Elegance in deep purple

摘要

The design challenge was to create a strapless evening dress using hand-painted silk-rayon velvet. Gradation dyeing was used first to establish the darkest purple at hemline; then the undyed bodice area was painted with fabric dyes in a large-scale floral design. Flowers were positioned after the darts were positioned and marked so the floral design was not compromised by seaming. Fabrics for the shawl were hand-dyed and pleated using the traditional Japanese Shibori method.