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

Though it is difficult to say anything about the death of John Lennon that hasn't already been said, I'd like to talk a little bit about the impact he and his music had on me and my family in honour of the 30th anniversary of his untimely death.
My mother has had an enormous effect on my life in both positive and negative ways. She's an old-fashioned Christian woman in some senses and a very contemporary, even ground breaking feminist in others. She and my father raised my sister and I in an environment where the only religion we knew was rock and roll, and the gods were the ones behind the music. My mom had a collection of old newspaper clippings and magazines that she kept in a folder among the photo albums in her room when I was growing up. The clippings and articles she kept were all original from the weeks following December 8, 1980 - the day John Lennon was assassinated. I'd read every little scrap and she would talk about the time when she acquired these bits of memorabilia from a dark time in the history of music.
I've always felt like the Beatles were the most comforting and the most powerfully positive music available. I've always listened to them when times were at their worst and they've made me feel better. I never knew a time when all of the Beatles were alive, but I can understand the phenomenon and allow myself to become engulfed in it. My mother felt the same way. She always said that the day Lennon died, the world began to cry. And every year for thirty years people across the globe continue to cry for this man.
So as we enter a new decade under the shadow of war and possible mass destruction, think about the message that people like Lennon lived for. Be kind to others, help those in need and live in peace and harmony with all people.

I sound like a Dickens novel.
Goodnight!