The Flou Research Book
Sophie Moore Fashion Atelier,Year Two March 2013
Contents Grecian Dress 1920s to 1930s 1940s to 1950s Designers 1930s to Present Fortuny Madame Gres Vionnet Yamamoto Isabel Taledo Maison Martin Margiela Celine Valentino Exhibition The Fashion and Textile Musuem Concept Research:Architecture The Design Museum Concept Development:Origami Fabric Experiments Evaluation
Grecian Dress Grecian clothing is one of the earliest recorded historical wear, and is traditional depicted in classic greek or roman statues. Lengths of draped, fluid fabric is shown to be wrapped and layered around the body. What I find particularly interesting about the greek statues is the harsh contrast between the hard carved stone and the illusion of soft flowing fabric.
Elie Saab
These Elie Saab dresses from the Spring/Summer R-T-W collection in 2010, are a classic example of how current designers still look to grecian historical dress for inspiration. The look is very feminine and when done correctly can be very flattering to the female figure.
In the 1920’s fashion began to radically change, as dresses became looser for more freedom of movement. Before, women were restricted by corsets and bustles. Designers such as Paul Poiret, Jeanne Lanvin and Coco Chanel began emerging with glamoruos but relaxed silhouettes.
1920s to1930s
The
Typical 1920s dresses were cut on the bias and hung straight down but created a little flare from the hips. The new dress style meant that women becam more body conscious as these dresses clung to the figure, enhancing a streamline silhouette.
Silks, satins and crepes were popular choices of fabric as they have a good hang, particularly when cut on the bias. This dress is a good example of what can be done with fabric to create a controlled yet natural drape. The fabric at the top of the dress appears to have been loosely draped over the shoulders, but this is intentional and would be distcreetly secured.
Fashions of the 1920s and 1930s were very similar in terms of draping and bias cut, but you can see slight differences in terms of a higher waistline, in the 20s dresses usually had a dropped waist. The 1930s was part of the Great Depression and so designers became less experimental in their designs but gave hints of feminism. The dress on this page has a very simple detailing of rouching on top, with a sinched in waist. Being cut on the bias the skirt of the dress hangs down smoothly to the ground. The dress shown oppisite is similar to the classic grecian style, with layered fabrics draped around the body. The nipped in waist gives definition to the classic feminine figure.
The 1940s was a hard time for fashion due to WW2. Shortages and expenses of cloth meant that luxury fabrics such as silk were limited and hemlines crept up further towards the knee. Fashion houses such as Vionnet and Chanel had to close. Many dresses were recycled into new dresses, or curtain fabric and old parracutes were cut up to create new garments.
1940s to1950s
The
The 1950s saw a more glamourous approach to fashion as designers offered up a new found wealth of fabric and designs after the war. Women had been working in a man’s world while the men were away fighting, these dresses show how designs wanted to give women back their feminity and glamour, yet still give a sense of their power. I find the middle image the most interesting as although this is a softly draped dress the shoulders pads enhance the silhouette and give a sense of masculinity yet still achieving a feminie look with a nipped in waist. The dresses shown also give an idea of the eclectic styles of the 1950s, contemporary takes on the classic styles at the time. A particularly popular style of skirt was the one on the right, which resembles Dior’s famous ‘New Look’ of the 1950s.
Designers
1930s to Present
Fortuny
Fortuny is famous for his references to classic and historical art, and his use of finely pleated fabrics. His silhouettes are very simple, with a ribbon tied around the waist as a definition for shape. I personally don’t find Fortuny’s work inspiring, but of his time he was quite a revolutionary and daring designer, due to his use of loose fitting fabrics.
Mme.Gres
Madame Gres was renowned for her delicate use of pleats, which she sculpted around the body, resembling her original passion of being a sculptor. “I wanted to be a sculptor. For me, it’s the same thing to work the fabric or the stone” She worked mainly in silk jersey, creating tiny pleats and gathers. Madame Gres also introduced the idea of cut-out sections revealing skin, at the time this was revoulutionary and not also praised. Gres’ timeless style meant that she had a long working career until the 1980s. I like Gres’ work because of this timeless appeal, you can see from her designs that she achieved the idea of sculpting the female form with her dresses.
