Meet GFF Talent, Salomé Valabregue, from ESMOD Lyon. Salomé’s inspiration and muse for her final year collection is Osa Johnson, an American explorer from the interwar period. Salomé explored the daily life of Osa and her husband to create a contemporary collection which images what the couple would wear in a modern context. Read on to learn more about Salomé and her work.
Tell us about you, where are you from, what lead you to fashion and choosing that course?
My name is Salomé Valabrègue, I come from Avignon in the south of France and I have been studying at ESMOD Lyon for 3 years now. Studying fashion has always been an obvious choice for me, I remember that at the age of 7, I used to answer “stylist” when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. Today, I don’t know that I would give you the same answer. I try to learn about all the fashion professions in order to train myself in those that best suit me. When I arrived at ESMOD Lyon, I discovered pattern-making. I immediately liked the rigour of this discipline and my first year teacher had a lot to do with it. She was able to teach us about her passion, which is something that has stayed with me ever since.
Describe the inspiration and concept behind your work. Talk us through your final project and your research process. How did that come about?
For this final collection, we had to work upstream on several themes in order to have several avenues of reflection. I didn’t want to work on themes that were too close or intimate to me, for fear of getting tired of them and not knowing how to take a step back from the collection. I wanted to be able to look at my collection from an external point of view, and to approach this subject I chose as a real exercise whose theme could have been assigned. I also think that any collection theme is defensible as long as it is justified and intelligently constructed. I turned to the theme of safari, with the challenge of bringing a new aesthetic to a theme that has already been revisited dozens of times, often by great designers.
For this collection, my muse was Osa Johnson, an American explorer from the interwar period. Osa and her husband Martin were the most famous adventurous couple of the era. They are my inspiration for the collection. It is to these pioneers of ethnological and animal documentaries, a film genre that was brand new at the time, that we owe the first lions on film or the first aerial images of the migration of elephants. I wanted to translate this explorer’s life into a contemporary wardrobe, the daily life of this young woman, the joy she felt during the expeditions but also when they returned to America and shared their experiences. I first did a lot of research on the couple’s life to understand how they lived, how they dressed... We then had to develop the context of a whole collection by defining a place, a time, a touch and a sell that is unique to that collection. This gave us a very specific framework for our creative research.
Tell us about your design process. How do you work? How do you take your research and develop your own designs?
In order to develop the samples of my collection, I worked on different exercises simultaneously to try to find the most relevant result possible. I first worked on the pleating (assigned exercise) via draping, to find first ideas for volumes, without worrying about the cuts, etc... I then played with these ideas on photoshop by putting them on mannequins to expand the possibilities. From here, I created windows that I filled with images of Oda Johnson’s life, such as hats, seaplanes, etc. to find the first cuts.
The typical X-shaped volume quickly made an impression on me, I could recreate it with a marked waist and high strong shoulders, the courage and gravitas of Osa Johnson. I also used the collage technique with different existing looks that matched my ideal volumes.
Many of the strongest points in my collection resulted from these processes. First of all, the detail of the scarf used as a collar inspired by the one Osa used to tie on her shirts. Then, the batwing sleeves are inspired by the canvases of tents more or less stretched between two stakes in adventure camps. The large pockets with flaps are reminiscent of those found on safari jackets. The pleated effect is a reinterpretation of the details found on an adventurer’s hat and finally the double layer effect is a metaphor for the duo Osa formed with her husband Martin, whom she never left.
Tell us about your Collection Development. How do you toile, how do you like to pattern cut, do you like to drape?
Pattern-making was, I think, the most exciting part in the development of my collection. First, we had to make our whole collection (6 looks) entirely in muslin to able to see and correct any defects. I worked look by look, piece by piece. I started making the double coat, which is the strongest part of the collection, the most technically challenging, since it features tailored collars, pleats and the doubling effect. I worked mainly with the flat cut technique as I found it to be better adapted to the cuts of my collection. I always felt more comfortable with the flat cut, and I find it to be more precise.
