The Craftmanship of Haute Couture ... The details and how they do it.

[dior_couture1245]

^^Well, they do use machines sometimes, but I know that when using a machine the seam is bulkier and stiffer simply because two threads are used...that's why most of it is done by hand...because it reduces bulk and it's a much softer seam.

 

[Dkammern]

BTW, Not sure if Karl knows cutting and draping intensively
I know they hired a head lady (from Chloe) because of her expertise in men's tailoring and dress-making; so she would be able to mix styles together. I think the lab women were saying Karl doesn't know how some of his drawings can even be made into real clothes. It was up to them to interpret the drawing

Galliano would definitely know. He studied at Central Saint Martin's :-)

Karl has no formal studies, but before becoming the famous designer he is today, he was once an assistant too. He started very young, from the bottom and had to learn all the techniques before being able to design anything. He learned side by side with the petite mains he is now in charge of.
It is true that he only rarely "touches fabric" nowadays, but when a seamstress (or the former Chloe head lady Madame Cécile ) comes in with a problem, he must know exactly what to do with it, and without his practical knowledge he'd be unable to do so.
First time i watched Signé Chanel i also thought that the seamstresses were doing all the work because it was up to them to interpret the drawings. After rewatching it and reading more interviews i finally got that what karl meant is that his sketches are so detailed, that he needs to explain very little, and that people who are used to work with him can very easily understand them.
He must also know a thing or two about cutting and draping since he won at the age of 17, infamously the same year as Saint Laurent, that Wool Secretariat contest for a magnificent coat!

 

[ponytrot]

i'm karma-ing everyone here left right and center!

fantastic thread, and such a source of fashion knowledge!

 

[gius]

Karl has no formal studies, but before becoming the famous designer he is today, he was once an assistant too. He started very young, from the bottom and had to learn all the techniques before being able to design anything. He learned side by side with the petite mains he is now in charge of.
It is true that he only rarely "touches fabric" nowadays, but when a seamstress (or the former Chloe head lady Madame Cécile ) comes in with a problem, he must know exactly what to do with it, and without his practical knowledge he'd be unable to do so.
First time i watched Signé Chanel i also thought that the seamstresses were doing all the work because it was up to them to interpret the drawings. After rewatching it and reading more interviews i finally got that what karl meant is that his sketches are so detailed, that he needs to explain very little, and that people who are used to work with him can very easily understand them.
He must also know a thing or two about cutting and draping since he won at the age of 17, infamously the same year as Saint Laurent, that Wool Secretariat contest for a magnificent coat!

Thanks for the reply, borjacapella
Hmm I wonder what these couture techniques are. I know there are seams which take up more time/labour to do. While I was at the studio (I posted about earlier), I saw a man's shirt and there was facing in places I didn't think there would be facing. The whole shirt had a nice flow to it as well as structure. Feeling of lightness. The girl was making the shirt out of silk organza and it was all transparent but you could not see the edges of the fabric at the seams even if you squint at the transparent seam, such as at the yoke and so on.. Even the facing was invisible, from the outside. I don't know if that is a couture technique or not.

dior_couture You are right --this machine-sewn shirt it was definitely stiffer, but I found it really great in providing its structure. However it was also made of organza which is naturally stiff so maybe that could be another reason why it felt like that...
I will definitely mention to her next week about hand-sewn seams being softer and I'll see what she says.

I'm in a way curious what she meant by couture versus haute couture
I think couture just means tailoring, no?

 

[j´adore dior]

sorry to disappoint you further, the truth is majority of fashion houses get their embroideries done in India.......there are a no. of reasons for it.

1. embroidery in italy or france is no longer feasible. there is scarcity of skilled labour in italy, france...the people who used to embroider some 50-70 yrs ago...their children are not following the same thing now.
2. the labour in india or elsewhere is cheap + the skill and quality of work is pretty good infact various techniques of beading and hand embroidery are only possible by indian labours.
3. the world is getting smaller due to advancement in technology and its now possible to co-ordinate with factories in india much nicely and have faster turnarounds even special customer requests...embroidery can be done within one week!
4. materials : the largest source of materials are available in india from all parts of the world for all types of beading.

you actually did not dissapoint me at all, by the time I read Gaultier started doing his embroideries abroad Paris I felt like, you know, Paris couture it is supposed to be so sacred, Lesage and all, so it kinda felt he was cheating, but personally I don´t have anything against Indean embroidery at all, I absolutelly adore embroideries and I have always tried to make them, of course Im no pro at it and I do not know how to work with the hook, so every time I´ve done something, I´ve done it with needles.

 

[Dkammern]

random note: i just realized that the head seamstress from chloe wasnt actually madame cécile but madame jaqueline

 

[gius]

yes yes cécile was the ballerina, new at the atelier

Karl was saying madame martine was unique that she could do both tailoring and dressmaking, not usual in dressmakers
i thought both would be taught in haute couture
tailored jackets and dresses are complete in couture. dressmaking studio, tailoring studio ^^
i study both at the same time myself

this just in.
the couturier told me, yes at least 90% of a garment is done by hand
main seams by machine... depending on the design
all the preparations, finishes done by hand
today i made a flared cuff (like the Chanel picture i just posted in the Signe Chanel thread, borjacapella ) i just realised it is so similar! --actually it was inspired by YSL.) and the edges are bound with bias trim. it is lovely! and i am surprised how strong it is, my own hand stitching... and you barely notice it too.

 

[MissMagAddict]

VIVE LA COUTURE
US Harper's Bazaar April 2009
By Derek Blasberg


source | scanned by MMA

 

[Emilie]

If anyone in Canada subscribes to Fashion Television (its actually free for the rest of March!), they are showing Signe Chanel on a consistent basis. If you go to http://www.fashiontelevision.com/ they have the schedule up there. In terms of seeing the quality and detail of the seamstresses work up close, it is much better to watch on tv than youtube!

