Handmade fashion

The fashion industry is filled with products that are marked as customized, personalized, having labels that say artisan and craftsmanship to sell the products. A handmade piece of clothing is it really machine made or handmade.

With everything getting automated including computer modeling, 3D printing, laser cutting of the cloth and ultrasonic welding what becomes more valuable handmade or machine made.

Handmade has an exclusivity and individuality attached to it. These items look superior too machine made items. The handmade items are regarded superior and machine made are regarded as inferior. Machine made are regarded as inferior. It was Karl Lagerfeld who automated the fashion industry and argues that ‘this is a sign of progress.’ The value is not in it being handmade but in the thought process

Usually the entire collection presented on the runway is made by machines except for the surface trimmings like embroidery, flowers, feather work, where the hand work is required. The distinction that exists between haute couture fashion and ready-to-wear clothes is that of being handmade and machine made.

Both hand and machine are advocates of solving design problems; enhance design practices and advancing fashion.

The average consumer considers mass production as done by machines which is not possible for a designer. A designer creates one of a kind design and only a few can be produced.

Only a skilled designer has the special skills to exactly know where to place the design on the fabric and is able to manipulate the fabric to get the desired result

Handmade pieces are expensive as they are labor intensive, rare, there are a lot of details which can be seen and add to the entire quality and value of the fabric. This cannot be created digitally and the price will never exceed that of handmade items. There is also a nostalgia element attached to the item and the craftsmanship. People find the handmade pieces having an element of touch and construction which is unique to it. It is an emotional and physical touch which is valued more than the machine made product.

A handmade product creates a sense of relationship with the person who buys it. You have a direct contact with the person who has created it a human connection which far more valuable than the monetary value. 

The value of the handmade item is to do with the maker of the item/fabric/product. A human seeks ways to connect with another and the fear of losing connection even if it is the clothes. The social media although is connecting us it is still creating a void making us lose the human connection.

A few materials are better when cut by the machine which includes leather. But hand and machine work together to create haute couture or ready-to-wear.

We need to accept the new standards in fashion from handmade to machine as it is getting very difficult to differentiate between the two products. The technology is relevant to the age we live in.