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Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Happy Holidays!
Wishing You all the best this Holiday Season!
XOXO
Carla Dawn Behrle and the whole team here at Behrle NYC
Sunday, December 11, 2011
The Spirit of Fall 2012
How to explain what is driving me and moves me for Fall 2012?
It's a love story and an adventure story. More specifically it is the spirit of the woman at the heart of the story that inspires me...
A trailblazer and adventurer who follows her heart, instincts and dreams. A woman who can hold her own in unexpected situations, strengthening the foundation of anything she is involved in. Secure in herself, she always looks forward.
This is just the start....
Friday, December 2, 2011
The State of Skins
In the last few months I've seen a few blips in the echosphere that I found quite entertaining as well as something to think about.
I guess it was in the fall when I saw something about a leather covered Ferrari. Cool idea, lots of negative comments. Regarding: cleaning, scratching, water, etc.etc. etc. (with a couple of smart people saying if it's leather, water shouldn't be a problem- cows live outside and get wet- no big deal-they are on it!)
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| foiled "leather" car |
That is if it were REAL leather. Nah- it's not, it's basically a fancy decal. and a poor one at that- weird grain, with poor and very visible repeat (ask a textile designer) even in far shots. Nice idea, poor execution.
My fantasy is that one day they could build that prototype car that had the movable skin- remember that? Was that about 2-3 years ago? The skin would be LEATHER...that's my fantasy.
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| fantasy leather car |
I hate to think of the chemicals and effort that went into creating that weird leather perfection from China. But I guess if I were into weird leather perfection, I'd be into latex.
...my fetish, my talisman is cut.
Eventful
We have been happily buried in work. Which, by the by, is why I haven't been here much lately!
Yesterday, we did an event with SkinMedica for a very select group of beauty editors to announce the launch of a brand new SkinMedica product, which will be released sometime in April.
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| Pre-Event |
The mood was very intimate and relaxed. Very refreshing and non- rushed and it gave the editors a much deserved moment of chill, very different from what most might associate with a "launch".
So yesterday was spent, (very enjoyably out of the studio for a change!) fitting editors for their own perfect custom leather piece!
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| My little rack of sample & fitting garments |
We hope to have photos of these new styles up soon- on the Blog, so check back soon! & Thank yous to Josie and Chrissy!
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Everything on the internet is s-l-o-w right now. Not sure what that is about - but I feel like I'm on dial up- no kidding. (bad flashbacks to 1999 in the freezing cold shop) OK- that was fun ... but you do remember what that was like?
I have been on here less and less lately as we have been busy developing the new line for Fall 2012. I have been sourcing some incredibly (insanely) beautiful leathers and the whole aesthetic of the line is being bumped up tremendously, it's very exciting.
Pattern making is a long and strenuous process here, it starts out like molasses- slow and sticky. The process of developing all new fit slopers is always somehow traumatic for me, even when the changes could be considered fairly subtle. What I do know is that they will step up the fit and final product yet another notch.
We are all such creatures of habit in our own ways, I stick to the familiar for as long as I feel comfortable and then - well- it's all gotta move - I tend to shift before I'm really consciously aware of "discomfort". It's an undeniable pull, and I often fight it. In the case of redeveloping fit - I am so picky and it does take me a bit to get into it- I create many, many multiples of variations before I am finally happy with the fit.
After that- comes the styles. I was organizing the studio Friday and realized I had at least 5 muslin phases for one (very deceptively) simple dress. I did not want to count further. It may be a minor William Ware Theiss moment- but for production- big difference. Check out the "Theiss Titillation Theory".
He was my design hero when I was a kid....really got me into it. I am forever indebted.
This is example of a muslin, not one from this line, but from a very special custom made project I did about 2 years ago.
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| fitting muslin for a custom made leather jumpsuit |
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Dreaming
I saw Blondie the other nite- and I'm thinking about that song... and here I want to...I am dreaming of creating a couple jobs - no, scratch that- more than a couple. I want to build a high end manufacturing company, here- in the USA- in NYC to be specific. I want to employ skilled labor, and even more importantly TRAIN skilled labor. That is my dream. I am not interested in competing with China - why even go there? There are much, much better places to go.
Having (mis)placed our hopes (and too many eggs) into the Financial industries, what has come of it? What has been produced? What goods? What Productive jobs? Practical services? Any actual ability? (Besides pushing numbers around?) Can they build this? Or anyhing?
So, while dreaming is free - giving up the dream is not...
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Behrle NYC is looking for interns…
Are you obsessed with fine finishing, fit and craftsmanship? Do you love to work with your hands? Does the attention to detail that you see only in fine quality vintage and couture fashion leave you in awe?
