ILSE JARA: Innovation and evolution

September 10, 2024
Posted by Paola Caceres

Production: Juan Ángel Monzón

Photography: Nath Planás

Last Wednesday, at De Las Torres Hotel, fashion designer Ilse Jara presented her collection inspired by the Fungi Kingdom, with a short film directed by Javier Faciutto and produced by Maneglia-Schémbori, as well as a museum format display of the dresses. Through augmented reality, attendees also lived a sensory experience where fashion and technology came together harmoniously.

“We are aware that technology and fashion are forms of expression. This is why we have joined forces to show once again the power of technology and fashion to reinvent the ways in which users can express themselves,” says Marian Doldán, manager of Samsung Paraguay.

Inspiration

“We took this very small element of nature, the Fungi Kingdom, which has a very important function: that of decomposing to generate a new cycle of life,” describes the designer. “For me, one of the values we have in this world is that of nature, and in the search for my identity I realized that its revaluation was part of my purpose. To inspire me from the unknown of nature, from its scientific side, from the intangible, not only from its appearance”, details the designer.

And that is why his garments use technology in conjunction with nature as a resource, uniting these apparent polar opposites to find a perfect balance “and above all timeless, because both axes could never be out of fashion,” he adds.

The combination of manual creation and technology can occur in different facets of production. In this collection, technology was used from digital molding, generating a more precise mold that can then be used to model the garment with 3D printing.

“Both this technology and laser cutting are useful when creating organic textures on delicate fabrics, with greater precision and finishing, which are finally applied manually (piece by piece), adding color with paints or dyes, as well as embroidery,” Jara describes.

Techniques and development

Laser cutting and 3D printing are the techniques to which the designer resorts mostly. She reinvents the way to use them and tests all kinds of materials that can be adapted to these processes. To do this, together with her work team, she conducts research on the technology and its possibilities, to then see how to unite this with the theme developed for the collection, making tests or prototypes.

“The fabrics are usually very varied, from natural silk to unusual fabrics for garments (fabrics for upholstery or other purposes). The materials for embroidery are generally crystals, in their different sizes and mother-of-pearl,” explains Jara, whose creative process starts with questioning, which leads to research. “When I research a topic I discover a world around it, which generates a wealth of content. From there we take elements that connect with the brand and create the moodboard (inspiration board) and guidelines such as: colors, silhouettes, structure, materialities, proportions, etc.,” she says.

After this initial process, the designer makes the first sketches and is in charge of researching resources and techniques. As a team, every detail is polished until the final designs are reached. The next process is the prototyping, where the objective is to bring the design to life as imagined.

“For this we use a canvas and make tests until it is in the final mold, as for the details and techniques, we do the tests and experiments in parallel; once we have this defined, it comes to life,” he explains.

The production process includes: technical data sheet, molding, assembly, definition of guidelines, elaboration of techniques (such as pleating, laser cutting, 3D printing, etc.), and then sewing, finishing, and finally, manual work that may involve final finishes such as painting, embroidery, among others.

“Considering the inspiration of this collection, handmade dyeing is also an ideal medium that helps to recreate the color effects found in mushrooms. It would be like giving a close-up to the images of this small kingdom and highlighting the beautiful colors and effects,” he explains regarding the proposal that also takes shape, hand in hand with Samsung.