PCA hosts a successful Fashion Workshop in collaboration with Studio Martes
What happens when you strip away the stitch?
When you think of fashion, it is difficult to think of anything other than fabrics. It is swathes of gauzes and satins and a trustworthy thread and needle looping through it all to tie it together. With the art of stitching being so fundamental to the world of fashion, to imagine fashion without sewing is perhaps like imagining writing without language.
However, that is exactly what Studio Martès asked of the 2025 fashion students.
The idea of the workshop was to explore innovative assembly techniques to substitute sewing and reimagine alternatives to the thread with rigid materials, textiles, metals and even plastic.
The class of ‘25 rose marvellously to the challenge. (One student) explored the idea of weaving a rope out of corn husks in a technique quite similar to basket-weaving. She highlighted further how weaving organic materials into ropes or fibres open up new ways to achieve certain 3D shapes that might be unique.
(Another student) worked with fabric scraps, gold wire and lace for this workshop. She described the workshop as experimental and a step in the journey of ‘discovering herself and sewing herself back together’. She looks forward to adapting the technique of embroidering with gold wire in her own going further.
Using metal was a surprising introduction to (third student) too and was fascinated by the idea of welding pieces to make a fabric—something he looks forward to trying out in the future.
Alice and Verontine are the orchestrators behind Studio Martes and this multidisciplinary experiment. Verontine said it is important to combine ‘making’ and research in fashion because, “by making things one can explore plenty of materials and inspiration follows the material you have. While research is just ‘exploring’ things in a different way,” making the two more alike than they seem.
Alice added how researching is the best way to discover new techniques and materials, and is a great way to learn. To her, sixty per cent of a dress is always the research.
Exploring alternative assembly techniques and materials is an exercise in broadening one’s mind. It is also a way for students to enhance their individual visual libraries, especially as beginners, the duo shared.
Workshops like these are a great way to push students to think out of the box. Getting access to people other than the usual teachers, exposes students to new ideologies and philosophies. As educators, the primary goal at PCA is to leave the students with a ‘library of ideas’ that they can draw on for artistic inspiration and creativity at any point in their future, irrespective of the paths they end up choosing.