Julian Roberts Productions (Nothing Nothing etc)

[girl?]

Hi Julian my name's Ksenya btw
I remember Buy Nothing Day (although I gave in and bought a slice of pizza)...but you are so right in saying that you define your own success; I can totally relate to this as at the moment my family is in the process of some massive life changes and people are judging and sh*t...even though that has nothing to do with fashion

Just randomly, how old are you?

Anyway I'm moving to a little town in Surrey in a month; I'd love to come and see and learn about your approach! Haha especially since your site is blocked by my French government-provided lap top.

 

[julianroberts_00]

Hey Zazie!

Selling nothing nothing was not such a big deal.
I showed under a label name.
That name became affixed to my work for 5 seasons.
Then i cast off that shell.
Yes it confuses because people like to know their labels, name drop, praise you, criticize you, stock you, compare you, wear your products... they like continuity and the status attached to your product.
When you ditch the name you temporarily devalue that status.
When you return with something new people look for the comparisons & similarities, and in doing so also expose the differences.
In time if you stick around long enough people go backwards and trace your development and romanticize the early labels.
The same often happens with bands & music.
For me nothing nothing isn't gone just because the patterns/garments/labels are gone. It's a part of my life.. the place i lived, the people i loved, the way i cut my hair & the music i was into at the time... it exists in memory & in myth, and it's probably more vivid & interesting as a subject now because it's absent/gone. In reality nothing nothing was just me when i was younger, with less skills & experience than now... it was an imperfect product made on a shoestring budget. It's gone, get over it! The future's always more interesting... ive shown 13collections and then taken a few seasons out inorder to work on commissions, websites, videos, art shows and teaching, and now im hungry to make a new statement/collection/show. I'll launch it in September 2006 under the Parc deS EXpositions label... but im not going to talk about it too much cos it's bad luck! Patience

 

[julianroberts_00]

Randomly, im 34.
my family's in the process of some massive changes too...
unsettling.
I think it took me til the end of nothing gothing (27/8) to do things for MYSELF rather than to please/respect my family/friend/idols etc... not that that's got anything to do with anything
if you come to surrey get in touch & i'll try find a way to invite u to something im doing.

Hi Julian my name's Ksenya btw
I remember Buy Nothing Day (although I gave in and bought a slice of pizza)...but you are so right in saying that you define your own success; I can totally relate to this as at the moment my family is in the process of some massive life changes and people are judging and sh*t...even though that has nothing to do with fashion

Just randomly, how old are you?

Anyway I'm moving to a little town in Surrey in a month; I'd love to come and see and learn about your approach! Haha especially since your site is blocked by my French government-provided lap top.

 

[girl?]

Also, does anyone know whats become of nothing nothing since the sale?

 

[julianroberts_00]

The stuff i demonstrate to students & people who've never cut before (ie. the girl in the video i was talking to) are the most stripped down streamlined versions of what i do.. have communicated those techniques hundreds of times now so they become simpler & simpler... less like a charcoal line... more like a thumb print smudge
They are the starting point, a way of thinking, not the limit of the technique.
I build technique on technique like an onion & jump backwards & forwards between different methods of construction when i cut things out of view ... ie. when im not teaching them.
What i wanted to do is show an approach to cutting that is the exact flipside opposite of normnal cutting... its about the removal of space from a pattern rather than about addition. I show it in a fundemental way to make it sticky so that it sticks in the head. I want people to know that ANYONE can cut, that im not a genius, that people who are proclaimed geniuses of cut like John Galliano/ Rei Kawakubo/ Vivienne Westwood/ Preen... are NOT GENIUSES. Its a myth. Clever freehand non-mathematical cutting is as simple as thumb print smudge... u just have to be shown the possibilities.
Thing is i am now slightly regretting putting some of these ideas out there.
I will tell you why tomorrow...
I gotta go eat

I watched the first video - again provoking. When you're talking about how simple avant-garde stuff is and how you're just showing how easy it is to do that stuff, I laughed aloud. That's what I thought when I first saw your stuff on this thread! The clothes were "avant garde stuff trying to be impressive" and it made me a tough customer. I was more impressed with the ways you were getting the word out, the concept of selling Nothing Nothing, and how you drummed up excitement around the actual making of the clothes. The clothes are more like quick charcoal sketches than finished illustrations, to draw an "art" analogy.

