The Cutting Class

Comme des Garçons, AW12.

For her Autumn-Winter 2012 collection for Comme des Garçons, Rei Kawakubo presented a very flat collection that called into question the very nature of the way we view fashion. As a comment on the way that we generally view collections as endless catwalk thumbnail images the garments were made out of very thick felt, giving the appearance of paperdolls playing dress-up, and making the garments perfectly suited to only being viewed front on. The collection also appeared in fashions most clichéd prints - the floral, the polka dot, the camouflage, the leopard print.

The garments presented in this way provide a perfect example of seam allowance - a section of fabric that is usually unseen in garment images. Seam allowance is effectively like a border of free space on the fabric. If you imagine the finished edge of a garment when it is on the body, following the stitching line that joins the pieces of fabric together, then the seam allowance is the extra margin that runs parallel to this finished edge.

Basically because you can’t join fabric edge to edge as it will fray away, there must always be some sort of margin of spare fabric on either side of the stitching line so that the stitches have something to grip into.

In the case of the Comme des Garçons collection, the seam allowance has been left visible along the top shoulder edges of the first garments to allow us to see this element that would normally be hidden inside the garment.

The below explains the basic process of sewing a seam in a garment. As you can see in some of the garments above, the seam allowance on the shoulders is not turned to the inside so it is as though the machinist has only sewn the first 3 steps, but with the wrong sides of the fabric together:

The amount of seam allowance that is added to the pattern of a garment, and therefore the margin for when you sew the garment, will depend on the type of fabric you are sewing and how you intend on finishing the seam. For example, some garments may take just 6mm (essentially the width of a sewing machine foot), 1.2cm or 1.5cm or as wide as your require.

Understanding seam allowance is extremely important in pattern making and sewing, as sewing along the stitching line must be exact. If you leave the wrong seam allowance when you are pattern making then your machinist may not be able to sew the pieces together correctly. If you are sewing and take more or less seam allowance than you should then you will effectively be shrinking or growing the size of the entire garment.

If you are pattern making a garment and are unsure how much seam allowance to add to your finished outline then the best practice is to do a small test of the seam finish that you want for that seam, in the correct or similar weight fabric wherever possible. Then you will be able to ensure that you have left enough space.

Read more about seams and seam allowance in Fundamentals of Sewing: Seams» and Fundamentals of Patternmaking: Seam Allowance»

Images from Vogue.co.uk»

Chanel, AW12.

With so many looks, garments, different fabrics and embellishments involved in a Chanel show, it often takes a second look to fully digest the entire collection. As a fashion behemoth, a Chanel collection is normally made up of many mini collections and stories under the one umbrella concept, catering to many different versions of the “Chanel” customer.

With the oversized crystal background as a hint of the theme, there were many references in the embellishments to crystals whether in the use of actual crystals (clustered on buttons, bags, belts, neckpieces) or in the multi faceted cuts made to some garments.

With so much going on in the Chanel repertoire it is sometimes most interesting to go back to what would have occurred at the cutting table, right back at a pure pattern stage and imagine the garments cut purely out of calico. Thought the theme of a Chanel collection may change from season to season, there is usually an interesting blend of silhouettes between very traditional western tailoring (with a base of jackets, trousers, shirts and skirts) to perhaps more deconstructed shapes such as ideas we would usually expect to see at a Comme des Garcons or Junya Watanabe show. It is these unusual silhouettes, from a blend of reference points, that are played with at Chanel and that are the substance behind all of the glittering embellishment.

Images from Vogue.co.uk.»

Balenciaga, AW12.

Nicholas Ghesquiere has a knack for making his job at Balenciaga look easier than it actually is. After all, it is one thing to moodboard up an innovative concept and sketch up exciting silhouettes every season, and something else all together to make sure that all the tiny details, combinations of fabric and ideas look resolved and polished by the time the garments hit the runway.

In the Autumn-Winter 2012 collection for Balenciaga, we were treated to a gentle blend of influences and references, from neoprene haute couture cocoons to sci-fi transfer black sweatshirts. Part of what helped to resolve all of the elements of the collection was the fact that the details were usually both decorative and highly functional. You get the feeling that no fabric or fastening decision is made in isolation, so all of the elements work to complement and support the overall concept.

There were intricate embroidery designs that were used to create 3D texture that also had a structural impact by stiffening the fabric and enabling the egg shaped sleeves. The subtle reinforced panels that were used in the sleeves of jackets and coats helped to add a sportswear reference without making the garment uncomfortable and unwearable, but still affecting the silhouette of the sleeves. Suspending hem bands from delicate georgette is also no easy feat, and yet with no distracting pulling or seam slippage, you can see that this has been somehow engineered to work.

Ultimately resolving all of these ideas so well allows the viewers to take the clever details and innovation for granted and focus on how they will pull these clothes out of the context of the high concept and make it wearable - without worrying about the clothes disintegrating.

Images from Vogue.co.uk»

Balmain, AW12, Paris.

