Design Roles

My design process is personal, tactile, and time consuming. It involves three roles I take on, each informing my work in its own unique way. To create the initial design, I use traditional techniques like mood boards and reference garments to piece together a classic garment that fits, flatters, and functions in concept. As the maker, I develop innovative finishings to simplify design, improve the ease of construction, and make a simple design extraordinary. I wear-test every jacket I make, giving me the day-to-day experience and connection with the garment that my clients will eventually have with it. This role as an owner and frequent wearer allows me to trouble-shoot functionality issues, brainstorm styling ideas, and observe how the fabric ages.

And those three roles are where I thought my design process ended, until Ken and I photographed this blazer last week. With prior jackets, we hadn’t documented the sampling process so extensively, so improvements were noted and applied in front of a mirror, from the eye of a designer and in the context of a conversation with a pattern maker. But as a model for my work, I have been given a more subjective and vulnerable relationship to how my designs make me look and feel when photographed. As I funnel the photos down to the few Ken will edit, I am given hundreds of views, postures, and movements that show the jacket in so many ways. This new level of connection with my jackets will provide opportunities to deepen my design process and close the gap in my pursuit of the perfect fit, so stay tuned for future finished-sample sharing.

Jacket: Bluff Pocket Blazer (Fall 2020 release)
Photos: Ken Heinbecker