The Cutting Class

Jil Sander, SS12.

There is a discipline that has crept into the most influential womenswear collections over the last couple of seasons that breathes of minimal, understated elegance and is built on a foundation of retro silhouettes.

Raf Simons, in his collections at Jil Sander, has been instrumental in experimenting with what will work for intellectual women today, in mining the old dress codes and finding out what can still be relevant and cool when given just the right sense of proportion, texture and colour.

In terms of construction, dress making staples such as darts have been used to great effect to help narrow the line of waists or create subtle shaping in rigid cottons. In general for this Spring-Summer 2012 collection, the sheerness of white fabric has been embraced and used as a subtle tool for detailing. This can bee seen through the classic collar shapes that are echoed in specially cut facings or in the double layers of white used to add a different dynamic to shirtdresses by blocking out more opaque areas.

The idea of transparency continued later on in the collection through the use of coloured checks on organza, that were used both with and without a white backing fabric often in modest, midi-length skirts and dresses.

The mood of modesty is a key marker that has carried through the recent collections of Jil Sander, Prada and Celine especially in terms of the staying power of the midi-length silhouette. It is the context that these designers have created for these collections that keeps them sensual and relevant - the colour combinations and textures used for these silhouettes are always slightly unexpected and off kilter and the accessories always fuse in unexpected references such as car interiors or woven cane furniture.

It really feels as though there is a definite effort to give a different slant to classic shapes that would otherwise be considered very elegant but perhaps overly conservative. It often seems as though designers such as Miuccia Prada, Raf Simons and Phoebe Philo are setting themselves challenges to work out what will give even the most austere collection or unlikely reference a new subversive, intellectual or playful element to create something new and unexpected. The challenge, it seems, is resulting in some of their strongest and most desirable work.

Images from Vogue.co.uk». Cane images from DecoratorSupplyInc».

Comme des Garçons, Menswear, SS12.

The classic pinstripe has been appearing in a lot of collections of late and it makes for a good opportunity to see how different designers bring the pinstripe into their own context. Most often pinstripe is associated with suiting and tailored garments but even within this context there are so many variations that designers have to play with - lapel shapes, double breasted vs. single breasted jackets, different coloured grounds for the stripes, slight variations in stripe colour, using stripes on the bias, in different scales… and on and on.

Often when you see these pinstripe pieces within a larger collection these individual twists can get lost, but placed side by side with the work of other designers it makes it easier to play spot the difference to see how each designer has made the stripe feel contemporary, and to make the pin strip fit for their brand.

Comme des Garçons, Menswear, SS12.

Jil Sander, Menswear, SS12.

Lanvin, Menswear, SS12.

Umit Benan, Menswear, SS12.

Jean Paul Gaultier, Couture, AW11.

Images from Vogue.co.uk».

Acne, Menswear, SS12.

Ever a game of details, menswear is often best dissected by focusing on the individual elements that come together to make up the collection. For the images below I have focused on the collar shapes and necklines of the Spring-Summer 2012 menswear shows. On the whole the necklines often appear high and perfectly round, and this shape was most commonly seen on t-shirts, tank tops and knitwear pieces. Shirt collars are generally wider and longer, rather than the skinnier, finer collars that we’ve seen over recent years. Jackets were often 3 button, or double breasted and this has had the effect of bringing the jacket break point higher on the body, making the lapel line shorter, and forcing the collar out wider in a shape that is reminscent of the 1940s, a style that was also revived in the 1970s. On other jackets, a wide collar was added to a round neck jacket shape, again bringing the focus of the eye up higher on the body, as opposed to say a one button jacket that buttons down lower at the waistline that has a generally more lengthening silhouette.

The shirt collars for the Acne menswear collection above featured a rounded tip that gave the shirts a more stylised, cartoonish look especially when paired with the candy coloured pastels. There was also some interesting use of cowl-style necklines in the more luxe sportswear pieces, where the collars had more volume around the neckline.

Dior Homme, Menswear, SS12.

The collars at Dior Homme were slimmer at times, but often within the context of a more voluminous shirt shape which gave it a more contemporary feel. There were also shirt variations with a collar stand only, often referred to as a “grandad neckline”. In the double breasted styles we see the effect of the wider lapels, shown above on the cream jacket and paired here with a black slim line shirt collar. There were also times where the jacket lapels were fastened over the top of each other with a metal ring fastening, to create a high neckline. This created a more triangular shaped silhouette for these garments.

Raf Simons, Menswear, SS12.

The images above from the Raf Simons collection, shows examples of the wider squarer collar that has been added to a rounded neckline. There were also some other details added to the Raf Simons garments at the neckline such as contrast trims on the collars and the buckle detail on the placket of a polo shirt.

Jil Sander, Menswear, SS12.

The clean, rounded neckline continued in the Jil Sander show on repeat print t-shirt shapes and chunky knitwear. The shirt collars here often appeared to be cut in a silk fabric, or some sort of satin texture and the collars were wider and more elongated.

Prada, Menswear, SS12.

