Every day (actually, several times a day) I read Linda Grant’s blog The Thoughtful Dresser, and her blog is so ingrained in me that I need to read her posts as much as I need my morning coffee. Today she did a post that sums up, brilliantly, what is wrong with fashion, and also why we all sew (not that she meant to, but she nailed it nonetheless.)
Go. Read. You will so agree with what she’s says!
I just got back from a trip to Puebla Mexico to check out a factory that will be doing production for my current project.
I may have been in every industrial backwater in the world from Pakistan to Malaysia via China and India. This place in Mexico was wonderful in comparison to some of the manufacturing areas I have seen, where the ditches run green with effluent and wild pigs cavort in the dusty rags caught in scraggy weeds on vacant lots, next door to the pitted rusting factory. Did I mention that it might be monsoon season and you would be wading thru the muck to get there?
This factory was very clean, modern, and well lit by the skylights you can see bisecting the roof above the main floor. Someone who is much smarter than I am about the industrialization of design flew in to set up the manufacturing lines for the dresses we are about to produce.
Here is the first set up with the machines placed in the order of operation. Those bits of cardboard that you see to the side of each machine have a swatch showing the exact operation required at that machine as a reference. Each operation is timed so that the total amount of time per garment can be calculated. Only then can the real actual cost for the garment be established. Until this step is taken, its all estimated.
Here’s a line set up for a simple tee shirt running on the floor while we were there.
After the garments come off the machine, they are individually checked and loose threads clipped before going to pressing. I like the stand up angled tables this factory uses, and the fact that the mounds of finished pieces are not allowed to become overwhelming. Some places I have been there are huge ziggurats of shirts threatening to engulf the checkers. Just having that never-ending pile would be enough to depress me. In this factory, although the women are on their feet, at least the angled table makes the laying out the garment easier, and relieves neck strain from bending over the table.
We left the factory at the end of the afternoon, with the sun still shining on the cornfield next door. Within 20 minutes the seasonal daily downpour started. Once back in Puebla town, the streets were running rivers, and we had to turn back from a few intersections where cars were completely flooded out. A Mexican monsoon moment that was over almost as quickly as it had begun.
I just got back from reading a post on Pattern Review about Wal-Mart scaling back fabric departments and Hancock’s Chapter 11 filing (I know, this is not news from either company and the sewing forums have been buzzing about this for months.)
It’s fascinating to see that while interest in sewing is increasing, the traditional retail outlets for patterns and fabrics are decreasing. What does this mean? Is this really a result of retailers either speaking only to shareholders (Wal-Mart), or being unable to manage their business(Hancocks)?
Personally - I think the internet has a lot to do with it. Most of my favorite fabric stores are now virtual and internet based, and the best internet fabric sources work because of the expertise, trust and personality the owners communicate to their customers. And I suspect that as soon as pattern companies figure out how to deliver downloadable patterns in a way that won’t require me to tape together 48 sheets of 8.5 x 11 inch paper we might see where retail pattern trends are headed.
In the end I really believe that access to fabric and patterns is not going away - we’re just in the midst of a sewing revolution right now, and the future state is still out there.
I think this is an exciting time to be sewing!
What could be more thrilling for the Sewing Divas than having some of our favorite designers of all time immortalized on Fashion Avenue’s Walk of Fame? Darlings, this is where I want my ashes scattered!
The ’70s belonged to Halston. Though he began his career as a milliner, his shift to ready-to-wear clothing made him a superstar. He was America’s first minimalist designer. By combining clean lines and classic fabrics, Halston designed clothing that was seasonless, made for travel and looked elegant night or day. It is no surprise that many members of the burgeoning “jet set” became his most celebrated clients.
Di Sant’Angelo exemplified the invidivual designer. He rose to prominence during the late 1960s when exuberant youth styles dominated. Inspired by non-western dress and hippie anti-fashion, di Sant’Angelo’s clothes were an eclectic mix of vibrant fabrics, rich ornamentation and ease of cut. Freeing the body was a prime focus. Leotards, beandeaux and tube dresses made of stretch fabrics covered in layers of filmy chiffon became his leitmotif.
A designer’s designer, Geoffrey Beene is one of the most artistic and individual of fashion’s creators. He is known for his surgically clean cutting and his fluid use of materials. His designs display a sensuous appreciation of the body and always permit movement. Beene blends masterful construction techniques with seemingly disparate elements, such as whimsically patterned fabrics. The end results are spirited garments, like his famous sequined football jersey evening gown.
This Anglo-American couturier is widely regarded as one of the greatest fashion designers in history. Having begun his career as a milliner in the 1920s, James later incorporated the sculptural techniques of hat making into his dress designs. His juxtaposition of opulent fabrics and unparalleled color combinations was enhanced by his inimitable and complex constructions. James’ engineered garments came as close to works of art as anything ever made in the realm of fashion.
Following a career in costume design, Cashin launched her fashion business in the 1950s. Calling her clothing “kinetic art forms for living”, she adapted simple cuts from the history of world clothing to meet the needs of modern women. She advocated playful but subtle exoticism and introduced layered, interlocking garments that could be rearranged to suit the wearer’s taste and activity. Fusing practicality and whimsy, Cashin’s distrintive style and philosophy celebrated independence.
