Importance of Fashion Draping in Fashion Designing Course

What is Fashion Draping?

Draping is known as the process of pinning and positioning the fabric on a dress form. Draping can create the basic pattern or design organically by playing with the material on the form. It is a handy and time-saving method for a fashion designer. The pinning process needs the draper to follow the measurements according to the design technique and achieve the silhouette that will result in the perfect pattern. The desired draped silhouette is either traced on a sheet of paper or on the fabric itself for final pattern making.

The draper then examines the falls and folds of the material as it determines the overall look and feel of the design. Virtually, the draping method converts a loose fabric into the desired style of the couture. The art of draping requires an intelligent approach from the draper as it gives a language of unspoken perfection to the body. The designer plays with a combination of fabrics according to their textures before its stitching makes draping the proper technique. The draping method enhances the designer's creative skills, helping them achieve innovative designs in the field of fashion designing. The most significant advantage of draping is that it allows for customisation. Diverse types of fabric are used for draping and sewing garments. Still, it's important to note that every material has different weights and behaves uniquely when draped.

History of Draping

The concept and origin of draping have an ancient historical background. Traces of the draping method can be observed in the ancient race of the Egyptians, if not in its purest form and meaning, but indeed, as a dress, draping had its existence in this timeline. The falls and folds of loose cloth pieces hanging from shoulder to toe are a specific earliest raw draping form. Draping has been the symbol of several famous designers beginning with Madame Grès, also known as the 'Queen of the Drape'. Her expertly produced and draped collection of Grecian silk jersey dresses used more than 70 yards of silk jersey each. Madame Grès and the French-born American designer Pauline Trigère were both recognised for draping their designs directly on live models instead of dress forms. In contrast, Madeleine Vionnet decided to initially test her designs on a tiny miniature mannequin rather than on a life-size form.

Why use Draping in Fashion Designing?

Designers relish the art of draping because their designs come to life as they manipulate the material on the dress form. Even though a designer may start with a design sketch, a more exciting design usually occurs during the draping process. Draping allows the designer to get a 'feel' of the fabric as it is drape on the model, unlike the 2D pattern making process. As a result, draping enables the designer to make better choices when considering the suitability of a particular material to its design.

The processes that must be performed one after another to achieve the final piece in the fashion industry can only be understood by a true and competent professional. Draping is the required method of ensuring the garment has a flawless pattern delivered before a designer can cast his magic of masterfully producing a garment.

Students can evolve their own creative processes through a unique pedagogy in a world-class learning environment at the leading fashion designing colleges - Indian Institute of Art & Design. The fashion designing course at IIAD shapes students into contextually aware and ethical designers. Young aspirants who wish to learn draping skills and others must pursue a professional learning course to climb higher up the ladder within the industry.