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Saturday, August 27, 2011
In the 1930’s in Paris, France,
Madeleine Vionnet revolutionized haute couture by using the natural
fluidity of diagonal woven fabric to conform to the body with only a few
seams and darts. This method of design and construction uses little or
no hardware such as zippers, buttons or boning; the garments are also
free of facings, linings, interfacings, shoulder pads and other
construction features. All the magic is dependent on cutting the design
so that it breaks and falls in just the right place on the body, as it
becomes a single pattern for a three-dimensional form.
The
Vionnet’s concepts require that the garment be cut so perfectly that
nothing else is necessary to convey the design. The garments float on
the body, settling with such balance and purity that no further
modifications are required. Bias cut garments match the anatomy of the
wearer with fluid grace, giving the woman an elegance independent of
personal figure characteristics. The cut flows around the body,
streamlining the figure yet allowing the poetry of human movement. She
represented the epitome of a master “cutter” or pattern designer and
pioneered the use of the bias to achieve intricate designs beyond the
slip-dress, becoming a geometrician or architect in fabric.
In
the Vionnet tradition, fabrics and designs are carefully analyzed for
their ability to give the most drape on the diagonal and the most
weight, which is necessary to skim the figure and balance the garment.
Since each design torques differently in every fabric, the designs must
be hand draped and cut on a form. This makes it possible to create
decorative features structurally instead of applied and uses the
reflection of light to the best advantage on the figure. It also makes
it impossible to copy the design commercially.
This lecture,
Vionnet, the Art of the Cut, will explore all the ways Vionnet
envisioned her cut pieces prior to draping and will identify principles
and techniques that she used throughout her career, eventually producing
over 600,000 designs. It is a career which has never been equalled;
she was the best.
Madeleine Vionnet ~
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