Sourcing the Muse

TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW WITH GWENDOLYNNE BURKIN
FASHION LABEL: GWENDOLYNNE

The design process starts with the fabrics. Also I do lots of research through books, and I've got a lot of resources from the 18th century that I love to look at, and from the 40s - kind of a melting pot of all different periods. I might sketch up a few ideas, but I like it to be more organic than that.

I love to work the same with the fabrics; find a key fabric, work with that fabric... Sometimes it's got to do with the expense of the fabric… If the fabric's $185 a metre, there's no way that's going to translate to a great cost on the floor. So you have to think about 'How am I going to use that fabric? I love that fabric; I have to have that fabric, but how am I going to use that in a design and make it cost-effective as well?' So that's some of the design process.

And then running around with that key fabric and going, 'Well, what other colours can work back with this?' Then often in the pattern-making and design area, I might start with one key idea and then let it evolve. Like I might make a beautiful coat, and then that will… I'll do the first pattern, and then while I'm making it, I'll go, 'The bottom of this coat would make a great skirt. And the top of this jacket will make a great short jacket…'

I tend to let the design process be very organic. I don't really like sitting down and planning it all.

I was extremely excited when I saw the Museum's collection. That's my whole approach to design - that whole sense of discovery and surprise. Every time I opened up a drawer there was something exciting popping out. The more you opened drawers, the more you wanted to open the next drawer. It was like being a little child in a candy shop. It was very exciting for me. It wasn't just seeing the exhibition, it was seeing the whole archives that most people don't get to see. And also having the history already recorded for each piece. Which was really exciting because normally you find things in vintage shops and you're not really sure what their history is. But the Powerhouse has done all the research too. So it was lovely to hear all the stories about each item.

I worked a lot with instinct. Pulling things out of the drawers. Poor Glynis and the staff almost died when I pulled out 31 pieces! (Laughs.) But we laid them out on the table and there was just one piece that I just completely - as a patternmaker, this piece just stood out to me a million miles. And it was the bodice from 1895 which was a cream silk ottoman jacket with leg-of-mutton sleeves. And the leg-of-mutton sleeves on this bodice are just amazing! I think it was the challenge of working out how this sleeve worked. The way that it drapes up into almost like a bow. That really stood out to me. I wanted to work out how to do that sleeve. So, on my last day at the Museum, I spent half the morning trying to nut out this sleeve. And it's very hard because in the archives you're not allowed to get too close to the garments. You have to be really delicate. So it was very difficult to work out. And you can't unpick anything, and you can't use your pinwheel on the garments as well, so you can't trace things off because the garments are all delicate.

There was a pair of barrette boots from 1896 and I just adored the detailing of the front of the shoes with these oval cutouts that went into little buttons down the front of the shoes. And all this beadwork around the shoes. And immediately I thought 'I've got to use that in some way'. And then I saw another sleeve that was a big leg-of-mutton sleeve that the maids used to sew into the garments for eveningwear… And it had detailing on the inner side of the sleeve and I thought, 'Now, I could take that leg-of-mutton sleeve and then put the detailing from the boots on the inner side of the sleeve.' And that was the centre of everything. And I thought 'OK, from here, I'll do the sleeve first, and then everything else will fall into place'.

I found this coat-dress by Ungaro from 1965. And it's got this beautiful detailing on it which I wanted to use as the shoulder part of the sleeve that then attaches on to a jabot that I found as well. And the jabot was hard because, I really wanted to use the jabot, and now I'm starting to get a little bit busy in my design. And I'm thinking 'Well, it doesn't matter, because it's an exhibition piece'. And the jabot originally was made in tulle. And I just thought if I went down the tulle angle, it would just look too much like I was trying to do exactly what was done already. And I didn't want to do that. I wanted to do an interpretation of these pieces.

And so I worked with the proportions… And, rather than working with lacework, I started to work with textures like pleating and gathering around the neck. Which also really complemented the corset shape that I worked with. Which ended up being a half corset. I actually couldn't steer too far away from the original design because I was so in love with the original design. But the colourways are changed and the alteration of it being a half corset rather than a full corset. And working with different senses of proportion, I think is what works for it too. So it's just such a classic corset, where can you take it? I did get rid of the lacework on the top and kept it quite minimal so that it had a modern feel to it.

And then there's the glove. Within the collection there's beautiful handbags. I don't know if you can call them beautiful… But these crocodile handbags with crocodile claws draped across the front. They're very macabre… but quite comical as well, so I just needed to put that into the outfit somehow.

This is an exhibition piece. This is a bit of fun too. It's nice as a designer to get projects where you can play and have fun. And there's elements of all of these pieces that you could pare down and turn into regular boring clothes. (Laughs.) But this is an inspirational design piece. It's not about selling. You get sick of having to do things to sell all the time.

- Gwendolynne Burkin