Take Noten - How to DIY a Dries Van Noten oriental jumper

Shine through the winter gloom with Dries van Noten's fabulous fire bird.

Dries van Noten's Asian-inspired jumper is the perfect seasonal wardrobe staple covering all sartorial bases, whether you team it with tailored trousers for the office or a leather skirt for instant evening glamour. However, it was the top's intricate oriental-inspired embellishment that really captured my imagination, with an aesthetic that recalled the work of one of my favourite artists, Darren Waterston. Waterston's ethereal paintings subtly incorporate calligraphic brush strokes, blossoms and soaring bird silhouettes, inspired by the Japanese Wabi-Sabi aesthetic. No, that's Wabi-Sabi, not the disconcerting green garnish that looks like avocado but tastes more like Japan's spicier answer to the cinnamon challenge! It celebrates the beauty of imperfection, impermanence and incompleteness, with characteristics that include asymmetry, asperity and drawing from nature in its most ingenuous form. The two different sources made me want to experiment slightly more with textures and effects than directly copy the original whilst keeping the glamorous, wardrobe staple look. Then again, perhaps you do need to draw from imperfections to get the perfect all-occasion essential for the winter - and maybe the two influences aren't so different!

You will need

A black long sleeved jumper - mine cost £4.50 and came from a charity shop

Soft, lightweight interfacing - £2.99 at Hobbycraft

Gold embroidery thread  - £2.19 at Hobbycraft

Sewing machine

Embroidery thread - £1.29 at Hobbycraft

Gemstone and fabric glue - £2.99 from Hobbycraft

Gold fabric paint - £2.99 from Hobbycraft

Difficulty

Quite Easy

Bizarrely, I don't know if I'm the best person to ask since sewing is pretty much second nature to me - though I say it myself - so it was nothing more than a bit of old cut, stick 'n' colour. It just helps to take extra special care when you're painting your lines and gluing your embroidery thread in place so you don't leave any nasty, messy trails.

Time

Sadly, this one's a ten hour job or, put more pragmatically, three evenings' work or thereabout.