The process behind our Alpaca and Baby Alpaca Collections
Every season we work really hard to present a new fashion collection and you see our final outcome, but the process behind every piece, is very complex. The process might slightly change from one designer to another, but there are some key steps, most of them go through in order to give life to their ideas. Join us through the journey of ethical clothing creation!
Inspiration is the first step, but is not only from the creative mind of our talented designer and creative director, but also requires a lot of research. At first, there is a lot of information involved, but in order to narrow it and piece together the concept, a moodboard is made by the creative director.
Moodboard and directions Fall Winter 2018, made by Grace Huam, our Creative Director.
Once we have a moodboard, the concept is developed by the designer. She lets her imagination fly, and does her research on trends, lifestyles, art, architecture, music, social environment, etc. Then, there is a selection of the color palette, and shapes are defined. One of the most important decisions to make, is about the stitches to include, so there is a lot of research about handloom and electronic stitches. Once this are selected and the designs are well thought, fibers as Organic Cotton, Alpaca or Baby Alpaca are chosen.
Connection and inspiration drawings made by the designer Lis Bazán
During the whole process, the identity of the brand is always kept in mind. After the designer has chosen the styles that are going to be part of the final cut, the creative designer gives approval and comments about the designs and its fibers and stitches. Through the whole process of creation, the designer keeps in mind the woman that wear Graciela Huam, in order to maintain the identity and its sustainable process. It may take a couple of weeks or even a month.
Sketches made by the designer Lis Bazán, from one the previous collections.
Later, the technical part takes over, and this one takes longer than the other ones. First, the designer makes techpacks including every single detail of the piece of clothing that will be made. But also has to work hand in hand with the knitters, in order to accomplish a good result. The knitters have to do trials first, to see how the stitch selected looks with that particular yarn, if it’s going to be washed or not, and several other details to achieve a luxury knitwear. Thus, they do little swatches as a previous show. This process might take weeks or even a month after proceeding with the first samples of our new Alpaca and Baby Alpaca clothing.
From the first samples to the final fit samples, there is a process of trials and feedback between the knitters and the designers. The original design might change in this period of time. Until now, the whole technical process is done in Perú, except for the approvals and feedback done by the creative director in Netherlands. This part takes about 5 months.
Technique design and swatches of Zafiro Cardigan, Spring Summer 2019, made by the designer Karem Reaño.
Photography SS 2019 Collection | Zafiro Cardigan
Not as easy as you thought, right? That’s why we cannot end this article without mentioning the great and hard work our designers have made to give life to the collections we’ve presented before. Karem Reaño and Lis Bazán. Graciela Huam wouldn’t be the same without their personal touch. We are so grateful that they were part of this journey. We dedicate this post to them.
I hope you enjoyed learning a bit more of a fashion collection,
Until next post,
Coral C.