem.  To go another step further, when we think about the fabric itself  - whether from a cotton plant or a silkworm, one could say that the flower's beauty lives on in another live substance. Then, with the combination of the floral pattern and the texture, shine and softness of silk, it becomes a whole other level of beauty.  Echo has been creating classic floral patterns for 87 years.  The flower and the scarf are both inherently feminine and timeless.  Flowers have been a major subject of art, decor, fabrics, paintings and accessories for thousands of years. Yet the subject's lifespan was merely a blip in the timeline. Perhaps that's what makes them so beautiful: the fleeting permanence.