There were actually many neckline variations at the Prada show, from double breased jackets with wide lapels, to longer slimmer cut lapels, v-necks on knits and polo shapes and wider shirt collars that were covered in jewels. One of the main features of this show that pulled focus to the neck lines was the repeated use of the neck scarves and these were often used to fill in gaps around the neckline on the lower and more v-neck styles and underneath open shirt collars.

Walter Van Beirendonck, Menswear, SS12.

At the Walter Van Beirendonck show the cuts of the jackets were quite intricate and the fabrics were full of colour and texture and these details was balanced by more classic shirt and lapel shapes. This was one of the few shows to use ties, and bow ties at that, and they appeared to be made out of the same colourful jacket fabrics, but shown contrasted against the other colours within the look that they were paired with.

Catwalk images from Vogue.co.uk».

Erdem, RST12.

The houndtooth check pattern has been appearing in tasteful doses of late in a variety of different contexts. In the Erdem Resort 2012 collection, the traditional monochrome version was presented in a dark blue and verigated pastel colourway that provided a more graphic element to complement Erdem’s floral prints, lacework and embroidery.

Erdem, RST12.

In the Stella McCartney Resort 2012 collection the houndstooth was used in both classic black and white and black-on-black colourways. In this collection the houndstooth had a more clean cut, graphic quality, a nice accent against the vibrant stripes, brights colours and tropical florals that were used in the rest of the collection. The houndstooth also helped to tie together some of the other monochrome pieces in the collection, providing a link between the tailored houndstooth trousers and the longer black and white dresses. More Stella McCartney details can be seen here in the post Hibiscus Tailoring at Stella McCartney».

Stella McCartney, RST12.

There was also an interesting hint of the houndstooth check in the recent Jil Sander Menswear collection for Spring-Summer 2012. Here it was seen in a smaller repeat design as a semi transparent version, to add texture to an outer layer.

Jil Sander, Menswear, SS12.

For more about the weave of the houndstooth check, and to see other examples of houndstooth from recent collections you can view the post Fabric and Textiles: Houndstooth Check».

Images from Vogue.co.uk and Vogue.com.

Jil Sander, Menswear, SS12.

For a long time the menswear silhouette was all about tall and lean garments on waif-like figures, when skinny trousers and slim cut jackets were the norm. Knitwear had to be fine to fit under these narrow silhouettes and collars were cut quite short and narrow as well, often to echo the slim line of a skinny tie. The trousers were also cut very flat and close to the body, suited to the bodies of boys who usually raided the ladies department to get their jeans as tapered as they desired. But at the recent Jil Sander show this narrow silhouette was nowhere to be seen.

For the Spring-Summer 2012 collection the silhouette was much more boxy and chunky. If the silhouette was simplified into geometric shapes, then the previous silhouette would have been more like long thin rectangles, where as the outlines of the Jil Sander collection are more like square blocks stacked on top of each other. The result is boxy pleated shorts, almost like slouchy 1940s gangster trousers that have been cropped for summer. The knitwear has a more bulky shape and a rounded shoulder, with a thick melange yarn that blends beautiful colours together. This multi-coloured effect was echoed in the repeat patterned fabric that appear to be sewn with an embroidered two-tone stitch design, and the colours were also accented in the snakeskin accessories. Subtle changes speak volumes in menswear and the lengthening and widening of the collars is also a point to notice for this collection, also note the lack of topstitching on the collars echoing the clean construction of the last womenswear collection.

Catwalk images from Vogue.co.uk».

Jil Sander, SS11. Buttons from Mrecht.

While you’re enjoying the myriad of colours available for the Spring-Summer 2011 collections, spare a thought for the production teams who are responsible for co-ordinating every last colour matched detail. While buttons, zips, threads and other trims and fastenings can appear to be available in a variety of colours, they seem to have a knack for always being not quite the colour that you need on your newly designed garment. A thread which is slightly too dark, too light, or slightly the wrong tone can become the detail that distracts the eye away from the silhouette. With the wrong thread colour, messy stitching suddenly becomes more obvious and makes the garment look less professional and using an incorrect zip colour can make a hidden closure become a strange focal point.

The phrase most commonly used for specifying that a trim is to match the fabric colour is “dyed to match” or abbreviated to DTM. Which is a way of specifying to your manufacturer that the fastening will need to be colour matched if possible or otherwise dyed the exact colour of the fabric. This seems to be simple enough though it can be quite a subjective term, one persons “perfect match” can look disasterous to someone else. Especially when garments from the same collection are made by multiple manufacturers. Then you can end up with threads being chosen in many variations surrounding the desired colour, but not actually matching the shade exactly.

The best way to avoid colour matching disappointment is to provide manufacturers with all the accessories, fastenings and threads where possible. This will mean that even if different people are sewing the garments, they will all be using the same coloured components.

If you are creating a sample collection and need a certain shade of button or zip dyed in a small quantity then you can get it dyed by a specialist or you can do the dyeing yourself. Just make sure that you have bought the correct dye for your fibre type - cotton dyes won’t dye polyester zip tapes, for example, as the colour will not set and will just wash away when rinsed. And always buy a spare or two in case the colour doesn’t turn out as planned.

Jil Sander, SS11.

