Vincent Schoepfer is a men's fashion designer. Today, artistic director of the Patrons brand, he will tell us here all the steps that led to the creation of his Fall/Winter 2016 men's collection.
Since 2002 and the end of my studies at the Esmod Paris school, I have had 14 years of diverse experiences, doubts, successes, sometimes failures - which make you bounce back - but always things to learn and this same passion deep inside me. No, the life of a fashion designer is not linear, but it is very enriching.
Training and experience are essential to understand this profession. Some people sometimes think that everyone can create their own clothing line , but in my opinion, being a designer is much more than a question of taste.
It is first a passion, then a long apprenticeship of 3 to 4 years of study at least in order to know the history of fashion and costume, to then know how to reinterpret it and innovate. It is also necessary to have a basis in modeling to have a good idea of the feasibility of a garment.
We must also learn to be precise in the development of technical sheets and master drawing. Meet the different players in the sector (fabricators, fabric manufacturers, spinners, etc.) to understand their way of working .
Despite the success of some, graduating from business school does not directly make you a fashion designer. Making sweaters with a "message" is simple. Being a fashion designer in continuity is more complicated and requires rigor and know-how.
"The PATRONS brand is based on three fundamentals: a thoughtful and consistent designer wardrobe, offering a studied mix of timeless pieces and more trendy models, a fair and consistent pricing policy and, finally, listening and strong proximity to customers who will actively participate in the development of the brand."
September 2015: imagine and design the collection from A to Z
Summer is coming to an end. Like every season, the ready-to-wear collection calendar follows its well-paced course. A blank page that returns every 6 months, with the commercial challenge in sight.
Creating a clothing collection is a whole process that requires time and clear organization, defined with deadlines for each step.
Analyze, get inspired, lay the foundations
First of all, we need to lay the foundations. We start with the specifications which require:
- Staying true to previous seasons to have continuity in style,
- Respect a fair price for customers and for the development of the company,
- Stay creative and, for my part, not succumb to the sirens of the main trend of the moment: “normcore”.
Normcore is characterized by the desire to reject all forms of sophistication. Normality is pushed to the extreme. Steve Jobs largely contributed to the trend with his unique outfit: faded jeans, black top and white sneakers.
Ok, the basics are set. Now, what and where do we start?
We need to sit down and take stock of past seasons. What worked or didn't work from a commercial point of view? Creating is not about responding to one's own desires, it is also about knowing how to analyze trends and especially the spirit of the times by taking into account the image and positioning of the brand.
To start, a good benchmark is essential. This allows you to see what works and also understand how to differentiate yourself from it. Not staying in your bubble and living with the times, while respecting the brand's DNA, is a delicate balance to find.
Then, you have to gather your ideas and choose the theme(s) that will give the collection its unique touch. With experience, this comes quickly because analyzing trends allows you to better understand the spirit of the times.
In my case, it's different every time. A travel souvenir, a piece of fabric, an exhibition, an art book...
This season, it is a place that will be my source of inspiration. The Giant's Causeway, in Northern Ireland. As a fan of the Game of Thrones series, I was able to appreciate the beauty of the filming locations in this part of the island.
It is a unique place, with its hexagonal basalt chimneys. The effect is very graphic and modern.
Constraints to take into account
Let's go! No time to lose, we have 4 months to turn these ideas into a clothing collection.
But be careful, I didn't say rush, we need to organize ourselves around fundamental axes:
- The season budget , to stay on track because costs can quickly explode if things are not managed well,
- The creation of the collection universe around inspirations and from key words,
- The range of colors ,
- A coherent collection plan (number of pants, t-shirts, shirts, etc.),
- Product design and production of technical files ,
- The choice of materials ,
- The development of prototypes.
To begin, you need to put your inspirations down on paper in a few key words. For example, quite intuitively with the following words:
Ireland > Giant's Causeway > Winter > Mineral > Graphic > Wild > Wild
Material > Tartan > Tweed > Wool > Fleece
Next, fill in the blanks on the various design axes. What color range for this collection? This wild region of Northern Ireland is home to shades of green and gray, the nearby ocean brings deep blues and the color of the earth, browns and blood burgundy.
Here is the moodboard that will define the mood, the atmosphere of the collection.
Creating a moodboard is super useful for putting your ideas together. It's a large-format summary of the collection that you have in front of you every day during the entire creation period.
Here is a moodboard that presents the collection through drawings and photos of different pieces.
Drawings and technical files
The most tedious and important part. All the details must be thought of at this moment. The silhouettes in fashion sketch version as we imagine them, which are present on the moodboard, are only the "fun" part of the drawing work.
The essential drawing is the technical drawing, the one that will allow the modeler to design the garment. It must be precise and is often done by computer on software like Illustrator. Fashion is a technique, a know-how in the design of clothing.
