THE ARCHITECTS IN FASHION

A surprising number of fashion designers have studied architecture.

1. Gianfranco Ferre studied architecture. He looked at fashion design just the way one would to design a building, with utmost care to structure, form and balance. He was also known as ‘Frank Lloyd Wright of Italian fashion’ that was in comparison to the great American architect. When he was a qualified architect, he had to support himself in the initial days by making belts. He then got his first job in a design studio for a furniture company. At leisure, he designed some jewelry for one of his girlfriends. This was noticed by the boutique owners in Portofino. They were very impressed and asked him to design some jewelry for Walter Albini. Albini was a successful and well known designer of garments made of luxurious fabrics and silk. Ferre then started working for Fiorucci and Lagerfeld as a freelance designer

2. Gianni Versace did not receive a formal education in fashion design. He did, however, studied architecture in Calabria from 1964 to 1967. Versace’s preparation for fashion design came informally, through his mother. As a child, Versace spent time in his mother’s dress shop where he was exposed to fabrics and embellishments and often assisted in the research and selection of beads, crystals, stones, and braids to trim his mother’s creations. Versace also observed his mother engaged in the creative process, watching her make design decisions through fittings. Versace continued working in his mother’s studio, from 1968 to 1972, as a designer and buyer.

3. Tom Ford studied interior architecture at Parsons School of Design until 1986, and went on to take positions at Perry Ellis and Cathy Hardwick, before joining Gucci in 1990.

4. Paco Rabanne studied architecture in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts but had a love for fashion and spent hours sketching clothes and accessories. In 1965 he made boleros and dresses made of different materials such as metal and paper, which were quickly bought up by trendy boutiques and this led to the official opening of his design house in 1966.

5. Pierre Cardin studied architecture and worked with Jeanne Paquin after the war. He worked with Elsa Schiaparelli until he became head of Christian Dior's tailleure atelier in 1947, but was denied work at Balenciaga. He founded his own house in 1950.

5. French fashion designer Pierre Balmain said that "dressmaking is the architecture of movement." Balmain started his studies in architecture at the École des Beaux Arts, but was drawn to fashion before he finished.

6. French fashion designer Madeleine Vionnet, inventor of the bias cut, was called "the architect among dressmakers", a paradox as her clothes had no structure on the hanger but had incredible form when worn.