The Pattern Doctor: An outlook on NYC's Garment Discrict

Posted by fashionentrepreneurreport On Sunday, July 05, 2009

Are pattern makers a dying breed? Laura Moore is a self-taught pattern maker currently living in NYC, who has been in the industry since late 70’s.

When she was a small child she made clothing for her stuffed animals out of aluminum foil and paper towels, string and tooth picks. She teaches hand tailoring at Pratt, which is one of the most advanced classes in the curriculum. She is still tying to figure out if she can make it as a pattern maker in NYC. She considers herself a bit of a dinosaur because of her old school handwork and couture level construction. She works, as they say, on the table. This market all but dried up years ago in USA. But she stresses it is important to know how things work because this will make you a better designer. Oriana DiNella delves into the life of the lost art of creating a pattern by hand with one of the industry’s masters.

Laura Moore: Eight years ago when I found myself for the third time in my career having to leave a major job, I decided that I really wanted to teach. I still do freelance pattern making and hold a position as a part-time professor at Pratt Institute. Nothing I have ever done thrills me as much as teaching does.

I have been a sample maker, production manager, tech designer and worked in the tech design department. Currently, she barley has a halftime salary and no benefits.

She met Celeste/Anthony of Restore Clothing at a Christmas party and now works for them as a pattern maker and garment "reconstructor". Celeste refers to her as “the pattern doctor” as she does life saving surgery on patterns!

Oriana DiNella: What are the day to day activities in a freelance world?

LM: No two days ever resemble each other. As freelance pattern maker, I have a diverse and ever changing group of clients. One day I will work on jeans, next day tailored blazer, wedding gown and then possibly swim suits. Being a freelancer requires one to be more diverse and well rounded. Back in the day, pattern makers had more specific jobs i.e. (children’s swimwear etc) because there was barely any freelancing. It is exciting because I get to vary the type of product I work on. This is a great benefit. The downside is I don’t know week to week how much work I will have or if I will have enough money coming in. In the good old days, I worked for the same pattern table for same label every day. The flexibility is wonderful but job security is not there. There is not a lot of job security in the fashion industry in general, being able to wear many hats has kept me going.

I also do product development and consulting for potential startups, I have told many not to go forward because I was looking out for their best interest. If someone is consulting with me and they do not have the backing and business knowledge for a fashion line, then the company they are trying to make will not get there.

Start-ups are expensive and time consuming! If a concept is that far removed from realty, it’s a no go. What I get a lot is many new moms wanting to design a line of baby clothes. We have all worn clothes our entire lives and a lot of ordinary people think they can be a clothing designers. I don’t understand why someone would go into field they know nothing about! As to when I interviewed someone about working in the fashion industry and asked him or her why that wanted to get into it, they replied, “I watch the fashion channel all the time.” Good luck to them.

The whole project runway phenomenon has been interesting. Daniel Vosovic wrote book titled Fashion Inside Out, where he profiled quite a few industry professionals. He gave me a chapter in his book. I commend him on his book because it is geared for young people who might be considering a career in fashion and it what the work and life entails. I talk to students at Pratt about it a lot. No one ever says they come because of how much they love Project Runway. Project Runway is fun to see what people do when you put them in a creative situation, however I do not think it draws people into the industry.

OD: Due to the economic shift of the current climate, have there been less jobs for pattern maker and or seamstress in NYC?

LM: I am a pattern maker that works on the table and I consider myself a dinosaur. FIT stopped offering a major in pattern making a few years ago, which shows how many pattern makers are no longer out there and how low the demand is for them.

FIT needs to place graduates, and if there are no jobs in pattern making, the school is not going to focus on it then. A lot has to do with the economy of course. In the last 20 years, there has been a whole generation shift of doing patterns. I teach Fashion Design, which is a two semester fashion class. It is vital for the students to take this, not so they can get jobs as pattern makers per say but so they can communicate while working in the industry. It is easier to communicate about something if you understand it.

OD: Do you feel that adjustments have been made and more manufacturing services have been outsourced?

LM: Many years ago factories realized they could make their services more appealing if they offered pattern making for free. It is much less costly to have pattern makers abroad. Because of this, it created a huge demand for tech designers. I have also worked as a tech designer.

A good pattern maker understands the importance of shapes. A designer can give a sketch of the same measurements to 5 different pattern makers and get 5 different garments. One garment will make you feel thinner, one heavier etc. Everyone wants the perfect pants! There are a lot of different ways when drawing patterns to make numbers fit. No matter how great the tech pack is, if a less than great pattern maker is on the other end, you will NOT get receive a great pattern. One needs to have an amazing pattern maker to translate the tech pack into gorgeous garments.

Very few jobs for pattern makers are left. They have been replaced by tech designers or computers. That doesn’t mean the skill of pattern making has gone away. I do not use computer, all patterns are done by hand. I make original patterns on paper and consider myself more of a craftsperson. What I do use technology for it to have the patterns digitized to keep the originals safe. I can then email the originals to whoever needs it.

Tech designers began to evolve in 1980s. The heyday was in 1990’s. The emergence of tech design meant that manufacturers no longer needed pattern dept and sample room. They just needed a couple of tech designers and then would send info to over seas factories. With the economic downturn, jobs for tech designers have decreased with most everything else.

OD: Do you see things coming back to the heyday of the Garment District with the onset of the slow fashion movement and eco clothing taking off?

LM: No, because we have various forces in society (Walmart & McDonalds) that want cheap disposable things that cost as little as possible to make. I am hopeful of the current generation that is concerned with environment. Consumer behavior is beginning to evolve, but has a lot more of evolving to do.

To the average consumer, an amazing garment that may cost 20% more, isn’t worth the price because they will not see the difference and will not be willing to pay the extra money. I am excited and encouraged with the eco brands (RESTORE) and companies that are active in the Save the Garment Center, a movement to revitalize what has become a dying industry. The Garment District has made a ton of progress, but will not see heyday again. This is not possible with China, since it is a global economy.

OD: Where do you foresee things going with the Garment District in general?

I am optimistic and believe it will not dry up and go away. I think that more start-ups are interested in being small, staying local, doing the “right” thing. I am hopeful that it is not going to die. I do not think it is going to flourish in the next couple of years, nor is any business for that matter. NYC has recognized not to turn all manufacturing businesses into multi million dollar apartments. Construction is leveling off and currently zoned spaces for manufacturing will not be fighting to get them zoned for residential. Which will allow them to keep making things here in NYC. It is wasteful and expensive to buy goods that are shipped from here to there and this is why there are $300 shirts at Barneys.