Nothing fits the way it should
Mach 3+ slapper discourse with bubbling designer Wanze Song, workwear sweaters, a Nobel Prize winner's meditations on clothes & more
Concorde is Blackbird Spyplane’s “women’s vertical” that the fellas love as well. Every edition is archived here.
Our Home Goods Report, full of things to enliven the place you live, and stores where you can find them, is here.
The B.L.I.S.S. List — a handy rundown of Beautiful Life-Improving Spyplane Staples, from incense to sweatpants to underwear — is here.
Welcome back to Concorde. Today I (Erin) am psyched to tap in with Toronto designer Wanze Song, who put in time as a pattern maker — including at Kiko Kostadinov — before launching her own namesake line in 2022. Her new spring collection, for men and women, is on another level, and I am not the only one who thinks so — this season has been picked up by some of our favorite shops.
Besides technical Triple-F brilliance (fit, fabrics, finishing), Wanze’s got brilliant taste, too: she’s been a Spyplane reader since 2020, and has been homies with fellow elite-garment-crafting SpyFriend Keith Henry of Henry’s since she was 18.
Also? She makes a brilliant pair of PANTS that, thanks to a quietly ingenious design feature, look excellent on all manner of body types.
I talked with Wanze about making patterns by hand, saying no to Ssense, how a no-middleman pre-order model has helped her keep her line going, and more.
Also in today’s ‘Corde:
A Spyplane-beloved unisex sweater, with unlikely roots in workwear, that a bunch of under-the-radar designers are updating for spring.
Flung Fits … but make it literary ?? A Nobel Prize winner’s meditations into how photographing your clothes can elevate them into the realm of “sacred ornaments.”
A British designer who sculpts sporty knits into couture-level cardigans comes to town.
Let’s get to it —
Concorde: You have technical pattern-cutting background that feels pretty rare — a lot of designers might care deeply about fabric, but they don’t necessarily know as much about the actual construction and tailoring of a garment. How’d you get into it?
Wanze Song: “I studied studio fashion design at TMU in Toronto. The school was quite technical and, from the first day to the last, I was so fascinated with pattern cutting. It’s the DNA in a garment.”
Concorde: From a pattern-making perspective, who are the best designers?
Wanze Song: “Yohji, Rei, Miuccia. People who care about fit and construction.”
Concorde: On IG you’ll share pics of muslin samples — the old-school way of making clothes. Take us through your process of design and production.
Wanze Song: “The process is similar to an atelier, or one of the French houses like Margiela. I start with an idea or reference garment. I develop blocks — the patterns — from scratch, by hand, on soft paper. Then I make hard paper patterns I can use to cut out muslin fabric. I sew the muslin into a rough prototype, fit it onto a sample model, then tweak the pattern. Then I make another muslin. Once we feel like the fit’s good and we’ve incorporated all the changes, we cut it and sew it again.”
Concorde: Why is it important for you to continue making your patterns by hand and fitting everything yourself?
Wanze Song: “A lot of my peers make blocks on the computer, digitize everything and send it with a file link to a factory. The factories print out the patterns and make it for them. But, especially with a lot of luxury brands, I find that working that way leads everything to look the same, and fit the same. Designer’s blocks should be different — like on Camiel Fortgen’s pants, the crotch is lower. I try things on in certain stores and I want to tweak certain things. Nothing fits the way it should.”
Concorde: How do you make sure things fit properly?