To create an opulent collection in his second season at the head of Balmain, Olivier Rousteing drew on an array of techniques to create multi layered fabrics with an intense level of detailing. Leather was used as embossed and laser cut panels layered over velvet, or quilted with lines of stitching. Velvet was used as an under cloth, or heavily embossed for fitted trousers. Velvet was also used with a burnt out devoré effect, revealing sheer lines of fabric in the base cloth beneath the velvet pile.

There was also an incredible level of beading that was used in an impressive way to reinforce boxy silhouettes, or in elaborate panels to flatter the curves of the body. Rather than appearing as though the embellishments were a heavily applied decoration, they were cleverly engineered as part of the garments.

Also of note were the tapestry panels that proved a vibrant flash of colour in amongst the pearly pastel pinks and pistachios, and rich teal leather.

All in all the techniques chosen worked as complements of each other, creating 2D and 3D versions to reinforce similar linework details and to echo historical references. It was with interesting effect that Rousteing used one of the most simple and everyday pieces of the collection to ground the otherwise very regal techniques. The very opulent and detailed designs were nicely offset by the simple shape of a fully fashioned knit sweater. 

Images from Vogue.co.uk»

Alexander Wang, AW12.

On first impression Alexanders Wang’s recent Autumn- Winter 2012 collection was all about textures - matt vs. shiny, coated vs. uncoated, bubbled vs. smooth. The subtext however was far more interesting and by reading further into the use of all these textures there was a sense that the collection was actually much more about control.

Whether it was in the fluid soft-handling chiffons trapped in the seams of leather bodices, or the bubbled wooly fabrics glossed under a slick coating, there was a layering effect that was all about using discipline - and the contrasts were in effect just a tool for showing the control. The glossy maroon textured fabric was more interesting when seamed directly next to it’s unglossed counterpart. The wet-look ridged fabrics were nicely offset by matt press studs. Even the way that the press studs in themselves were used to hold lapels back in place were a small token of control in themselves, and also served as a punctuation mark on the garments.

Images from Vogue.co.uk».

Prada, Menswear, AW12.

It was against the background of the homogenous men’s suit, that Miuccia Prada worked touches of individualism in her recent show for Autumn-Winter 2012. The looks were comprised of carefully layered garments that were given personality by small arrangements of pocket detailing. These adornments included long brooch pins with sporting and hunting emblems, flowers, pens, pocket squares and pocket books.

They also allowed a clever play of colour through the vibrant red lensed glasses that were visible on some of the outfits as the hits of colour helped to offset the more muted and traditional tones of the suits and shirts that formed the looks.

There was a poetic sense of symbolism and tradition in the small emblems, and in the same way that an institutional or family crest will pull together simplified images to act as a representation of what the group of people stand for, these small tokens can be rearranged or switched on a daily basis depending on the mood of the wearer.

Catwalk images from Vogue.co.uk».

Comme des Garçons, SS12.

Rei Kawakubo and the team at Comme des Garçons were able to tread a careful line in the exploration of female wedding gowns for the Spring-Summer 2012 collection. They gave us all the right clues to know that this collection was all about bridal wear with silk satin in whites, off whites and creams layered with fine lacework, beading and even some faux floral embellishments in soft greys and lemons.

But as ever with Comme des Garçons, the rebellion is in the execution. Where you would normally find carefully hand bound edges and french seams on a wedding gown, there was instead roughly cut necklines leaving exposed slabs of wadding. When giant-sized, voluptuous silken bows were used, they were used in a strangely creepy way, binding the models hands together. When boning was used to give the gowns structure it was not hidden discreetly away beneath layers of fine silk, it was instead made into an exterior cage that seemed to be constructed out of plastic boning and wadding.

The wadding in itself played a very important part in the collection - rounding out silhouettes and leaving all of the gowns looking thick and puffy. Not so much puffy in an unflattering way but more in a way that gave a subconscious reminder about very comfortable quilts.

The elements that gave each of the outfits their individual character were the headpieces that at times seemed to be mottled as though they were covered in spray on concrete. Or sometimes the headwear appeared as rubberised alternatives with strangely sagging theme-park faces. The black of these headpieces was also brought out in the glossy black and white paint that formed angular lines across the front of a couple of garments These angular marks, especially used so sparingly, contributed to the dark undertones that seemed to be simmering through the whole collection.

Images from Vogue.co.uk».

Rodarte, SS12.

The Spring-Summer 2012 collection from Rodarte centered around the colours and textures that Vincent van Gogh used to great effect in his oil paintings. The tones were at times as vibrant as van Gogh’s depiction of sunflowers, while in other garments the tones were muted and murky as in Starry Night Over the Rhone (1888).

Much of the surface texture of the collection focused on different ways to translate the artist’s brushstrokes into textile manipulations and embellishments. The circular movement of daubs of paint were translated into swirling embroideries or lines of sequins in jewel tones. The thick, glossy texture of oil paint bubbled into lines of thick organic pleating in pastel greens and mauves.

The most literal applications of the paintings, which came in the form of digitally printed silks, gave a nod to modern technology as the thick painterly marks were mixed and blurred with different sized sections of pixelation. The varying pixel sizes also echoed the metallics that were mixed in with the collection which acted as a reference to van Gogh’s use of shimmering light in his paintings.

Images from Vogue.co.uk».