CDDC 2010 - BACKSTAGE OF CHALLENGE THREE .

Fashion Falls Apart - Our next guest judge was the second place winner in last year's CDDC. She is known for her creative use of many different fabrics. So this challenge will be all about the Fabric and your deconstruction of it. Your challenge is to design a Haute Couture garment in the newest hottest style of deconstruction. From ripped seams... to stringy hems ..to rumpled fabrics, slices of zipper and vandalized denim, this challenge is about how well you can design a garment in the deconstruction style while still keeping it Couture.
Guest Judge - Dal Lowenbein
My outfit:

The Judges have spoken:
Judith: Theme: 3, Originality: 3.5, Creativity: 4.5, Construction: 5
I find this gown particularly hard to judge because I know how much work went into making the fabric but the final design doesn't look deconstructed. I don't see many raw edges or any qualities of the design that would give a deconstructed visual appearance. It is however a beautiful gown with fabulous jewellery.

Rob: Theme: 3, Originality: 4, Creativity: 4, Construction: 4.5
I don’t care about your first or second attempt at this challenge that was wasted time writing and reading. Please try to keep your description concise and to the point, at least you didn’t write a book like some other entries. Ok on to the entry. It is a simple design and basic silhouette, but it is cute. I appreciate that you wove your fabric for the bodice. I don’t see many deconstructed elements in the fashion. I can see a little, but I think you could have pushed it further. I am not sure the skirt meets the bodice well in the back on one side, but it could just be the photograph, so I give you the benefit of the doubt. Overall it is a pretty fashion and the turban works for this one. I think you can push yourself further outside that comfort zone, by this time in the contest I expect to see more. Make something spectacular that will amaze us!

Tom: Theme: 4, Originality: 3, Creativity: 2, Construction: 4
One man’s trash is another man’s haute couture. I don’t get deconstruction from this. That being said, like 16, this is a lovely dress. I really like the bodice, but would have like to have seen it better resolved at the center back…that being said…because the back isn’t neatly resolved, it actually works better for the theme of this challenge, albeit not as pretty as the front.

Dal: Theme: 4.5, Originality: 5, Creativity: 5, Construction: 4.5
I adore the bodice treatment. Very beautifully “constructed” from deconstructed fabric. Not sure if the structured design of this entry constitutes true "Fashion Falls Apart”. I do get the Asian inspiration and love the mystery and drama of your color choice. I could see a couture collection coming from this entry but do not feel it fulfills the challenge as well as I know you could have. Stunning design, great styling and perfect presentation.

Total: 63,5/80 Ranking 3th in the overall competition; 4th in this challenge.

I'm back from holiday on September 22 and I had only 4 days for creating the outfit for this challenge. It was difficult, but how showed the results not me one =)

I have not had time to deal with the concept of deconstruction, so I considered it as a rethinking. How we were taught in high school, deconstruction from Lat. de (back) + constructio (build) or Rethinking, but not destroy.

My first idea was the outfit around the skirt with asymmetrical edges, made from ragged fragments. I decided to abandon the idea after making several such details, as it was more like “trash” than Haute Couture.

When I worked on the second option, I focused on the construction. As a result, I created a very interesting pattern consisting of complex geometric shapes.

But this idea also did not result in a finished costume, as I was fascinated by a new one.

The Muse is strange. You never know where she'll find you. I was in the cinema and watched Sounds of the Universe movie which is a music film about the Depeche Mode concert tour. At some point, I was an old Hindu on the screen. And I remembered: some years ago, I saw the program on the National Geographic channel about Asian dyers of silk. In order to achieve motley colors, they get solid piece of fabric, twist it into a tight plait and lower it into the bowl with paints of contrasting colors...

I was fascinated by this idea, and I decided to use it to have the effect of accordion-pleated fabric.
Back home I took a long piece of chiffon, wet it, twisted into a tight braid, held it in the boiling water for a few minutes and left it to dry until morning. The next day, when it dried up, I treated it with hot steam and let it out (synthetic fabric deforms from heat). The result pleased me and I did the same with the blue one.

This was the first step in the deconstruction of fabric. But it seemed to me too little for the theme. I tore the finished fabric into strips 2" wide, then folded it 4 times and sewed on the inner side.

I intertwined the resulting ribbons with each other, finally having new fabric for the bodice.


For the skirt, I made strips 4" wide, cut them into rectangles and created freestyle frills.
The Eastern-style turban and jewelry are tribute to asian women who inspired me.

When I did this outfit, I have not slept more than 40 hours and finished an half hour before the deadline. Oh what it was fun!
I set the alarm to the timer in every 15 minutes on the remaining 2 hours. My husband wrote a description for outfit as dictated by me. When the remaining half hour, I quickly cleared the place for the photo studio, fast made a few photos, resized, and sent them before 3 minutes to deadline =))

I hope that is not will happen again, and the remaining challenges will I do in normal working conditions!