Today I had 2 studio classes to work on my Dior Granville bag. I just love how I feel after working on a bag. It definitely is a *good tired* ...
Working on this bag has given me ample opportunity to work with the machine.
The elegant curved opening of the bag was the tricky bit for sewing though. I had to do one stitch at a time, pedalling for one stitch then shifting the leather to trace the curvature.
Curved pieces sewn on front, back, and inside pieces.
I was then instructed to turn the bag inside out and since the leather was so soft, no need for heat treatment... I was glad the side stitches met up nicely...
My teacher taught me how to gauge the side seam by placing the inserts inside. This was a new technique I learnt today.
Using the paper clips to see how the inserts sit in the bag.
Next week the pouch will be added. My teacher kindly researched the pouch detail photo for me. I couldn't find it on my own...
Next time I will search harder ~~ !!!
--- I bought a gorgeous black pony hair leather for my bestie's birthday. It will be a simple clutch. But gosh... pony hair... so luxe... so drools...
So, back when Korean women were heavily seduced to buy into designer bag craze, the chief "selling system" that worked was the use of brand logos.
Louis Vuitton has a long history and well known story of how they go to inventing their logo print. And ever since the invention, every brand, or aspiring brand that wanted to rake in cash have probably emulated their ingenious idea.
Gucci was another big favorite in Korea...
They hit it big with the girls who worked in companies and wanted a businessy feel...
Celine was doing it, and was successful at selling them...
A lot of girls who wanted a quieter elegant, lady-like image went for these...
The slightly older demographic favored Fendi's designs...
They definitely had a classic feel to them.
My personal favorite, Dior was really into it too...
And they really were such a beautiful design...
Soon after, the younger and more pedestrian lines started having theirs too.
Top to down, Moschino, and CK, Michael Kors...
MCM had their version too.
Although I've never been too crazy about MCM's designs...
Once the logos were imprinted in your brain...
Mostly starting with the bags, they'd invariably begin appearing in other products and with various new effects and visual treatments.
And that's how the BRANDING happened fast & furious.
These days, the logo prints are not as 'hot' ...
The new game in town it seems is playing with the structure and silhouette of the bags. And with the additive elements like Fendi's colorful and decorative straps.
* * *
I really wanted to find a video that showed how the gold LV logos were printed on leather... but I couldn't find any. The closest I could get was the imprinted LV logos.
Basically, they use a machine to do this... I bet they do the same for the gold ones...
* * *
Here is a video of a gold leaf done on leather by hand...
A couple of years ago, I was at the Lotte Department Store in Myungdong with my bestie. She was really hung up on Chanel Boy Bag, I was really in love with Dior's Granville bag. We ended up leaving the stores, after bowing courteously to the bags, laughing that we can't afford you right now...
And now, I'm actually about two thirds of the way finished making the Dior Granville bag of my own! @_@~!! Good heavens, right?!!!
So, we started with some research. Easy enough, there were several photos of Granville online. Too bad the department stores have stopped carrying them...
Made the patterns for the front and bottom. And made some markings with a silver pen on my leather. I'm still a novice at making bags, so after some discussion with my Sensei, we decided it best for me to use stitches instead of sculpting the leather. Maybe some day, I'll learn how to do that. He called it "mori" in Korean...
Machine stitching for the geometric lines... I got a lot better at making the straight lines straight... Sadly my front and back sides show a visible gap on how crooked versus how straight the lines are. Going to have to use the worse side as the back...
After connecting the bottom and the front and back, hand-pressing the gold "feet"... That's what we sorta call it in Korean. We call it "sokkobal"...
The gold feet are all inserted, so the outside of the bag is all done except for the handles.
Worked on the inside lining and pocket yesterday.
Saturday, I will finish the zipper pocket and move on to the handle & opening of the bag where there is another zipper piece...
I so dearly love the Fendi Peekabook Whipstitch Bags...
