A full season before the fashion designers sit down at their drawing boards and two seasons before we consumers start struggling to decide what to wear again, the creative team at Knopf & Knopf is already leafing through picture books on architecture, travel, food or impressionist art, visiting the fashion centres of the world, and tuning into emerging developments and the latest trend agency forecasts.

This breadth of research is needed because trends start taking shape in many places at once, reflecting the zeitgeist of our society. Fundamentally, it is a global interaction of emotions, sports, music, art and trendy people. Fleeting trends are often created by stars from the world of entertainment, whilst fashion trends germinate in many places around the world at the same time.

Initially, they are “only” represented by small trendy groups; they are then snapped up by designers and later by industry. Always hot on the heels of the zeitgeist, trimmings designers create innovative ideas that reflect the latest trends. In the studios, sketches are transformed into prototypes by able craftsmen and women with skills in brass, plaster and modelling clay. This phase is all about engraving, scraping, embossing, milling and lasering.

The next step is to decide on the materials for each model. The options are multifarious: metal, plastic, mother-of-pearl, horn, leather or vegetable ivory. Once this selection has been made, the designers move onto the colouring. The electroplating process alone offers more than 50 different nuances. When it comes to plastics and natural materials that can be dyed such as vegetable ivory or mother-of-pearl, the possibilities are almost endless.

During the subsequent polishing process, the newly made buttons disappear inside giant drums. Granules ensure that any unwanted burrs and edges are removed and the buttons shine bright.

Every season, Knopf & Knopf presents six new trend stories. Four for womenswear and two for menswear. The new models are all attributed to one of these themes and are presented to customers on collection cards with fitting image and lifestyle photos.

In our next issue, we will look at the most important materials used in the making of buttons.

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