Fashion has been labelled with pretension and an industry held completely on nothing but image. However other than being a viable and respected economy, churning billions every year for various labels, high street stores and large fashion houses. It is not just an economic success. It can be matter of distinguishing your social status? or is it a matter of expression and defining who you are through it? For the general world it is. It is also a unfair industry, that cannot be denied. However this article is not about the debate of its social and economic effect.
For me the attraction of the fashion world was a because of the artistry that can be involved in Haute garment making.
I am not talking about standard clothing here, such as a pair of jeans or a t-shirt. There is an artistic element in how some high standards of clothing are made. How can a fabric that droops be made to have almost a structural aspect as that of a architectural building. How do some designers manage to create items that not only are breathtakingly beautiful, but there is a clear accountability of skill and artistry involved. It almost blows my mind how some designers have created Haute couture gowns, embellished heavily with sequins and silk embroidery, with meter's of fabric and layers of skirts, but all which are handmade.
Some high end designers refusing to even allow a sewing machine in the vicinity of the garment being made, this includes placing boning and corsetry as part of dresses. A team of artisans and seamstress's work laboriously in creating a Haute couture collection. Skills that seem almost forgotten, and some of which remain entirely secret with the top fashion houses even today, however, although a fashion has a face of pretension, behind the garments, there are labourers who take pride in there perfected tailoring techniques, where items are meticulously hand stitched and painstakingly measured and cut. This level of perfection is not something to mock, but an aspect in which I cannot help but be in awe of. I watched my mother take pride in the embroidery and sewing skills she had developed from her own mother, and as a seamstress myself, who has worked in the trade casually since my early twenties, cannot help but marvel and be consistently baffled at Haute couture designs. While I take pride in making a basic collar, or lining a dress, the couturist seamstresses create structural gowns that I cannot even fathom as to how the item was put together. Take a look for yourself.
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| This is a Japanese inspired collection, the Dior house create an Origami jacket. |
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