JULY/AUGUST CELEB INTERVIEW Kaffe Fassett.indd

WI Life July & August 2013 43show at London’s V&A Museum. Whetherhe’s knitting, painting, needlepointing,quilting or mosaicing, Kaffe sees each newproject in the same way – an opportunityto experiment with colours and patterns.‘I would say I’m a colour scientist,’ hesays, retiring to a seat by the bay window.‘Everything we do here is playing withcombinations and patterns of colour. We’reall made up of patterns or structures;everything in the world is.’Growing up in California, Kaffe wasnine when his parents bought a log cabinfrom film director Orson Welles andtransformed it into the world-famousNepenthe restaurant. ‘All the peoplepassing through Nepenthe had an influenceon me,’ he says. ‘When you’re a lonely childin the countryside, a visiting nurse is acelebrity, but if a movie star comes along,someone like Gloria Swanson, or OliviaDe Havilland? Theywere like godsdescending fromthe heavens.’Until he was28, Kaffe devotedhis life to painting.But, uninspiredby the structuredteaching at artschool, he droppedout to paint in London,where he finally took upresidence in 1964. ‘I found a lot ofinspiration in the museums, flea marketsand second-hand shops here,’ he says. ‘I’dcome home with armfuls of wonderfulEnglish and oriental pottery to paintas still life.’But it was a trip to a wool mill inScotland in the summer of 1968 withfashion designer Bill Gibb that ignitedKaffe’s passion for textiles. Inspired by thecolours in the landscape, Kaffe stockedup on 20 colours of Shetland wool andsome knitting needles. ‘Alice DunstanRussell, who ran Billy’s Alice Paul shop,had accompanied us on the trip and wassitting opposite me on the train,’ saysKaffe. ‘I looked at her and asked, “Do youknow how to knit? I need desperately todo something with these yarns I’ve justbought.” She did know, and I had my firstlesson right there on the train.’ Amazingly,his first design appeared as a double-pagespread in Vogue Knitting magazine.‘My first sweater was a miracle,’ saysKaffe. ‘It was this amazing thing full of 20colours. It looked like something you’ddug up in the desert, but I took it to VogueKnitting and said, ‘‘What do you think ofthis?’’ The editor saw the beauty in it andcommissioned him to design something inFair Isle. ‘I didn’t even know what Fair Islewas!’ he admits.‘I didn’t know that knitting patternsexisted, ‘says Kaffe. ‘To me it was likehaving a wonderful paintbox sitting ona shelf that happened to be woolly. All Iwas interested in doing was knitting thosepaints! It never occurred to me that therewas cable and lace stitching – I was onlyinterested in how to knit that colour nextto that colour so it has an interesting vibe'I think womenare shamed intoperfection whereaswith men people tendto be less critical'and makes the colourscome more alive.’Kaffe’s freehandapproach caused quite astir in the world of textiles,but he believes being a manworked in his favour. ‘I thinkwomen are shamed into perfection,’he says, ‘whereas with men people tendto be less critical. I don’t know where thatcomes from, it’s just one of those weirddifferences between men and women.‘I was always cheeky to people who putme down. If they didn’t like the back of thesweater, I’d say look at the front. With mykind of wild knitting, if you make a mistakeyou can just say “that’s what I intended”.You make it a part of the design.’It was only a matter of time beforeKaffe’s love of knitting would lead him tothe doorstep of the WI. ‘The very first timeI spoke to a WI I was a little apprehensivebecause it was very early days. I wasterrified they were going to “blow mycover”,’ Kaffe laughs.‘The meeting was in two parts: first mytalk, then the business side of things – wellthey never got to the business side! Theywere trying on samples and asking mequestions and then they said, “we’re going togo home and start knitting at once”. Half themeeting just left. I loved the spirit of the WI.’While Kaffe has exanded into tapestry,fabric design, quilting and mosaics, it’swool that still holds a special place in hisheart. I don’t think anything has changedmy life so much as realising there’ssomething wonderful about making atextile,’ he says. ‘Knitting is one of themost magical things.’● Kaffe Fassett Quilts Shots and StripesBy Kaffe Fassett and Liza Prior LucyPublished by Stewart Tabori & ChangPrice: £21.99● Kaffe Fassett: Dreaming in ColourPublished by Stewart Tabori & ChangPrice: £25