Below are some examples of the type of sample cards that are available from suppliers. From these you can choose which buttons you want and have them dyed to match your chosen fabric:

The sample cards below show an array of different colours for zips. They show samples of the colour of the zipper tape (the fabric section running either side of the zip) but the actual zipper teeth and zipper pull are not specified here.

Christopher Kane, SS11.

Below are examples of thread colour cards for standard sewing thread. Embroidery thread manufacturers also provide separate sample cards.

Catwalk images from Vogue.co.uk». Sample cards from Mrecht Accessories».

Meadham Kirchhoff Back Stage, AW11.

When it comes to the hair, make-up and accessories styling for catwalk shows there seem to be too different approaches that can be taken. The models can be cast and styled to look like carbon copies of each other, the advantages of this being that the focus is drawn away from the models and towards the clothes. It can also make the clothes seem less personal to the individual models, and instead having the models appear more as walking mannequins, representative of a certain stylised new look that accompanies the clothes.

The flip side to this is for the models to seem more different from each other and for the styling to accentuate individual features and physical quirks so that the styling of the hair and make-up complements them personally as well as the outfits that they are to be wearing. The effects is that the models appear more like characters from a film or novel, maybe the physical representation of the designers muse and generally more life-like rather than being a walking clothes hanger.

Many collections fall somewhere in between these two approaches - the styling is of course based on a theme that relates to and complements the collection, and within that brief there is room for the hair and make-up stylists to move, to create variations of the look for different models.

Below is an overview of the collections from Autumn-Winter 2011, as a snap shot of the different styling themes. There are a great deal of different approaches in the collections below. Many of them have a quite understated use of make-up and hair styling which is balanced against more complex structures, colours and prints. At other times the natural look is used as a base to which other vibrant highlights are added. The overall impression is one of restraint, none of the looks are so overworked that they draw attention away from the clothes and the most extreme styling acts only to heighten the personality of the collections.

Alexander McQueen, AW11.

Alexander Wang, AW11.

Ann Demeulemeester, AW11.

Balenciaga, AW11.

Celine, AW11.

Chanel, AW11.

Chloe, AW11.

Christopher Kane, AW11.

Comme des Garcons, AW11.

Dries Van Noten, AW11.

Erdem, AW11.

Gareth Pugh, AW11.

Givenchy, AW11.

Hermes, AW11.

Issey Miyake, AW11.

Jil Sander, AW11.

Jonathon Saunders, AW11.

Junya Watanabe, AW11.

Lanvin, AW11.

Louise Gray, AW11.

Louis Vuitton, AW11.

Meadham Kirchhoff, AW11.

Miu Miu, AW11.

Mugler, AW11.

Prada, AW11.

Richard Nicoll, AW11.

Rick Owens, AW11.

Rodarte, AW11.

Stella McCartney, AW11.

Simone Rocha, AW11.

Thom Browne, AW11.

Viktor&Rolf, AW11.

Vivienne Westwood, AW11.

Yves Saint Laurent, AW11.

Yohji Yamamoto, AW11.

Meadham Kirchhoff backstage image, photographed by Morgan O’Donovan for Dazed Digital». Catwalk images from Vogue.co.uk».

Cristóbal Balenciaga, Silk Gazar Evening Dress, ca. 1959.

We are all aware of the effect that a major art exhibition or fashion retrospective can have on the work of contemporary designers, as they absorb great ideas of the past and morph it into their own work. The subsequent effect of this has been that fashion reviewers are quick to look for evidence of designers who’ve fallen under the influence of an exhibition, so that they can be quick to point out the historical connections.

At times it can seem to get thrown about like an easy catch phrase to say that so-and-so was clearly inspired by a recent Yves Saint Laurent, or Balenciaga retrospective. There is nothing wrong with making the connections, of course, because these references are such a part of what gives fashion a sense of depth and history, plus it’s fun to trace the themes back through collections, following the influences of the influencers. But the frustration comes when terms are thrown around too generally and without any sort of visual references. When you’re talking about a great like Cristóbal Balenciaga, for example, there is such a body of work there to reference, that merely name checking him does not really do much to narrow down your description. 

Just by looking at the images below you will see the myriad of ways that we can draw links between the work of Balenciaga and the collections of contemporary designers. Influences and references are not always consciously used by designers - sometimes the idea of the ruffled black dress or the floral print is so ingrained in fashion that you can’t separate it out or say specifically who sent it down the runway for the first time. There is no doubt that Balenciaga is an incredible designer who has been amazingly influential, and whose work always holds an elegant sensibility developed from a pastiche of influences of his own. But at times we need to acknowledge the grey area of influence, rather than feeling a need to categorise it or trace it back neatly to a single source. 

All images on the left are Cristóbal  Balenciaga from the Museum of Metropolitan Art».

Catwalk images on the right from Vogue.co.uk»: Image 1, Hussein Chalayan, AW11. Images 2, 4, 5, 6, Jil Sander, AW11. Image 3, Marc Jacobs, AW11. Image 7, Lanvin, AW11. Image 8, Mary Katrantzou, AW11. Image 9, Prada, AW11. Image 10, Vivienne Westwood, AW11.