Designing in Ivory and White: Suzanne Perron Gowns from the Inside Out

153 Pages·2012·16.29 MB·English

by  Suzanne Perron et al.

Ivory White
designing in
and

Ivory
de s i g n i n g i n
and
White
su z a n n e p e r r o n
Gowns from the Inside Out
photographs by jason cohen and brian baiamonte
louisiana state university press baton rouge
Published by Louisiana State University Press
Copyright © 2012 by Louisiana State University Press
All rights reserved
Manufactured in China
First printing
designer: Michelle A. Neustrom
typefaces: Whitman, text; Filosofia and Parfumerie Script Pro, display
printer and binder: Regent Publishing Services
Note: Photographers are identified by initials in the captions. Credits for photographs without captions are as
follows:
Brian Baiamonte: page viii
Jason Cohen: frontispiece, pages vi, xiv, 40, 48, 132
library of congress cataloging-in-publication data
Perron, Suzanne, 1968–
Designing in ivory and white : Suzanne Perron gowns from the inside out / Suzanne Perron ; photographs
by Jason Cohen and Brian Baiamonte.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-8071-4370-4 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8071-4371-1 (pdf) — ISBN 978-0-8071-4372-8
(epub) — ISBN 978-0-8071-4373-5 (mobi)
1. Perron, Suzanne, 1968– —Themes, motives. 2. White. I. Cohen, Jason, 1983– II. Baiamonte, Brian,
1972– III. Title.
TT505.P375A5 2012
646.476—dc23
2011029994
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production
Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. (cid:1)(cid:1)
For Ruth Hackett East and Caroline East Perron,
in appreciation of their never-ending support and inspiration

Contents
foreword, by susan langenhennig ix
preface xi
introduction: the designer 1
the couture process 23
the client experience 41
the gowns
51
Jolie, Bride
57
Jackye, Olympians Queen
63
Shelley, Bride
69
Emily, Athenians Queen
75
Jackye, Achaeans Maid
81
Lauren, Bride
87
Sarah, Rex Maid
91
Francesca, Harlequins Queen
95
Jenny, Bride
101
Kelly, Rex Maid
105
Emily, Rex Maid
111
Ainsley, Bride
115
Eleanor, Olympians Queen
121
Connie, Bride
127
Lauren, Bride
133
Suzanne, Bride
acknowledgments 137

Foreword
T
he world comes in standard sizes these days. Small, medium, large. Six,
eight, ten. Petite, tall, misses.
We pull a garment off the rack at the local mall or at our favorite bou-
tique, slip into it in the dressing room, and admire a reasonable approximation
of fit—though the waist may gape slightly and the legs may drag the floor. When
we’re lucky, it works enough, especially with a little tailoring. If the dress skims
our curves and the pants fall appropriately, we head to the checkout counter.
The majority of us shop this way, whether our tastes and budgets run to Dil-
lards or Dolce & Gabbana, whether we’re looking for work clothes, play clothes,
or a dress for a special event. Modern lives require the efficiency that comes from
mass production. Everything moves in a hurry.
But, in our fast-paced world, is there still a place for couture—the art of intri-
cately designed, custom-fitted, hand-finished clothing?
Boiled down to its most basic elements, couture is custom. It’s a one-of-a-kind,
a perfect fit designed by an artist for an individual. If you’re reading this in your
home, take a quick glance around the room and stop to think how many things
around you were designed to your specific preferences, wants, and desires. How
many were created to fit just you? In our off-the-shelf culture, such intimacies are
rare pleasures indeed.
Couture—often lamented as the endangered species of the fashion industry—
survives, hanging on to its antique ways—the sketches, the draping, the muslin,
the hand-sewing, the multiple fittings—even as the world zips by it with the speed
of an online shopping click.
Asked in a 2007 New York Times interview why couture was still relevant to his
business—which includes ready-to-wear and accessories—designer Alber Elbaz of
Lanvin replied, “I think it’s important to still support couture because we’re sup-
porting a technique, a dream.”
“It’s a big question you are asking,” he continued. “Do you keep the past by
going forward, or do you have to maintain it in order to exist?”
Suzanne Perron is a gifted designer, helping to establish a vibrant, albeit small,
fashion industry in Louisiana. She’s doing it in the most traditional of ways. And
that seems so fitting for New Orleans, a city that in the early part of the twenty-
first century is both leading the country in young entrepreneurship and previously
untried school reform and yet still rooted within our venerable cultural traditions
of Carnival and cotillions.
ix