From the initial inspiration and sketches to picking out fabric and putting together a piece, a fashion designer can experience the heights of exhilaration then be in the depths of depression in a single moment.
herworldPLUS follows fledgling Parco Next Next designers on their journeys from raw idea to rack, in time for their April 14 retail launch.
In this instalment Singapore fashion designer Kae Hana, 25, tells us what goes on behind the creation of a particular garment.
Contrasting printed dress with asymmetrical hemline
Kae Hana is a ready-to-wear womenswear label which focuses on exclusive prints produced both by the designer herself as well as other local fine artists. Designer Kae Hana has always been intrigued by prints and how they communicate with people. The pieces in her collection subtly pair art and style while making it suitable for daily wear.
PART 1: THE IDEA
Prints intrigue me. Both the consumer and the designer reveal a lot about their personality through the prints picked. That is why I want to create a collection based on prints.
When I first start designing my collection, I envision a woman with my prints placed strategically on her torso. I wonder where I can place the prints to best flatter her figure. Which of them would work on different parts of her torso? And then I start thinking about the rest of the piece.
My creativity usually goes into overdrive in the wee hours of the morning, but the ideas start to firm up at the same time. The garment’s function, movement and fit start to become clearer and I have rough sketches in my mind. I then start doing up digital collages, and try to make what I envision come to life. It is only after that that I start creating flat drawings, where I place the prints for the piece and decide all the other design elements.
Still, bringing an idea to life is not easy. How long should a skirt be or how wide should a collar be? What fabrics should I use? Fortunately, having had experience with designing my own prints and printing them onto fabrics, I already have a fabric in mind for this dress. It saves me from the incredibly long process of picking and doing print samples on different fabrics.
I also know I am being rather bold – the big idea for the collection combines floral prints and skulls – not quite your usual combination. But I have run the idea past a couple of friends – both women and men – and from the feedback it sounds like it might work.
PART 2: MAKING IT REAL
Step two for me is sampling, which has to be one of the most painful processes in designing (I’m guessing most fashion designers would agree). It is the most crucial and also the hardest step towards the completion of a garment because your sketches might look fantastic but turn out disastrous when you translate them into real garments.
My fabrics are printed in Bangkok as there isn’t a suitable printer here that accepts small orders. The prints for this collection were printed there in January this year.
There is a risk though to having the printing done anywhere overseas, and I sometimes have to keep my fingers crossed that nothing goes wrong. What makes it even harder is that I am in unfamiliar surroundings and on a tight deadline.
I spend many sleepless nights just measuring and adapting dimensions of the prints and scaling them according to the clothing sizes. I decide to experiment with printing more than six months ahead of time in June 2011 so as to familiarize myself with the process and outcomes.
Upon arriving in Bangkok, I head straight to the printing factory then spend the rest of the day and night re-scaling my prints according to the fabric. As I toil into the wee hours of the morning, my only companions are the sound of the TV in the background playing out an English movie dubbed in Thai and countless bottles of cheap, foreign tasting Coke.
PART 3: THE FIRST DRAFT – AND BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD
Once the very first metre of sample fabric is printed, I send it straight to a sampling factory in Bangkok. These are the same people whom I worked with the previous year and we are familiar with each other’s working styles.
I only print one metre – exactly how much I need for this particular dress. Getting the prints aligned exactly to the bodice of the dress is particularly tricky because I have to be very careful in the measurement process. One error can potentially mess up the entire piece.
The worst is not over. There is a second round of sampling, this time on a real person to ensure it sits right – and it doesn’t! It goes back to the drawing board for changes to the drafts before having the dress re-sampled with minor changes.
Together with my creative mentor, Dennis Lau, we try and figure out how to improve the fit without altering the original idea too much. The fitting itself takes about half an hour, then it is back to the local production factory to try again. But it is a long process, and by the time all the little issues are ironed out and we are in the final stages of production, a month has gone by.
PART 4: THE FINAL OUTCOME
Getting the look book done is really the pinnacle of the pre-sale journey. I feel a mix of relief and anxiousness. But working with a photographer, we find a model who fits the concept of my brand.
She disappears into a changing room with my dress and, minutes later, emerges in it. It is actually quite an emotional moment for me – seeing my garment styled on a real human body – one that sparks feelings of both elation and relief.
The model twirls around and has fun growing into the dress. This is what really delights me most – it is exactly how I envision the garment to be – filled with movement, fun and a certain sense of ease.
As she moves from one location to another, she strips off her 5-inch heels, and, really, this is a defining moment for me. The dress is something that she can look ravishing in at one point, and something she can simply feel comfortable in at the next.
I can see that this dress is going to be perfect for women who have places to go, people to meet, dinners to sit through and then who want to make the switch to being silly and letting their hair down. Like my motto, they are forever young.
This dress is part of Kae Hana’s S/S2012 raisedbythemiddles collection. It will retail at $399 and be available from Kae Hana store in Parco Next Next, Milenia Walk, Level 2 from April 14. Go to www.facebook.com/PARCOnextNEXT for more information.