The very perfect Dot.

So after spending a week in Paris at PV and Indigo, Print 'ALoud' continues with strength. Surrounded by oversized, digital mashed up pattern I began to panic, everything was so big, so brash, so competitive, so fast, so churned out, so excessive. I love the language of pattern but this year I was confused, I felt claustrophobic. At last Kathy and I found sanctury amongst the hand rendered designs, they had soul, they had craft as well as drawn towards the finely re-designed vintage, they had history, they had design and with the finest motif it deemed almost impossible to print but digital print had allowed this.

Our college stand looked lovely, we had compliments, it looked cool, beautiful colour, very refined, it had soul, a special spirit and of course we sold to the best. An American buyer came up 'show us your best Polka dot' oh no! we had forgotten the humble polka dot! That made me think how hard it would be to do a perfect dot without looking generic.

Then this weekend Kathy and I went to visit our friend Claudia Catzeflis at London Fashion Week, Somerset House, amongst her beautiful, beautiful collection my eye rested upon her polka dot. It was modest, quiet, gentle, it was perfect. Claudia said she preferred her dot screen printed, I understood this but disagreed, she had maintained that in the quality of the design. The digital print had dusted the surface of the fabric, it was so light it might have blown away, I was lucky I caught it, just in time, I could breath again.

Claudia Catzeflis