- Hi, I'm Thom Browne.

I am giving you an intimate look into

the steps that takes me from conceptual sketch

through fittings to Paris to the actual runways.

And this is "Sketch to Dress".

[air clacks]

The simple idea for this collection really started

from the idea of Noah's Ark.

This being a show with both men and women,

I wanted it to be the idea of pairs.

It came from that soft mark idea of the guy and the girl

looking the same and then I thought, well, Noah's Ark

with the animals two by two coming out of the ark.

The sketches are very conceptual at the beginning.

They really start with shapes.

A pleated skirt would be more of like a triangle.

A square would be more of a shorter jacket.

A rectangle would be more of an outerwear piece.

The look that you will be seeing

it's basically taking the classic pleated skirt

but actually pulling the pleated skirt to be worn

as almost like a halter top.

And then the coat and the shirt of the look

being the skirt for the look

and then the sport coat actually just on her shoulders.

And his shoulders, too.

I sketch this way

because I can't actually illustrate, at all.

Then I do get with my teams and then it turns into

a more workable sketch.

[air clacks]

From that conversation, the pattern pieces

created by a pattern maker who I've been working with

for a long time who is a genius pattern maker.

Then the muslin is made from those pattern pieces

and then the pattern pieces and the muslin

is fit on the actual model.

The muslin process is important, just it's a working tool.

It's really taking the idea of what the look

should turn into and fitting the garment on a body.

The most important thing is

to see that the proportion is working,

to see that it actually fits,

to see that it's something that's interesting in actuality

as opposed to just on paper.

So many of my collections do start from the idea of

how am I gonna make the gray suit interesting again.

The idea of uniformity that most people

think is not interesting or very constricting

and showing it to people in a way

that it almost turn into living art.

For me, that is where really every collection starts.

It's from that very simple idea.

Once the proportion and the fit is perfected,

then it really just comes down to then fabricating.

[air clacks]

This collection is based on primarily Harris Tweed fabrics.

I like the structured nature of the fabrics to be worn

and to almost get better with time.

The mill that we actually get it from,

the story is that you won't appreciate it,

your son won't appreciate it,

your grandson will actually appreciate the cashmere.

That's how good it gets over time.

For this particular look, there are a lot

of different specific finishings in regards to

it's not a full gray flannel skirt,

a coat actually is in a red stripe navy Duchess satin

that is tipped in red, white, and blue bullion tipping.

And then we go into making the samples.

90% of everything is finished here

and then flown to Paris.

We should be finishing that towards the end of next week

and then everybody heads to Paris.

[sewing machine clacks]

[upbeat instrumental music]

This is my atelier here in Paris.

I have it year round.

We have the showroom here, as well.

This is where we do all the hand finishing.

We have about two days to the show.

We are fitting the look that we've been talking about

through this story.

Things are fitting well, thank God.

Everybody's looking good.

Constructing it is hours in regards to having people

hand tailor and hand stitch the conceptual pieces together

in order for it to actually fit as well as it needs to fit.

[air clacks]

Casting for the was important because I wanted to make sure

that the pairings work together.

Making sure that you saw pairs that you had to question

which one was the man and which one was the woman.

It was important for me to have, for this look particularly,

two models that actually could really carry it.

This look I'm actually gonna put at the beginning

of the show because it is so important to the idea

of what the collection is all about.

With my shows, because they're not traditional shows,

it's nice when they're more comfortable being able

to do something different.

So that is probably the most important thing in casting

is working with people that actually can perform

in some type of wear.

[air clacks]

Finishing, for me, for anything that I do in my shows

is really important.

The finishing in regards to the tipping is done

in bullion as opposed to a more simpler grosgrain finishing.

The insert in the pleats are a silk insert.

It's a really specially made piece of clothing.

The accessories are, well,

they're all based on animals from Noah's Ark.

The idea of making bags in the shape of animals

did specifically start with Hector.

I've been making the Hector bags for a couple of seasons now

and we have an amazing factory that can actualize

these type of bags.

It was a perfect way of playing

with the story of Noah's Ark.

There's a rabbit, there's a deer, there's an ostrich,

there's 33 different types of animals.

I don't know specifically if all of them

were actually in the Ark but they were in my eyes.

[rain whooshes]

[air clacks]

The show's at the Bazar here in Paris.

It's a beautiful venue.

I love being able to put these stories in front of people.

The set is really playing with the story of these animals

coming from Noah's Ark.

A beautiful winter set with two doors on the set

that represent coming from the past

and going into the future.

You know, we have such a short amount of time

in regards to rehearsing with the models

on the day of the show,

making sure the choreography is working

and just getting ready.

- So you can walk a bit slower

and you have to keep your distance.

Keep your distance with the couple in front of you.

You walk not too fast and you walk through the first door.

It's not the same partner in the finale as during the show

so don't be panicked, we put you with the correct partner.

[calm instrumental music]

- Half of the hair is silicone coated

and the back of the hair is real hair.

They are veiled in this beautiful veiling

that has the embroidery of the animals.

And then the makeup is very simple and very sculptured

on the face but nothing too overly dramatic.

We do have professional dressers that we are very serious

in regards to making sure they know how to put the look on

up to even to the point of where to put

the tie bar on the tie.

The moment before the show there is some anxiety

but it is the time that I love.

And I love being able to put the story in front of people

but I also want it to be perfect

because there's so much time and effort

that we all put into these 20 minutes

that I want to make sure it's as perfect as possible.

[crowd murmurs]

[cheerful orchestral music]

During the show, I can't do much

so I just I kind of enjoy it with everybody else.

We start sales the day after the show.

And I do love people entertaining these are real clothing.

As conceptual as they are, it is shown on a body

so it is something that I would love for people

to be able to see in real life.

I have to say, after the shows I love the experience.

I just wanna make sure that everybody, especially my team,

gets the appreciation that they deserve

for all the hard work.

We all get to just appreciate what we get to do.

The show actually is the closure for this collection.

There's a little bit of downtime but it's onto the next.

[shoes clack]