pretty knits. mark fast.

Last fall, I fell for this Mark Fast skirt (pictured left). Given that I've a love-hate relationship for hair/hair-y textures as adornments or clothing attachments, this skirt was one piece for which I fell hard and, decidedly, without any reservations. Brown's — which carried the skirt at the time— was the only place that any of the designer's pieces anyhow back then; I'd searched, but while there was a slowly whirring buzz with each successive search, I'd never find actual pieces. I never bought the skirt (I regret it), rather expensive so I kept putting it off; but I always came back to look at and admire it. Retail lust therapy.

While the 29 year old designer has collaborated in the past with fellow Central St Martins alum, Bora Aksu, for three seasons, Mark Fast's first eponymous collection was Spring last year (September '08 show-date-wise). In a rather exhilarating and pioneering effort,  Fast has turned the notion of knits as we'd previously known them into alluring, form-fitting garments that are just so beautiful to look at and even more so to wear. He explains that he designs by hand on a domestic knitting machine; his work formed onto the body!! as he knits. His innovative stitching techniques, blending lycra with viscose, angora or wool explores the endless possibilities of using yarns in sculpting areas of tension and areas of volume over the body that result in his sensual designs.

As I was saying, rather expensive — it's terribly labor-intensive as one would imagine. Enter: Faster (by Mark Fast). No, I can't even say the name without a mischievous grin forming on my lips. It's the high-street-priced version of the premier label, a dress costs about a mere ₤500 in contrast to about ₤2000 for dress under the brand name, Mark Fast. So, we are talking relativity here, in terms of price.  (Wait for the sales, I say.) Faster's pieces are less intricate and so produced more quickly than pieces in the eponymous MF line, but I suspect they're made with as much love. You simply can't look at them without feeling warm and fuzzy. I mean that skirt! I really loved it.

In a bold testament to his love for women of all shapes and the incredible fit of his clothes, Fast features plus-size models on the runway and his editorial pictures. Model Hayley Morley is one such fixture and is one of the two headliners for the Faster collection, the other being Anouck Lepere.  Knit never looked so sexy.

And since words could not begin to describe the exquisiteness that is each piece...

Faster Pre-Collection 2010.

Mark Fast A/W 2010.

Mark Fast S/S 2010

Let's plot how to lay our hands on one or two. 

(Also available at Luisa Via Roma and Colette)

Pretty kisses.