“I don’t even have any good skills. You know, like nunchuck skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills. Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills!” –Napolean Dynamite

In the world of sewing, great skills include things like custom trouser design skills, upstyling a jacket skills, stitching gold lamé fabric skills. Kenneth King, master of some of the coolest sewing skills around, brought his popular sewing class Cool Tricks Take Manhattan to the Twin Cities. The class with Mr. King, part of a weekend residency as guest teaching artist at the Textile Center, offered a menu of tips and techniques that upped the game of serious sewists.

Manhattan-based Kenneth King is a designer known for the sumptuous materials and detailed craftsmanship of his haute couture creations. His body of work includes clothing, home furnishings and accessories and is collected by museums and fashion icons around the world. He is an adjunct professor in the Haute Couture Certificate Program at the prestigious Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. He is the author of several books on sewing and a contributing editor for Threads Magazine.

The weekend’s events:

  • Friday, September 22, 2017, 9 am-4 pm • KENNETH KING: COOL TRICKS
  • Friday, September 22, 2017, 6:30-8:30 pm • KENNETH KING: GREATEST HITS LECTURE
  • Saturday, September 23, 2017, 5:30 pm-8:30 pm • Exclusive shopping party at St. Paul’s premiere fabric store Treadle Yard Goods for those registered for Kenneth’s workshops and lecture
  • Saturday-Sunday, September 23-24, 2017, 9 am-4 pm • KENNETH KING: DRAFT A CUSTOM TROUSER PATTERN

Writer and Textile Center Education Committee member Lisa Steinmann had the opportunity to interview Mr. King in advance of his arrival to the Twin Cities.

1) Your tagline is “Fashion for the twenty-first century.” As a designer whose work spans 20th and 21st centuries, what are the biggest differences and similarities between the two eras?

One of the big differences I see in the 21st century is the materials and processes. Along with new textiles and materials, such as lab-grown “leather” made from molds, 3-D printing, there are new ways of joining fabrics together, such as machines that “sew” with microwaves, to heat-bond fabrics together. In my own work, I take very 19th- and 20th century methods and make them up with man-made fabrics. This combines the best (I feel) of both centuries.

2) What do you think of applying high tech to couture? For example, new high tech fibers, computer aided design (CAD and CAM), clothing apps, body scan fitting, etc.

Absolutely. I use Photoshop to manipulate images from old fashion illustrations for my “cutwork” pieces—blowing up and abstracting small portions of the image to create all-over texture or motifs for specific placement. There was a show last year at the Met that showcased the marriage of hand, machine, and high-tech methods, many times in the same piece. Karl Lagerfeld really said that it’s all fair now. There’s no real distinction between techniques for couture—it’s all in how it’s used.

3) What is the one sewing skill we should all have (regardless of our ability with a sewing machine)?

GOOD PRESSING. Good pressing can save bad sewing, and bad pressing can ruin a good garment. It’s that important.

4) What should one look for when shopping for used clothes to upcycle?

Moth holes are the first thing, whether the fabric is worn thin is another. But the garment should speak to you in some way. Don’t try to just “make do” with a garment, for something to do.

5) Why “trousers” and not “pants”?

My teacher, Simmin (pronounced “Simone”) used to insist that the “pant” was what you wore under the trouser. Absolutely would not allow us to use that term. It stuck.

6) With a pair of cropped gray plaid pants worn by Jennifer Lawrence making headlines recently (Huffington Post Sept fifth Jennifer Lawrence’s Plaid Gray Pants Are Your Next Wardrobe Staple), it seems fair to say that to really look great in pants, they should be tailored to fit (like Lawrence’s). What’s your advice to people on the subject of pants (trousers)?

Understand that Photoshop has raised everyone’s expectations of perfect fit. Trousers can be trim fitting, but if you want them to be too snug, you will get horizontal drag lines. So go for a trim, smooth fit, not too tight. And personally, I’m not a fan of stretch fabrics—they will eventually give way (like the elastic on your underwear) and look like an unmade bed.

7) Fabrics that you are coveting at the moment?

I always love Fortuny cottons, and have been fortunate enough to get several different ones over my life.

8) Will there be name-dropping, illustrations and samples of your work during the lecture “Greatest Hits”?

Absolutely!

9) Favorite colors? Do you ever dye fabric?

Favorite color combinations, really—I like a split complementary combination. My eye really goes for that. Some people think I only work in black, but that was during a dark period in my life.

10) What is your personal definition of “couture”?

Couture is: Sparing no expense or effort to get the beautiful result. In this, though, that doesn’t mean wasting time. I worked in window display, and learned to put your time where it shows. So, I’ve developed techniques in my work that are efficient, and give good results. You don’t get extra credit for time you spent doing something inside the garment that has no visible effect on the outcome, nor longevity of the garment. That said, I build for a 25-year useful life.

11) What sewing mistake makes clothing look homemade? (not that there’s anything wrong with that)?

Slapdash marking when preparing the piece, and BAD PRESSING. Also trying to avoid hand sewing, when it is as strong, takes less time, and looks better. You stint on these to your peril. Generally I meet people who want their work to look custom-made. These three things will go far towards achieving that.

12) How would you describe your everyday personal clothing style?

I’ve been described as eccentric. That’s the best I can do.

13) Must haves in the sewing basket?

Gingher scissors, good and sewing needles (milliners, or “straws”), pressing tools such as my Reliable i600 iron, sleeve board and point presser.

14) Favorite fashionable TV shows?

I don’t watch much TV, but did adore Mad Men.

15) What role do places like the Textile Center play in the world of fashion and fabric arts?

We need places where people in general, and people who sew specifically, can regularly interact with textiles. Since textiles and sewing are so ubiquitous in our daily lives but so invisible, making people aware of them gives an appreciation for something taken for granted.