They are the right mix of classic (a la Hermes Kelly in silhouette) with a highly pedestrian detailing in the whipstitched edges (a la Converse sneakers laces! or a baseball's red stitches). For urban fashionistas, this is a great bag for dressy casual and even boho casual styling...
[below image] baseball and the baseball stitch: It's so familiar and lodged into our unconscious memory, right? Great marketing idea!
From my research thus far, there have been many designer bags that used this whip stitch. Me personally, I didn't know it at the time, but, I did have a YSL Reversible Neo Shopper Bag which also had these "whipstitches" as a design element. I really loved that Neo bag, as it was extremely versatile in both the inside and out being totally different, as well as how the shoulder strap could be used in different ways. It was lightweight, held all my work stuff including books, umbrella, cardigan, and A4 paper. It was very urban and pedestrian, perfect streetstyle chic; it went with all my clothes!
Anywho... So, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the whipstitch actually surfaced in Chanel's bag(s) and Alexander McQueen's bags most notably.
First, here are all of the various Chanel bags with whipstitching in them. Some are vintage and dates back to a couple decades ago, and the last two are fresh new ones~
I wonder though, if Alexander McQueen actually came up with the use of whipstitches as a "selling point" before Fendi... I think Fendi did an amazing job marketing it and making it a total sensation (I'm sure Karl Lagerfeld's genius is at work here...) but I remember how McQueen had these crazy dark mysterious deep yet funky campaigns well before anyone took interest in Amish slash Goth inspirations...
[above image] Basket Woven Hair at Mcqueen Spring 2011 Show
Below are images with Amish women with their braided hair.
OK. Anywho~ Let's look at McQueen's whipstitched bags next...
I love how wonderfully simple they are. They totally look like the prototypes for me of whipstitches making it into bag designs. Especially in the first black and white one, you can see how it's even a simpler form of the Fendi peekaboo whipstitch, down to its placement on the side edges...
[above images] Perhaps these were even before the black and white bag we just looked at. Here, it's completely comfortably in McQueen's Halloween Forever Land~
You can draw easy parallel with the characters from The Nightmare Before Christmas and how they were drawn and *stitched*...
Those McQueen ivory bags look like they just jumped off the set of The Nightmare Before Christmas LOL~!!
* * *
If you want to see more designs that have these whipstitches... they are totally offered right now... All the brands seem to be catching on the trend...
Stella McCartney's been selling these heavy metallic embellished bags for years now... Even though here, the whipstitch is more of a sidekick than Hero... Seriously, well done Fendi for completely hitting the sweetspot on the use of whipstitches...
Gucci hobo bag with whipstitches on the side... Not really sure I like this design as much. The overall shaping and leather sheen here echoes Furla's signature designs too much. If it hadn't been for the wooden handle, I might not have suspected it was Gucci at all...
Burberry came up with this *confused* bag... I am sure this appeals to some ladies who like pragmatic yet rugged look, but it looks too cluttered for me... It's too casual to bring it to work, and overworked even... Yet too hardhitting to wear with ease for an actual weekend leisure outfit... I guess it's great for airport fashion when you need a sturdy bag to carry everything? Not versatile enough in my humble opinion...
Next up, two Chloe Hudson bags with whipstitching on them...
These are just too small for me to carry on a daily basis. The second design is much nicer, but it feels girly meets countryside to me. Not urban enough.
LOL~ Even Michael Kors is doing it!
This is quieter, compared with McQueen, feels more minimalist but country in comparison to Chloe Hudson with whipstitching...
But it's not cool and hip like Fendi's...
Below, I found two bags with whipstitching that I find quite pretty and wearable.
I didn't know these brands until tonight...
The boho-chic dusty rose calfskin one is called Hailey from Johnston(?).
The whit one which is a great daily bag is Milly Astor Whipstitched Bucket Bag.
Ooh~ the Tory Burch Marion Combo Crossbody Whipstitched Bag is really lovely too~ Very cute and wearable...
