Fascinating observation. I’ve noticed it in shoes too - when you learn to make shoes, you understand that leather and other materials move and stretch in different ways, you cannot place pattern pieces anywhere on a hide and expect to get a great shoe - you have to learn the anatomy of a hide - it has thick bits and thin bits, stretchy bits and non stretchy bits. Depending on the animal, it may stretch a lot or a little or stretch a lot one way and not the other. It’s an emotional process, especially pattern cutting, taking this into account.
Then there’s the fitting aspect. It’s not quite the same fitting a person into a car seat as it is fitting a person into a garment is it?
As for folding and pleating - I find the conceptual works of the Japanese designers Issey Miyake and then if we go into knitwear, designers such as Mark Fast, fascinating - once you add fabric, it’s a whole extra dimension to play with. I did admire a woman on my degree course who managed to make her final shoe collection by handknitting it. Incredibly difficult, especially as she still managed to achieve a contemporary look with it. Playing with a piece of fabric - figuring out a woven upper for a sandal, you have to actually ‘make it,’ it’s not enough to sketch it - sometimes you begin by crafting something, not rendering it. It’s a different process
Of course we’ve now got the Nike flyknit. I can totally understand why brands such as Nike work with fashion industry trained designers as well as industrial designers - combined skills of both equals amazing product.