Having brought the comfort and simplicity of sportswear into the realm of formal dressing, Blass can rightly be credited as one of the creators of a true “American style”. His blending of classic fabrics, like cashmere and satin, have made him a favorite among this country’s best-dressed women. Labeled the “hardest working man on Seventh Avenue”, Blass has cultivated an unforgettable personal and professional style.
More to come tomorrow!
Both of my daughters take dance, and they had 2 shows this weekend. Usually, they get their costumes about a week before the shows, and in the past these have been your typically heinous El Cheapo quick-‘n’dirty-I-paid-$75-for-THAT-THING? And of course, because I sew, this is even more painful because I could make a dance costume with one hand tied behind my back.
However, this time I was pleasantly surprised to see two well made costumes. I discovered these had been custom made by one of the Moms.Well, when their costumes didn’t appear until the night of the dress rehearsal I figured I should introduce myself to this poor woman. A Sewing Diva to the rescue – as soon as I told her I can sew she looked as if she had seen the Holy Grail! So I might as well help out because I have some sewing resources to share with her and I’ll get paid for it too.
Here on Sewing Divas, we love fine fabrics, but sometimes Italian woolens, Swiss Nelona bastiste, or Thai silks are not what you need. Sometimes you need glitz, glitz and more glitz, and today I want to tell you about Associated Fabrics Corporation, a New York City company that specializes in theatrical fabrics. 250 colors of 4-way stretch Lycra? Got it. Bengaline in 80 colors? Got it. Hologram Foil Lycra in 14 silver and gold color combinations across 20 colors? Got it. Sparkle Crepe Organdy in 37 colors? Got it. Polyester Chiffon in 46 colors? Got it. And don’t forget the stretch velvets (with glitter or without), animal prints of all kinds, netting and stretch laces. Plus trims such as 2 inch sequined elastic waistband in 28 colors. The swatch catalog is huge, it’s a thick 3-ring binder with big 3 to 4 inch square swatches. AFC has been around since 1928, and the gents who work there are wonderful, classic NYC garment district guys. So if you ever need fabrics for gigs, theatre, dance, gymnastics and figure skating then AFC is pretty much one-stop shopping. I highly recommend them.
By Diva Els
Last year Dutch television broadcasted 5 episodes of the DVD Signé Chanel ,I enjoyed it to see the birth of a couture collection. For those of you who are interested there are some links so you can see some video previews of the episodes. It is in French but I found one translation for the documentary in English see the text below.
SIGNE CHANEL
“Signé Chanel” follows the conception of a Haute Couture collection of Chanel. From the first sketch designed by Karl Lagerfeld towards the final result at the catwalk. The series shows on one side the mysteries, the know-how, the old crafts, and on the other the things behind the closed doors of a great couture house. A small company rue Cambon, working for a global brand.
House of Chanel click on any of the floors and names and a new page opens, you can then click at video and watch and enjoy. The written text is in german but the spoken language is in French.
Previews of the 5 episodes from the DVD
In Finland, Germany and France people could watch the episodes too, broadcasted by their tv stations.
Of cours I taped the episodes but for those who are interested in seeing all the episodes you can buy the dvd or video at amazon.fr or http://www.arte-boutique.fr/
by Diva Georgene
My latest design job took me to Korea and Northern China for most of the month of May. Shenyang China is a stone’s throw from Seoul (less than 2 hrs flight), a thriving little town of about 4 million. As if that wasn’t far enough, I had to take a 2 1/2 hr drive to the town of Yingkou to get the factory where I would be setting the designs up for a Holiday 2006 knitted women’s suit collection.
In this far-off place I found an extremely modern well equiped factory with state of the art German knitting machines from Stoll.
The embroidery department was awe-inspiring with multi-head machines.
I did get to take a couple of field trips to the wholesale fabric and trims market in a nearby town. The market opens in the middle of the night so that people from far-flung places can come and make their purchases and get back to their shops in time to open for business at the regular hour. By 2 or 3 in the afternoon it becomes deserted.
Above is MariAn, my translator. I traveled with a team, including 2 Chinese-speaking Korean technicians, and MariAn. She not only had to translate, she had to learn about knitting technology in order to be able to explain my comments to the technicians (who had only a smattering of English) and to the factory.
Its a covered 2-story market with row after row of alley-like streets of small shops. Some are no bigger than a walk-in closet in an Upper West Side NYC pre-war apartment. (5′x8′?) Most shops have a specialty - hang tags and size tickets in one, fusibles in another. Yet another nearby with elastic and buttons, another with rivets and snaps, but no sew thru buttons.
It was amazing, becuase I’m sure that those of us who search in despair for that perfect button or trim, and sigh at the lack of choice - what would you say to an acre of tiny shops with everything under the sun??
In spite of the vastness of the selection, I couldn’t find the precise buttons and buckles I needed, so I got sent back to Seoul to go to the market there. I will tell you all about that on another post.
PS Please do not invite me for Chinese food for at least 6 months or a year, OK?
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