CONSERVATION PATTERNS COLLECTION OF WALTER RODRIGUES - REPORT OF A CASE Manon Salles (USP) manon@usp.br Abstract: This paper is the result of the conservation process of molds collection of designer Walter Rodrigues, donated to the University Center Senac, Campus Santo Amaro, in 2012. This collection contains the patterns developed by the designer to create his collections of the brand Walter Rodrigues, paraded in São Paulo Fashion Week and Fashion Rio 1995 to 2007, totaling 2,538 molds on paper. This collection became part of this unit Library collection, so it can serve as a teaching-learning material and the development of research. Here is reported the donation process and preservation of the collection and how it is used as research material through Revisiting Walter Project. Keywords: Walter Rodrigues. Patterns. Molds. Conservation. Brazilian fashion. Material culture. Walter Rodrigues, the collector This paper aims to present the entire process of donation of collection of paper molds made by designer Walter Rodrigues, designed by him for the creation of his collection which was paraded at São Paulo Fashion Week (SPFW) and Fashion Rio. During the nearly thirty years in which he's been creating in the Brazilian and international fashion, Walter Rodrigues became a reference among Brazilian creators who built from the 90s an authorial fashion. In 1992 the designer launched his brand, having previously worked with Clo Orozco 1. The owner of the brand Huis Clos, according to Walter Rodrigues, had a very specific vision of what is understood as clothing and framing, awakening his desire to study modeling of other creators like Yohji Yamamoto, through the exercise of deconstruction and reconstruction of wardrobe. In his research on the creation of clothes, Walter Rodrigues deeply studied Madeleine Vionnet, who inspired many of his collections. From a refined look for designing clothes, modeling has become a differential in the creations of Walter Rodrigues. The desire of collecting began when the designer realized the importance of knowledge about sketching, made through ancient clothes. Since its first research trip to Europe in 1986, he 1 The designer Clô Orozco (Clotilde Maria Orozco Garcia / 1950-2013) was the owner of the marks Huis Clos and Maria Garcia. Walter Rodrigues joined the Huis Clos style team as assistant in 1984, where he remained for two years.
began buying clothes at thrift shops and to collect clothes from other established international designers as Issey Miyake and Jean Paul Gaultier. Later, while creating his collections to fashion weeks, Walter Rodrigues started to preserve through his sketchbooks, tissue samples, reference images and modeling developed on paper, all the stages of his creative process. This material has been kept in his studio, next to the clothes presented on the runway during all these years. Therefore, the collection of patterns that was donated to Senac, was part of his personal collection, which besides the molds account the clothes of the parades of his brand (made during these twelve years), pieces of national and established foreign designers, and costumes totaling about 3,000 garments. In 2012, Walter Rodrigues decided to leave the fashion weeks, closed his shops to devote to research and redirect his work, and donated his collection of patterns on paper for two educational institutions. The patterns of wedding dresses were donated to Caxias do Sul University in Porto Alegre and the patterns concerning the creation of all his collections of "prêt-à-porter", with 2,538 molds was donated to the University Center Senac Campus Santo Amaro in São Paulo. As an educational institution should receive a collection of molds? In recent years, in the Brazilian fashion scene several copyright brands like Walter Rodrigues, André Lima, Neon and others are restructuring or disappearing. Due to this context, there is a desire of the creators in keeping on an appropriate place their work and their creations. As there is not in the country yet a thematic museum dedicated to contemporary fashion that could be interested in receiving these collections, SENAC SP became a reference, perhaps because of its experience in the conservation of costumes, fabrics, accessories and footwear in their modatecas for more than two decades. Another more recent initiative of the same educational institution, was the preservation and exhibition of the collection "Ney Matogrosso, consisting of 220 costumes of singer and performer, used by him during his 40 years career. In Santo Amaro University Center there's a library with an area of 6,000 with an enormous bibliographic collection, a modateca on the second floor, a space called Ney Matogrosso and technical reserves on the third floor. The undergraduate fashion course was transferred to this unit since its foundation. The acceptance of a collection of patterns on paper by the institution concerns the relationship of the educational proposal of Senac fashion courses that invest in the art of modeling and clothing construction, making this approach in the formation of their students a differential in the market.
Probably because of this background, the designer chose this institution to promote the conservation of its patterns. According to Walter, donating his patterns was a placid exercise of detachment: "Those sketches could either be donated or turned into waste. I figured, why not donate to a school? Because in my final years with my brand I've worked with professionals from Senac and knew the value it has. In addition to my affection and closeness of relationship with people from there. I wondered that we would have the basis of the pieces. " After receiving the collection, it was necessary at first to define a space to store about eighty-four large cardboard boxes containing folded and rolled patterns, stored for many years. As the material would have to be separated, inventoried and sanitized to begin cataloging, the collection was received and stored initially in an empty classroom in the main building, outside the library, and this place was chosen also for reasons of contamination, to avoid issues like moth or insects, that might been in those boxes. Image1. Opening the boxes with the templates on paper sent by the designer. Source: the author (2013). To begin the project a company specializing in museum projects, the 'Museum Company" was hired. From March to June in 2013, they separated the molds by collection (following the guidelines in notes in the boxes) and the sketch notebooks, many times asking the designer when there was any doubt.
