liberty33r1b
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Ahead of the collection, here's an interesting article:
AFP INTERVIEW: A lifetime's vocation for Chanel head seamstress
Sun Jul 3, 5:54 PM ET
As head seamstress at one of Chanel's haute couture workshops for the past three years, Martine Houdet has the challenging task of bringing to life the dream dresses conjured up by top designer Karl Lagerfeld.
Ahead of this week's autumn-winter 2005-06 couture shows in Paris, the workshop was a model of calm and industry as Madame Martine, as she is known, was busy making sure all the last stitches, tucks and pleats were being put in place.
Every season, as she waits impatiently for Lagerfeld's orders, "I say to myself, 'What's he going to get us to do?' and each time it's a surprise," said the 56-year-old veteran of the rarefied world of haute couture.
In the atelier at 31, rue Cambon, overlooking the grey rooftops of the French capital, Lagerfeld first goes over his minutely drawn sketches with the head seamstresses, explaining exactly what he wants.
Then Madame Martine has to interpret the drawings and decide which of her seamstresses will make up the first test model sewn in a plain cream-coloured cloth.
The draft is displayed on a mannequin to be shown to Lagerfeld, who may make final adjustments before giving the green light for the design to be made up in the material he has chosen.
For Madame Martine, the journey which was to lead her into the world of haute couture began at an early age when she would spend much of her time with her grandmother, a seamstress living on the outskirts of Paris.
After earning a diploma in dressmaking, Madame Martine decided early on that she was only interested in pursuing a career with the best of the fashion houses, explaining: "Otherwise, it wasn't worth the trouble."
In 1966 she got her start with Pierre Cardin, joining the team just eight days from a collection. Her talents led her quickly up the ranks.
"I suppose it's a gift," said the seamstress who loves working in satins, crepes and muslins.
"I love everything that is light, and floaty -- it's harder to work on," she added.
When the workshop she was employed in closed down in 1977, Madame Martine quit Cardin and joined Christian Dior a year later, under creative director Marc Bohan.
"The work was interesting, but completely different. It was really luxury couture, with finishings done to perfection," she said.
In 1991 she joined Chanel, and is now responsible for a workshop of some 20 people, one of three ateliers at the venerable Paris fashion house.
Impeccably dressed in a white shirt, armed with her black quilted pin cushion embroidered with the double-C logo, Madame Martine eagerly awaits the "most exciting moment" of her job when a new collection is in the making.
She hates routine and has always liked haute couture because "there is always research to be done -- every time it's different -- to create what the designer wants".
"Working for clients in between two collections is fine, but we know the design already," added Madame Martine, who flies at least four times a year to New York and elsewhere for sessions with clients.
She defends haute couture as the height of her profession, marrying beautiful materials with perfect finishings, and welcomes moves by Chanel to preserve the traditional arms of couture such as embroidery, feather-work and bootmaking.
"It would be a shame if they were lost. We have to safeguard these traditional professions," she said.
Madame Martine has only two regrets: that she never worked for Yves Saint Laurent and never met Coco Chanel. "She was a legend, an exceptional woman of exceptional character. I would have loved to have heard her talk when she was alive, even if it was only to tell me off," she laughed.
AFP INTERVIEW: A lifetime's vocation for Chanel head seamstress
Sun Jul 3, 5:54 PM ET
As head seamstress at one of Chanel's haute couture workshops for the past three years, Martine Houdet has the challenging task of bringing to life the dream dresses conjured up by top designer Karl Lagerfeld.
Ahead of this week's autumn-winter 2005-06 couture shows in Paris, the workshop was a model of calm and industry as Madame Martine, as she is known, was busy making sure all the last stitches, tucks and pleats were being put in place.
Every season, as she waits impatiently for Lagerfeld's orders, "I say to myself, 'What's he going to get us to do?' and each time it's a surprise," said the 56-year-old veteran of the rarefied world of haute couture.
In the atelier at 31, rue Cambon, overlooking the grey rooftops of the French capital, Lagerfeld first goes over his minutely drawn sketches with the head seamstresses, explaining exactly what he wants.
Then Madame Martine has to interpret the drawings and decide which of her seamstresses will make up the first test model sewn in a plain cream-coloured cloth.
The draft is displayed on a mannequin to be shown to Lagerfeld, who may make final adjustments before giving the green light for the design to be made up in the material he has chosen.
For Madame Martine, the journey which was to lead her into the world of haute couture began at an early age when she would spend much of her time with her grandmother, a seamstress living on the outskirts of Paris.
After earning a diploma in dressmaking, Madame Martine decided early on that she was only interested in pursuing a career with the best of the fashion houses, explaining: "Otherwise, it wasn't worth the trouble."
In 1966 she got her start with Pierre Cardin, joining the team just eight days from a collection. Her talents led her quickly up the ranks.
"I suppose it's a gift," said the seamstress who loves working in satins, crepes and muslins.
"I love everything that is light, and floaty -- it's harder to work on," she added.
When the workshop she was employed in closed down in 1977, Madame Martine quit Cardin and joined Christian Dior a year later, under creative director Marc Bohan.
"The work was interesting, but completely different. It was really luxury couture, with finishings done to perfection," she said.
In 1991 she joined Chanel, and is now responsible for a workshop of some 20 people, one of three ateliers at the venerable Paris fashion house.
Impeccably dressed in a white shirt, armed with her black quilted pin cushion embroidered with the double-C logo, Madame Martine eagerly awaits the "most exciting moment" of her job when a new collection is in the making.
She hates routine and has always liked haute couture because "there is always research to be done -- every time it's different -- to create what the designer wants".
"Working for clients in between two collections is fine, but we know the design already," added Madame Martine, who flies at least four times a year to New York and elsewhere for sessions with clients.
She defends haute couture as the height of her profession, marrying beautiful materials with perfect finishings, and welcomes moves by Chanel to preserve the traditional arms of couture such as embroidery, feather-work and bootmaking.
"It would be a shame if they were lost. We have to safeguard these traditional professions," she said.
Madame Martine has only two regrets: that she never worked for Yves Saint Laurent and never met Coco Chanel. "She was a legend, an exceptional woman of exceptional character. I would have loved to have heard her talk when she was alive, even if it was only to tell me off," she laughed.
Thanks liberty for posting 