The skills we want to develop Immediately are:
Creative: This requires real hands on interest and skills, as well as a dedication to craft and a passion to learn and develop the techniques and discipline required to produce true luxury goods.
Applicants should be very organized and facile self-starters with strong spatial skills and an understanding of how various materials, hang, drape and mold. You must be able to operate an industrial sewing machine proficiently as you will primarily be assisting the designer and pattern maker in the development of samples, from the sourcing of materials to the muslin prototypes, fittings, and corrections. Ideal for Problem solvers who enjoy a challenge.
You will be asked to help in other areas as the need arises- this is a small company. However our goal is to find talent and train for ongoing positions.
We require 2- 3 days per week & hours are flexible.
Please email your resume and examples of your work to: behrlenyc(at)gmail(dot)com
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
SSSmokin'....
HOT!
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| Go Gareth! |
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| Bravo Anthony! |
...& to me even HOTTER because of the technical virtuosity of getting these to work on a body... and In movement!
WOW!
Behrle Leather Etsy Shop Sale
Big- changes are happening here and preparation we are making way and making room with a 50% off sale!
The Sale is happening in our Etsy shop ONLY.
Everything in our Etsy shop is 50% off with the coupon code FALLSAMPLES11. We will be adding more items during the month of October so check back often!
Happy Fall!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Stretch Leather Mens Jeans
Another recent project, this time men's custom made jeans in stretch leather:
The stretch leather is popular with guys, its great if you are active and also if you need to sit for long periods since the waistband allows for stretch as well. The leather is from the same tannery that creates the leathers Jitrois uses. Beautiful, supple and comfortably backed with cotton stretch fabric. The leather is available in a constantly changing array of colors weights and finishes, Black of course is a pure classic....
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Traveling Leather
This is a recent project for a client who travels a lot. It needed to be light enough to be worn in many climates, and packable without adding too much weight. The client brought to me a jacket he'd purchased several years ago, from a well know European designer. It was incredibly light weight and also very worn out. In fact, it was actually pleather! (for lack of a better term)
He'd believed it to be leather at the time he purchased it and it did have an amazing hand to it. It could have easily pass as leather when it was new, except for the weight. Really, it was so good only someone who really versed in leather would be able to tell. Plus the workmanship in it was very high, quite odd to put that work into a synthetic...
But, what had happened over 4 years of wear was inevitable with a petrol product. The jacket's finish had virtually disintegrated everywhere there was friction, contact with the skin or the even the slightest perspiration! The edges, the cuffs, full across the back, the collar, and the underarm area- to the elbow!
He wanted the jacket re-created as closely as possible, in real leather. keeping it as light as possible and seamless along the length like the original. (This is often impossible since the very light skins tend to be very small and just don't allow for the length required in a men's jacket.) It worked out perfectly that the one skin that usually runs larger suited this project to a T). There were also fit adjustments needed, to have a really well fitting jacket.
This is the finished jacket:
The new jacket - just a little heavier than the original, has minimal inner construction, to keep the weight down. And, it can comfortably go from Lima to London without adding too much extra to the carry on.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
A Master of another sort...
The weekend is my time to get a back to little controlled nature, and I found this today;
It's hard to tell from the photo but the scale of this web was about 7" across, making each little row along the spokes maybe a eighth of an inch from the one before. A good deal smaller than it looks here! The spider was gone, web abandoned - I hope one day I catch him at work on a new web. They are astoundingly fast!
I read somewhere that the quest to create a fiber as strong as a spiders web in relation to is thickness has proven impossible so far. And spiders will not cooperate when it comes to raising them to collect their web - they are very aggressive & will sooner eat each other.
I somehow doubt we could ever create something as perfectly beautiful and efficient, as effortlessly as these little guys can.
Friday, July 8, 2011
The words and works of a Master
On the BOF (the Business of Fashion) site has posted an incredibly inspiring interview with Azzedine Alaïa. Anyone who who is passionate about fashion, design, quality, craftsmanship & the integrity left remaining in this business MUST read this interview.
His Fall 2011 show, his first runway collection in 8 years was vintage Alaïa, of course, in quality of cut, technique and hand. The silhouettes are as curvaceous and sensual as ever. And, none of it ever feels derivative of his past work, but rather its all a real evolution of his truly personal craft, techniques and powerful vision.
His conviction to his art shows in every single piece.
I have always admired & looked up to him as an artist, and I worship his leather work. I vividly remember how he was practically pilloried in the late 1980's / early 90's for not putting on regular fashion shows and for not following the industry's increasingly hectic and seemingly perverse scheduling. What? As if Alaïa should compete with large scale "luxury" lines? (made increasingly in China, Slovakia or elsewhere?) That Alaïa should compete with anybody for that matter! The quote at the end of Style.com's review says it all...
"There's everyone else. Then there's Alaïa."
perfect!
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