The Cutting Class

Part of what has been interesting about 2015 has been watching as designers continue to use construction details as a way to strike a balance in their collections. An underlying question seems to be constantly asked about how to give a consumer a high-end garment experience without making them look overdressed, to express quality through the finishes and detailing without having garments that scream “luxury”. Part of this balance is found by experimenting with new methods of deconstruction, sometimes as a part of the fabric treatment or pattern shaping, or sometimes just simply through styling.

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From scraped silicone to embossing machines, chiffon rose petals to sketchy beading, 2015 was filled with different types of embellishments for fabrics and textiles. Often what made these embellishments feel relevant was how loose and organic they were, giving a feeling that was spontaneous rather than densely laboured. At the other end of the spectrum, some of the fabric details were based in geometry and repetition with small modular designs used to create all or part of a garment.

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In order to put the year into context, it seems like a good time to revisit some of the details that piqued our interest in 2015. Over the next few weeks we’ll revisit some of the year’s most popular articles to give you a chance to catch up on some of the dart permutations you might have missed.

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Noir Kei Ninomiya, SS16, Paris.

At times, words are used interchangeably to describe certain fabric details. In a fashion journalism context this is generally ok because if someone talks about the “ruffled” or “frilly” dress in the collection then it’s usually pretty clear which one they mean. When a designer is talking to a pattern maker, however, communication is key and using certain terminology may mean that you think you’re asking for one thing, when what you actually want is something else entirely.

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Noir Kei Ninomiya, SS16, Paris.

For many designers, the basic construction elements of a garment are quite simple - you take 2D pieces of fabric and join them together, usually by sewing seams, to create a 3D object. In the collections created by Kei Ninomiya however, it seems that even these basic ideas aren’t taken for granted so that the flat 2D fabric pieces are often split and ruptured and the methods used to join fabric pieces together become as much an act of embellishment as one of construction.

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DZHUS, “Totalitarium”, AW15, Kiev.

The Autumn-Winter 2015 collection for DZHUS was filled with geometric details that used tucks and pleating to fold fabric around the body. Designer Irina Dzhus spoke to us about her pattern making process for the collection and discussed how fabric choice can make the difference between a piece being regarded as a wearable garment or sidelined as a concept piece.

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Off-White, SS16, Paris.

The Off-White collection for Spring-Summer 2016 was filled with deconstructed finishes and patchworked denim set against crisp white t-shirts and structured pleating.

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Céline, SS16, Paris.

There are certain garments where the feats of construction at work are well-known, such as the layers of canvas and horsehair used to mould fabric for tailored jackets. Other garments seem easier or less engineered simply because they are more floaty and lightweight, but of course, this is very deceptive since all the same basic principles of engineering the fabric still apply. If anything, silks, laces and embroidery can be more difficult to work with because there are fewer layers of fabric to hide behind and because the fabrics themselves are less forgiving.

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Marc Jacobs, SS16, New York.

In a palette of red, white and blue the Marc Jacobs collection for Spring-Summer 2016 was thick with Americana references and slathered with glittering stars and stripes. Within this relatively narrow concept and colour palette, the garments showed some incredible uses of embellishment and spliced appliqué, while slouchy dropped shoulder silhouettes were contrasted with razor sharp tailoring.

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Christian Dior, SS16, Paris.

After the recent news that Raf Simons would no longer be the artistic director at Dior (for women’s RTW, Haute Couture and accessories), it seemed a fitting time to celebrate the fineness of the construction details in his last collection for Spring-Summer 2016. After all, it’s possible that not everyone heard the news that Simons was leaving Dior and felt saddened by the thought that in future there may be a little less bust dart inspiration in the world.

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Christopher Kane, SS16, London.

As ever, the catwalk show for Spring-Summer 2016 showed the latest results from the Christopher Kane laboratory. In many ways, this collection seemed to combine the colours and fabrications which Kane has used in the past with the sweeping sense of movement from last season’s collection which was inspired by life drawing.

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Dries Van Noten, SS16, Paris.

A few years ago now we did an article that asked How Many Fabrics in the Dries Van Noten Show? and laid out the collection as swatches. Since the Dries Van Noten show for Spring-Summer 2016 was again filled with an amazing range of different prints, colours and textures it seemed like time to do this exercise again, and to this time explain how looking at a collection in this way almost takes you back to the initial design stages of a collection.

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Yeezy, SS16, New York.

While looking at the Yeezy collection for Spring-Summer 2016 with puckered seams and wavy zippers, a question began to form about how to evaluate the construction techniques of a collection. Can it ever support a designer’s concept to have construction details that are technically wrong?

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Thom Browne, SS16, New York.

The layered suiting ensembles at Thom Browne for Spring-Summer 2016 were embellished with carefully worked appliqué. The motifs were cut in a variety of fabrics and subtle pastel tones and were often spliced into fragments across front closures and shattered across pleated skirts.

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