European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 8, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Stretch fabrics make fashion comfortable by Beh Nadine Morris new York times hey do not assault your senses like very Short skirts the most visible trend of Iho new season in fact you hardly know they Are there. But stretch fabrics Are probably the most important new development in fashion and they have the potential to change radically the Way people look and fee in the clothes they Wear. It s the new technology being translated to Modem living said Calvin Klein ii is going to revolutionize fashion. All the Mills All Over the world Are adding stretch fibres to their Wool or silk we can fit clothes Piore snugly so women can move As freely As if they had nothing on said Donna Karan it s an Extension of Wool Jersey which is my favorite fabric because in has a built in elasticity. But the difference is the new stretch materials do not pull out of shape. Jersey pants can eventually bag at the Knees. Stretch fabrics do these two to among the Many designers in the United slates and abroad who have used significant amounts of stretch fabrics in their fall and Winter collections for Klesi in made possible the Long lean body Lina that is the key to his current Silhouette. He used stretch fabrics for Skinny pants and snug tops Tor Day and velvet skirts and pants for evening. Tha Over the knee boots and lights a showed also stretched not every woman who tries on the new clothes will be aware of the Strelch Content. They May just think they Are More comfortable Klein said. Ii May not be for even one yet he conceded. It s for the woman who is looking Lor the newest most modern Way to dress. The people who Are exercising and watching their diet Are going to relate to Karan said she believes there is another important advantage. Strelch clothes provide control to the body smoothing out bumps the Way girdles used to do she said. Women Ere familiar with the feeling through control top tights she added. Up a Xix. The synthetic fiber that provides elasticity when added to natural materials like silk and Wool was first used in girdles and bras it was also popular in ski pants in the 1940s. David Cameron discovered some old ski fabric made Erma Bombeck by Bianchini a French fabric company and liked tha Way it could be tailored. He persuaded the company to revive 1he material and used i for an important part of his fall collection. Ii appears in Short jackets decorated with zippers As Well As in Coats a line and straight skirts and pants. He was attracted to the material because in had a hard edged futuristic took Cameron said the stretch properties were incidental. Because the material is water repellent ii is possible to ski in the clothes. Geoffrey scene s use of stretch materials was aesthetic As Well As practical. Instead of the usual taffeta fining Lor a purple and Black Tweed jump suit he used stretch Jersey. It made it possible to Cut the jump suit closer to the body giving in a sleek lil he also created his own fabric which resembles persian Lamb by stitching Satin on a stretch base. He used ii for lightweight jackets with the three dimensional look of fur. Still another use was stretch inserts at the Midriff and Backol dresses in silk end Wool Satin to draw the dress closer la the body and activate a curvier look. Not every stretch fabric we tried worked properly Beene said. Some were Loo scratchy some too heavy. But stretch certainly will be a component of fashion s immediate Karan pointed out that some fabrics stretched Loo much and some not enough. 1 the problem is gelling just the right amount of give she said. This of course varies with the Wool crepe cavalry twill and a Cashmere and Wool velour were her favourites for fall. She is now working with Cotton for the resort season. New dressmaking techniques have to be developed to handle the new stretch materials. Patterns must be Cut differently to allow for the stretch. Some clothes that appeared on the runways made the models look like stuffed sausages others bunched up a attractively when the models walked. But ultimately it May be possible to Cut fewer sizes to lil More woman designers predict. Meanwhile retailers approve the handling of stretch materials in the new collections. We started last season with some Strelch styles ram Gaultier in Paris and they were a hit with the very Young said Thomas a Varatta vice president of Nan Duskin checking Oul the new fashions. Now it looks More controlled and the effect is far More Subtle. Tha clothes do not steam stretch i think when the customers try on the clothes and see How they Mold the body they Wisi be stretch lithic Ara Emajon we a to pm Nln Cathlon. At in Wool met top to Titch Wooi Jeney not both by can attn. There s something significant about the fact that there Are More ads for limousines listed in the yellow pages than there Are for plumbers but i m not Sura what it is. It might mean we re becoming More interested in Flash and dash Shan in Bubble and trouble. Maybe it s an Altitude of if it does t show Don t Lix and then again superficial trappings could be winning the War against reality. L a it up today for tomorrow it could be a Dallas dream. Limousines used to be reserved for the ruling class or on special occasions or the working class. Tinted windows shielded the Rich the famous the soon to be wed or the soon to be buried. Today limousines Are like taxicabs with the
