Behind the Scenes of High Fashion

Upon entering the New York Embroidery Studio the first thing I noticed was the wall of samples. Little pieces of materials embroidered with all different patterns and patches and made from all different things. We were told that the samples were often saved and that the ones on the wall were up to 8 years old. After entering the actual studio we saw all of the sewing machines and we were told that there were different machines for different things and that they even kept old machines when things needed a more vintage look. The most interesting part of the studio was who they made things for. Our guide was name dropping like it was the most casual thing to be helping Ralph Lauren with a dress. Since they are one of the only studios that still does handwork designers will ask them to do specific parts of samples or even parts of dresses for things like the Met Gala. She even told us that they helped make some of Katy Perry's dresses for her recent tour. Upon exiting we walked past a board that explained projects that needed to get done. You may know some of the names: Marc Jacobs, Alexander Wang, and Ralph Lauren were all on the list. As a retail merchandising student I didn't think that the embroidery studio would be of any interest to me, but as it turns out it was one of my favorite appointments of the day. Learning about all the different materials that can be used together to create garments and hearing about all the amazing designers that they help made me realize how impressive the fashion industry really is and how much goes into every piece of a garment.

-Tessa Dorso