Thom Browne, SS16, New York.
The layered suiting ensembles at Thom Browne for Spring-Summer 2016 were embellished with carefully worked appliqué. The motifs were cut in a variety of fabrics and subtle pastel tones and were often spliced into fragments across front closures and shattered across pleated skirts.
Givenchy, SS16, New York.
The Givenchy Spring-Summer 2016 collection combined the silky sensuality of lingerie with the strictness of tailoring topped off with lashings of embellishment.
Gucci, AW15, Milan.
The Autumn-Winter 2015 collection at Gucci had a more subtle atmosphere, a more come-as-you-are version of “fashion” with pieces layered together in a way that felt lived-in. In particular it was interesting to see the way that this undone quality was used across the tailored pieces with crumpled finishes and unusual pressing techniques.
Kenzo, AW15, Paris.
The Autumn-Winter 2015 collection at Kenzo included some interesting pattern cutting details to create draped details and subtle folds of fullness. At times, sportswear colours and satin fabrications were contrasted with a more historical technique, with cartridge pleats used on sleeve heads and dropped waists.
Louis Vuitton, AW15, Paris.
Nicholas Ghesquière has a knack for creating collections that look very wearable but that are still filled with quietly innovative construction details and carefully developed fabrics. For the Autumn-Winter 2015 collection at Louis Vuitton these elements were combined together in unusual ways to create garments and looks that were a blur of textures and construction references.
Christian Dior, AW15, Haute Couture, Paris.
The Autumn-Winter 2015 collection at Christian Dior was filled with bold, immediate design elements such as contrast sleeves and asymmetric outerwear, but there were also quieter and more subtle details with carefully placed darts, pleats and feathers.
Chanel, AW15, Paris.
Mixed among the traditional tweeds and bouclés of the Chanel Autumn-Winter 2015 collection were a number of fabric manipulations that added volume and texture to the garments.
Anrealage, AW15, Paris.
The Autumn-Winter 2015 collection at Anrealage revolved around the way that a spot of light hits objects in darkness, with pitch black garments illuminated by spots of pure white. This basic concept was then borne out through a range of different iterations - white light as a print, prints fading into darkness, circles to create focus on a garment, different ways to create gradient effects, rounded silhouettes and even prints illuminated by UV lighting.
Balenciaga, AW15, Paris.
Some time ago, we discussed some of the different ways you can position fabric on the body to create different sleeve shapes. In particular, there are many different design possibilities that open up to you when you give up on the typical bodice / sleeve arrangement and start to blur the positions of these garment parts to create more unusual silhouettes. In this post, we’ll look at the cocoon shaped coats and jackets from the Balenciaga collection for Autumn-Winter 2015 to look at how the fabric has been shaped in these garments.
Prada, AW15, Milan.
For the Autumn-Winter 2015 collection, Miuccia Prada played with cartoonish silhouettes in a spongy synthetic, which looked like a neoprene material but was actually a double-faced jersey. This material appeared to be the pivot point for experiments with how we construct “beauty”, whether by natural or artificial means. The result of this natural / artificial contrast appeared to be referenced through rounded tailoring in fleshy textures that played against the cool blues, greens and vivid aquas that appeared in blobby molecular prints.
Weaving from the Texture collection by Moa Hallgren, 2015.
As part of an interesting cultural exchange between Berlin and Bangladesh, Moa Hallgren has created a range of textiles that are woven from by-products of the textile industry. Aside from taking a closer look at the handwoven textiles created for the Texture collection there are also some beautiful examples of Hallgren’s work with 3D weaving.
Viktor & Rolf, Couture, AW15, Paris.
In a show that saw artworks exploding off the wall to form couture gowns, Viktor and Rolf created garments that exaggerated the balancing acts that lie at the heart of all clothing. On everyday clothing, common pattern shapes are regurgitated so that designers don’t have to deal with pesky things like gravity. However, once materials become harder, heavier or stiffer the ability to shape and control the structure of a garment to form extreme silhouettes becomes more and more important.
Ports 1961, RST16, New York.
The Spring-Summer 2016 pre-collection from Ports 1961 was filled with pops of vivid colour set against a neutral canvas of whites and creams. Different trims and embellishments were used across the garments to foreground parts of the garments and to give the garments texture.
Textiles and “The Emboss Machine” created by Tiffany Loy 2012-2015.
One of the areas where industrial design and fashion design often crossover with amazing consequences is in textile design; a medium where sculptural and textural experiments can sometimes take place more creatively in the time before the textiles are assigned to a specific garment or product. As is often the case, the method used to create the textures of textiles can also sometimes be just as innovative as the end result, which is the case in the embossed textiles created by Tiffany Loy.
Céline, AW15, Paris.
Bet you never think of topstitching as nonchalant, right? What about pattern making, can you cut a dart like you just don’t care? This is the bizarre skill that is needed to be a fashion designer; can you convey a certain mood for a collection not just through your choice of fabric or the way you cut a jacket, but through every single choice and detail down to the last contrast buttonhole.