Givenchy, Couture, AW11, Paris.
The sheer time scales for developing ideas for Couture vs Ready to Wear garments is vastly different. Once a pattern has been finalised from toiles a finished salesman sample can be made relatively quickly for a ready to wear garment, and if necessary it can be recut with final pattern and construction changes, in different colourways or substituted fabrics. For couture, the design development process is a lot slower and needs to be approached with greater focus and discipline.
For garments such as these designed by Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy it is clear that the choice of silhouette was a key point from the beginning, with long elongated silhouettes featuring carefully considered sheer panels. Integrated into these designs are amazing embellishments that would have been carefully tested in smaller panels, to ensure that the desired effect is achieved, before starting work on the finished garment. Even once “finished” the sections may need to be altered, refit to the models, or further embellishments added before the couture garment is ready for the catwalk show, presentation or client.
Images from Vogue.com»