Of course, for some details, such as scarves, I used the draping technique which allowed me to see directly on the sample how the fabric should fall. Once the muslin samples were finished, my professors helped me determine the necessary adjustments to make in order to ensure the best garments possible. I corrected the pieces and patterns as I tried on the samples. Then, I put together the fabric selections, a step which took me an enormous amount of time. I tried to get the best possible result.
Talk us through your final collection and each outfit. Why where these the final designs?
The 6 final looks are simultaneously stand alone and work cohesively together. I selected the most representative designs of the collection, which included about 30 looks total. Look 1 is a long sleeve, maxi dress that assumes almost every one of the codes of the collection. For example, it includes raised shoulders, a waist marked by a belt and top-stitched pleats on the legs. Look 2 features a batwing top and pants with pockets and pleats at the waist. There are strong elements such as a scarf built into the shirt as the collar, batwing sleeves that let you see the model’s arms and the double layer effect on the pants. These are all strong points not featured in the first look.
The 3rd look is a very strong look within this collection since it includes the double coat with a pink cut-out shirt underneath and high-waisted pants. The coat is a voluminous and eye-catching piece, so the pieces underneath are more understated. However, there are some strong points in this three-piece look such at the batwing sleeves, the pleats, the Saharan pocket and high shoulders. The fourth look is a two-tone maxi dress with batwing sleeves. It’s an important look because of its colors and all of the details which are repeated throughout the collection, such as scarf collar, pleats, batwing sleeve, and belted waist. Look 5 featured a double jacket, polo shirt and long skirt. The double jacket matches the volume of the coat in Look 3, but with different colors for the jacket lining. It also features special double detail on the shirt sleeve and a scarf inlaid at the waist of the skirt. I really wanted to create looks that complement and speak to each other.
What materials have you used within the collection and how did you source them? Why were this the right material for your collection?
The choice of fabrics was made during the creative process. I ordered samples from Swatch on (about 100) and refined the selection as I went along. I wanted to mix the traditional side of safaris with natural materials such as linen, cotton or very fine woolens with more modern fabrics such as coated cotton and slightly more sophisticated fabrics with some shine that would be reminiscent of the sunrise in Kenya. In terms of colours, the range of colours I chose were inspired by the sunrise of Kenya as well. I chose shades of beige, pink, brick, and light grey to evoke the emerging and veiled morning light. I imagine that Osa Johnson and her husband had to get up very early during their expeditions since it is at dawn that one can have the chance to see the most animals possible. They must have seen some wonderful sunrises.
Tell us about your illustration technics. Explain your final line up and what art materials and technics you use to showcase it.
As for the illustrations of each silhouette of my collection, I first worked by hand by drawing the garment and accessories for each silhouette according to the criteria. I then added the main colours with Promarkers and then added shadows with coloured pencils or felt-tip pens. I would add a few areas of lightness with a white Posca marker and I would finish by retouching the colours and contrast in Photoshop in order to look as similar as possible as the actual fabrics.
What part of your final project have you enjoyed most and why? ie, the research and concept or maybe the manufacturing of the collection.
If you were to ask what part of the collection is my favourite, I would answer without hesitation, putting everything together in the real fabrics. However, after some thought, I also remember that I enjoyed researching my theme and gaining inspiration from it. It’s hard to say which part I truly liked the most. But, I think what I really enjoyed the most was the logical flow of the creative process. Each step complemented the previous one a little more to arrive at a coherent and thoughtful end result.
What’s an aspect of the fashion industry that you’re passionate about fixing or having a positive impact on?
I think what fascinates me about fashion is that it reflects the society it comes from with levity. It doesn’t impose itself on individuals. For me, being interested in fashion is a luxury that we can only afford if we can keep a certain distance from our own creations or those of others. If I have the chance to work in the fashion industry, I hope to bring my own perspective on society.
What is your plan once you finish your BA? Where do you wish to be in the future?
For after ESMOD, my plans are still a bit vague. I will first complete an internship that will validate my final year. Then, I think I want to continue my education and get a Master’s degree in business, oriented towards fashion, to add an economic dimension to my training, in addition to a creative one.