Vionnet
Vionnet’s work shows a classic love for bias cut and a smooth hang as well as draping with layers. The fashion house was established in 1912 by Madelaine Vionnet, in Paris. I really like Vionnet’s simple silhouette and soft lines and shapes. I particularly like the image above, showing the subtle detail of a bow, but the real detail is in how the garment hangs from the body. I think this is Vionnet’s achievement, in how she has created the dress to hang in a particular way and it stays there, as it should.
Vionnet
Vionnet is still a current label and you can see with recent collections that the fashion house is staying true to it’s roots. With fluid, flowing fabric, which has been considerately layered and cut to create the classic Vionnet style, It is also evident that much of Vionnet’s inspiration comes from the historic statues of grecian cloth, in how the fabric hangs around the body. I really like Vionnet’s style and feel that the dresses are very feminine and flattering in how they have been designed, cut and made.
Yamamoto
Yoji Yamamoto takes much more contemporary approach to soft sewing and draping. He also uses a lot of manipulation work in his dresses. An example of this is shown in the left hand image, with a pleated plait that wraps up the body and aound the neck. The image to the righ shows how Yamamoto has used the simple idea of twisting the fabric back onto itself which naturally creates gathers and exentuates the drape. Although Yamamoto’s designs are more contemporary you can still see how his work resembles back to the classic shapes and ideas of the grecian dress.
Isabel Toledo
I find Isabel Taledo’s work particularly interesting for her use of pattern cutting and the garment can transform from a flat surface onto the body. Taledo’s clever pattern cutting means that when the dress is worn on the body it falls in a particular way, creating soft shapes and an enhanced silhouette, this is a contemporary example of how bias cut can be applied to a modern dress. The idea of how a dress can transform when applied to the body is something that I can consider in my own designs and experiments.
Maison Martin Margiela
Maison Martin Margiela’s recent collection showed how simple manipulations can be applied to modern day minimalism. Giant knots in fabrics create focal points on tops and dresses. Margiela has also used simple bias cut in some pieces as well, layering fabrics creating movement and texture in simple silhouettes.
Celine
Celine has used a similar approach to manipulation as Maison Martin Margiela, with knots and twists creating feature detialing on simple garments. Celine has also created an element of texture by using various fabrics and twisting them together. I particularly like the top shown on the right, the twisted knot creates an illusion of a halter neck top but the actual top sits a sleeveless tank. Celine’s manipulations are successful because although the fabric is contorted it still fits as intended to the body.
The Valentino Exhibition Somerset House The Valentino exhibition at Somerset House, London, was relevant to this project as Valentino is renowned for his soft sewing amd beautifully draped couture dresses. The exhibition was curated well, in order to allow an appreciation for the skillful workmanship that went into the gowns. Laid out in a runway set, I was able to see the dresses up close, and get an idea of their construction. I noticed that Valentino used a lot of bias cut silks, and also used embellishment, embroidery and some manipulation. It was interesting to see the different ways in which valentino had used soft fabrics, in terms of the garments he created, for example there were a mixture of coats, jackets and dresses.
For this project the most appropriate part of the exhibition was the dementrations of the atelier. Showing how certain aspects of the dresses seen were made. A lot of the concepts were quite simple in theory but the skill and perfection would be hard to master I could see from the demo videos. The ateliers who create Valentino’s designs are highly skilled and have been working with soft sewing for 50plus years in some cases. Although I didnt find the exhibition inspiring in terms of my own designs, it was eye opening into the level of skill required in soft sewing.
I recently visited the Hartnell to Amies:Couture by Royal Appointment exhibition at The Fashion and Textile Museum. This exibitiom consisted of extremely well crafted dresses and was relevant to this soft sewing project.
The Fashion and Textile Musuem
The exhibition held some beautiful couture dresses, made to measure various members of the royal family from throughout the years. I didn’t feel however that all the dresses were relevant to the brief of this particular project, as most dresses were focused more on embroidery and embellishment. The dress to the left caught my eye firstly because of it’s bright colour, but it also stood out from the other dresses for it’s simplicity. It is a dress from Hardy Aimes, is made out of silk crepe and was worn by Madame Raymond, who was a designer for Vionnet. It is cut on the bias with an empire line. The gathered detailing at the shoulders mimics that found on a greek or roman dress.
Anoter dress that I felt related to this project was another bias cut dress. The difference woth this dress is how it has been constructd out of many panels. The one thing I do not like about this dress is how the fabric has puckered where the seams are, this is most likely due to the fabric being on the bias and the seams are causing tension, this is common in dresses similarly constructed. This is a factor I will have to consider when I am designing and making my bias garment.