I can respect the way you break all the stupid fashion week rules. Which brings me to the obvious question... why counter-schedule McQueen?

Oh and how awesome is it you came to this thread? Karma for you! Through the magic of the internet suddenly I am not just reading the story, I'm asking one of the story's main characters questions. Amazing.

 

[finalfashion]

Thing is i am now slightly regretting putting some of these ideas out there.
I will tell you why tomorrow...
I gotta go eat

Juicy stuff! Look forward to it.

It's funny, I don't know many people's names on here. Their personalities become so linked to their usernames after a while, despite the fact I don't know their names or faces.
You can call me Danielle, if you'd rather.

 

[kathleen fasanel]

Hi Julian
(I can't believe I'm writing a fan letter to a designer)

I've been in this business for 27 years. Nothing excites me anymore. Your talent excites me. I've never written a fan letter to a designer but I just sent you one yesterday along with a copy of my book (via global priority mail). Btw, your usps delivery confirmation no is: LC294514461US. Paste that in at usps.com -you should receive it within 7 days. The book is The Entrepreneur's Guide to Sewn Product Manufacturing

Also, I'm a pattern maker (your patternmaking is what interests me most). I keep a well received blog at http://www.fashion-incubator.com. I'd emailed you asking for permission for my entry at http://www.fashion-incubator.com/mt/archives/pattern_puzzle_julian_sophie.html but I didn't hear back from you. I plugged your school quite heavily.

Ever think of writing a book on pattern cutting?
I am quite excited to find you here.
best regards
Kathleen Fasanella

 

[finalfashion]

^ That's high praise from a respected source...
She gets it... I guess I gotta take another look and see if I can see what Kathleen Fasanella sees.

 

[julianroberts_00]

A quick reply before i go... will be back here briefly tomorrow 10am & 6pm UK time... Thank you Kathleen very much, sorry to miss the mail you sent about the fashion incubator blog.. will take a look.
Also thanks for the book.. look forward to reading it. The UPS no. isnt right though... might be missing something.
I'll pass on the details of the book and order it in quantity for the University of Hertfordshire library.

Yes i plan to write a cutting book... work in progress.

see you all tomorrow..

jx

Hi Julian
(I can't believe I'm writing a fan letter to a designer)

I've been in this business for 27 years. Nothing excites me anymore. Your talent excites me. I've never written a fan letter to a designer but I just sent you one yesterday along with a copy of my book (via global priority mail). Btw, your usps delivery confirmation no is: LC294514461US. Paste that in at usps.com -you should receive it within 7 days. The book is The Entrepreneur's Guide to Sewn Product Manufacturing

Also, I'm a pattern maker (your patternmaking is what interests me most). I keep a well received blog at http://www.fashion-incubator.com. I'd emailed you asking for permission for my entry at http://www.fashion-incubator.com/mt/archives/pattern_puzzle_julian_sophie.html but I didn't hear back from you. I plugged your school quite heavily.

Ever think of writing a book on pattern cutting?
I am quite excited to find you here.
best regards
Kathleen Fasanella

 

[kathleen fasanel]

Also thanks for the book.. look forward to reading it. The UPS no. isnt right though... might be missing something.
I'll pass on the details of the book and order it in quantity for the University of Hertfordshire library.jx

I plugged it in on their site and it spit this out:
http://trkcnfrm1.smi.usps.com/PTSInternetWeb/InterLabelInquiry.do

it just confirms I shipped yesterday.

 

[kathleen fasanel]

oops.
the package has 2 tracking numbers. the first I listed was customs.
this is the global priority tag:LX756498444US
again, it simply confirms shipping at this point
http://trkcnfrm1.smi.usps.com/PTSInternetWeb/InterLabelInquiry.do

 

[Scott]

Julian,I just sent you a mail and now I see you're on the Spot. What a funny coincidence,that is!

I just wanted to add,after kind of skimming through the comments on your work,that I love what you and Sophie do. And I love the designers your represent,utterly and completely.

 

[fab_fifties_fille]

Great to see the designer here and giving some feedback!...welcome Julian! The workshop idea sounds great...

I've just read through this whole thread for the first time, and my head is whizzing, I love how it's made people here have a knee jerk reaction...but they've gone away and thought about it more and had a different opinion. (I'll probably end up doing that after typing this) Anything that makes people stop and think is always a bonus.

