By Cheryl Tay
Unveiled at the Press Conference of Women's Fashion Week 2011 Singapore as one of the Grand Couturiers to showcase during the 'Haute Couture Week' finale, Gustavo Lins is a Grand Couturier who approaches fashion design as an architect.
SENATUS looks at the cerebral approach taken by the Brazil-born architect turned designer.
A native of Brazil, Gustavo Lins was born in Belo Horizonte in 1961 and studied architecture. He would have gone on to pursue a career in architecture had his professor not asked him to reconsider what his true calling was: designing homes or fashion.
He settled in Paris in the early 1990s, and having worked as a pattern maker for 14 years after graduating in architecture, had developed a keen interest in the structure of clothes around the body and the shapes they formed. The curious Lins then began studying techniques of cutting and assembling fabric – tailoring – and analyzing the relationship between clothes and the body.
Grand Couturier Gustavo Lins beams when he speaks about his inspiration behind his designs. Seen here with Dr. Georgia Lee at his atelier.
Gustavo Lins first made an impact on the Parisian fashion scene with unusual designs for Jean-Paul Gaultier, John Galliano, Kenzo and Louis Vuitton.
He had also apprenticed with Lecoanet Hemant and worked with a woman who had once been the chef d’atelier of Cristobal Balenciaga. Working with such important names cemented his knowledge in creating top-notch products as he learnt to fit his sensitivities to the characteristics of luxury brands.
Dr. Georgia Lee dressed in one of Gustavo Lin's Fall/Winter 2011 Haute Couture pieces in his atelier.
In 2003 he launched his own label, GUSTAVOLINS, which included prêt-à-porter (ready-to-wear) ladies’ and mens’ collections.
He was appointed a guest member of the the Chambre Syndicale de la haute couture in 2007. His designs are executed with his characteristic architectural precision, and can be described as a blend of architecture, fashion and sculpture.
Designing for both men and women, he views his creations as a protection, a kind of envelope for the body, and favours employing leather as a go-between for other luxurious materials like silk and cashmere. Clients covet his creations for the tasteful drape of his dresses and the signature topstitched “T” of his leather jackets and trousers that define the “joints”.
With such an abundance of understated luxury, what facet of his clothing should the discerning eye pay attention to, then?
Lins names the back of his dresses as the intuitive side of the garment; the side that is usually unseen but yet leaves a lasting impression on anyone who crosses it. His touch is subtly articulated in details like the slim leather piping on the edges of jacket lapels, and his label that is completely hidden under an architect’s triangle of smooth leather stitched at the back of the neck.
Dr. Georgia Lee dressed in another of Gustavo Lin's Fall/Winter 2011 Haute Couture photographed on location in Paris.
