Fabrics And Silhouettes Are Closely Related

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29713, 5 January 1962, Page 2

Fabrics And Silhouettes Are Closely Related

[From a Reuter Correspondent] PARIS. The average woman attending a Paris fashion collection is unable to tell the difference between one classic black fabric and another. Most of the 300 spectators who watch the Christian Dior collection every afternoon through the autumn, for example, have little or no appreciation of the importance of textiles in what they are seeing.

They are unaware that the designer, Mr Marc Bohan, may have inspected as many as M seemingly similar bolts of black fabric before choosing just the right crepe to create a “little nothing dress” which they are applauding heartily. The untrained eye judges the model as a whole, without realising that fabrics and Silhouettes are as rlosely related as twin sisters. Had that same dress been made in any other fabric, the result might look like something ran up by a tentmaker.

Beautiful fabrics are the basic ingredient of Paris fashion. The substitution of an unsuitable or poor quality fabric is the reason why “line for line” copies of Trench models, no matter how skilfully reproduced, often lose their original flair ■nd fade into insignificance in transit from the Paris couture salon to the popularpriced department store. Each fashion season stands or falls on the merits of its new silhouettes. In turn, each individual interpretation of those silhouettes emerges as a winner or drops by the fashion wayside, according to the basic choice of fabric selected by the designer tor the original model. Levers Of Luxury Paris couturiers are acknowledged lovers of luxury. They make no compromise with price. To create the new winter collections, designers have used the finest and most costly

fabrics in the world. It suffices that a fabric, a fur, or a leather, be beautiful for a Bohan or a Balmain to use it. P. Balmain summed it for all of them when he said in his press release: “Our Jolie Madame is rich. She knows supreme luxury. The costly fabrics and sumptuous furs which enfold her are the best quality." This season, the emphasis on luxury and rich fabrics reaches the highest pinnacle. Evening fashions in solid paved embroideries, metallic patterned silks, or the “18 carat gold look” of lame and bullion beading, suggest that the gold reserves of the United States have become the inspiration of fashion. With rising French labour costs for embroidery and handwork, a private client almost needs her own private gold vault in order to buy them. “Gold Rush”

Dior’s most fabulous interpretations of the “Gold Rush” are all beaded siren evening gowns, with cascades of fringe suggesting a shimmering waterfall or floodlit fountains. Bohan uses the tiniest gold beads for a Paisley patterned jacket made of solid embroidery and cuffed with great bands of sable. He repeats the same Spencerstyle jacket for street wear, in an unusual fabric—delicate white glove kid, collared and banded with black fox. He shows it over a black dress evolved in a seemingly unpretentious fabric which costs about £7 a yard. Press reports of the Paris

collections tend to emphasise the novelties. The idea that the Paris couture is one hotbed of frivolity is erroneous. The backbone of every collection is a simple silhouette in classic fabric. But the superb quality of those plain, and classic fabrics constitutes the key to success. This season, basic trends in coatings feature both the smooth types like broadcloth or wool velvets, and resilient surface interest weaves including mohair, chenille, rustic tweeds and Shetlands. Tweeds come in looselywoven effects like basket plaiting, or imitate hand-knit and crocheted patterns. Reversibles Reversible coatings are strong for the third consecutive winter. Soft furry camel hairs are lined with checked tweed. A super-classic novelty are the reversible coatings backed with the same fabrics in an opposing weave. Shetlands reverse in opposing colour schemes, further contrasted by straight and diagonal weaves. Dress fabrics support the growing trend towards “all season” textiles. There are fewer bulky weight woollens destined strictly for Arctic climates. Today's jet air travel shuttles women from one climate to another in a few hours. Fabrics which are appropriate for Paris must be equally suitable for London, New York, and Tokyo. Designers have also realised that women will buy a dress more readily if it can be worn in the “between” seasons like autumn and spring as well as the dead of winter. Lightweight crepes, jerseys, wool gauze, and supple wool chiffons predominate in the new collections. Dior endorses many fabric contrasts like wool or velvet ensembles with midriff insets of satin. Other models are trimmed with edgings of self fabric, ravelled and shirred to make a thick fringe. Matching helmets or cone-shaped hats frequently repeat the same technique of ravelled fabric, or looped “spaghetti” fringe made of the same material. Velvet Velvet is a big star of the Paris season. Black, or jeweltoned, silk velvet from Lyons is paired with fur trimming like sable, white mink, or ermine. Wool velvets are for morning wear and are treated to sport styling. They tend to replace the eternal camelhair sports coat as a basic “go-everywhere. ” Formal clothes are aglow with sumptuous flower and Paisley patterned metallic brocades. Prints and patterned fabrics are usually relegated to the summer scene, but this season in Paris has proved that winter will be festive with floral gilt and silver embroidered damask, or cloth of gold lames with stylised weaves. One of the loveliest abstract patterns is Dior’s new golden printed gauze glittering over shadowy nocturne colours.