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  • [calm instrumental music]

  • - Hi, I'm Thom Browne.

  • I am giving you an intimate look into

  • the steps that takes me from conceptual sketch

  • through fittings to Paris to the actual runways.

  • And this is "Sketch to Dress".

  • [air clacks]

  • The simple idea for this collection really started

  • from the idea of Noah's Ark.

  • This being a show with both men and women,

  • I wanted it to be the idea of pairs.

  • It came from that soft mark idea of the guy and the girl

  • looking the same and then I thought, well, Noah's Ark

  • with the animals two by two coming out of the ark.

  • The sketches are very conceptual at the beginning.

  • They really start with shapes.

  • A pleated skirt would be more of like a triangle.

  • A square would be more of a shorter jacket.

  • A rectangle would be more of an outerwear piece.

  • The look that you will be seeing

  • it's basically taking the classic pleated skirt

  • but actually pulling the pleated skirt to be worn

  • as almost like a halter top.

  • And then the coat and the shirt of the look

  • being the skirt for the look

  • and then the sport coat actually just on her shoulders.

  • And his shoulders, too.

  • I sketch this way

  • because I can't actually illustrate, at all.

  • Then I do get with my teams and then it turns into

  • a more workable sketch.

  • [air clacks]

  • From that conversation, the pattern pieces

  • created by a pattern maker who I've been working with

  • for a long time who is a genius pattern maker.

  • Then the muslin is made from those pattern pieces

  • and then the pattern pieces and the muslin

  • is fit on the actual model.

  • The muslin process is important, just it's a working tool.

  • It's really taking the idea of what the look

  • should turn into and fitting the garment on a body.

  • The most important thing is

  • to see that the proportion is working,

  • to see that it actually fits,

  • to see that it's something that's interesting in actuality

  • as opposed to just on paper.

  • So many of my collections do start from the idea of

  • how am I gonna make the gray suit interesting again.

  • The idea of uniformity that most people

  • think is not interesting or very constricting

  • and showing it to people in a way

  • that it almost turn into living art.

  • For me, that is where really every collection starts.

  • It's from that very simple idea.

  • Once the proportion and the fit is perfected,

  • then it really just comes down to then fabricating.

  • [air clacks]

  • This collection is based on primarily Harris Tweed fabrics.

  • I like the structured nature of the fabrics to be worn

  • and to almost get better with time.

  • The mill that we actually get it from,

  • the story is that you won't appreciate it,

  • your son won't appreciate it,

  • your grandson will actually appreciate the cashmere.

  • That's how good it gets over time.

  • For this particular look, there are a lot

  • of different specific finishings in regards to

  • it's not a full gray flannel skirt,

  • a coat actually is in a red stripe navy Duchess satin

  • that is tipped in red, white, and blue bullion tipping.

  • And then we go into making the samples.

  • 90% of everything is finished here

  • and then flown to Paris.

  • We should be finishing that towards the end of next week

  • and then everybody heads to Paris.

  • [sewing machine clacks]

  • [upbeat instrumental music]

  • This is my atelier here in Paris.

  • I have it year round.

  • We have the showroom here, as well.

  • This is where we do all the hand finishing.

  • We have about two days to the show.

  • We are fitting the look that we've been talking about

  • through this story.

  • Things are fitting well, thank God.

  • Everybody's looking good.

  • Constructing it is hours in regards to having people

  • hand tailor and hand stitch the conceptual pieces together

  • in order for it to actually fit as well as it needs to fit.

  • [air clacks]

  • Casting for the was important because I wanted to make sure

  • that the pairings work together.

  • Making sure that you saw pairs that you had to question

  • which one was the man and which one was the woman.

  • It was important for me to have, for this look particularly,

  • two models that actually could really carry it.

  • This look I'm actually gonna put at the beginning

  • of the show because it is so important to the idea

  • of what the collection is all about.

  • With my shows, because they're not traditional shows,

  • it's nice when they're more comfortable being able

  • to do something different.

  • So that is probably the most important thing in casting

  • is working with people that actually can perform

  • in some type of wear.

  • [air clacks]

  • Finishing, for me, for anything that I do in my shows

  • is really important.

  • The finishing in regards to the tipping is done

  • in bullion as opposed to a more simpler grosgrain finishing.

  • The insert in the pleats are a silk insert.

  • It's a really specially made piece of clothing.

  • The accessories are, well,

  • they're all based on animals from Noah's Ark.

  • The idea of making bags in the shape of animals

  • did specifically start with Hector.

  • I've been making the Hector bags for a couple of seasons now

  • and we have an amazing factory that can actualize

  • these type of bags.

  • It was a perfect way of playing

  • with the story of Noah's Ark.

  • There's a rabbit, there's a deer, there's an ostrich,

  • there's 33 different types of animals.

  • I don't know specifically if all of them

  • were actually in the Ark but they were in my eyes.

  • [rain whooshes]

  • [air clacks]

  • The show's at the Bazar here in Paris.

  • It's a beautiful venue.

  • I love being able to put these stories in front of people.

  • The set is really playing with the story of these animals

  • coming from Noah's Ark.

  • A beautiful winter set with two doors on the set

  • that represent coming from the past

  • and going into the future.

  • You know, we have such a short amount of time

  • in regards to rehearsing with the models

  • on the day of the show,

  • making sure the choreography is working

  • and just getting ready.

  • - So you can walk a bit slower

  • and you have to keep your distance.

  • Keep your distance with the couple in front of you.

  • You walk not too fast and you walk through the first door.

  • It's not the same partner in the finale as during the show

  • so don't be panicked, we put you with the correct partner.

  • [calm instrumental music]

  • - Half of the hair is silicone coated

  • and the back of the hair is real hair.

  • They are veiled in this beautiful veiling

  • that has the embroidery of the animals.

  • And then the makeup is very simple and very sculptured

  • on the face but nothing too overly dramatic.

  • We do have professional dressers that we are very serious

  • in regards to making sure they know how to put the look on

  • up to even to the point of where to put

  • the tie bar on the tie.

  • The moment before the show there is some anxiety

  • but it is the time that I love.

  • And I love being able to put the story in front of people

  • but I also want it to be perfect

  • because there's so much time and effort

  • that we all put into these 20 minutes

  • that I want to make sure it's as perfect as possible.

  • [crowd murmurs]

  • [cheerful orchestral music]

  • During the show, I can't do much

  • so I just I kind of enjoy it with everybody else.

  • We start sales the day after the show.

  • And I do love people entertaining these are real clothing.

  • As conceptual as they are, it is shown on a body

  • so it is something that I would love for people

  • to be able to see in real life.

  • I have to say, after the shows I love the experience.

  • I just wanna make sure that everybody, especially my team,

  • gets the appreciation that they deserve

  • for all the hard work.

  • We all get to just appreciate what we get to do.

  • The show actually is the closure for this collection.

  • There's a little bit of downtime but it's onto the next.

  • [shoes clack]

[calm instrumental music]

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