The Cutting Class

Missoni, AW11.

There are some catwalk shows that are almost blinding in the designers use of colours, textures, patterns and layers of garments. Missoni is definitely one such show which can become almost overwhelming in the sheer magnitude of pieces and individual ideas that are on display.

The best way to truly understand the forethought and consideration that went into the Autumn-Winter 2011 collection by Missoni is by zooming right in and singling out individual weave variations, colour combinations and incredible details. Such as the oversized knits that are plaited out of giant gradients of knitted colour, or the individual feathers which have been carefully stitched to follow the knitwear patterns, turning the 2D designs into 3D texture.

The colour combinations at play in the Missoni collections are always incredibly complex and varied, almost like the effect of Pointillism in a painting. In the same way that the individual knitwear yarns can often be made up of many blends of colours to create one dynamic hue, so to are the collections made up of many tones which all build towards one colour theme. In this case, this colour theme was also beautifully offset by a dark red lip colour.

Images from Vogue.co.uk».

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».

Video still from the documentary, Helen Rödel - Estudos MMXI, 2011.

It happens too often that the most authentic fashion stories and behind the scenes characters are kept hidden away out of the limelight, so that the catwalk collections can be presented with a coat of gloss. So it was refreshing to see the beautiful documentary sent to me by Helen Rödel which so perfectly captures all the colour and energy that has gone into her carefully crafted pieces.

This short video tells such a story, from the intimate glimpses of Helen busy at work, to seeing her relaxed in her home life, this video sets her work apart in a way that a catwalk collection alone could never do. Watching the many pairs of hands who work away at her incredibly textured knitwear is mesmerising and everything just seems so right, so complete, like a photograph that catches someone in their environment at just the right moment. Some much larger brands are struggling to work out how to project a brand image in a way that is as strong and succinct as this.

Catwalk images from HelenRödel.com» and video stills from the documentary, Helen Rodel - Estudos MMXI, 2011.

When it comes to knitwear there are basically two ways that the shape of the garment can be made. You can either combine the different garment pieces by treating the knit almost like a fabric, where by you have a large square of knit that you lay the pattern pieces on and then cut out your pattern pieces and sew them together. This process is called ‘cut and sew’.

Or you can do what is called ‘fully fashioned’ knitwear where the individual pieces are more engineered so that each garment piece is made with no extra fabric and the pieces are basically knitted together at the seams.In this case each piece is shaped using techniques specific to knitwear by using special stitches, making lines of loops shrink and grow depending on where more length is needed. When you knit by hand this is essentially the process that you are doing although in commercial production it would be done by knitting machines. 

This is an oversimplification of the two processes of course, but in general fully fashioned knitwear is a more expensive process which has flatter seams. Also you don’t have to only use only one process per garment. At times you may want to fully fashion whole sections of the garment and then cut and sew the pieces together where a knitted seam would not work.

On the Jil Sander collection below I’ve highlighted how you can tell from the seams which of the two processes have been used so that you will be able to look at the work of other designers and dissect what they have done.

Jil Sander, AW11.

Catwalk images from Vogue.co.uk. Knitwear image from TheCuttingClass.

Felting is one of those crafty techniques that can risk being the unnecessary centre of attention on a garment. It is a process by which soapy water and friction are applied to wool to make the fibres lock together to create a new fabric. You can felt the fibres alone to create felt or felt one fabric to another. Because the process is hard work you sometimes get the feeling in student work that the felting needs to be the focal point of the collection.

I think that Alexander Wang recently found a more subtle use of felting in his AW11 collection where the knitwear appears to morph into the jackets and silk dresses underneath. The understated colour palette definitely helps here as well, where other felting adventurers can sometimes get carried away with garish colours.

Alexander Wang, AW11. Images from Vogue.co.uk.