A runway show in the making: lots of applique and quilting

The last two months I’ve been actively involved in assisting my designer niece Ana Lía in preparing her 2022 collection… Respirar (Breathe). In a nutshell, in this collection she is inspired by the respiratory tract, so the garments reflect the lungs, bronchi, and rib cage. Very avant garde. And obviously, as an haute couture collection, a lot of it is hand sewn. Fortunately, since she teaches at a school of design, she has about 30 interns helping her in her workshop. Lots and lots of crochet, embroidery, applique, and quilting.

My part in all this has been with some of the crochet and applique and all of the quilting.

Lots of crochet strips that have been incorporated into one of the garments in the form of ruffles…

Challenging appliqué with very thin points, and working with fabrics that fray easily..

Fortunately for me, the quilting design she chose is very, very simple, and is one of the elements that would emulate the bronchi. A sample here:

Six of the 24 garments are all applique, and all are also quilted.

This will be a poncho:

A top and skirt – appliqueed and quilted, ready to be sewn together:

A jumpsuit I have appliqued, but still needs to be quilted:

In addition to the elements that reflect the theme “Breathe,” Ana Lía spent a lot of time studying and deciding on colors that reflect the Andean culture. This explains the bright colors she has chosen to work with.

The only all-black garment will close the show. This one has already been photographed professionally for promotional purposes. A lot of me has gone into this piece… in addition to the crochet top and crochet ruffles in the skirt,  I quilted the four gigantic pieces that make up the skirt and that give it so much volume:

And of course, this post wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t highlight my very own “helper.” Gordie most certainly contributed to the quilting process!