I personally love the ideas and concepts, I love it when someone isn't frightened to run in a completely opposite direction to mainstream. I might try the patterns out sometime, I love how open to interpretation they are, and how much affect the person who creates it has on them. Unlike shop bought patterns, which basically makes the world a broadly based factory...people sitting in their homes trying to stick within the guidelines, doing what they are supposed to do...coming out with the same product. I don't feel the tradition or skill in more 'regular' pattern cutting should be lost at all...I think it's still very important to learn, but I'm always a fan of something fresh.

 

[Meg]

FFF, I agree I love the reactions in this thread. It's so interesting and I love to see peoples views change either positively or negatively as they view and try to understand the work more.

If there are people in the UK/Europe/wherever that are interested in doing the cutting demo, please PM me. I'm really interested in getting a group of us together to do this (or if you have friends who are also interested, obviously bring them as well!) I think it could be a great tfs and fashion experience! Seriously, if you're interested we could start putting a list of people together!

 

[julianroberts_00]

Fab_fifties_fille & FinalFashion... Hi

Just a quick comment as i pass thru.
Yesterday i said that i'd explain a possible regret i have about releasing some of the techniques i demonstrate and distribute... and Fab_fifties_fille prempts it with the comment that traditional skill should not be lost.
When i first started learning cutting i started like most people do learning 2D flat pattern drafting... various mathemtical systems for making & adapting basic blocks... then after a few years i learned womenswear tailoring & draping. During this learning curve i learned a lot of traditional techniques, and only once i reached a point at which i found it all to be a bit limiting and unexciting did i start misinterpreting & subverting patterns and exploring my own methodologies. Even during this experimental time which lasted 10 years i still continued to learn further traditional techniques, particularly bespoke menswear cutting whilst at the Royal College of Art, taught by this amazing 70+year old tailor called John Polaris, and various other cutters i met along the way whom i enjoyed watching in action and learning from. Of course also, pattern cutting cant be seperated from sewing, both machine & hand stitching, and intense practice of sewing extended my understanding of the capabilities of the cloth i cut. I didn't happen upon what i now refer to as 'Subtraction Cutting' until i had passed 10 years of learning & experimentation with & against traditional cutting & sewing techniques, and this method itself has evolved & streamlined over a further 7 years and is still developing the more i teach & practice it. So exactly half my life has been spent getting to a certain point, to a certain level of understanding and awareness.
I released some of my methods on my website and go around demonstrating them in order to show people that cutting doesn't need to be hard, doesnt need to involve much mathematics, that complexity is often created by very simple variables, that when you think about an idea there are often several ways of approaching it, several different perspectives, and most importantly, that there are styles, shapes and silhouettes that have never been cut before, that await discovery... that invention and originality ARE POSSIBLE.
By showing people a different approach, and one that to a certain degree opposes & subverts traditional 2D pattern cutting & abandons many of its rules, you give them hope and confidence... a lot of people think they can't cut or let the rules of cutting restrict their creativity... as if there is a right & wrong way to cut a pattern or make a garment... and i have motivated the people i teach & demonstrate to to experiment & explore design differently. My worry though is that you also need to know the traditions, because with out them subtraction cutting kicks out at nothing. I want to encourage people into creative cutting... not out of it via an easy route.
The outcome of what im now teaching to hundreds of early & pre BA degree students & post grad MA/ doctorate students /practicing designers remains to be seen therefore.

 

[finalfashion]

Thanks for elaborating!

I'm currently educating myself about the complexities of pattern drafting for the human shape... and after 4 years of learning the basics I feel like I am just beginning to understand how much farther I have to go. It seems like the more I learn, the more I realize what I might have learned may be myth and hearsay... I'm beginning to exhaust available books and school instruction... it seems to me more and more that it's not a "mathamatical" science but an acquired art that requires spatial thinking, an artistic eye for drawing lines across the body and sewing ability. I'm beginning to seek out patternmakers to learn from and am distressed by how few good ones there are out there... most of them seem to be self-taught with the same background, the same trial-and-error sort of cutting I have. It seems like a lot of rules until you realize that everyone approaches it differently. It seems like there's no rule for good drafting except experience... and that our collective experience in this area seems to be disappearing.

