Fast Company: Jean-Paul Cauvin calls himself the binôme, or right-hand man, of the French designer Julien Fournié. Following his advice, Fournié recently teamed up with Dassault Systèmes, whose 3-D simulations last year demonstrated how you could tug an iceberg across the ocean. Why this unlikely partnership? Together, the team developed FashionLab, which enables fashion designers to envision their garments in 3-D from the earliest stages of the creative process. As New York Fashion Week drew to a close, Fast Company spoke with Cauvin about the need for designers to embrace the brave new world of technology-assisted fashion design.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Fast Talk: Why Fashion Designers Need To Embrace Their Inner Geek
Fast Company: Jean-Paul Cauvin calls himself the binôme, or right-hand man, of the French designer Julien Fournié. Following his advice, Fournié recently teamed up with Dassault Systèmes, whose 3-D simulations last year demonstrated how you could tug an iceberg across the ocean. Why this unlikely partnership? Together, the team developed FashionLab, which enables fashion designers to envision their garments in 3-D from the earliest stages of the creative process. As New York Fashion Week drew to a close, Fast Company spoke with Cauvin about the need for designers to embrace the brave new world of technology-assisted fashion design.
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This technology is awesome. I want to use it. It is interesting that they say that fashion moves too fast to stop and consider new technologies. I think that conversely the theater moves too slowly and does not necessarily have the resources to adapt easily to new ways of doing things. But I could see this being a very helpful tool for a costume designer, it could cut down on mock up time because you could see exactly how everything worked but I feel as though most costumers would want to see it in a mock up form before actually going and producing the item.
I think this technology is incredible, but is being wasted on fashion.
Programs like this and CAD are fantastic because they are quick, efficient and incredibly precise. However, there is a very unique and thorough understanding of one's work that can only be achieved when it is drawn or created in real space. I am not attempting to discount art forms based in virtual space (like graphic design, web design, video production, or media) because those final products will remain in that virtual space, or a similar two dimensional space. The problems result when a very physical thing (like clothing) is designed entirely in a computer program.
I also wonder if this technology is being put to more important use. I know almost nothing about the medical community, but shouldn't technology like this be used to like, you know, cure cancer? Seriously though, imagine this same platform translated into a medical context. The first thing that comes to my mind that this could be used for is prosthetics, but the possibilities seem virtually endless.
overall, I think this technology is a bit excessive and frivolous.
I don't really know what to say about this technology, I'm kind of on the fence about the whole matter. I can see that this technology is convenient and easy, if nothing else, it quickens the design and production pace of garments. I'm just not sure that I like things to move that quickly. If you can think on your toes and work out big decisions, than this is your tool. Personally, draping things out, thinking about what it is you want to say with your clothing design, how you want to physically produce it, is part of the process. It isn't meant to be easy or quick and most of the solutions are found during the draping period. Also, there is the whole ordeal of making a garment. Sometimes, the design works well with the technology but doesn't mesh well with creating the garment. There are very different fabrics, these fabrics drape in many different ways. I kind of agree with Pia when she says that this technology might be better utilized in another field.
I'm not so sure if I think that this is a frivolous technology. It is definitely useful to bring costume design into a more digital world, since that is where the world is going and it seems to be the last of the theatrical aspects to make use of this type of technology. Similar to scenic design and CAD, this kind of program would not only be extremely useful in terms of precision, but in terms of communication. Ideas and mock ups could be shared electronically with a click, among designers, technicians, the director, the cast... It just streamlines costume design in a way that the other design pieces have already been streamlined. This is not to say I'm a little sad, because there's a certain kind of magic in actually using your hands the entire process, and personally I would rather draw than draft any day, but there's no arguing that this program and others like it are going to positively change costume design.
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