Texture...Touch it!

Sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, we all know the senses but do we practice all five of them regularly? Um no, we forgot one, touch, touch! My good people touch and feel are becoming huge trends in the clothes we wear. There is no stinginess when it comes to textures this season for fabric, feathers furs and leather have become a part of embroidery in the same way as paste and sequins. (Textile Report. 2013 pg. 4) Also, more and more designers are employing a diversity of texture into their garments and there is talk that virtual touch may soon become apart technology. Alexander McQueen’s latest show employed a diversity of surfaces including pleats, drapery, layers, cut circles, ribbed dresses, ruffles, lace, gloss and applique all in the one collection, texture is all over everything. (Tim Blanks. 2012) Everything including this lady pictured in a small store in Elizabeth Arcade, Queen Street who was coated head to toe in various textures. From the speckle-nit Cardigan with chain detail to the sequin ridden top to the lace applique shorts. Combining multiple textures to make one piece is a hot look for 2013. (Brandi Bregman.2013) The reason behind this eruption of texture is it has become a rebellion against the flat, sharp surfaces of everything we use today. Technology and the boom of online shopping have caused us to stop using our ability to touch and feel. However this may change “Consumers are now learning to understand and relate to new forms of physical contact and we see this in turn opening up many possibilities for future product. In the next five years, industries such as retail will be transformed by the ability to ‘touch’ a product through your mobile device.” (IBM. www.kurzweilai.net. 2012) We could feel the texture on our garments and in the technology we use, how cool would that be? The future is here, I can almost touch it.