Pleating and Fashion Design Development

We’ve already worked out how important it is to consider the effects you want from your permanent pleating and how that may impact on the overall design of the garment.  The examples below show the variable impact of the decision to Hem Before or Hem After.  Both skirts are half-circle.  The skirt on the left is Sun-ray Pleated and the skirt on the right is Sun-ray Crush pleated.  The more precise and formal aspect of the Sun-ray pleat (left) really suits the clean finish of hemming before sending to the pleaters.  Whereas the example on the right, with a more casual, rough pleating style, visually benefits from the kick in the hemline as a result of sewing the hem after pleating.

The majority of the examples used in my previous posts, the pleating is the hero of the garment and dominates the design.  These garments we know well:  the full garment pleating of Issey Miyake, the classic use of Sun-ray pleats in many evening wear ranges, etc.  In this post I’d like to look beyond the obvious and consider pleating as one of the many variables a designer might use in creative design.

Pleating can be far more interesting than that and can be an important part of creating new design ideas.  On a number of occasions when working as a freelance designer I have had the opportunity to include pleating in my design work.  The example below is from a creative corporate range I designed in 2005 where a mix of fabrics in each garment gave me the opportunity to use pleating as a decorative element.

The main part of the skirt above is pinstripe wool with a paisley satin trim, and an underskirt of polyester chiffon.  The chiffon features a check print that we pleated using mushroom pleating.  The effect of the underskirt when walking was to flick out with fabulous movement offering a wonderful play of three different fabrics in one skirt.  The pleated underskirt would have to be seamed and hemmed before being sent off to the pleating house.

The design featured above is a combination of print cotton and polyester chiffon.  As before the underskirt is pleated (Sun-ray Crush) and peeps out from under the tucked draped front skirt.  The pleated section of the underskirt would have to be seamed and hemmed before being sent off to the pleating house.

The dress design above has panels of pleating inserted in the side seam.  The pleats are Knife Pleats and they add interest, texture and movement to the design.  The pleated panels would have to be hemmed before being sent off to the pleating house.

Yohji Yamamoto

This Yamamoto dress has used Sun-ray Pleating in a cross over front that both holds and releases the pleats.  They provide texture and movement in this amazing dress.

If you have any questions about permanent pleating please don’t hesitate to ask in the comments section below.