COLLECTION NAME:
Graduate Thesis Collection
Record
Title:
Evolution of one-piece draping and geometric patternmaking in American fashion
Creator:
Shen, Yunru
Subject:
Thesis (M.F.A.) -- Fashion
Subject:
Savannah College of Art and Design -- Department of Fashion
Rights:
Copyright is retained by the authors or artists of items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Abstract:
The new approach of fashion is focused on research from ancient history: not only the
ancient Greeks, Romans and dressmakers of the Middle Age to the Renaissance, but also those in
ancient Asia, especially Japan, used rectangular geometric patternmaking as a design for a
garment’s shape throughout history. With the invention of the sewing machine in the nineteenth
century, fashion expanded to the newly rich upper and middle classes. In the same period,
patterns began to be used in the fashion studios, and people started to find differences between
their own styles and those of other people. Fashion designers such as Madame Grès and
Madeleine Vionnet contributed to the new fashion design approach by using large-scale
geometric patternmaking and draping directly, without sketching, when making designs.
Following their step, European and Japanese new generation avant-garde fashion designers
started experimenting with creating large-scale geometric patternmaking in new shapes for the
1980s’ runways. During the 1930s -1950s in North America, Claire McCardell created American
fashion in the form of sportswear, which combined Vionnet’s bias cutting technique with
America’s democratized culture. A casual lifestyle is the American fashion identity; following
Claire McCardell’s fashion contribution, contemporary American fashion designers such as
Ralph Rucci focus on fashion innovation though an emphasis on geometric patternmaking. This
thesis explains the causal relationship between the development of geometric patternmaking
throughout history with that of culture. Moreover, this thesis continues to research the use of
geometric patternmaking throughout American fashion history, a history influenced by feminism
and other social issues. The social conditions of today, based on this history, influence the design
experiments in this thesis collection in order to achieve unlimited freedom and exploration of
creativity in the fashion making process.
ancient Greeks, Romans and dressmakers of the Middle Age to the Renaissance, but also those in
ancient Asia, especially Japan, used rectangular geometric patternmaking as a design for a
garment’s shape throughout history. With the invention of the sewing machine in the nineteenth
century, fashion expanded to the newly rich upper and middle classes. In the same period,
patterns began to be used in the fashion studios, and people started to find differences between
their own styles and those of other people. Fashion designers such as Madame Grès and
Madeleine Vionnet contributed to the new fashion design approach by using large-scale
geometric patternmaking and draping directly, without sketching, when making designs.
Following their step, European and Japanese new generation avant-garde fashion designers
started experimenting with creating large-scale geometric patternmaking in new shapes for the
1980s’ runways. During the 1930s -1950s in North America, Claire McCardell created American
fashion in the form of sportswear, which combined Vionnet’s bias cutting technique with
America’s democratized culture. A casual lifestyle is the American fashion identity; following
Claire McCardell’s fashion contribution, contemporary American fashion designers such as
Ralph Rucci focus on fashion innovation though an emphasis on geometric patternmaking. This
thesis explains the causal relationship between the development of geometric patternmaking
throughout history with that of culture. Moreover, this thesis continues to research the use of
geometric patternmaking throughout American fashion history, a history influenced by feminism
and other social issues. The social conditions of today, based on this history, influence the design
experiments in this thesis collection in order to achieve unlimited freedom and exploration of
creativity in the fashion making process.
Publisher:
Savannah, Georgia : Savannah College of Art and Design
Date:
2014-08
Format:
PDF: 78 p. : ill