For my concept I have decided to look at architecture, as I like the idea of the hard, structural elements contrasting with the soft, fluid nature of the soft fabric. I decided to look at a book I found called Eccentric Architecture and Spectacular Spaces, which documents a wide variety of interesting buildings.
ConceptResearch: Architecture
This is a building in Beijing, China. It was designed by the company Lot-Ek, and is compiled as flats, office and retail space. What I like about this building is the unlevel surfaces, how the windows jut out of the flat exterior wall. Although the building is already 3Dimensional, the way that the windows have been positioned creates whole other dimension, with diverse angles and veiw points.
This building is situated in Tokyo, Japan. It is a family home and was designed by the Japanese architect Atelier Tekuto. The concept behind it is to look like a cut mineral or diamond, buried within the earth. I like the defined shape of this building, with varying levels, angles and surfaces.
This building is social housing, located in Izola, Slovnia. This has a similar texture to the first building in Beijing, with protruding windows and an uneven surface. The external extentions on this building have a slight resemblance to the shape of a pyramid. Considering the shapes and textures of the buildings I have look at so far I may experiment with creating sharp, geometric shapes with my manipulations and designs.
These are acoustical domes from a building in Rome, Italy. The architect David Serero works mainly in theatres looking at the acoustics of the spaces. Although this strcture is not as striking as the previous buildings I have looked at, I found the hard geometric, triangular shapes interesting. The idea of layering shapes on top of one another and interlinking is something that I can to relate to when working with fabric and designs.
Stansted Airport The structural skeleton at Stansted Airport relates to my concept for its linear design and reference to pyramids. I particularly like the triangular domes. I like the idea of how the slightly soft curve of the individual domes are created by the hard geometric shape of the individual triangles. This resembles my idea of mixing the hard sructural concept if architecture with the soft sewing of a garment.
On a recent visit to the design Musuem I noticed some relevant items to my concept. Particularly this scale model of a building. I was attracted to it’s curved, yet pointed roof. What intrigued me about this building, and what I have noticed in others is the complimentary smooth curves that are then contrasted and mixed with hard, linear shapes. This is something I intend to consider in my designs, creating texture and dimension.
The Design
Museum
When I went to the Design Museum, only one floor was open, which housed the jewellery exibition, Unexpected Pleasures. Although this was an interesting display, I only found one thing of interest that related to my concept, which was this pleated necklace, made of card and metal. Again the shapes follow the idea of combining linear and curved shapes. Although this object is created using the simpliest of methods, it is very effective and creates a beautiful sense of movement.
Seeing the pleated necklace at the Design Museum prompted me to develop my concept further looking at the art of paper folding, origami. This gives me an oportunity to scale down the ideas I have found in architecture and I can consider more how I can apply these ideas to fabric form.
Concept Development Origami
A book I found relating to paper folding and origami demonstrated simple ways to created shape and dimension. I particularly like this folding technique where pyramid shapes are formed. I like the shadow and texture that is created to emphacise the shapes. This is something I would like ot develop on into my designs.
This paper folding technique is relevant to my concept of architecture as it resembles the shapes and dimensions. This is a very simple process of creasing the paper to create the 3D shape. I would like to develop this idea further and consider how I can apply this to fabric.
Looking at how I can apply this technique to fabric I have used interfacing which I have fused to the fabric to create a paper like weight which makes the fabric easier to fold. this holds the fabric well with a good structure. I have found that by cutting the fabric on the bias it is easier to mould onto the interfacing and take shape with little puckering at the edges of the interfacing, This is a technique I would like to develop futher in my work and design developments.
Fabric Experiments
Evaluation Of Research I feel that I have compiled a strong basis of research to work from to design my garments. After looking at soft sewing through the decades I have found that much of the dresses are timeless in shape and design. This is something that I would like to achieve with my designs but I would also like to have a contemporary element, which is where my concept comes in. By combining the hard, geometric shapes of the buildings I have looked at, with the soft fabric I intend to work with, I hope to achieve a contrast between the concept design and the actual form and feel of the garment. After looking at how I can translate the architectural factors into fabric using interfacing, I would like to develop further on this with my manipulation samples and ideas (see additional samples book). By relating back to my research I hope to achieve wearable garments with a conceptual background.