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| Disposable wedding chic |
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| Monday, 14 April 2008 | |
Catwalk glamour brushes shoulders with a noble trade flourishing around Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat since the late 15th century. Roger Steptoe discovers how wedding dresses and paper could become an haute-couture alternative From luxury paper to books, to paper made on huge rolls and sold for packaging, packing dolls’ heads and carnival masks, the Got’s mill wheels turned until 1954, when plastic appeared on the scene. “But after 40 years of silence the mill has finally found a new lease of life,” Marie-Claire continues. “Thanks to the town of Saint-Léonard, the association Moulin du Got and various public funding bodies, the five centuries of history are finally on show as the mill is now open as a museum.” But the mill can still make paper. An original 19th-century machine has been pressed back into active service for the current exhibition and has produced a special ‘pur fil’ variety, a silky textured fabric, ideal for creating the seven poetic wedding dresses on show. The 14 young designers who made the dresses come from the Lycée Suzanne Valadon in Limoges where the two-year Brevet de Technicien Supérieur (BTS, much like a British HND) course in stylisme is clearly a winner. “The students are learning to become fashion design technicians able to interpret haute couture designs and transform them into workable prototypes,” explains Marie Claire Bodit, one of the teachers. “The requirements are strict: to get the best results you need to be artistic, master the techniques and a have a feel for fabrics,” adds teaching colleague Eva Offredo. “A good level in English is very important, too, as we’ve had a number of ex-students who’ve gone on to work in North Africa, Turkey and, of course, China,” adds Marie Claire. The project at Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat started to take shape in April 2007 when the Limoges students met the all-important volunteer workforce at the Moulin du Got for the first time. The idea was partly to emulate a paper robe design experience by John Galliano, the celebrated British-born fashion designer at the House of Dior, whose list of celebrity clients includes the late Princess Diana and pop icon Madonna. Already last September, the students were immersed in the way paper is made at the Moulin du Got. “We wanted the students to forget the stereotype wedding dress and let their imagination run riot,” continues Eva. “Each design is the work of two students,” explains Marie Claire. “It’s helped everyone to work as a team, to listen to each other and to go beyond the influence of their own personal opinions and thoughts.” Taking on board the medium’s particular quirks, the teams have come across and learned all sorts of techniques, folding, origami, stencil embroidery, creating new textures by inserting another material between two pieces of paper, embroidering by machine pricking and achieving stunning effects with glue. All in all seven dreams come true.  |
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