Cheers

 

[daniellat]

very nice topic
i am an embroider in india and we actually do a lot of embroideries for various designers in Italy & paris
here is a link of the embroidery work we do..


so you would probably understand what goes in doing the embroidery. if any1 have any questions, I would be happy to answer !

i would LOVE, actually im dying to learn that technique. Few years ago i saw a movie called Brodeuses and the girl in the movie uses the same technique, but i couldnt figure it out. Its so much faster than common embroidery, the kind my mom taught me when i was a kid, its just too slow, specially on night gowns. I recommend the movie, there are gorgeous embroidered fabrics, and they mention theyre working for Lacroix (in the movie of course). The main story sucks because the girl is pretty much sl*tty but she works really good.

 

[gius]

It's not embroidery anymore if there are beads, isn't it? It would be called "beading"
I always learnt embroidery is just using thread, yarn to decorate

 

[daniellat]

you are absolutely right, my bad, its just in spanish theres just one word for both embroidery and beading and sometimes i get caught thinking in spanish but writing in english.

 

[gius]

no problem, i kind of wish you meant embroidery. it would be great if there was a faster way of doing that

i found some interesting embroidery work my instructor made when she was young
most of it is by hand
but she has also used her old Singer sewing machine, using a fairly thick embroidery floss.. i didn't know it was possible to machine sew with thick thread but she told me it's just a certain type of needle, which i haven't seen yet at the stores here...

 

[daniellat]

i never tried this kind of needles but i knew they were available. ill see if i can go soon to a store specialized in both hoem and industrial sewing machines and see if i can find them, im sure i will since they have any supplies you need when sewing, but im not sure if they carry this kind of needle for home sm.

ive used industrial needles when ran out of my singer ones but once heard they could damage you sewing machine, never happened to me but didnt want to use them long to find out. anyone had this problem before?

 

[dior_couture1245]

It's not embroidery anymore if there are beads, isn't it? It would be called "beading"
I always learnt embroidery is just using thread, yarn to decorate

Yeah...I think maybe the correct term would be 'embellishment'? Embroidery is just using thread...it's when sequins, beads, and other stuff is added that it becomes something else.

 

[gius]

No it's "beadwork"
Embellishment is just another word for decoration

daniellat sorry I don't use industrial machines ^^
I can ask around

 

[dior_couture1245]

^^Well, yes...you're right. In a way though, embroidery, beadwork, etc., is all embellishment.

 

[gius]

Yes exactly!
And also trims, fabric printing,
dyeing!
For a long time I always go against decoration
but I've really come to appreciate
There is so much attention to detail in couture.
The couturier I talked to will sometimes make a garment in only a few hours and then she will tell me, "but for the pocket it takes a whole day!"

^^Well, they do use machines sometimes, but I know that when using a machine the seam is bulkier and stiffer simply because two threads are used...that's why most of it is done by hand...because it reduces bulk and it's a much softer seam.

btw..replying to this
hmm feels like ages since this convo started
What you have written I have read in books myself
but according to a person who has worked in couture most of her life, it's not really any big deal,
Like you said it's only important that bulkiness is reduced. The cause of a bulky seam is not the machine-stitching at all, it's the seam allowance. So naturally you trim |and press| that

There wasn't much difference in a hand-sewn seam to a machine-sewn from my samples. There was never really anything worth noting...

The only thing is hand-sewing is especially useful when finishing edges, the details because you can sew in such a way or in such an angle that the wearer doesn't notice the threads at all. This is one of the main things for hand stitches and it's of course something a machine can't do.. You have to mold the fabric in your hands and sew at the same time..

Rummaging through books, I'm finding couture techniques is not really anything super secret, since I have found similar techniques in books as simple as the Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing, surprisingly. There is just a standard that has to be maintained in couture, so some of the methods in the Reader's Digest book for example are slightly modified. So the secrets really lie in each atelier/design house, they have certain ways of doing their own things.. a way of stiffening something, something they've practiced and refined over time. It would be enjoyable(and also possible) to develop your own methods since couture techniques are so varied and flexible, it goes according to your own tastes/design

Like the lady in Signe Chanel says (the one who says it was her last collection at Chanel), she loves the problem-solving aspect of couture
There are so many ways to solve a problem
Even myself I'm experiencing the same thing..and I've only been a while at the atelier. And I always just do what my instructor says, since she is incredibly opinionated. I keep my own 'standards' to myself, in my own projects

 

[dior_couture1245]

^^Thank you for clarifying the machine vs. hand sewing seams.

 

[daniellat]

The only thing is hand-sewing is especially useful when finishing edges, the details because you can sew in such a way or in such an angle that the wearer doesn't notice the threads at all. This is one of the main things for hand stitches and it's of course something a machine can't do.. You have to mold the fabric in your hands and sew at the same time..

That is so true, specially when working with light fabrics like silk or chiffon its nightmare to do it all with the machine, specially on corners or hems, it just ruins the fabric, and when working on bias cut fabrics you really cant just pin the fabric together and sew (for finishings) because most of the time it ends uneven, bulky or even twisted, this changes from machine to machine but most of the time it really needs to be done by hand. Also found like a year ago that when doing suits and blazers or anything you put a lining on that has to be all closed up needs some touch ups by hand. Once we had an assigment to do a vest and the design i picked was so complicated to do with the machine, because in some places i couldnt go further, that i sew most of the lining by hand and it ended looking really good, there are some hidden seams that cant be always done by machine.