Every fashion industry professional sees garments from their own career lens. A magazine editor sees the picture she might get; a merchant calculates sales forecasted for a particular silhouette. A pattern-maker is no different. My observations reflect the product development questions to be answered and challenges of fit and construction that I face in my day-to-day work. Spring/Summer 2020 is clearly marking a point where silhouettes are shifting in significant ways, and every shape is a possible challenge as there is no standard sleeve or skirt of the moment. The following looks emerged as examples of the diversity of shape and drape on the runways this season.
Fashion has always had a place for ultra-conceptual garments, silhouettes that distort the body, and digression from wearable to weird. As a pattern-maker, these styles are an absolute delight as they present the ultimate challenge in creative problem-solving and making a person appear utterly unlike themselves. As a result, I have as many questions as observations for these styles since the facings, straps and hardware that bring these garments to fruition are deftly hidden.
We’re in the midst of a fundamental shift in silhouette. But the process of evolution involves all manner of creative exploration of shape, fit and the changing relationship between bodies and clothing.
It’s a fantastic moment in time to run a machine pleating shop.
The trench coat has come a long way from the functional outerwear of the First World War to become a fashion classic. Due to its many components, it can and will be iterated upon for perpetuity.
A pattern-maker’s role inside a brand can be as simple as drafting or draping a sketch exactly as it was drawn by a designer. But at many brands showing in Paris, there is often freedom for pattern-cutters to pursue more creative approaches.
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