The Technologists: Creating archives from archives

We presented and discussed a range of projects which have incorporated object analysis and digital technology through the study of both external and LCF archives and a combination of 2D and 3D digital technology. These projects are situated in the MA Collaborative Unit at LCF.

In the first project, a collaboration with the V&A museum, a group of 5 MA Pattern and Garment Technology students studied and reproduced a total of 11 pieces of work of the designer Balenciaga from the museum collection. The body of work consisted of manual and digital patterns, toiles and technical documentation. During the process, the students experienced conflict between the construction of the original patterns and their ability to reproduce these using digital pattern cutting software. Two of the interpretations were selected to be included in the exhibition 'Balenciaga: Shaping Fashion' in 2017, where the digital patterns were used to create animations of how the garments would have been constructed.

The following year, students collaborated with online museum The Underpinnings Museum to again study and reproduce pieces from the museum archive, in this case, historical lingerie and corsetry. Again, manual and digital patterns, toiles and technical documentation were produced and the entire body of work is currently featured in the exhibition 'Remaking the Past' on the museum website. The possibilities of combining object analysis with digital technology have evolved with each project.

In 2018 we focused the project on the LCF Archives, realising that more convenient access might enable further experimentation of the students digital skills by using 3D digital technology for sampling the patterns and collaborating with the Digital Learning Lab (DLL) to explore the use of AR. This inter-disciplinary approach challenged both sets of skills to have an understanding of each discipline, pattern cutting and 3D - having to learn unfamiliar software to prepare the files to be coded into Augmented Reality (AR). Digital technology is a key focus within our teaching practice as it is embedded into the MA Pattern and Garment Technology course.

There is an increased use of 3D simulation in Fashion, with many of the digital pattern cutting companies now investing heavily in 3D digital technology. The continued development of 3D and access to industry standard packages such as Optitex 3D, Lectra 3D and Clo 3D within the university encourages and enables the students, who are curious to investigate further how 3D simulation can reduce manufacturing processes and costs. Significantly, we have experienced that a cross-disciplinary collaboration creates shared learning between practitioners and peers, as in the case of partnering students and curators for the V&A Balenciaga project, including the owner of The Underpinnings museum in the object analysis sessions and working together with staff in the DLL to establish the workflow of the various software to take the outcomes from 3D digital into AR. We will continue experimenting and exploring this reinterpretation of archival pieces with these inter-disciplinary projects which are pushing the boundaries of conventional digital pattern cutting to engage with a varied audience of fashion, garment technology and curation whilst incorprating established research methods of object analysis and reverse engineering.