FABRIC SHOPPING

Wall of ribbons at Macculloch & Wallis

THE SHOP EVERYONE TELLS YOU TO GO TO

Everyone told me to go. I kept not going. Then I finally walked in and understood what all the fuss was about.

THE SHOP EVERYONE TELLS YOU TO GO TO

Everyone told me to go. I kept not going. Then I finally walked in and understood what all the fuss was about.

Rows of brightly coloured feather boas hanging in a Soho trimmings shop

FEATHER SHOPPING IN SOHO, LEFT EMPTY HANDED

A curtain of ostrich boas, a wall of buttons, and a brooch I couldn't make because I'd lost the one photo that told me how much feather to buy.

FEATHER SHOPPING IN SOHO, LEFT EMPTY HANDED

A curtain of ostrich boas, a wall of buttons, and a brooch I couldn't make because I'd lost the one photo that told me how much feather to buy.

FABRIC SHOPPING AT MOOD FABRIC - NEW YORK

FABRIC SHOPPING AT MOOD FABRIC - NEW YORK

Everyone knows Mood from Project Runway. I finally walked into the New York store during Fashion Week — hunting silk for a French jacket — and yes, it's as overwhelming...

FABRIC SHOPPING AT MOOD FABRIC - NEW YORK

Everyone knows Mood from Project Runway. I finally walked into the New York store during Fashion Week — hunting silk for a French jacket — and yes, it's as overwhelming...

Interior of Ouro Têxteis fabric shop in Lisbon, bright and open with samples of fabric.

FABRIC SHOPPING IN LISBON, PORTUGAL

A bright little fabric shop in Lisbon, a black-and-white pattern I couldn't stop looking at, and a carry-on with no room left. You can probably guess how this ends.

FABRIC SHOPPING IN LISBON, PORTUGAL

A bright little fabric shop in Lisbon, a black-and-white pattern I couldn't stop looking at, and a carry-on with no room left. You can probably guess how this ends.

Black Italian silk-and-wool fabric printed with a row of women in wide-brimmed white hats and off-shoulder gowns, "alta moda made in Italy" along the selvedge

FABRIC SHOPPING IN ARONA, ITALY

Down a cobbled alley behind the lake in Arona, there's a little fabric shop called Rinaldi Tessuti. Here's what I found there — and the piece I loved so much...

FABRIC SHOPPING IN ARONA, ITALY

Down a cobbled alley behind the lake in Arona, there's a little fabric shop called Rinaldi Tessuti. Here's what I found there — and the piece I loved so much...

Rolls of fabric from a shop in Italy

WHY I TRAVEL FOR FABRIC

I've always bought shoes in Italy. Fabric works exactly the same way for me now — different countries stock completely different things, and most of my best projects have started...

WHY I TRAVEL FOR FABRIC

I've always bought shoes in Italy. Fabric works exactly the same way for me now — different countries stock completely different things, and most of my best projects have started...