Fashioning Fabrics

One could say that textile is like oxygen to fashion, it is what fashion thrives on and it is the sole reason fashion can exist. To a designer, textile is the essence and the backbone of their creative escapade, it is the core ingredient or sometimes even our special sauce. 

It is the beginning of the luxury story in fashion. So any reimagining has to begin from textile. Let me tell you how basic it has been to my career. 

Initially, I would draw silhouettes without even considering how to bring them to life. I never gave much thought to the production process that came after the conception, but after joining design school I learnt how to nurture my design and make it tangible. I learnt the importance of fabric choices and how every little weave of a material can affect the way it is sewn. What brought me closer to understanding the depth of textiles, was the art of draping. Draping, something I thought was so undemanding, you know, just throw some fabric over a mannequin and just add a few tweaks there and a few pins here and voila! You have yourself a garment. But of course it   is not that simple, I learnt that the fabric you choose might not always choose you. It can be quite the task to try and get the material to obey your commands, even if you impale your mannequin with a hundred pins.

After this little debacle, I finally learnt that every fabric has a unique story to tell, it has its own personality and some personality traits collide with others. Each fabric behaves in a particular way, the way it folds, catches the light and melts between seams. Once you familiarise yourself with the different kinds and understand how each behaves, you then learn how to manipulate and navigate them. Thus began my relationship with textiles, from draping to dyeing, I slowly learnt how to speak the language of fabrics.

I think one of the most exciting aspects of being a designer is textile shopping. It is like the candy store for designers, with vibrant colours, glistening materials and hypnotising prints that can leave you dumbstruck and drooling. I often feel like all my senses are heightened the moment I set one foot through the doors, listening to the sound of shears slicing through sumptuous fabrics, stirring up all kinds of emotions in me. 

After one of my adventures to the fabric store, I found myself with a unique combination of fabrics. I guess I was simply mesmerised by the paradox of their characteristics, in my bag I had fine wool, that was so dense yet so soft against the skin, there was also a bundle of ethereal pearl white silk that slipped through your fingers like water and last but not the least black velvet made from silk threads that mirrored the light so elegantly. These fabrics are so different but are tied by the same luxurious feeling they resonate. I decided to combine these fabrics and create a menswear garment. It might sound simple but in reality these fabrics have different weights and interact with the machine in their own way. Somehow I managed to tame their loud personalities and get them to complement one another and the end result was quite convincing.

One of the key factors to reimagining luxury would be marrying fabrics that are polar opposites of one another and making them seem like they were made for each other. This would be a very fruitful experience. I am truly looking forward to more exciting and eccentric amalgamations of textiles — who knows, maybe this could help me make a mark in the fashion industry.