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The Making of a Winning Design – Pret-a-Porter 2009
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Women in Design received the highest honor, ”Best in Show,” at this year’s Prêt-a-Porter, an annual fashion show hosted by the International Interior Design Association’s Rocky Mountain Chapter.
 This September 11th was memorable for more than patriotic reasons for many in Denver’s architecture and design industry. Held at Exdo, a warehouse-turned-event center located on 35th & Walnut in Denver’s extended downtown area (hence the name, Exdo), Prêt-a-Porter, now in its fifth year, seems to keep outgrowing its previous year’s venue. The premise of this wildly popular, competitive event is ludicrous - architecture and design firms and schools are paired randomly with product manufacturers to then begin to design and fabricate a prêt-a-porter (French for “ready to wear”) garment nearly entirely (80%) out of that manufacturer’s materials. Although sponsored by IIDA, a professional organization of Interior Designers, this year the event’s coveted highest award, “Best in Show”, was earned by the WiD team of structural engineers, architects, and interior designers. We were a first-time entrant and paired with the sophisticated commercial carpet manufacturer, Karastan.
 How any project—regardless of leadership quality, strictness of schedule, or experience level—that involves a “team” designing a “thing” that is then to be “constructed” ever gets completed is beyond me. Given the inevitable procrastination, miscommunication, re-designing, second-guessing, disagreements, melt-downs, moments of inspiration followed immediately by moments of idiocy, the process through which a design is brought to life is never an easy one. We are all on the same side of crazy-enough to truly enjoy designing, and although all of us can relate to the above terms, we also all deeply recognize that design, by its very nature, is wondrous, exciting, invigorating, and ultimately rewarding, especially when sincere vision, effort, and passion are invested. Creation itself is beautiful, as it is a reflection of one’s soul, or, in this case, a unified expression containing elements of unique expressions from each of its creators.
 “Who’s interested in participating in Prêt-a-Porter this year; we should get a team together…Kristen?” Geneva posed this question at one of our steering committee meetings in April. I have a hard time saying “no” when someone uses my name directly in a question. “No” said my mind, “yes” came out of my mouth. A couple of others expressed interest (Jenny and Rebecca) and that’s when it all started. Not long after that, a group of us found ourselves sitting around a table at the showroom of the manufacturer with which we’d been paired (Karastan Commercial Carpet), doe-eyed, blinking at one another. “So, who’s done this before?” No one except me, apparently, and only once before, at that. The wonderful quality about virgin participants is that they are blind by naivety and therefore over- joyously energetic; there is no bitterness or snobbery-based-on-experience or egotistic baggage. Splendid! After we confirmed that no one amongst us had any legitimate experience or know-how in the realm of tailoring or sewing, we immediately decided that we wanted to win first place. It’s always fun to remember “firsts”; that first meeting, not knowing ea ch other’s personalities, making polite suggestions, trying not to step on toes. Of course that congeniality morphed into everyone talking at once and interrupting one another at later meetings. Thinking back now, I hardly remember those first meetings, what we discussed, how we came upon a design concept; they started out at once or twice a month and then became as frequent as two or three times a week towards the crunch. All in all, these meetings gave us plenty of time to get to know one another through food, drinks, and design. None of us got into this looking for new friends, but friendships, without a doubt, are what we’ve gotten out of it.
So, as the design process always seems to unfold, it went that way this time, too—unpredictable, not even slightly controllable. It was as if the finished product—the design itself—had a mind all its own, and so, even before the first pencil hit the first paper, the design knew what was going to be. Problems arose in the process because although the creation knew what it would be, we the creators were left in the dark. In essence, it was our duty to entice, to actively engage, to somehow coax the design into coming out of hiding; to figure out how the chunk of marble would become “David”.
 Between the three engineers (Allison, Nicole, and Rebecca), the three interior designers (Shannon, Ashlee and myself), and the two architects (Jenny and Victoria) that were the WiD Pret team, there were obviously multiple differences in fundamental approaches to how, what, when, and why. Some of us operate through a strict, systematic schedule and deadlines; some of us have don’t have any other method of organization beyond sticky notes and sharpie-writings on our hand. It didn’t matter how different we were; each of us did what we knew how to do, in our own way, methodically, and persistently. We met, e-mailed, sketched, discussed, listened, brainstormed, phone-called, experimented, figured it out as we went along, failed, made mock-up after mock-up, re-grouped, learned new crafts, communicated, miscommunicated, slacked-off, were indecisive, disagreed, wanted it to be over, laughed, became re-inspired, became physically wounded, stressed-out, had 4-hour long meetings, finally decided on a design direction and concept, sacrificed weekends, tried new ideas, tried everything, duct-taped, glued, sewed, re-grouped, organized, smiled, divided responsibilities, cared, and learned through experience (and wine). Aside from the team members, we have Gary, Karastan’s rep, to thank for always getting materials to us the day after we requested them; and Jim and the staff at Aztec Custom Rug and Carpet for basically using and allowing us to use every industrial machine in their production area, more times than we can count, to magically turn carpet into a garment. The keys throughout the process were hard work, being okay with uncertainties, remaining flexible and patient, trusting one another, and constant communication. Somehow, through all of that, a winning garment was created.
