Did you watch the recent haute couture shows? Did it make you think, wow, how did they make that? This couture season especially reminded me of just how much engineering goes into garment design and construction. Want proof? Check out Daniel Roseberry’s collection for Schiaparelli, it was a brilliant combination of both engineering & architecture as he created wearable fashion sculpture.

I couldn’t help but think that Elsa was looking down on Roseberry’s show from fashion heaven and smiling. After all, in her day, Elsa Schiaparelli was a risk taker (watch this YouTube on her life). Think surrealist sleeves, lobster dress, exposed zippers in couture, the shoe hat, and her Shocking perfume bottle inspired by Mae West’s figure.

Italian fashion designer, Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973) creator of the surreal sleeve, the shoe hat, and her Shocking perfume bottle inspired by Mae West’s figure. (Image credits: Pinterest.com)

Fashion Engineering & Architecture

Support Materials

Daniel Roseberry’s Spring 2025 Haute Couture Collection and his use of underlinings & support materials. (Image credit: Vogue.com)

If you’ve been designing for a while, as I have, and are a lover of the garment construction process, then you were probably in awe of Daniel Roseberry’s latest couture collection and his use of support materials to create stiff flares and invisible padding that shaped the hips of his dresses.

There are many different of types of materials from which to choose to create these looks. In our lesson entitled, Interfacings, Underlinings, Interlinings & Linings, we teach the difference between an interlining and an underlining, when and where to use them and the various types available.

Wire & Boning

Daniel Roseberry’s Spring 2025 Haute Couture Collection and his use of structure to create half dome-like structures. (Image Credit: Vogue.com)

I just loved Roseberry’s combination of structure and softness in his dresses. He made great use of wire and boning to create half dome-like dresses with tulle skirts. The airiness of a tulle skirt paired with the structure of a bustier resulted in a very dramatic Red Carpet effect.

To learn more about bustier design & construction, view our lessons, Bustier Bodice, and Foundation Bustier Construction Techniques. In addition to learning how to drape a bustier, you will also learn about the various tools & supplies used to construct a bustier, such as how to stabilize the edges and how to bone, press and line a bustier.

Fabric Sculpture

Daniel Roseberry’s Spring 2025 Haute Couture Collection and his mastery at creating fabric sculpture dresses. (Image credit: Vogue.com)

If you are a technical skills nerd like me, then your jaw dropped when you saw Roseberry turn fabric into sculpture. For example, look at the far left image above, he combined a sculpted jacket foundation with a carefully engineered bias-fluted yoke with pleats. Looking to learn how to create those bias-fluted pleats? Watch our lesson,  Creative Draping: The Art of Fluting, to learn how to mold bias into just about any shape.

Our Creative Draping: The Art of Ruching lesson teaches how to create the look of the dress second from left above. And for the asymmetric ruffle dress to its right, watch our lesson, Draping a Cascade Ruffle Dress, which teaches how to draft circular fabric pieces and then how to drape them to cascade onto a dress foundation. And, to learn techniques on how to draft & drape ruffles, as pictured in the dress on the far right, view our lesson, Draping & Drafting a Multi-Tiered Dress.

Congratulations to Daniel Roseberry for a masterful haute couture collection for Schiaparelli!

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By: Francesca Sterlacci
Title: Fashion As Sculpture, Engineering & Architecture
Sourced From: www.universityoffashion.com/blog/fashion-sculpture-engineering-architecture/
Published Date: Mon, 03 Feb 2025 01:13:50 +0000

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