The Fashion Department offers a  course that examines both the historical heritage of couture design as found through the textiles, techniques and craftsmanship of the designers as well as a contemporary view of the globalization of fashion and where designers are heading in the future. The course examines how the old world techniques continue to shape and work within the technological advancements of the present day. Students examine how Antwerp has surfaced as a leading innovative force in fashion and what this means in the larger global context. All of this is accomplished through lectures and coursework throughout the semester and will culminate with a 2 week travel program to Antwerp and Paris. Below are photos from our trip back in January of 2015 where the students got to visit legendary ateliers and mills such as Lesage, Legeron, and Prelle.

The Group!

Start the trip off with a stop in Amsterdam to visit the House of Denim, the group got to meet the students, faculty, and explore the new building of the House.

Then it’s off to Antwerp for lace making workshops, access to library archives, tech labs, a day trip to Bruges, and shopping!

Next off to Paris!

While in Paris the group visited museums, the library archive at The Louvre, designer concept shops , among many other things.

Fashion Show invitations from The Louvre’s archival collection.

Below are photographs of our visit to the atelier of Legeron which was founded in 1727.  Customers include prestigious fashion design houses and ready to wear like Dior, Givenchy, Céline, Dries Van Noten. While there the group gets to seeing all the runway pieces being created by hand. Silk flowers are hand cut, painted with recipes written out over 200 years ago, and sculpted. Yardage of fabric is pleated using pleating boards that are hundreds of years old.

 

While in France, the group take a day trip to Lyon to visit La Manufacture Prelle, the legendary mill that has been producing textiles since 1752. The group gets to see the old half of the mill where the original looms are still in use, contrasted with the modern technology they use today.

The group also spends an afternoon visiting Maison Lesage, whom since their creation in 1924 have been creating opulent embroidery requiring countless hours of work and exceptional skills for Haute Couture. While at Lesage the group takes a workshop that teaches them how to create embellished flowers and various hand beading techniques.

  

Join us for our next trip!