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»

Junya Watanabe, SS12.

The Japanese designers seem to have a way of conjuring up new fantasy headwear each season and pairing it with delicate models and deadpan facial expressions. This season was no exception with Junya Watanabe displaying feather hair sculptures with flashes of unusual tones and hues to offset the floral repeats that embellished the garments. The use of the colours within the feathers echoed the off-kilter colour palettes that have been the norm for the last few seasons. These colours added a contemporary edge to simply draped floral dresses and trademark double breasted tailoring by throwing unexpected highlight colours into the mix.

Valentino, SS12.

There are some designers who can take an idea or a technique that has been used time and time again, and can bring their own freshness to them to use the techniques in new and beautiful ways. Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, as the creative directors at Valentino, are finding ever more intricate ways to work with lace, and lace-like effects to build ethereal collections.

The garments manage to balance prettiness with substance, largely due to the obvious care, thought and attention to detail that goes into crafting these garments. Additional edge is given to the collections through the intelligent colour combinations that contrast the most subtle of neutral pinks, lemons and mints with pops of cornflower blue, vibrant red or even layers of stark black.

Half of the beauty in these collections is hidden in the details - the careful finish given to a near invisible fastening, or the way that the leather is molded and tucked to form a perfect and yet understated sleeve head shape. Sometimes embellishment can be used as evidence of labour and effort but in the Valentino collection it is all about subtle and deft handiwork. 

Images from Vogue.co.uk».

Céline, RST12.

Phoebe Philo’s Resort 2012 Collection for Céline has proved to be a nice extension of some of the ideas that she presented in the Autumn-Winter 2011 collection. The rounded leather shapes, reminiscent of automotive upholstery, are remixed with brighter colours, while the multiple panels used in AW11 are given a new dynamic with the addition of diagonal lines and the addition of sheer fabric panels.

The use of sheer fabrics is much more prevalent in the Resort collection, from sheer blouses, dresses and skirts through to trench’s made from a smoky, translucent material. There are also a variety of pleats used in the collection that bring in a more traditional reference point, and the florals also add a lighter more organic element to the collection. Interestingly, overblown florals on a dark ground were a sophisticated fabric choice in the 1940s, but there is no nostalgia about the way the fabric is used here. These are suitably contemporary clothes, often presented in an almost bell shaped, bottom heavy silhouette. The pieces look more like the contents of a wardrobe than a strictly disciplined collection, but I say this as an advantage, as this definitely adds to the variety of ways that the garments can be layered without the looks appearing too repetitive.

Images from Vogue.com».

Yves Saint Laurent, RST12.

It would be easy to view the recent Resort 2012 collection by Stefano Pilati on a purely superficial level by simply enjoying the summery nautical theme and dreaming of future holidays. The first half of the collection enjoys a myriad of ways to wear an anchor motif, almost acting as a lesson in the principles of design as we see how to change the scale, design, colour and materials of a symbol in order to maximise it’s use across a collection. The anchor motif is teamed with other easily digestible nautical symbols, such as the instantly recogniseable rope, the cut of a sailor style collar or the contrasting stripes like the hull of a ship. Of course while the nautical theme is one that is often used an abused, at Yves Saint Laurent these symbols are cut with a sense of old world Yves flair and a knowing sense of novelty that is completed at the highest quality level.

But the symbolism does not stop here, and to consider this collection as entirely light hearted is to miss the weight of the message in the second half of the looks. It is in this latter half that a new symbol is used - the poppy. At times in fashion a symbol can be over analysed, people can try too hard to read too deeply into aspects of a collection that were probably never intended to be viewed with as much conceptual critique… but this is not just any flower that has been chosen for the floral repeat patterns, and unless I am mistaken I doubt that Mr. Pilati chose this floral without a slight sense of subversion. It’s not simply a daisy or a sunflower that has been used, the chosen floral is based on the poppy, a flower that has been used in the past as a symbol of remembrance and one that is worn in memory of the fallen members of the military and navy. It also carries the connotations of sleep, eternal sleep and is used in the production of opium, morphine and heroin. So not really your garden variety holiday wear.

Catwalk images from Vogue.com».