January 2005: An Art and Fashion collaboration.
Luanne's Stovall's MFA thesis show
Wet Dreams :: Pulse Patterns, at Tufts' Aidekman Gallery.
(See below for Catherine Tutter's description
of the project and process.)

Here is the scene in the gallery, with Luanne's painting
in the background, along with Catherine Tutter dressed
in a coat originally designed by Madeleine Vionnet in 1922.


Below, artist Luanne and model Catherine.


Below: A 1921 sketch of the coat.

(From Madeleine Vionnet, Betty Kirke,
San Francisco: Chronicle Press, 1998.)

Catherine showing the shape--
the coat is made of three rectangles.


Below, Catherine in front of Luanne's painting;
the turban is my creation.
The pin and earrings are from Bill's Grandma Lewis.


Catherine and Penny Pinnette,
who created two toiles and sewed the final coat.

(C. Tutter photo.)

The artist-collaborators:
from left to right, Kathleen, Penny, Catherine,
Luanne, and Nan Freeman. Thanks to Nan for her
wise advising at critical moments in the coat project.


Here is Catherine's description of our collaboration
and the issues it raised:

Over the past months I’ve been involved in a collaborative project
that has brought together 5 artists, all sharing a common interest in
art, fashion and history. Those of you who experienced the Art
Deco show at the MFA may have an interest in hearing about
our work together. Our group comprises Kathleen McDermott,
fashion historian/hat designer (MassArt faculty); Nan Freeman,
an established artist (drawing faculty at Museum School);
Penny Pinnette, a professional costume stitcher
(Huntington Theatre Co.); Luanne Stovall, a Museum School
graduate student (painter), and Catherine Tutter
(fiber artist/textile lover). Our project was inspired by a
handsome book, Madeleine Vionnet, representing the
definitive study of a Parisian dressmaker who was the
first to exploit the properties of textile bias in fashion
design during the 1920’s. The book not only features
beautiful photographs of M. Vionnet’s work, but also
includes reproducible pattern illustrations - an unshakeable
commitment on the part of the author, Betty Kirke -
allowing anyone with a sewing interest to avail her/himself
of a hands-on challenge, and to better appreciate the
genius of this important designer.

The pattern that immediately caught my eye was a coat/cape
designed by M. Vionnet in 1921. Constructed solely of 3
rectangles and completely 2-dimensional in form, it was
designed to wrap around the body like an envelope, with a
6” stand-up collar that almost completely surrounds the neck
and lower head, creating a cocoon-like silhouette characteristic
of the period. I was struck by the stark simplicity of its construction
– with a feeling that this would itself present unforeseen challenges.
Luanne Stovall, a graduate student at the Museum School and
painter interested in celebrating color and pattern, was keen on
working with me to reproduce the coat, ready to make an
experimental transition to textile design, quite literally seeing
the coat as her canvas. In a short time our ranks grew to
include Nan Freeman, an artist with expert knowledge of
composition, form and construction; Kathleen McDermott,
an fashion/art historian and talented hat designer; and
Penney Pinette, a professional draper/stitcher who was
enthusiastically up to the task of constructing the coat.

The project had great problem-solving potential.
Early on, our discussions centered on how to create yardage
for the coat that made a seamless connection to Luanne’s paintings.
After exhausting some of the logical approaches such as
hand-painting onto fabric, piecing different colors/textures of
fabric in appliqué, etc. (all with inherent imperfections) -
Nan announced, “They can reproduce an exact image of
my dog on a birthday cake – you’d think we could find a
way to print Luanne’s paintings onto fabric.” The first light-bulb
went off – and Luanne arranged to have 5 yards of silk noile
(for the coat) and 10 yards of ethereal chiffon
(for another aspect of her installation) custom-printed
to her specifications. A high point of our project was in
mid-December, when we had the pleasure of meeting
Betty Kirke in her Manhattan apartment. Prior to arranging
this, we thought we were in good shape with the construction
of a toile (sample) of the coat, and yet it did not seem to have
enough length to wrap properly. For further information we
contacted the costume institute at the Louvre in Paris
(where the original garment is housed) for a comparison of
measurements – however, due to the degraded condition
of the original, they could only supply us with the vertical length.
They did send us digital color scans of the coat
(which were exciting to see) - however, the manner in which
the coat was draped on the mannequin in one of the scans
led us to believe that we were looking at the back –
which confused us to no end, because it showed the
overlapped panels through which the wearer enters.
Were there in fact two overlapped seams??

We next consulted our experts across the street in the
MFA’s department of Fashion and Textile Arts, who
studiously pored over vintage issues of Harpers magazine
seeking photographs of the infamous Vionnet coat. Their
efforts yielded a single photograph, but which provided
no clue to the mystery of the overlap. Finally, we decided
to personally consult with Betty Kirke (our colleagues at
the MFA were able to find her contact information for us)
– who graciously agreed to meet with us during the height
of the busy Holiday season – and even Fedex’d us
photographs of her toile worn by her assistant, marked
with arrows, labels and other symbols, and including
computer-generated pattern diagrams so that precious
time would not be lost. Within minutes of seeing her toile
of the coat (admittedly one of her favorite Vionnet pieces)
we realized that we were, in fact, on the right track
with our original construction. But even more rewarding
was hearing Betty’s stories and anecdotes – many of which
revolved around the publishing of her book –
apparently no small feat, surprising as it would seem.
She was of course delighted to see that the book
is having an impact in the world, affirming her
determination to elevate M. Vionnet’s position
in fashion history and provide a source of creative
inspiration for artists.

Luanne Stovall’s thesis exhibition at Tufts is the
culmination of the fruits of our 5-part collaboration,
and an opportunity to witness her formal
painting to textile design leap.