This season Barrie conjugates the world of pop with English traditions, an elegantly modern collection.
In this new collection, Barrie incorporates vibrant colours, giant flowers, double-breasted suits and tartans that are skewed in together to create an optical illusion. Barrie also juggles with the aesthetic codes of the 1970s and reinterprets them with originality thanks to the exceptional savoir-faire that it’s known for. Partly inspired by music and festivals, the collection is permeated with pop references. Bright red and pink intermingle on pieces with irregular stripes and kaleidoscopic landscapes in deconstructed knits. Certain sweaters are embellished with checks and flowers in a tribute to the Scottish artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh, while others bear the messages of peace and love, in a retro typography inspired by psychedelic novels.
The play on colours is coupled with an important work on the materials and the reliefs, as well as a clever blend of cashmere, lambswool and silk thread fibres. Together these elements bring a delicate luminosity to the pieces.
The Fall-Winter 2020/21 collection continues to develop themes that have been explored in previous collections, such as “English college” and “sportswear”. It also introduces new unisex pieces: a fluid pair of jogging pants and a jumper with a Milano stitch that exude the look of a luxury jersey ensemble that both is both comfortable and elegant. Certain pullovers are emblazoned with a large B letter on the chest in bouclé cashmere, in the spirit of student uniforms. What began as a line of cashmere denim, which now includes boyfriend pants and new colours, the trompe-l’oeil range continues to expand. Among the new pieces are a coat with a shearling effect and a pin-striped suit constructed with absolute respect for tailoring.
This season, Barrie presents a new men’s capsule line. For the first time it includes a full outfit offer: jackets and trousers in denim, but also sweaters and cardigans.
BARRIE – A singular savoir-faire
Founded in 1903 in Hawick, a small town in the Scottish Borders, Barrie is one of the oldest cashmere factories in Scotland. Having started as a basic manufacturer, the artisans quickly expanded their savoir-faire to include sweaters and other knits. In 2012, CHANEL acquired Barrie and then launched its own eponymous line in 2014
Further to tradition and technique, the house also stands out on its innovation, creativity and daring approach to designs.
Since 2018, under the aegis of artistic director Augustin Dol-Maillot, cashmere has become a new terrain for exploration. His attraction to streetwear along with his finely-honed graphic vision has thrusted Barrie into a whole new dimension.
Without ever forgetting its historical importance, Barrie revisits its heritage: each piece contains a blend of rare fibres dyed in exclusive colours and requires dozens of manual operations. The Parisian studio provides the creative impulse and works hand in hand with the artisans and the engineers at the factory, whose technical mastery produces the most beautiful innovations, such as the 3D knits and the trompe l’oeil pieces.
Barrie puts all of its savoir-faire and its resources to the exclusive service of a contemporary and exacting fashion.