Feel the Yarn #14 – Walk on the wire

‘Walk on the wire’, the leitmotif of the 14^th issue of Feel the Yarn, seems to apply perfectly to the period of social and economic instability that we have been experiencing for the past few years, in which the few certainties we do have are not very reassuring: what is certain is that everything is precarious, provisional and extremely fragile. However, if we think about less metaphorical wires, the tension eases and we enter into a dimension of creative play where technique, innovation and ingenuity allow for imaginative combinations and fabrications, or enable us to celebrate heritage and tradition for classically more comforting proposals.

The wire to be walked on in this case is the place of possibility, where subverting rules and launching into experimentation and new invention is desirable and stimulating. These are the thoughts of Elisabetta Scarpini, the creative mind and art director of the Feel the Yarn trend book, who takes us inside the Autumn/Winter 2026.27 season through 5 ‘inspiration doors’. The first opens onto a mysterious and intriguing violet, combined with an acidic and intense mustard, while the low light and shadows of mahogany produce a warm anthracite, a barely pinkish beige and a greyish turtle-dove: vertical rib effects, polka dot geometries, and wavy quilted surfaces come together with lyocell/cotton chenille, worsted wool/acrylic yarns and coppery metallic threads. The second door leads to a quiet story of muted, earthy neutrals, mud, clay-grey, and a greenish brown contrasting with a dark blue and olive green: salt-and-pepper effects alternate with irregularly scaled designs, three-dimensional surfaces and honeycomb macro-weaves.

An extraordinary everyday where lived aspects and handcrafted experiments are given the charm of imperfection. The third ‘door’ allows entry into a world of hidden reds, muted in every shade, from more rosy and purple tones to more orange tones, a neutral and a winter turquoise open up unusual combination possibilities. Refined materials such as kid mohair and silk threads are beautifully soft to touch in a universe of voluptuous colours and ‘furry aspects’. Assemblages of classical weaves, Art Nouveau-inspired patterns, mosaic designs and overlapping micro-geometries are the hallmarks of the fourth journey Elisabetta Scarpini takes us on. Sumptuous shades, such as cocoa, Prussian blue, must, leaf green, caramel and powder pink, create a mix of styles in which the contemporary is enriched with suggestions of bygone eras.

The creative mind of Feel the Yarn ends the ‘walk on the wire’ with a range of cool tones warmed only by an intense hazelnut, giving us atmospheres between light and serious, between past and present using natural-looking lines, shapes and yarns.