Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Interview with Zink Magazine
Sumie Tachibana is interviewed by Zink Magazine for the September 2012 Issue.
Photo of Sumie Tachibana by: Rob Chatterson
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Alan Cumming and his Black Lambskin Heart-Shaped Eye Patch
Now and then I design pieces that are for the pure joy and challenge of making something that I have never made before. The eye patch is definitely one of them.
And I would have never thought that it would end up on Mr. Cumming's right eye!
Mr. Alan Cumming recently took the time to take this photograph of himself wearing his new Black Lambskin Heart-Shaped Eye patch. Thank you very much for the photos!
And Rosemary R, thank you so much as well!
This photo taken by Rob Chatterson shows better details of the eye patch.
Sincerely,
Sumie
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Friday, August 24, 2012
Final Post & Final Dress | Cha Tori
After almost 3 months at Sumie Tachibana, it is time to wrap up, put the scissors away, and head back to school. For the past 3 weeks, I have been working on my final project, an "armor inspired" evening dress. The process of design and construction was long but Sumie was a great mentor. I believe the dress is a testament to her guidance and the creativity and ambitious designs that she pushes her interns to achieve.
In conceptualizing the gown, I was most influenced by samurai armor. The mixture of textures, textiles, and colors from samurai armor has always fascinated me.
After about 20 different sketch designs for the dress Sumie and I finally settled on this one:
We felt that it fit pretty well with the other pieces in the collection and that it had a great balance of soft and hard.
There were a few different challenging components of the dress. Foremost among them was the enormous ruffle that went around the bottom. This drew inspiration from victorian ruffles and so I began researching how they historically were made. It is a very labour intensive process involving a lot of hand stitching and even more fabric. I ended up using a simplified method which both greatly reduced the amount of work I had to do and the amount of fabric required.
Nonetheless it required quite a bit of fabric, 45 feet to be specific! Here is how it looked finished:
The next challenge was making sure that the fabric would be strong enough to maintain its ruffle since it was 10 inches tall and 8 inches deep. Fortunately, we were able to find a fabric which had a very stiff cross grain and due to that and the method of attaching it to the foundation skirt I did not have to use boning, horse hair, etc.
This is the final product and I am enormously proud of it.
There was a lot of frustration working with so much fabric and many long days spent working on it, but I think it is a beautiful gown which I am proud to have included in the Sumie Tachibana Fall 2012 collection: Test Batch No. 2.
Thank you Sumie for being a wonderful mentor and pushing my creativity!
In conceptualizing the gown, I was most influenced by samurai armor. The mixture of textures, textiles, and colors from samurai armor has always fascinated me.
After about 20 different sketch designs for the dress Sumie and I finally settled on this one:
We felt that it fit pretty well with the other pieces in the collection and that it had a great balance of soft and hard.
There were a few different challenging components of the dress. Foremost among them was the enormous ruffle that went around the bottom. This drew inspiration from victorian ruffles and so I began researching how they historically were made. It is a very labour intensive process involving a lot of hand stitching and even more fabric. I ended up using a simplified method which both greatly reduced the amount of work I had to do and the amount of fabric required.
Nonetheless it required quite a bit of fabric, 45 feet to be specific! Here is how it looked finished:
The next challenge was making sure that the fabric would be strong enough to maintain its ruffle since it was 10 inches tall and 8 inches deep. Fortunately, we were able to find a fabric which had a very stiff cross grain and due to that and the method of attaching it to the foundation skirt I did not have to use boning, horse hair, etc.
This is the final product and I am enormously proud of it.
There was a lot of frustration working with so much fabric and many long days spent working on it, but I think it is a beautiful gown which I am proud to have included in the Sumie Tachibana Fall 2012 collection: Test Batch No. 2.
Thank you Sumie for being a wonderful mentor and pushing my creativity!
Monday, August 20, 2012
Custom Order: Hoodie Scarflette Inspired by "Dishonored"
Dear Readers,
First of all, my apologies for not posting for a while.
As most of you may know, I've moved studios and have been very busy packing and now unpacking while still working!
So many exciting things have been happening, and I shall delight you with a few of them throughout the week.
Back to this post..... my latest custom order was for a gentleman that requested a hoodie scarflette based on the a newly releasing video called, "Dishonored."
Because my husband-to-be is a fan of video games, and I personally enjoy a game or two of COD or GOW (okay.....maybe a bit more), I was delighted to work on this project for him.
Unfortunately much of the details are lost because the piece is all black, and I just took it with my camera phone.
But here it is:
First of all, my apologies for not posting for a while.
As most of you may know, I've moved studios and have been very busy packing and now unpacking while still working!
So many exciting things have been happening, and I shall delight you with a few of them throughout the week.
Back to this post..... my latest custom order was for a gentleman that requested a hoodie scarflette based on the a newly releasing video called, "Dishonored."
Because my husband-to-be is a fan of video games, and I personally enjoy a game or two of COD or GOW (okay.....maybe a bit more), I was delighted to work on this project for him.
Unfortunately much of the details are lost because the piece is all black, and I just took it with my camera phone.
But here it is:
Till next time....
Sincerely,
Sumie
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Victorian Nostalgia | Cha's Look of the Week
This week's look harkens back to days of the past drawing inspiration from Victorian times.
The skirt is reminiscent of the high waisted, buttoned, and tight-fitting pants that Victorian dandies (Beau Brummell, anyone?) strutted around in. The cape suggests an evening out, perhaps to the opera or the Grand Ball. The combination of black silk taffeta with black lace in the cape is sure to catch the eye. Despite these formal attributes, the fine leather straps and jersey of the top combined with the grommets and pleats of the skirt make this outfit perfect for a fun night out in the city. Who knows maybe you will find your own Grand Ball to attend!
Cape:
Super Haute Silk and Lace Black Hooded Capelet *FREE SHIPPING*
https://www.etsy.com/listing/81037419/free-shipping-super-haute-silk-and-lace
Top:
Black and Grey Striped ST Shirt with Fine Leather Straps
Please inquire by email if interested
Bottom:
Black and White Plaid, High-Waisted, Pleated Skirt
Please inquire by email if interested
Studio@sumietachibana.com
The skirt is reminiscent of the high waisted, buttoned, and tight-fitting pants that Victorian dandies (Beau Brummell, anyone?) strutted around in. The cape suggests an evening out, perhaps to the opera or the Grand Ball. The combination of black silk taffeta with black lace in the cape is sure to catch the eye. Despite these formal attributes, the fine leather straps and jersey of the top combined with the grommets and pleats of the skirt make this outfit perfect for a fun night out in the city. Who knows maybe you will find your own Grand Ball to attend!
Cape:
Super Haute Silk and Lace Black Hooded Capelet *FREE SHIPPING*
https://www.etsy.com/listing/81037419/free-shipping-super-haute-silk-and-lace
Top:
Black and Grey Striped ST Shirt with Fine Leather Straps
Please inquire by email if interested
Bottom:
Black and White Plaid, High-Waisted, Pleated Skirt
Please inquire by email if interested
Studio@sumietachibana.com
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