Le Couturier: Origami, Fashion-gasms and "Un-Wearable" Clothing

I love this time of year. I'm not talking about the horrifying weather or the desperate feeling that Spring will never come, but the fashionable cure for all of those woes at the end of January/beginning of February - the new Spring Couture Collections. Our own line, Petey Couture (a line we created for the purpose of creating wearable art,) is released in April to accomodate Alternative Fashion Week. I find it kind of perfect thought because as we create the pieces for our own collection, we're viewing the newly finished masterpieces from the House of Chanel, the House of Dior and other fab fashion houses all over the fashion world.

I spent the entire day yesterday and today sketching, pattern drafting and creating little paper, origami flowers for one of my dresses for the Couture line. It's called a Kusadama Flower and it's pretty simple to make, but it involves a lot of patient cutting out squares and gluing little bits of paper together. I'm only alright with it because I know it'll be stunning on the final pieces. I also figured out how to make fabric swirl the way I want it to on the front a dress without actually changing or losing the structure of the garment. Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.

I didn't have to work today, so I decided to take my time and make flowers all day while doing my laundry and grocery shopping. It's a nice day off from the regular rush of day to day life. I've spent a lot of that time philosophising on love with John and Yoko in the 1973 documentary of the making of Imagine "Gimme Some Truth" (amazing,) and now about life and fashion with Karl Lagerfeld in the recently recorded French documentary "Lagerfeld Confidential."
I find it difficult, while watching John and Yoko in all their glory talking about life frankly in a way they've always been admired for. I think about the relationship to that type of lifestyle as opposed to the lifestyle I've chosen - an unashamed, slave to fashion and art. The unfortunate argument about Couture is its relevance to society in today's context. I believe the answer to this argument is that Couture is for fashion, what the symphony is for music. It is loved for its greatness and only the very best of the industry with the most talent and the most respect can partake in the trade. The symphony is not widely attended in most cases, and exists as a tribute to truly high quality music. I always think of my dad's response to Couture (my father is the epitome of Canadian, mid-fifties father...) which is only that the clothes are "un-wearable" and therefore useless as a sort of fashion. I mean, really, fashion is the most frivolous industry in the world, but why is it that in our over-capitalized world we must take our frustrations with frivolity out on fashion? Let us have our fun, will you?

I'm also trying to find a couple more models for the presentation of the Couture line at FAT this Spring. I think it's pretty obvious from our past photo shoots and shows that we do not tend to use models that are conventionally perfect looking or model like. I'd pick a girl with pretty eyes and an ass over a twig with a plain face any day. So if you think you have a unique look, or you know someone who might fit in with our style, email me at vanessapetey@gmail.com for more info!!
So for now, check out the following Couture collections and keep reading this blog for Petey Couture updates over the next couple of months! Hello February!!

Christian Dior
Chanel
Jean Paul Gautier
Valentino

Until then,
V

Petey Couture Preview 2011 - Some Comments

The time has come!!

Last night, we at Petey the Troll Apparel released our preview photographs from the shoot we did last week at the infamous abandoned Michigan Central Station across the creek in Detroit. Justin, one of our WetFresco photographers delivered them in the early hours of the morning and I posted them immediately. I can’t speak for the rest of the team, but I can safely say that this was the most memorable and most successful photo shoot ever. I knoooow I say that every time we post new pictures, but it’s true!! So last time I posted, I told you about the location, the calamities and debacles that we faced with entering the abandoned, barbed-wire-fence-surrounded structure, not to mention the cold and the fact that we almost caused an international incident.... this time, I’ll talk about something massively more important: the clothes.

This time around when we started thinking of Petey Couture, all I could think of was BIG. We created the sub-label for just this purpose: to create clothing as art, or Couture, if you will. It was basically so we could use outrageous fabrics and do off the wall stuff without it interfering with the marketing for our Ready to Wear line, Petey the Troll Apparel (Did I mention our Going Away Sale at Phog is next Thursday night?? - Shameless plug!!!!!)

Ahem.

I can’t speak for Meg, obviously, since I don’t really see her clothes before the model puts them on ever, but for myself, I started making sketches of large skirted gowns made of unorthodox materials to find the most over the top designs possible.

I always try to incorporate as many art forms as possible into my projects in an effort to create a complete picture for the viewer, supported by the surroundings. This project, for me, was about using other art forms that I am interested in to create clothing. The first example is obviously the colourful Art School Gown worn by Ivana Jezdic, a beautiful model and friend we’ve been using in shows and photographs for years. The base of this dress is utility canvas, the kind used for stretching across frames. I lined it with cotton, to make it a little softer for the wearer, and then coated the entire thing in white gesso. On top of the gesso is three more layers of paint, both oil and spray. This dress represents to me the transition I’ve taken since I started University and went to art school with the intention of being a painter to where I am now, preparing for my debut at fashion design college in Toronto.

Once the dress was made, before I added any details, Meaghan and I thought we should discuss the direction of the collection, for the sake of our application to Toronto Alternative Fashion Week. The main themes we both had in common were darkness, a sense of propriety reminiscent of the Victorian Gothic period, and an interest in over the top detailing.

What really made the idea come to life for me was our addition of the umbrellas into the line for the first time. As a side note, it has been on my mind to start creating umbrellas for over a year now and it’s finally coming to fruition. These umbrellas are insane, wait til you see them. So when you add umbrellas, black lace, formal wear and an overriding theme of darkness, the most obvious conclusion to come to is the darkest of them all: the dichotomy of life and death.

Meaghan’s counterpart to my Oil Paint dress was an androgynous, formal nod to the tuxedo, complete with frilly 70s tuxedo shirt. The outfit is simple, which is perfect, because the dress is so out there that we needed something to balance it. The best part about this outfit is the back of the jacket. She’s beaded together a skull, to make a broach. It’s a really wicked piece. Like I said, I never see her clothes before the photographers do, so I have no clue what else is coming for her, but I’m gonna leave mine at that for now anyways and say thanks for reading again and stay tuned for all kinds of Petey stuff happening over the next few weeks.

Until then!