Teaching the Art of Couture: San Francisco fashion designer passes on knowledge of sacred geometry

Описание: How a story about #couture and #fashion turned into a story about #math
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When Colleen Quen reunites with her work, it is more than just reunion but a reconnection with heart and soul.

“It is a part of me, I’m going to cry,” said a Quen. “These pieces are an extension; every inch of my energy is put into these through my heart.”

The emotion comes from years of making one-of-a-kind dresses in the French Couture style.

“I have about 180 pieces in storage and each one is different. They are timeless,” said Quen. “If you take care of them, they become sustainable heirlooms.”

From 1998 to 2013 she was one of San Francisco’s celebrated fashion designers who dressed the city’s elite and socialites, and celebrities from Paris Hilton and Tyra Banks – even making a guest appearance on Banks’ “The Next Top Model.”

Quen’s most popular piece is the “Madam Butterfly” dress, where she guesses, she has made four hundred custom variations for her clients over the years.

“That dress probably supported my businesses,” said Quen.
Her signature piece is what she calls the “Empress Coat” – a gold A-line flowing coat that is meant to resemble royalty. A picture of her wearing the coat from a magazine cover photo hangs on her wall.

“It’s my pride and joy, and I thought of it as 24karat gold and she is a walking jewelry piece,” said Quen. “I never wearing my pieces, but when I put it on for the shoot it felt like I was in heaven.”
Quen studied fashion under the late Simone Sethna at the French Couture School in San Francisco, where she learned the art of what she affectionately calls, “sacred geometry.”

“Sacred geometry has this formula, this composition, but yet it is so beautiful because the way the numbers are calculated,” explained Quen. “Art and math work together, it is all about designing for the human body where you can make a walking art piece.”

Today, instead of shaping fabric, she is now shaping the next generation of fashion designers, by passing along her couture knowledge to a small group of students inside her tiny studio.

“I want to share this, because I feel honored that I was even granted to learn this myself,” Quen said. “My teacher told me not to tweak any of this, to honor French Couture and teach if you want, but don’t tweak anything I taught you.”

Quen’s classes begin with meticulous calculations and formulas that resembles engineering rather than art. One of her students, Lea Luellen found out the hard the way.

“I was never good at math until I met Colleen,” said Luellen. “She has taught me to use different parts of my brain to create.”

“I feel this is my purpose in live, to learn what I can and master my work but to share, because once you become a master you need to give back to the planet, and to the people who want to be inspired by this,” said Quen.

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