Stitching Spaces

Haute Couture or ‘high dressmaking’ is a term used for fashion designers to implement one-of-a-kind designs custom fit for an exclusive collection. Within the realm of design, there lies a relationship between fashion and architecture. Humans formed the earliest iterations of spatial boundaries by implementing weaving techniques made with plant fibers and posts. We created fences before we clothed ourselves. Weaving these boundaries or textile walls was instituted in some of the earliest forms of architecture still used today. The process of design that drives the creation of the spaces we inhabit today is created by the same beginnings as the processes that we use to create textiles and develop fashion. We see many thought processes crossover from fashion into architecture. “dress design as a form of engineering, rather than a mere synthesis of existing elements” (Chris Breward 34). How can the process of fashion design as an expression be replicated or manipulated into the design of space?
This thesis has analyzed a variation of architectural works and designs of masterful fashion designers. Looking at a range of designers who use different techniques to develop respected and historical moments in fashion in terms of form, technique, materials, and narrative. Architecturally, works of design that display similarities to the same aspects of fashion are analyzed. From there, a series of abstractions and iterative drawings, photographs, models (physical and digital), and diagrams. are carried out to bring one end of design to the other and the result of these studies is a method or procedure on the development of Architectural space using methods of Haute couture and fashion design.

I am creating a methodoly of thought to inform architectural design through a perception of fashion personal to me. I have been guided by my professor through a process of research, abstraction, iteration, and experimentation to create a complete and successful thesis.