We knew we had a strong design, a brilliant concept, and professional-level craftsmanship. We had no clue what the competition would be. Shannon and I walked away from the dress rehearsal feeling confident that our hard work had paid off. For the models and team captains, the day of the event was a long one; hair and makeup were provided by the Parlour Salon on Wynkoop St. during the afternoon. After that wrapped up, models a nd team captains reported for pre-judging, hours before the first audience member was allowed through the door. A line consisting of dressed-to-the-nines, eager-to-get-in-the-door ticket-holders wrapped around nearly the entire building created a glam-allure rivaling a red-carpet Hollywood shin-dig. Our team members were all there, full of relief and nothing but smiles. In a blur and bundle of nerves, flashing lights, and blaring music, the show began. The models were all fantastic, stunning, and full of personality. How a winner is chosen is beyond me. It was all a waiting game at that point; waiting for the judges to make the announcement.
Backstage, everyone waited nervously and patiently and was in full, nail-biting attention when the organizers and judges took the stage. Soon, there was only one award left to be announced, “Best of Show”. In a hazy moment, we found ourselves screaming like the girls we are while jumping up and dow n hugging each other in true Miss-America fashion. Shannon managed to find her way to the runway again, in a perfect, impossible-to-be-anything-other-than-surreal moment to receive the prize and take one final strut, drawing fanatical cheers from the zealous crowd. What a night. This is where this blog ends and our celebration began. Feel free to use your imagination about how the night went for a team who had been slaving for months and just won “Best of Show” at one of the industry’s largest annual events. I guess you’ll find out next year when you decide to join the WiD Pret team.
Women in Design received the highest honor, ”Best in Show,” at this year’s Prêt-a-Porter, an annual fashion show hosted by the International Interior Design Association’s Rocky Mountain Chapter.
This September 11th was memorable for more than patriotic reasons for many in Denver’s architecture and design industry. Held at Exdo, a warehouse-turned-event center located on 35th & Walnut in Denver’s extended downtown area (hence the name, Exdo), Prêt-a-Porter, now in its fifth year, seems to keep outgrowing its previous year’s venue. The premise of this wildly popular, competitive event is ludicrous - architecture and design firms and schools are paired randomly with product manufacturers to then begin to design and fabricate a prêt-a-porter (French for “ready to wear”) garment nearly entirely (80%) out of that manufacturer’s materials. Although sponsored by IIDA, a professional organization of Interior Designers, this year the event’s coveted highest award, “Best in Show”, was earned by the WiD team of structural engineers, architects, and interior designers. We were a first-time entrant and paired with the sophisticated commercial carpet manufacturer, Karastan.
How any project—regardless of leadership quality, strictness of schedule, or experience level—that involves a “team” designing a “thing” that is then to be “constructed” ever gets completed is beyond me. Given the inevitable procrastination, miscommunication, re-designing, second-guessing, disagreements, melt-downs, moments of inspiration followed immediately by moments of idiocy, the process through which a design is brought to life is never an easy one. We are all on the same side of crazy-enough to truly enjoy designing, and although all of us can relate to the above terms, we also all deeply recognize that design, by its very nature, is wondrous, exciting, invigorating, and ultimately rewarding, especially when sincere vision, effort, and passion are invested. Creation itself is beautiful, as it is a reflection of one’s soul, or, in this case, a unified expression containing elements of unique expressions from each of its creators.