It all gets a little anal after a while so I can see how you were motivated to tackle the idea of cutting from the opposite angle. You said it helps to be untaught to absorb this stuff and maybe that's telling reason why I have a hard time getting into it... maybe in 10 years I'll really get it. I hope that this technique gets your students interested in the many possibilities, and hopefully fostering a deeper interest in drafting, cutting and sewing.

 

[softgrey]

i am actually extremely interested in kathleen's reaction to all of this and wish that she would expand on what she finds so exciting about this...

i am not a pattern-maker...
and anything i actually make for myself is by draping and pinning...
i find all patterns rather tedious and rather a pain...
so it is interesting for me to hear from a traditional patternmaker about such techniques...

julian...welcome to tFS...
it's a pleasure to have you here...
i watched your demo video...
i have to admit it was rather difficult to follow due to the way it was edited...it was rather like listening to a lecture in which you cannot see the teacher's drawings on the blackboard because they are erased too quickly...
seemed rather counterproductive to your goal of teaching and de-mystifiying...i found that confusing......

anyway...that's just my personal experience which i thought might help you in considering future projects and how they are received...
...

glad to have you here...
and i would also like to thank cerfas and all our other members for making this a lively discussion...
...

 

[finalfashion]

i am actually extremely interested in kathleen's reaction to all of this and wish that she would expand on what she finds so exciting about this...

Me too.


This morning I was familiarizing myself with my new treadle leather machine and was cutting little shapes from scraps of leather. As I was cutting I realized that I could cut a random, irregular shape, freehand, from two layers, rotate one of the layers X degrees and create a random volume for a little bag... and I tried it out and I came up with something kind of cute and indescribably shaped that I'm putting chocolates into for a stocking stuffer. That was you inspiring me Julian!

 

[mirrra]

it's intriguing reading all the people opinions...
what i see and love in your work Julian, it's the idea what make people dream, explore or taking some action - the opposite of giving or serving 'consumer' expectations, done in very human/harmonical way

 

[kathleen fasanel]

i am actually extremely interested in kathleen's reaction to all of this and wish that she would expand on what she finds so exciting about this....

Well, it's entirely a spatial thing. Apologies to Julian (he'll know what I mean I hope) but his work -in some respects- begs a comparison to Vionnet. I mean, he's doing a totally different thing but she was entirely spatially oriented. She also did the subtraction rather than addition thing. The whole concept of working whole cloth rather than stamped out front and back templates. I've always hated the whole coffin clothes thing and Julian really gets it. Julian has dominated the concept of area, cavorting it into such tubular dimension that one can wear the item of display. By this I mean that I've played with these concepts myself.

I guess what excites me most is:
1. Julian has truly come up with something "new". Call it a new method. Clothes are based on cutting. Most people don't realize that. They look at the fabric and the embellishment and call it great. Cutting is the anatomy and skeleton of a design. Julian's invented a new anatomy. It's quite exciting. If I were a zoologist, I'd compare this to discovering a new, previously unknown species -and of a large mammal no less, not some bacterium molding in the bottom of a murky pond. It's quite exciting.

2. Julian is intellectually generous. I was mistaken when I called him a designer. He is a teacher first (I hold teachers in the highest esteem of any profession). I don't want to sound "me too" ish but I have done little more than try to mentor others over the past 10 years. I have stayed away from methods, books, experts (I detest them). Anyone CAN do it. It is abundantly clear that Julian has similarly worked to remove the artifice, the barriers, the walls to gaining entrance. Education belongs to everyone should they choose to claim it from those with sufficient intellectual generosity to make learning and the passing of ideas possible.

3. Julian has gestalt, is gestalt. Everything melds seamlessly, integrating the simplicity of his instruction and the beauty of his method. It's holistic. Anyone can do it. You don't need a four year degree, money or know the right people. It's simplicity. Truly beautiful things are usually quite simple. This is why I know his method is "true" (could it be proven).

I had a hard time with the video too. Visually, it's ....stimulating to the extent that I can't focus. I know nothing of film, I'm not a qualified art or even design critic (which is why I limit my discussion to Julian's cutting) so it's likely that my senses aren't sufficiently refined to appreciate it. I have to go by the pattern sketches of his methods as illustrated on his pattern school site. At this point, that's enough for me. Julian's work is very very exciting. And absolutely anyone can do it. More so than any other method. Call it improvisational pattern cutting; it works.