We interviewed the innovative textile designer Borre Akkersdijk last week about his innovative BB.Suit that combines three-dimensional knitting with wearable technology. But the Dutch designer is a highly versatile maker with a talent for creating market-ready products in tune with the zeitgest, even as his thinking looks to the the future.
Under his ByBorre label, Akkersdijk has parlayed his experiments with textiles into a line of richly patterned quilts produced with Piet Hein Eek. The silk quilted plaids were made from silk fabrics rescued from Spazio Rossana Orlandi in Milan, a former tie factory. Both studios share an affinity for reusing discarded materials as the starting point for new work.
Akkersdijk was inspired by a recent trip to China, where he expored non-traditional materials to make a new version of his BB.Suit that filters polluted air. “Combining available materials with production methods provides the opportunity to create a new material and a new context,” he says.
He quilted two layers of silk with the batting in between. “The silks are carefully chose by colour, pattern and quilt graphic,” he explains. They combine delicate paisleys and subtle watermarked patterns with graphic patterns in strong primaries and even some bolder prints. Stitched patterns in different combinations give the pieces extra tactility. A delicate bias band finishes off the edges.
The first range of quilts debuted in Milan earlier this year at the place where they began: Spazio Orlandi.