BALENCIAGA - MAÎTRE DE LA COUTURE

All photos by John F. Clément

It was something I have been looking forward to since it was announced, the exhibition Balenciaga - Maître de la Haute Couture, at Musée McCord here in Montreal.
The exhibition is organized by Victoria & Albert Museum, London and presented by Holt Renfrew and Ogilvy.

Balenciaga was and still is a great source of inspiration for all designers. I have posted about him
before I even saw his creations in person. Follow this link to read previous post.
In addition the exhibition contains a full room of past and contemporary designer dresses, to show how influential he really was and still is.

For now I will just show some of the pictures I took and then eventually adding more, after I finished the book I purchased.

All photos by John F. Clément

If you are a fashion student, a keen home-sewer or just appreciate great, innovative and timeless design, it is a absolute must see. I am definitely going to revisit this exhibition a few more times, before it ends, sunday October 14, 2018.

SIMPLICITY

-Never goes out of style.
If you have been following me on IG, you may have noticed that lately I have been on a quest to simplify designs where ever I can. It usually starts with some inspirations, that generate an idea and some experimentation during the pattern-making.
Maybe a reaction on all the elaborate, extravagant and outrageous fashion that is going on these days.

As an example, here is one of my latest creations.

Design and photo by John F. Clément

I like the color-combination of red and bordeaux. It is unusual, but quite dramatic.

I used a nice underlined bordeaux silk-duchesse, for this dress with a built in corset.
The fitted and boned foundation-corset is supporting and holding up the dress. The skirt has several layers of tulle; not quite enough though. The dress is about a size 8, should you be interested. 

Though it is very gratifying to produce and execute these designs, it is very time-consuming, when you have to do everything yourself. 
I'm seriously considering going back to just design and having things made by a some-one, that specializes in that.