I'm continuing the thread that I started in yesterday's post, republishing interviews that I recently did for Zoot Magazine with some of the graduates of New York’s Pratt Institute. Today it's Kate A.Gross’ turn.
Masculine and feminine aesthetics combine with great results in Kate A. Gross’s minimalist designs. The graduate played in her collection with luxurious materials including including fur, leather, alpaca, and cashmere, using a palette comprising beiges, grays, browns and ochre, shades borrowed from a photographic book about Africa featuring aerial pictures by Bobby Haas.
Yet Gross’ minimalism hides a maximalist attention to details: the patterns for some of her dress shirts include indeed up to fifteen pieces.
Can you tell us more about your background?
Kate A. Gross: New York City is my soul mate; I often forget that I haven’t lived here all, or even most, of my life. I was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. In my senior year of high school, I thought I wanted to become a photographer. After I graduated, I spent a summer studying photography at Parsons Paris, where I was inadvertently exposed to their fashion program. My interest in fashion design was always present, however, viewing a display of student work in the hallway, was the first time I realised that it was an interest I could actually pursue, academically. I had previously been accepted to Pratt and planned to continue studying photography there in the Fall. When I arrived, I changed my major to Fashion Design.
Who has been the greatest influence on your career choices?
Kate A. Gross: Is it too predictable to say that my parents’ influence has had the greatest affect on the career choices I’ve made thus far? Both my mother and father are driven and exceedingly ambitious. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen my mum hesitate…everything she starts, she finishes! All of the designers I admire seem to possess that same persistence.
What does fashion represent for you?
Kate A. Gross: The way what one wears influences how they are perceived. We read other people’s outfits in order to deduce more information about them, to categorise and then relate ourselves to them. This human habit can be detrimental and inaccurate, of course, but you can use it to your advantage. Clothing is very communicative. Once you acknowledge the control you have, the ability to dress yourself turns into a tremendous power and this is what fascinates me about fashion.
Can you tell us more about your creative process?
Kate A. Gross: First, I try to commit to a concept, or at least a general direction in which I want the design to go. Then I sketch, roughly, until my mind is emptied of ideas. I’ve always found the frenzied, output of ideas to be the easier part of the process. The difficulty comes in refining and editing the disorganised mass of designs you’ve come up with into something coherent. After I’ve finalised the designs, I move onto the logistics of constructing them and make changes accordingly, as the piece I’m working on develops.
Can you tell us more about your collection?
Kate A. Gross: Before I started sketching, I knew I wanted the collection to carry a clean, masculine aesthetic. I didn’t want to deprive the wearer of her femininity, but I definitely wanted to focus the fit of the clothes away from the standard points of female flattery. I avoided skirts completely and constructed my dress shirts to visually flatten the chest of the wearer. There is an undeniable air of strength to a woman who wears men’s clothes with confidence. I wanted my collection to communicate that same strength.
What kind of materials did you use to make it?
Kate A. Gross: I pulled colors and textural elements from, Through the Eyes of the Gods: An Aerial Vision of Africa, a photography book with stunning aerial images of desert landscapes. The colors and textures I pulled from there essentially dictated the materials and fabrics I chose. I wanted to incorporate materials with unique visual textures, like fur, alpaca, leather, wool and cashmere.
How did you feel about showcasing your collection at the Pratt fashion show?
Kate A. Gross: I felt (and still feel) exceptionally grateful for the opportunity I was given to present my collection. The show allows us, as young designers, to collaborate and showcase our work at a more professional level than we would be able to independently. I’m absolutely ecstatic about the volume of positive post-show feedback we’ve received. By the time the show arrived, I had been working with my designs in one way or another, for nearly nine months. I was no longer able to view my collection objectively, so it was incredibly difficult for me to anticipate how it would be received. I was deliriously anxious the entire day of show. When I woke up the following morning and saw that Cathy Horyn had mentioned my collection on her New York Times blog, I nearly fainted.
What are your future plans?
Kate A. Gross: There are no more tuition payments in my immediate future and I’m looking forward to working. It’s nice to be a part of a staff sometimes instead of being the entire staff and I’m relieved to be done being the designer, patternmaker, and seamstress. For now.
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