“Who’s interested in participating in Prêt-a-Porter this year; we should get a team together…Kristen?” Geneva posed this question at one of our steering committee meetings in April. I have a hard time saying “no” when someone uses my name directly in a question. “No” said my mind, “yes” came out of my mouth. A couple of others expressed interest (Jenny and Rebecca) and that’s when it all started. Not long after that, a group of us found ourselves sitting around a table at the showroom of the manufacturer with which we’d been paired (Karastan Commercial Carpet), doe-eyed, blinking at one another. “So, who’s done this before?” No one except me, apparently, and only once before, at that. The wonderful quality about virgin participants is that they are blind by naivety and therefore over- joyously energetic; there is no bitterness or snobbery-based-on-experience or egotistic baggage. Splendid! After we confirmed that no one amongst us had any legitimate experience or know-how in the realm of tailoring or sewing, we immediately decided that we wanted to win first place. It’s always fun to remember “firsts”; that first meeting, not knowing each other’s personalities, making polite suggestions, trying not to step on toes. Of course that congeniality morphed into everyone talking at once and interrupting one another at later meetings. Thinking back now, I hardly remember those first meetings, what we discussed, how we came upon a design concept; they started out at once or twice a month and then became as frequent as two or three times a week towards the crunch. All in all, these meetings gave us plenty of time to get to know one another through food, drinks, and design. None of us got into this looking for new friends, but friendships, without a doubt, are what we’ve gotten out of it.
So, as the design process always seems to unfold, it went that way this time, too—unpredictable, not even slightly controllable. It was as if the finished product—the design itself—had a mind all its own, and so, even before the first pencil hit the first paper, the design knew what was going to be. Problems arose in the process because although the creation knew what it would be, we the creators were left in the dark. In essence, it was our duty to entice, to actively engage, to somehow coax the design into coming out of hiding; to figure out how the chunk of marble would become “David”.
Between the three engineers (Allison, Nicole, and Rebecca), the three interior designers (Shannon, Ashlee and myself), and the two architects (Jenny and Victoria) that were the WiD Pret team, there were obviously multiple differences in fundamental approaches to how, what, when, and why. Some of us operate through a strict, systematic schedule and deadlines; some of us have don’t have any other method of organization beyond sticky notes and sharpie-writings on our hand. It didn’t matter how different we were; each of us did what we knew how to do, in our own way, methodically, and persistently. We met, e-mailed, sketched, discussed, listened, brainstormed, phone-called, experimented, figured it out as we went along, failed, made mock-up after mock-up, re-grouped, learned new crafts, communicated, miscommunicated, slacked-off, were indecisive, disagreed, wanted it to be over, laughed, became re-inspired, became physically wounded, stressed-out, had 4-hour long meetings, finally decided on a design direction and concept, sacrificed weekends, tried new ideas, tried everything, duct-taped, glued, sewed, re-grouped, organized, smiled, divided responsibilities, cared, and learned through experience (and wine). Aside from the team members, we have Gary, Karastan’s rep, to thank for always getting materials to us the day after we requested them; and Jim and the staff at Aztec Custom Rug and Carpet for basically using and allowing us to use every industrial machine in their production area, more times than we can count, to magically turn carpet into a garment. The keys throughout the process were hard work, being okay with uncertainties, remaining flexible and patient, trusting one another, and constant communication. Somehow, through all of that, a winning garment was created.
We knew we had a strong design, a brilliant concept, and professional-level craftsmanship. We had no clue what the competition would be. Shannon and I walked away from the dress rehearsal feeling confident that our hard work had paid off. For the models and team captains, the day of the event was a long one; hair and makeup were provided by the Parlour Salon on Wynkoop St. during the afternoon. After that wrapped up, models and team captains reported for pre-judging, hours before the first audience member was allowed through the door. A line consisting of dressed-to-the-nines, eager-to-get-in-the-door ticket-holders wrapped around nearly the entire building created a glam-allure rivaling a red-carpet Hollywood shin-dig. Our team members were all there, full of relief and nothing but smiles. In a blur and bundle of nerves, flashing lights, and blaring music, the show began. The models were all fantastic, stunning, and full of personality. How a winner is chosen is beyond me. It was all a waiting game at that point; waiting for the judges to make the announcement.
Backstage, everyone waited nervously and patiently and was in full, nail-biting attention when the organizers and judges took the stage. Soon, there was only one award left to be announced, “Best of Show”. In a hazy moment, we found ourselves screaming like the girls we are while jumping up and down hugging each other in true Miss-America fashion. Shannon managed to find her way to the runway again, in a perfect, impossible-to-be-anything-other-than-surreal moment to receive the prize and take one final strut, drawing fanatical cheers from the zealous crowd. What a night. This is where this blog ends and our celebration began. Feel free to use your imagination about how the night went for a team who had been slaving for months and just won “Best of Show” at one of the industry’s largest annual events. I guess you’ll find out next year when you decide to join the WiD Pret team.
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