2. motive part II, systems of garment construction
2.5 Creative pattern cutting In attempting to highlight the activity of pattern cutting as not merely a technical, but also a creative, activity, with a central role in the process of fashion design (cf. Almond 2013; Rissanen 2013; Narielwalla 2013), the term ‘Creative Pattern Cutting’ has been appropriated by several cutters, designers, and researchers. For example, Rissanen (2013) examines and discusses this relation between fashion design and pattern cutting from the perspective of an industrial fashion system, with emphasis on sustainability, by applying zero-waste cutting principles that call “for fashion design to consider pattern cutting as an integral part of the fashion design process.” Furthermore, in a part-historical, part-artistically-driven thesis, Narielwalla (2013) discusses the patterns’ historical and inspirational meanings. Narielwalla argues that patterns are “undervalued and neglected, and remain a hidden craft” and continues “that patterns are unique abstracted drawings of the human form, carrying with them not only the outline of the garment but also impressions of the body.” However, instead of contributing to the field of pattern cutting by developing ways to reveal this “hidden craft”, he makes artwork collages of abandoned pattern blocks, treating them merely as inspirational objects. The notion of the pattern as a work of art is also put forward by Simeos (2013) as she discusses their body portrayal aspects while clarifying the motive of her further developments of a new type of basic pattern blocks. Over the past ten years, alternative and more creative ways of working with block patterns have been publicised in various forms. The methodological approach of a number of these contemporary pattern cutters may be described as designing with patterns (cf. Roberts 2008:14) instead of creating a pattern for an already defined or sketched design. Two categories can be defined within this movement: one emulates draping through block manipulations (cf. Nakamichi 2005; 2007; Sato 2011), and the other experiments with pattern pieces or other shapes to come up with new, more or less unexpected shapes (cf. Roberts 2008; Rissanen 2013; McQuillan 2011; OhrnMcDaniel 2013). The first category – creating shapes and expressions that would normally be associated with draping – includes the Pattern Magic series by Nakamichi (2005; 2007) and Transformational Reconstruction by Sato (2011). Both Nakamichi and Sato compare their cutting practice to solving a puzzle, which clarifies their view on cutting as a practice in which the core is the pattern itself: by manipulating the puzzle pieces, one can achieve another kind of image. Nakamichi states that she is often inspired by fashion of the past and as she tries to recreate it, she often ends up creating new
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