Whitehorse Institute of Design student, Frank Taplin set out to reimagine the confinements of traditional tailoring with his graduate collection, A Perfectly Fitting Suit? Having grown up with an interest in how clothing is made, Frank learned how to mend his own clothes before eventually learning how to design and create them from scratch.
His latest collection builds on this momentum, delving into both the fluid and structured elements of tailoring. Frank found inspiration from the famous Wrapped Monuments art installation by Christo and Jeanne-Claude: “The movement captured in those photos gives the impression that the fabric is falling off the sculptures, which inspired me to replicate that effect with suiting.’”
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As a recipient of the Australian Wool Education Trust grant, Frank was able to utilise and experiment with high-quality wool to create his five-piece collection. “I think the best way to describe this collection without seeing it is traditional menswear tailoring that’s been slashed open, allowing the fabric to fall down the body.”
Franks’s collection is one of the many groundbreaking student works that will be on display at the National Graduate Showcase x Emporium Melbourne as part of PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival on March 4. Held at the Royal Exhibition Building, the runway will feature 13 graduate designers hand-picked from Australia’s leading fashion institutions. It’s always an exciting glimpse into the future of Australian fashion and Fashion Journal is proud to be a long-time media partner of the event.
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Fashion Journal: Hi Frank! How did you first become interested in design?
Frank: I’ve always had an interest in finding out how things are made and what it takes to put them together since I was young, and that naturally extended to clothing. When I was about 15 I started to learn how to sew, mainly to mend my own clothes but I eventually decided I wanted to learn how to create them from scratch. From there, I started looking at the fashion industry and the broader world of garment construction.
Frank lI soon became quite obsessed with it and I thought about whether I could turn my hobby of making my own clothes into a career. That’s when I really decided that being a designer was what I wanted to do.
Tell me about the collection you’re showing for the National Graduate Showcase. What was your inspiration?
My collection is looking into the relationship found in tailoring between the cloth, which tends to be very ‘soft’ and fluid, and all of the rigid structural elements of suiting. I wanted to explore how I could use this contrast to create something that still has the familiar archetypes of tailoring while feeling simultaneously unfamiliar.
The primary inspiration was the Wrapped Monuments by Christo and Jeanne-Claude from the ’70s and notably the photos from when the installation was being set up. The movement captured in those photos gives the impression that the fabric is falling off of the sculptures, which prompted me to try and do the same thing with suiting.
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What has the process of creating your collection been like?
The process of creating these five looks was rewarding but also very tough. Through the research process, I became obsessed with the process of constructing bespoke suits and wanted to apply it to this collection. I realised that I was pretty in over my head doing everything by hand.
I still managed to fit a lot of handwork into all of my garments. I taught myself to pad stitch the lapels and a bunch of other tailoring techniques which all made it into the final garments – that’s one of the things that I’m most proud of in this collection.
How would you describe your collection to someone who’s never seen it before?
I think the best way to describe this collection without seeing it is traditional menswear tailoring that’s been slashed open, allowing the fabric to fall down the body, letting it flow and fold freely. The slashes also reveal the inner details of the clothes, letting you see all the different stages of the construction of the garment.
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What are you most proud of in your work so far?
What I’m most proud of is all the hand-work that I put into all the garments. As I said earlier, all of the lapels of the jackets have been pad-stitched by hand, and everything else features various levels of hand stitching. From the very visible basting stitches adorning the raw edges to pick stitching holding down drapes where needed.
What do you wish you knew when you started on your collection?
Before I started on this collection, I didn’t realise how tight the time constraints were going to be. I had so many ideas that I thought I was going to be able to do but just was too much given the time that I had.
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Who is exciting you the most in local fashion right now?
All of the other graduates in Melbourne are really exciting. Even though a lot of us are just getting started, so many of them already have such a well-developed and unique style of design and I’m really excited to see what comes in the future.
What about the local fashion industry needs to change?
I think there needs to be more of an intention behind the design, I see a lot of stuff that’s put out and it seems like it was only put out for the sake of it. The question of why something has been made needs to be asked more.
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Who are your dream collaborators?
I always enjoy working with people who work in other mediums. It brings a new perspective into my work that I wouldn’t have previously considered and also learning about these different mediums helps me develop new ideas on how I can improve my future work.
Where do you hope to be in the next five years?
In the next five years, I hope to be in a position where I can keep developing further and further on my design language. Something I thought that would be interesting would be re-doing this collection a few years down the line and seeing how I’ve evolved.
How can we see more of your work?
You can see my work on my Instagram, I’ve got photos of this collection up on there, and whatever else I work on in the future I’m sure it’ll end up there at some point.
Get your tickets to the NGS Showcase at PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival here.
This article Bespoke suiting slashed open: Frank Taplin’s graduate collection explores tailoring and fluidity appeared first on Fashion Journal.
2025-02-13 11:36:00
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