Our imagination has no limits, but the human body and the materials for production do.
Pattern making, that is to say everything related to the creation of patterns, is governed by codes dictated both by the morphology of men or women, as well as by the technical properties of the fabric (warp and weft, jersey, etc.).
This is really the tedious part where you must not miss any detail!
The choice of materials used in the collection is made at the “Première Vision” show . This is the textile event at the start of each season: it takes place twice a year, in February and September. An international show, all the best fabric manufacturers meet there.
The previous creative stages allow you to arrive at the show with precise ideas about materials and colours. Without them, it would be very easy to get sidetracked! You always want to let yourself go and choose lots of different fabrics. On site, I feel like a child in a toy store. There are some very beautiful things that come from Italy, Japan or the United Kingdom.
Hard to resist 😉
October 2015: sourcing and production monitoring
Everything is launched. This is a good time to travel to meet manufacturers and closely monitor the development of the first sample.
This year I'm going to Portugal - to a small village not far from Porto - to visit the factory that produces Patrons shirts.
The opportunity for a little digression on the "made in". For me as a designer, contact with factories is essential. I attach more importance to the way and conditions in which clothes are made than to their country of origin. At Patrons, we work in France, as in Portugal or China.
the clandestine workshop scandals discovered in the Paris suburbs in recent years ).
The most important thing is traceability, the quality of raw materials and the relationship of trust established with manufacturers.
November 2015: validation of prototypes
Back in Paris. The collection is taking shape. The first prototypes are arriving , the correction/validation phase begins. It is necessary to check that the measurements are in accordance with the technical files and to finish validating the materials chosen for the commercial sample .
You have to be rigorous down to the smallest details! This is the assurance of a collection that holds up. On average, two prototypes per model are needed to arrive at the validation of the commercial prototype. A first one that is not quite correct, which is sent back to the factory to be corrected, and a second one that will sometimes (but not always) be the right one.
This is a cost to be assessed at the start of the season because the bill can be steep. Preparation and precision are the keys to not blowing the budget.
Not forgetting the organization 🙂
December 2015: development of the communication strategy
If the factories have kept to the deadlines, which is unfortunately not always the case, the collection is finally ready!
This season, no clouds on the horizon! But delays in development often create a lot of stress at the end of the season.
December: it's time to think about the communication to set up around this new collection . Indeed, it is not enough to make beautiful clothes to make people want them. This is my role as artistic director: to bring these clothes to life, in images, to create the lookbook that will be sent to buyers and retail customers. .
This season, the setting is naturally the same as the one inspiring the collection. The Patrons team therefore goes to Northern Ireland in January 2016 to do the photo shoot of the collection in the magnificent settings of the Giant's Causeway.
An ideal place to receive inspiration.
But let's not be in too much of a hurry, there is still a lot of work to do. Organizing the production of the shooting is no easy task, you have to:
- Casting the model who will be the face of the season,
- Choose a professional photographer ; in this case, the talented Manu Fauque ,
- Organize the trip : plane tickets, accommodation, etc.
I have also been working for several seasons with a film director, Cédric Coldefy , who produces our images each season for Patrons. We have to organize ourselves well so as not to spend too much but also to ensure that the conditions on site will be optimal for the whole team.
For my part, I prefer to work over time with the same people to create a bond and have a good time. You also have to know how to relax, even outside of work hours, especially if you spend 4 days together abroad 😉
At the end of December, everything is becoming clearer: can't wait for 2016 to present the collection! In the meantime, it will be relaxing and a few days with the family for the holidays.
January 2016: production of communication materials
The denouement. It's like giving birth. Months of thinking, hard work, and everything takes shape.
We still have our little trip to Ireland to produce the campaign photos. It will be a great time working with the team on the winding roads of the coast.
With the photos and the campaign film of the collection in hand, I still have to take care of the layout and the DA of the paper book. I make a point of always printing the book, it is an object that highlights all our work.
At the end of January, the collection is really finished. It's a little bit of me that I leave behind after these months of efforts and it's another part of the work that begins: selling the collection to retailers. But that's another story, with just as many challenges.
The public will not see the collection in stores, as well as the film, until September 2016.
The final word
As I write these few lines, I once again become aware of the difficulty of my job and the challenges each season.
I might feel like giving up, but I am driven by an unwavering passion: a love of the product and the know-how of the artisans who work alongside me. To innovate and offer a vision of men's fashion.
Making clothes means being anchored in a concrete reality. It is a real economy that can sometimes seem superficial even if, ultimately, everyone needs to dress and cares about their appearance.
I do not claim to dress humanity but I contribute to it on my scale, putting all my heart and passion into it.
