[MUSIC PLAYING]
So today, I'm going to drape this dress I have in my mind.
I don't have exact design of it yet.
So I'm going to just play on the form.
And I had this idea about making a cocktail
dress that exposes your bra--
so be more like an evening dress and very sexy cut.
And eventually, it's going to be in black.
But I'm draping with a lighter colored fabric.
So when we take pictures for fittings and the prototype
stage, you can actually see the lines of the dress.
For me, like, draping kind of cuts a step
out of the process--
development because I'm already feeling out
the actual fabric, how it will be draped on the body.
It's really good for my mind to actually see it
on the form to make sure, like, I am really
giving my team an idea that I really want to execute.
And I do love draping.
That's probably the reason why I always tend
to drape more than to sketch.
You have to do a lot of practice.
And there is rules that you do have to follow.
There is, like, a-- technical rules.
And there's way of marking that they teach you how to do.
You have to follow the grain of the fabric.
That's one of the most important part.
But I have to say, I've seen some master drapers,
like ones at Oscar--
they go off-grain.
But I think they're so good at it,
they know how to control it.
But I still stick to my fundamental rules on that
because I'm a little scared to go off-grain.
And then once you mold it into the shape you want,
you have to mark side seam, which is side of your body.
This is asymmetrical.
So I'm not going to mark the center.
Wherever there's drapes or darts,
you should mark it so when you're sewing it,
you know what to follow.
It's good to mark where the hip is and where your waist is.
And I should probably mark the point
where they're going to be attached later.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
So now I pin the dress to the shape I want.
I'm going to cut away the excess fabric because sometimes
with the extra fabric hanging from it, the fit of it
doesn't really sit well.
So I'm going to cut away the extra fabric
and double-check if my drape is correct.
I am very good with my hands.
Like, I love molding, crafting, sculpting, painting.
So I think this is my forte as a designer, what
I'm good at in my process.
What happens a lot while you drape
is some things could happen accidentally that you actually
like it better than what you originally imagined, like,
for example, I just cut out the extra fabric on the side.
And I love what it's doing here, like,
creating a cascade, which I didn't have it
in my initial design.
So it's kind of like a-- it is a design process.
I don't start with the exact idea
and end with the initial idea.
As you drape, you change your mind
according to what your fabric wants to do.
The reason why it's important to drape with the final fabric
that you're going to cut this dress in
is because every fabric reacts very differently.
And if I were to drape this with a cotton,
it probably won't look the same.
Now with the-- all the extra fabric on the side cut off,
I can see that the drape on the waist could be tighter.
Change that.
Now I'm going to take it off the form and cut it into a shape.
I'm cleaning up all the marks I had on the fabric, on the form.
And I took my ruler to kind of make
it neater so I have a guideline for myself
when I'm sewing it together.
So I had this machine for more than 10 years now.
I have it at home because I work from home a lot
when I'm draping.
[WHIRRING]
Once I've sewn the template, I'll
hand it off to my seamstress to finish the edges
and make it a little cleaner before we put it on our model
and do the fitting.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Come this way, like just if--
I don't like how that seam is.
So we're seeing it on a real model for the first time.
And a lot of the times, the mannequin and human bodies
behave very differently because we're moving and we're not
a solid shape, like, we're--
Mushy.
--mushy--
[LAUGHING]
--alive.
So we're checking to make sure it works on a real human body.
And usually, like, I probably have to, like,
take in a little bit.
This looks a little big on her.
Even though the mannequins have same measurements,
it reacts very differently.
MALE SPEAKER: And what I like about how Laura usually drapes
is that it's very about the body of a woman.
So the complications are to a very minimum
because she knows that once we fit in on Isabella,
we could add more to it.
So she usually is a more minimalistic draper--
am I right in saying that--
Yeah.
--because she knows that she has fabric to think about that
could brighten up the look if it's made in a bright color,
even though it's a simple shape.
Maybe it's a print.
And you can make it more interesting that way.
But in this case, it's going to become a black dress.
So it could handle a little bit more in detail.
I remember when Laura showed me this the first time,
the bra was a lot more exposed.
And I'm usually for sexy.
But I was just sort of like, I think
that we need to consider not everybody wants
to show both of their breasts-- maybe, like, one, but not both.
So we covered one.
So we covered one a little bit more.
And that's how we landed to this one.
The back of this is really pretty, also, on the body.
You like that?
Do you like the length of the dress?
I think that it is going to be good because of the slit
if we keep it long.
So that's why I think the length is good.
I wanted a little more flare on the side.
But I think it disappeared while, like--
The fabric collapsed.
Yeah.
It's just kind of-- pulled the weight down.
So maybe we can add a little bit more fabric on the side.
MALE SPEAKER: So what shape are you cutting?
I'm adding a triangle so it becomes a little bit more
A-line.
And those are things that you normally
can't predict when you are sketching them or doing them
on a form.
And that's what fittings are for.
They're very important.
In this instance, when I saw this muslin come out,
I noticed that there was a side seam
that then turned into a curve and then connected with a slit.
And I found that to be a little unconventional.
Usually, our patterns are very linear.
There's very few curves.
It's just more simplistic.
That way, it falls naturally on the body
when it's more straight.
So what I would do, and Laura, too, in all of our fittings,
is just we draw on the muslin.
And that's why it's important to do it in fabric that you truly
don't care about, you know, screwing up or cutting up.
And then the pattern maker that we
pass this to corrects that pattern to that new shape.
And we cut in the final fabric in the correct way.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
FEMALE SPEAKER: Here's our finished stress.
And this is our last chance to correct
if there's anything we can fix, like a fit, hemline.
But we can't change anything too dramatically.
Also, it's because it's probably, like,
week or two before the deadline.
And we have room to do final fitting on the girl who's
going to wear it on the runway.
MALE SPEAKER: As you can see, Laura likes a black cowl.
So this dress is very much--
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Oh, yeah.
I guess I like black cowl.
[LAUGHTER]
And I think that maybe do a walk
to see the slit is at the right spot, if you don't mind,
Isabelle?
It's important to see a model in a movement
because women do move around and make sure it looks good
when she's walking, also.
MALE SPEAKER: And we deal with things like transparency
in this particular garment.
Is the tool the right color?
Is it too covered?
Maybe in the back, also, is it too revealing?
Do we think we can sell a garment that revealing?
All those questions come into play at this final stage.
Sometimes, when we have market or when the buyers come
and look at the collection, they do
like the idea of a dress like this,
but they have a list of, like, notes
that they would love and buy a set amount of dresses
if we adjust it that way.
So we might cover the back in some way.
We might raise the exposure of the front
in a little other way.
And we also ask our model if it's comfortable,
if there's something not feeling right about the outfit.
And she will tell us.
I think it's perfect.
OK.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
I think that this is a particularly well-finished
garment.
But there are moments when the model
feels, perhaps, the inseam is hurting her because of--
I don't know, whatever that sewing that happened there or--
what else?
FEMALE SPEAKER: Or, like, the fabric's itchy
or she might think, like, the slit is too high.
And she'll let us know.
I think that for this particular piece,
we have in mind a type of girl that likes to, you know,
show a little bit more than the other ones.
But we make sure that in the collection, if this
is too much for, perhaps, a person who
is more conservative, we have a conservative option
or another product that could, you know,
fulfill her dreams to wear--
say that collection.