The second step was creating a registration form for each pattern containing the respective parts of the model. For example, to register the modelling of a dress, were considered the information of the year and season of collection (summer 2010), brief description of the piece with the number of molds (parts), grading (size of mold p, m, g), location and the date it was registered. Image2. Registration form of modeling an outfit and parties. Source Company Museum (2013). Image 3: Modeling Packaging. Source: Company Museum (2013).
Image 4: Already cataloged molds. Source: the author (2013). The wrapping was done individually, i.e. each set of molds on the clothing in a plastic bag with an individual record. At the end of the whole process of cataloging, the patterns were already separated, identified and stored horizontally on shelves, waiting for the third phase of the project, consisting of the scan. Once the first step was concluded (cataloging, packing, keeping on horizontal shelves and identifying the molds), we started to offer this important material for research with supervision, initially involving students of the fashion design course and also the stylist. Project Revisiting Walter Through this pioneering initiative for an educational institution, that was to receive a collection of patterns with this relevance, we created in the country the first collection with 2,538 original and scanned patterns. It was a challenge for the professionals involved, with questions about the conservation process, actions that could be developed in relation to new research and the criteria for access to this material and exhibitions. Concluding the phase of cataloging, we had the idea to present all this new process to the public and students through the homonymous exhibition and a workshop held by the stylist to the students of fashion course, in May 2014. The collection "Memoirs of a Geisha" (Winter 2006) was guiding the exhibition 2 route with the presentation of 20 looks, in addition to the sketchbooks and models in the original format and also scanned scaled-down related to two exposed dresses. This way, visitors and students could see the clothes (in three dimensions) and their respective patterns (in two dimensions) in large panels. 2 To define the concept for the exhibition found it relevant to bring all the costumes created for a single collection and for being this collection "Memoirs of a Geisha" a milestone in the designer's career for innovations in modeling.
Image 5. In the right pane, parts of the original mold and left, scanned molds small-scale, all referring to the gray dress. Source: the author (2014). During the workshop, it was important to the students to have the opportunity to access the designer creations, original clothes as a direct source, the respective patterns, the sketches, the testimony and guidance of the designer in research and creation that was developed. In the record that was made in DVD, stylist reports this process: "The fascinating was always the partnership between design and engineering in making a model. What we will talk about is the importance of these two forces in building a brand, building a style that will perpetuate the work of two people. My idea to make this donation was to make this collection of molds a living thing and that instigate students to seek the reference of my work, a starting point for learning, or even for inspiration. " For the last stage of the project, the goal is to scan all the molds so that they can be available on Audaces system 3. In relation to research and access, there is an agreed criterion in the contract to avoid using improperly the modeling for reproducing new parts without an academic justification. 3 Audaces is a Brazilian company that develops various software for modeling clothing.
Image 6. Presentation of student work during the workshop. Source: (DVD Revisiting Walter Rodrigues, 2014). Still in the last stage of the project, it will be added in the datasheet a photography of the piece, in addition to existing information as part type, collection, year of creation, etc. For this step we have to use the resource of oral history through the designer's testimony and professionals who were his assistants in addition to magazines, the WR brand catalogs and the DVD of his shows. As a conclusion of this project, it will be released in the system all the digitized material, to facilitate access. Image 7. Students and their studies from the exposed clothes. Source: the author (2014)
Conclusion The issue of conservation of fashion collections is very complex, and for each of the steps required as cataloging, cleaning, packaging, repairing and exhibiting, specific knowledge is required, with actions and practices required to be done without damaging the collection. In this case, the donated collection was unique because even though being on paper and not textile, questions about what it would mean this collection within the institution, its preservation and access, needed to be set immediately by the team involved. There is not a schedule for receiving any type of donation in educational institutions and few here in the country have availability, space, budget and professionals interested and motivated to deal with this challenge. The interest in conservation and the creation of fashion collections and clothing has grown in Brazil. I believe that if we cannot make the ideal, we can start by the achievable; always seeking guidance of professionals specialized in conservation and published manuals, increases the chances to get it right. It is essential that we follow the rules of conduct of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), which says: "A bad treatment can destroy an object. If in doubt, do nothing. " References: ANDRADE, Rita Moraes de. Historicizar indumentária (e moda) a partir do estudo de artefatos: reflexões acerca da disseminação de práticas de pesquisa e ensino no Brasil. Periódico Eletrônico MODAPALAVRA. Florianópolis, UDESC-CEART. 2013. BORGES, Paulo ; BIANCO, Giovanni. O Brasil na Moda. Volume 1 e 2.São Paulo, Editora Caras, 2003 JOORY, Eva. Coleção Moda Brasileira. Walter Rodrigues. São Paulo. Editora Cosac Naify, 2007. MONNEYRON, Frederic. A moda e seus desafios. São Paulo, SENAC, 2007. PEARCE, Susan (ed.) Museum studies in material culture. London: Leicester University Press, 1989. PESEZ, Jean Marie. História da cultura material. São Paulo, Martins Fontes, 2001.