Fashion with Fight

Blame it on Beijing? Assia Benmedjdoub discovers fashion's new obsession with sporty fibres and fabrics.

"Only industrial fabrications and colours must be used." Had that brief been issued in the late 1990s, it would have made even the most ambitious of eveningwear designers baulk. But buoyed by the use of performance fabrics in couture collections across the globe, TAFE NSW Fashion Design Studio head Nicholas Huxley has assigned this very challenge to his final year students.

"No eveningwear fabrics are to be used," his brief continues, siphoning off organza, silk, satins and chiffon. "[Think] drills, cottons, metallics, coated fabrics, reflective fabrics, nylons, aluminium. Instead of beading think eyelets, studs, nuts and bolts, heavy metal zippers, chains."

Huxley's challenge, unique as it may sound, is indicative of a broader trend in the international fashion industry. Although tough economic conditions have forced many leading designers to play it safe this year - a vivid blue neoprene balmaccan made a token appearance at Michael Kors' spring 2009 menswear collection - fashion commentators believe sports fabrics will continue to infiltrate the fashion sphere, albeit in a more commercialised sense.

Independent consultant Marie O'Mahoney, who has co-authored books Techno Textiles and Sports Tech and advised designers such as Hussein Chalayan, says designers are moving away from "obvious" futuristic looks to more subtle and consumer driven variations.

"I think what we are seeing at the moment is a very discrete use of technical textiles in fashion," she says. "Where it is used we are most aware of it as an unusual finish and handle to the fabric or the way the garment drapes. I am thinking of the use of metal and hybrid fibres in particular. Just a few years ago, these kinds of technologies were much more in your face, with a plethora of labels advertising their properties but the aesthetic did not always follow through."

O'Mahoney is referring to the spring/summer 2007 shows in Europe and America where, as Australian fashion commentator Patty Huntington noted, designers plunged into the neo-sportswear look for the first time since Andre Courreges kicked it off in the 1960s. There were the obvious showstoppers - Balenciaga's metal leggings, Hussein Chalayan's mechanical dresses - and more subtle references in the form of Lanvin's wool/silicon dresses, Narciso Rodriguez's wet-look black nylon sateen coats and Fendi's dalliance with black silicon.

O'Mahoney says we expect to see more of these subtler applications - less about cyborgs and more about wearability.
"We are seeing some very advanced and beautiful fabrics coming through. The quality is amazing and the result is very delicate and beautiful."

Back at the TAFE NSW Fashion Design Studio campus, the words "delicate" and "beautiful" are not being put into obvious use. While fabric suppliers have reported a surge in the purchase of sportswear fabrics by traditional clothing brands - more on that later - Huxley is encouraging his students to explore or rather push the boundaries.

Christian Lines, Ainsley Hansen, Rachel Sherwood and Jessie Carey have flagged their annual holiday period in favour of working on their major projects. Earlier this year, the four students joined classmates in a self-funded trip to Hong Kong and China, where they not only visited garment factories but sourced a range of cutting edge fabrics.

For his major work, Christian is using neoprene (a traditional scuba suit fabric), nylon and reflective fabrics. He says he's enjoying the challenge of working traditional sports fabrics into an eveningwear creation but admits the process has its challenges.

"Some of the nylons are really slippery which can cause complications when it comes to sewing. The neoprene is also tough to work with so I had to go through some different techniques and experiment a bit. It's such an awesome learning experience though."

Hansen, who is also using neoprene and reflective nylon, says she's thrown a lightweight stretch fabrication into the mix that's made "life a whole lot easier".

"No-stretch fabrics require a lot of fittings because the clothing has to sit on the model perfectly. The stretch fits over and hugs the body so it doesn't require as many fittings - I've only used one toile and it's perfect."

The main challenge is in the patternmaking process, where Hansen says it's easy to stretch the fabric out of shape.
"But the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages," she adds. "Normally eveningwear requires a lot of manipulations, lots of fancy techniques, but because you're already using a fabric with structural qualities there's not as much need for that."

Sherwood has wandered even further left field by pairing powernet/stretch with sculptural chunks of chrome steel. The designer has used the steel to highlight various elements of her evening dress, cutting holes in the side of the metal and threading it with strands of thick ribbon.

"I took my cardboard pattern to a friend of a friend who specialises in metal work," she says. "It was laser cut and then rolled into the shape that I needed. The way I thought about it then was 'right, I know how to use cardboard, just think the metal is cardboard and use it that way'. I did and it worked."

Carey has also trekked into new territory, using hard jewel nettings, a moulded fabric that "kind of resembles flooring", acetate and reflective nylon to construct her evening dress. She says there are 28 panels on the dress so far which radiate from the hip and knee areas.

"It's hard because some fabrics are tough like leather and some, like acetate, are like silk," she says. "I fused the acetate to make it thicker and used the right needles and threads to work the tougher fabrics." 

All four will no doubt give Ragtrader editor Tracey Porter and Australian designer Jayson Brunsdon food for thought when they present their garments for the first round of judging on October 24. The second round will follow on October 29 before a spectacular runway presentation in late November.

Meanwhile, down on the High Street, value-added performance fabrics are making their own quiet but steady debut. Domestic and New Zealand fabric suppliers have noted that moisture management fabrics for example, are starting to broach out from the traditional sportswear category. 

Levana textiles' Adriana Wilton says designers are ordering custom-designed fabric constructions to produce different tasks and target new markets. Nanotechnology has enabled suppliers to add small particles into yarns such as fine silver, which aids circulation and provides antibacterial properties. 

"Custom designed fabric constructions are growing in demand," Wilton says. "This is the case with moisture management fabrics that are created by using a combination of yarn and filament counts. The difference between yarn types and how they are knitted moves moisture away from the body and releases it into the air. Some of these technical constructions end up as great surface interest fabrics, as is the case in eyelets and meshes."

Swimwear fabrications are also making the leap into mainstream fashion. Standardknit Fabrics' Carol Crawford says the company's PBT 100 per cent polyester range, which is manufactured into various weights of double jersey fabrics, is a hit with designers because of its design properties.

"Being 100 per cent polyester, it is most suitable for sublistatic printing (or transfer paper printing) and as a result the fabric can be printed with up to 100 per cent coverage," she says. "This fabric also has good stretch qualities without the use of spandex."

Wilton says ongoing advancements in performance fabrications - thanks largely through the use of nanotechnology - mean we can expect even more sophisticated textiles to hit the mainstream market.

"Performance fabrics have progressed considerably over recent years. New advancements will help designers create a story behind their collections that differentiate themselves from other market players."

By Assia Benmedjdoub