Paper Trend S/S 07

[SomethingElse]

Athens, Benaki Museum - Pireos Street Annexe
1/3/2007 - 15/4/2007

Paper dresses first appeared in the USA in 1966, and within two years they had flooded the market, creating a fashion that perfectly expressed the pop culture of the sixties.

The cultural organization ATOPOS has perhaps the largest collection of sixties paper dresses in the world, which it is presenting in an original installation designed by Normal Studio, a French industrial design firm.
The exhibition also extends its topic to the study of the unknown use of paper in the history of garments, presenting a wide range of paper garments, ranging from Edo-era Japanese kimonos to garments for sanitary use, as well as examples of designer wear from the fertile minds of John Galliano, Issey Miyake, Hussein Chalayan, Walter Van Beirendonck and others. Pride of place goes to the 1966 FRAGILE Dress from the Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York, a paper dress painted by Andy Warhol for Nico.

Finally sixties fashion for paper can become a source of inspiration. ATOPOS put out a call to fashion designers and artists, to use the ATOPOS collection as their inspiration and the exhibition includes creations by Sophia Kokosalaki, Michael Cepress, Deux Hommes, Marcus Tomlinson, Dionysis Kavallieratos, Jackie Nickerson and the internationally renowned stage designer Bob Wilson.
Source: paperforager.wordpress.com

 

[modelbehavior228]

paper? Okay....sounds a bit silly IMO

 

[Jane Loves Marc]

There were some paper dresses at Tao SS 07!

(style.com)
interesting idea...not very practical, but the dresses are beautiful none the less!

 

[Rosie]

^ Those really are incredibly detailed and beautifully crafted. Thanks for posting.

 

[fourboltmain]

There were some paper dresses at Tao SS 07!

Those need a disclaimer, like a bottle of Bacardi 151.

'DO NOT smoke while drinking/wearing!'

 

[Whitelinen]

I am glad people have enjoyed this thread

I would like to try wearing paper --- if not in white colour, but a more natural, creamy white. I wonder if the paper could be laced with something to make it more lasting and easier to wear?

I think it would be a brilliant idea to buy an outfit, wear it, and then throw it away. It would waste far too much wood and power for my self-consciousness though, but as an idea I think it is rather beautiful.

Thank you everyone for posting material. I am especially in love with Tao's dresses. I think wearing something made of paper might not be for everyday outfits, but for parties and celebrations. My dream is a wedding gown made of paper.

Has anyone tried wearing clothes made out of paper? Is there a designer or a company that is concentrated on making clothes out of paper?

I know many companies use shoe laces made of brown paper, but other than that nothing pops to my mind. I think I have just seen great photographs of children after WWII wearing shoes with paper laces.

 

[Whitelinen]

Tao by Comme Des Garcons S/S 07
firstview.com

 

[fourboltmain]

Makes you wonder if you can get paper cuts huh? There should be paper clothes for kids, when they're eating spaghetti.

But in all seriousness, all the Tao stuff is awesome. Thank you for posting it. Would hemp count as a paper? I'm sure it could woven somehow. There has to be a plant or two out there that's strong enough to be used as a paperish fabric. I'm thinking like papyrus or something. Something with paper mache would be interesting as hell too. Hmm...

 

[Whitelinen]

I think paper, even regular paper, could be used as clothes if it would be laced with something... not sure what.

 

[ponytrot]

Is this like edible underwear?

 

[ponytrot]

well, i saw a really interesting coat in the shops yesterday, it wasn't made of paper but this Swing Coat was made to look alot like the brown paper patterns that designers first make. (but made of this felt/wool material in beige) It looked soo cool!

 

[Fuuma]

Carol Christian Poell made some jackets and shoes using paper, I'll look for pics.

 

[gius]

I've worn Tyvek suits in industrial jobs. I looked like one of the NASA guys in ET at one point in my life. Anyway, Tyvek is what makes you angry when you can't open those seemingly 'paper' envelopes.

Gius, I remember seeing something a while back about 1960's paper clothes. Somebody had a collection of them, still in their wrappers or something. I guess hemp would be considered paper to an extent, right? Papyrus is just smashed up plants, hemp is woven plants. Wait, so is cotton! Hmm... where is the line drawn? I'm confused now.

http://personalprotection.dupont.com/

Hey fbm, I think I saw something like that too--maybe on tv... It was real paper though...
In Japan, I've read they also have a tradition of making clothing out of paper. They also make paper yarn...

Anyway, in reply to the difference between fabric and paper, here is a response I got from someone...

it's a processing thing -- paper is made from separated fibers, with some binder added and suspended in water so that it can be made into flat, large sheets. Fabric however takes a more complicated process -- the fibers must be carded out so they're all going in reasonably much the same direction, then spun at a high speed into coarse to extremely fine threads, which are then woven into, or machine knit into, a fabric. papermaking's much faster, but is stiffer, since the fibers aren't as fine, has the glue-like binders, and you know how like if you dry your jeans in the air and don't rumple them up before you wear them, they're stiff? same thing with paper, it's made with water and dried to be flat.

 

[markie]

Didnt Campbell's soup offer a paper dress too back in the60s?

Yes, with the Warhol soup can print.

The TAO stuff on page 3 is deeeelicous

 

[TekkaMakki]

Has anyone seen the British Vogue 50th anniversary issue? It's from 2007, but I've forgotten which month. They featured an entire fashion shoot with paper clothes. They were beautiful and imaginative and... didn't look like paper at all, I thought, they looked just as wearable as ordinary clothing, if a bit more delicate.

 

[TekkaMakki]

Oops just saw that Rosie mentioned the same thing on the first page. I should have read more carefully

 

[nqth]

I think there were a show - exhibition at Cartier Foundation about paper dresses few months ago.

Here more TAO paper dresses from showrom:-) (I posted them somewhere here in tFS)

(My pictures)

 

[gius]

^Are they really paper, nqth? Not something paper-like, like tyvek? If so I wonder what kind of paper it is... And if it's easy to rip Looks a bit thin and delicate

 

[nqth]

^ Oh I didnt't touch them. But they did look like thin and delicate crisp paper, not the special plastic paper. MMM made his invitation from that kind of "paper", to wrap around your wrist. It was made by Dupont if I remember well, might be tyvek.

TAO up close (my pictures)

 

[ibimus]

Mm. Those were all the rage in the 60s. My mom had a paper dress. Cut and tape it to make any size adjustments. Too bad they were so inconvenient and prone to rips.