LS&Co. Unzipped

Apr 11 2013

Denim Beyond Expectations

Sometimes life completely exceeds your expectations.

That’s how I feel at the culmination of our first designer-in-residence program with the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). This winter, Paul Dillinger and I brought real-world design challenges to the highly talented students of an interdisciplinary course called Fabric Transformation Takes Form. Paul's my fellow designer-in-residence, and he's senior director for Dockers® Global Design.

It’s part of our company’s greater mission to invest in the next generation of designers and share what we know about incorporating both style and sustainability into the creative process.

During the intensive five-week course, our students learned about ideas, color, texture and pattern in relation to the human form. Their final class project was to create an original denim design, applying what they learned about strategies and techniques from the course.

Recently, we invited two students and RISD faculty to share six of the final pieces with designers from our Levi’s® and Dockers® brands. (In the picture above, Rachel Yoo, RISD student and design winner, shares her denim kimono with "JC" Curleigh, the Levi’s brand president.)

I was blown away by their creativity.

One of our visiting students, Michelle Dunbar, made a denim dress with form-fitting bodice and flare skirt. If you look closely in the photo below, you can see a light square pattern in the fabric. Michelle used bleach to stamp the squares into the fabric – 13,805 times to be exact.

For the bodice, she used three layers of cut-outs to get that nice popcorn-like look, drawing inspiration from a photo of a raspberry.

Rachel Yoo, who also joined us, designed a denim kimono. Using techniques she learned from class, she applied pigment to the denim, and then scraped it off, resulting in an unusual and eye-pleasing color gradation.  It was hard to believe that she stumbled upon the technique by accident during her experimentation. Harder still to believe was that it was her first time sewing.

When I think back to the beginning of the course, I remember how I was preparing and focusing intently on what I wanted to share as designer-in-residence – fabric manipulation, stitching and cutting. But what I didn’t prepare for was how much I would learn from my students. And how much we would learn together.

That exceeded my expectations.

Michelle Dunbar, RISD student, pictured with her winning design.

From left to right: Suzanne Mancini, RISD Apparel Department Faculty; Paul Dillinger, senior director for Dockers® Global Design; Rachel Yoo, RISD student and design winner; Michelle Dunbar, RISD student and design winner; and Nada Grkinich, senior director of merchandising and design for Levi's ® Global Footwear and Accessories.

Posted By: Nada Grkinich, Merchandising and Design, Levi's® Brand
	Tags: Denim,Dockers®,Fashion,Levi Strauss & Co.,Levi's®,Social Responsibility,Style

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John Ciongoli (not verified) - Jun 02 2013
Great stuff! I am always amazed and inspired by the creativity of the young design students/graduates I have the pleasure to work with. Bringing their fresh insights into play keeps my mind young and challenged to guide them to realizing their dreams.

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