The Cutting Class

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».

Danielle Scutt, SS12.

There was an interesting mix of high end / lo-fi street references in the recent Danielle Scutt collection for Spring-Summer 2012. On the one hand there was a certain youthful quality to the vibrant polka dots and disjointed checks and on the other hand this was balanced out by the more conservative monochrome tailoring. It felt very wearable and very street, from the hipster denim to the t-shirts and bleached out jerseys, but at no point did it feel scungy like an unwashed teenager. At the points where the subculture references could have crossed into a naive, coming of age territory, the crisp shirting and considered drape of the folds and tucks helped to reign the collection in.

In a quote on Vogue.co.uk, Scutt described the collection as being very personal and perhaps this was best reflected in the varying levels of complexity that were seen in the pieces. We can only assume that while a younger teenage Scutt may have been satisfied with a slogan tee, the older Scutt would get a kick out of the more complex pattern cutting. Which is probably why the low/high references tied together - the basic idea of rebellion was the same whether executed in oversized metallic cocoons, mid grey suiting or rope dress overlays.

Images from Vogue.co.uk».

Prada, Menswear, SS12.

Fashion has had it’s fair share of block colours and clean lines of late with designers experimenting with their own versions of minimalist aesthetics, simplified forms and graphic silhouettes. But at the end of the day, aesthetics that disciplined aren’t necessarily particularly fun and in some of the recent Resort and Menswear collections designers are breaking out of the minimal mould.

In the recent Prada Spring-Summer 2012 Menswear collection there was a sway away from clean lines for all, towards loud shirts for the brave few. Colours continued to pour forth in all new combinations and repeat prints were busy and quirky, depicting scenes of golfing, surfing and dancing. Shoes used 3 or 4 colours at a time, with cartoon-like studs protruding from the soles and the hats included beret style shapes that looked like borderline granny shower caps. The yoke lines were also warped into strange new outlines and used to contrast clashing prints with fine lines of piping. And that’s without even mentioning the bedazzled garments and accessories that just pushed the whole look to a new level of eccentricity.

Catwalk 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».

Stella McCartney, RST12.

The recent Stella McCartney Resort collection for 2012 contains a vibrant mix of beautiful tailored details and vibrant holidays prints. Palm tree brooches adorn neat blazers, while long length dresses and oversize tops and skirts provide the perfect canvas for symmetrical hibiscus scenes, ocean prints, and bold beach chair stripes. 

The two sides to the collection play off each other well - the archetypal holiday prints appear more grown up in the context of the elegant and modest shapes, and the tailoring is artfully cropped at the wrist and ankle to give it an air of nonchalance.

Images from Vogue.com».

Louis Vuitton, RST12.

The recent Resort 2012 collection from Louis Vuitton featured Parisian details and prints in tones of mid blues and raspberry reds. The collection pieces are the result of a collaboration between Sophia Coppola and the Louis Vuitton Studio Design Director, Julie de Libran.

The collection features a peek-a-boo motif across the various fabric textures from perforated leather on garments and accessories, to fabric made out of woven strips and cut-out details, as well as eyelets used both as decorative borders and as a center front fastening. There were also repeat prints and placement prints featuring a hyper-Parisian Eiffel Tower motif and some other more organic textured prints that looked as though bleach had been dripped across the fabric. It also interesting to note the reappearance of the raglan sleeve shape that has been seen on other collections recently, continuing a silhouette with a softer and more rounded shoulder.

Images from Vogue.com».

Marc Jacobs, RST12.

You would be forgiven for thinking that the fabrics above look like something out of an interiors showroom swatch book or a home wares magazine but in fact they are the latest wallpaper inspired prints and floral textures for the Marc Jacobs Resort collection 2012. The stylised organic prints have been presented in a series of casual semi-retro shapes, with touches of evening wear provided through fabric embellishments such as sequins, embroidery and what appears to be a lasercut design in pearlescent pink and white. The colour palette is generally quite muted and mushy with khaki, beige and a safe mid blue, lightened by pastel highlights and a simple horizontal stripe. When abstracted away from the clothes they really do look like colours fit for a home renovation, but something about the looks on the models faces gives it a strange creepy edge, in a good way.

Images from Vogue.com».

When it comes to print designs they generally fall into one of two categories. The first is what is known as a placement print. These are prints which are a stand alone designs such as a single image or block of text. This is what is most commonly used on graphic t-shirts.
Placement prints can be printed before or after the garment is sewn together depending on how the print interacts with the seam lines. Most often a piece such as a t-shirt would be made as a garment first and then screen printed, or possibly the print could be added using a transfer process.

The images below from Jean-Charles de Castelbajac show examples of placement prints that may have been screen printed or printed digitally. Notice how the designs have no definite edge, and are surrounded by space.

Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, AW11.

The second type of print design is what is referred to as a repeat print. As the name suggests a repeat print is designed to be repeated endlessly next to itself to create a seamless overall pattern. Rather than creating incredibly large screenprints which encompass the whole design to be printed, and are large enough to cut your garment pieces out of, a repeat print works by creating a square of a design which can be repeated over and over so that fabric can be printed as a continual piece. We take it for granted that this is the basis behind the printed fabrics which we see rolled in fabric stores.

The actual square which holds your design is referred to as the “repeat”.
So if you imagine a square filled with a pattern, the edges of the square must always match to itself. If you put the squares side by side, or above and below each other, the design would be seamless and there would appear to be no break lines. 

For designs such as stripes or checks this is relatively simple as long as the lines are created at perfect right angles to each other. One of the challenges in doing this for patterns which are quite organic and asymmetrical is to create an even flow so that when objects are placed to appear at random, you do not get some areas where the pattern is more condensed and some where it is too spaced out. This can only truly be tested by putting the designed square into repeat and looking at the positioning of the objects within the pattern. Then through trial and error, learning how best to arrange the design, constantly reminding yourself of the squares which will be above and below it.

The designs below show examples of a dalmation print used in the Jean-Charles de Castelbajac show. Notice how you cannot tell where one repeat square begins and the next one ends.

Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, AW11.

These days, computers make an amazing tool for putting designs into repeat but originally textile design was a complex and time consuming process. The repeat would be tested using tracing paper to arrange and rearrange objects and the finished repeat square would be beautifully gauchedsp? when finalised. This may seem easy for a simple stripe but imagine hand painting the details on a beautiful paisley or floral, and then realising that you’ve made a mistake and need to move one of the flowers!

Catwalk images from Vogue.co.uk».