THE ORIGINS OF ORIGINALITY- Interfiliere Day 2

The official first day of the show had begun, people started to pile in slowly and by 10 am it was on…As I stood to the side of my beautiful space, giving no indication of who I was or that I was affiliated in any way with Opulent Livingwear, I made many observations….. I observed people sketching my work as either a reminder or to create their own versions, it is something I do all the time when shopping for ideas and inspiration (yes we do that, as designers, inspiration is everywhere and we are shameless in its pursuit). We like to believe that all our ideas are in fact ours, that we pull them out of the thin air of our imaginations and sometimes we do but most of the time, there is the heavy and direct influence of others. I have worked with some remarkable people, and only a rare few seem to create in the moment, Donna Karan is one of those people. In the design studio Donna would stand to the side and behind a model, a living breathing mannequin and simply drape, and it was at times part genius and part spectacle. The process would start with fierce tugging and pulling on the fabric to anchor it to the motionless body and would end with gentle draping and caressing into place the folds….much like I imagine an embalmer in ancient Egypt tending to his mummy. I learned from Donna there is no substitute for taking the fabric, placing it in your hands and letting it “speak”. On rare occasions, I too try this method.

And so when I began designing the pieces for the show, I looked to various sights of inspiration…the Victoria and Albert Museum website was a treasure trove of period details, current fashion mags, people on the street, Donna Karan, my closet, my friends …..and actually draping.

One garment in particular I was proud of was the “kimono” bodysuit… I had received this exquisite piece of “lace” and no idea of what to do with it. Limited by its width I could make a bralet and a panty, but that would be expected. It was driving me a bit nuts, and then I decided to throw it over the mannequin, to see where it took me. I draped it vertically down one side of the mannequin and then the other and it looked like a kimono. The kimono silhouette with its wide flat sleeves and body had a lasting influence on early 20 th century European and American fashion, why not let it inspire “underwear”? I would love to tell you that all the pieces were so freshly conceived but they were not, fashion is like art, we are at the mercy of what came before us. Originality is in the perception and the marketing. We will improve on the past if we are lucky; even when we recycle past decades like bottles and cans and yet we will always see beauty and emulation in flora, fauna, art, buildings, technology, even food and we will continue to let them influence us in our pursuit of fashion….

#dream