"The event was amazing and your dresses certainly stole the spotlight! ...
Thanks for your amazing work Jean!"
Toby Dankbaar
Marketing Executive, Dashing October, 2016
Installations are a fusion of a business goal, artistry and the structure. The structure is usually invisible in the completed piece, yet that is what makes it work. Designing and building installations requires a deep technical knowledge of materials such as paper, fabric, wire, and wood, adhesives, commercial production processes and tools. The space it is displayed in (trade show, museum, theatre, hotel venue) and how you want people to interact with it needs consideration too. You must have an understanding of all these areas for installations to succeed. The challenge is to make all these things sing together.
Brief: The purpose of the installation is to add WOW factor to the evening event for 250 of Dashing’s top tier retail clients. The paper ballgowns connect Dashing’s work printing on paper with the artistry of the fashion world. Fashion clients will have attended launches of designer’s new collections and we want to echo that feel.
How do installations add to an event? Unusual installations give leverage. They form a powerful image to anchor an event in guest’s minds. This is crucial as part of an event, as well as in the post event communications. In this case, I worked with Dashing before the event, taking step by step photos as I built the installation showing the process of designing and building. Dashing posted photos to create anticipation for the event itself. At the event clients posed with the mannequins for photos that were sent out afterwards. Installations inspire people to take photos for social media and give mainstream journalists juicy images for mainstream media.
Basically, a visually interesting installation buys you media coverage.
How were they made? OK, here goes... I began with a few days of planning, sketching designs for the structure and costing materials. The hands on work began with building the hoop skirts and bodices that formed the invisible support structure under the paper for both the white and black ball gowns. Since they were not being built on site, the pieces needed to be disassembled for transport. Hence the ballgowns needed a structure for shape, support and for the paper to attach to.
The top of each ball gown has a fabric bodice underneath. The paper attached to this as a base. This allowed me to put the top on and off the mannequin. If the ballgown was being built on site or could be transported all assembled on the mannequin, then a less substantial base can be used.
The papers for the long pleated skirt were scored on a cutting table following an illustrator file. See above left for the scored sheets. Each sheet was then hand folded and two cotton ribbons glued across the back of the zig zag folds to hold them together- see centre. Six pleated panels were then joined using two sided tape. The pleated paper was then attached to the white hoop skirt with cotton tapes and quick dry glue. The wire and boning in the hoop skirt gave the paper support and shaped its flare. The hoop skirt also allowed me to take the skirt on and off the mannequin with little handling of the easily marked paper.
At left is the ESKO which scored the papers for accurate folding. Any paper over 160 gsm needs scoring first for clean folds. I hand folded them and creased them using a bone folder. Quick drying glue adheres the elements together without warping. Centre, and right you can see the completed handbag. It is important to add enough details to make a figure work, but no more or it becomes overly fussy.
Long strips of paper are rolled around a length of wire to create beads. Each wire loops over a strip of boning attached over a woven cotton tape. Velcro connects it around the neck. White and gold Spicer's papers are added on top.
Jean Kropper, Paper Engineer and Artist with the completed white ball gown.
The petal forms needed a structure underneath to hold them together at the waist and so they could be curved and positioned. I built a wire framework covered with abaca or manila hemp paper for each petal and connected the wire to a heavy belt made of black seat belt webbing. Next, I cut two layers of Spicer's coloured paper larger than the wire shape (above left) that I sewed around on a sewing machine (centre). I glued and hand sewed them to the webbing. The join is covered by the loop of paper.
The finished mannequins installed at the National Art School's gallery in Darlinghurst, Sydney.
The mannequins were rather creepy coming out of coffin sized boxes on arrival. I played with this creating social media photos where the hand carried a message. This was eerily captivating on video.
