Lawlor's Lasso

Derek Lawlor’s cordworking balances a kooky persona with high class sophistication in his knitwear. Inspired by Japanese body armour, Lawlor uses wax cord to dream up truly unique shapes on indulgent cashmere dresses. The patterns look like meringue that’s been iced onto the models, or surrealist LP’s that have been sound waved out into intriguing shapes. The zip that cuts through the loops extenuates the fantasy, where the boundaries between practicality and innovation are blurred. There’s a Chanel sophistication, but with a modern and youthful tinge that elevates Lawlor’s concept. It’s the mark of a fashion innovator, when a potentially messy design can end up looking so polished. He spoke to Dazed Digital recently, and below is an extract from the interview.

‘’My S/S10 collection was working from my MA collection except I wanted to produce more wearable 'bespoke' separates, which stayed true to my technique. The new collection saw some new approaches with the cord embellishment- I produced new embedded cord patterned skirts which were inspired Celtic knit patterns, as well as producing some cord knots which made the most amazing neckline. The white pieces were done out of curiosity- I kept dreaming about seeing my collection completely in whites but wasn't sure it would work. Once the white cord overlapped each other I knew I was on to a good thing- the white pieces are probably my favourite pieces from my most recent collection. ‘’