Back in summer ’12, while the design team at Mata Traders was looking over the trend forecast, one of the interns had her heart set on houndstooth. This traditional geometric print has been seen all over the fashion world, and we decided to try to make our own version of the pattern. At one point she mentioned that she was having difficulty finding the repeat. I spent an afternoon trying to not only find it for her, but to teach her how to find it on her own. While doing so, I made a mistake and it came out like the print you see it below on the left. I immediately laughed because all I could see were cats!
Left: Catstooth. Right: Traditional Houndstooth.
Hundreds of cats were repeating on my computer screen, and we realized this was a fantastic twist to the classic houndstooth: It would now be our Catstooth pattern! I kept thinking about how my friend Haley, a feline lover, would possibly walk into work wearing this dress. She could subtly state her love of cats while still looking work appropriate. This was a classic happy mistake moment that ended up in Mata’s Fall/Winter ’13 collection on the Half Moon dress. It is also available in plus sizes on ModCloth here.
