The Design Process

Here are photos of the Big pants, the Athena Blouse, the Carla dress and the Marion hoodie I was finally able to meet my model yesterday.  Her measurements are.  Bust 140 cm Waist 132 cm High hip 160cm  Low hip 170cm  upper arm 60 cm  She is 170 cm tall  These big pants are a size 10.  They were too tight to wear as trousers but worked well pulled up as a Romper. I will make her  pair she can wear more ways because my model is into them. Adding a halter neck strap may be a good idea too....

 It is exciting to work on bias grain. It transforms rigid cloth; with a set length and width, into a pliable interactive surface. If you take a square of cloth and fold it diagonally you have the bias grain,  45° to the selvage. Pull the corners of the triangle and it will stretch. The space between the woven threads determines how much movement is in its structure. A loosely woven cloth will have more “ Give “ than a tight weave.  Woven cloth is a lattice. Imagining it this way will make it easier to understand how the cloth will...

The first 7 dress was hastily thrown together to wear to a party. The party´s theme was 7. I had left things to the last minute and scanned my studio for ideas- quick ideas- I didn´t have time to recreate the 7 deadly sins; I didn´t want to dance with 7veils. I didn´t really have a plan. I saw some  black viscose stretch and chopped straight onto it. I knew I didn´t want a "normal dress" but I didn´t want a weird dress either. I was after tight,yet loose..* When I had sewn the dress together and it was on...

  The Shirt dress. Why is it so difficult to write about the Shirtdress?  I have just had a revelation-  I made the shirtdress in 2006, when I was just about to open my shop in what had been my studio.It was on the second floor down an alley of the only unrenovated building at Berlin´s Hackescher Markt. This is a photo of the old shop in 2010. On April 25th it will be 15 years since the opening. Things are looking pretty different now. My shop has been shut for … I don´t know long, I have lost count...

 I just saw an advertisement  for a clothing brand on Instagram.  It was selling itself as sustainable, minimal  blah blah blah! It has been designed by a famous product designer. The photos have beautiful light, the clothes have been made in muted pastels and I could see that even on the skinny models that there was absolutely NO BUST SHAPING!! The zip was half done up and the folds told me that even on the slim model it didn´t fit. I didn´t even bother to look at the size chart because I already knew what I would find - XL for...