Initial Reading
Read the following text as quickly as you can, and underline the topic sentences or the key words in order to understand the main idea of the text. Then complete the exercises that follow.
[1] Erich Biehle has been a designer for over 50 years, and has held almost every role from cutting fabric and painting designs to serving as the creative director of an international fashion company.While employed by the Zurich-based silk company Abraham, Biehle designed fabrics for labels from Balenciaga, Dior, and Pierre Cardin to Yves Saint Laurent, and Ungaro, before going on to directorial roles for Givenchy and Bally International.
[2] Biehle recalls his training as a very intense process in designing，“It was practically two days almost nonstop, working with him in a workshop atmosphere. And this taught you a lot of other things: how to act, even how to breathe, how to think, put things in question, analyze, be critical, and build up something from nothing.”
[3] When Biehle began his professional career in textiles, he used his paint kit to produce patterns that range from the apparently simple to the complex.
[4] Biehle describes one pattern he created. To the casual observer, it appeared to be a simple plaid, but Biehle says it had just the right size lines and just the right gradient of each color, and it took time to figure out these details.
[5] The designer credits an eye for details with his ability to design. “I was a good observer. That’s something that I learned. That’s what I meant with how to see. To see in little things—unimportant things—something beautiful, something positive, something that you can use and can make something out of it.”
[6] Biehle’s observational skills have allowed him to design in a way that captures something special about each era, a knack he attributes to his training with Itten in Zurich.
[7] In those days, Biehle said, designers did it all. They could sew. They could design. They could complete the whole process. At his lecture in IU’s student union, he encouraged students to do the same by experimenting with collaging effects. Use pencils, he said. He encouraged the students to not rely on their computer too heavily because one of the most important parts of design happens internally. This is the internal processing of the world, he explained.
[8] Having observed fashion in context for over five decades, Biehle recognizes how apparel has jibed with social values. “You know,” says Biehle, “you had kind of a breaking point in fashion that happened with Dior. This was ending the period after the Second World War. It was a new look. It had to do with women in society in the future. The women became active, they were working, and they became part of the business world. Yves Saint Laurent—pantsuit, Pier Cardin—taking from couture to ready-to-wear,make it affordable. The distribution: the boutiques, then in department stores. It’s reality. That’s how life, how society changed. It was not aristocracy anymore or dictating. It was more about the people,about ordinary people. That’s why fashion is so fascinating and interesting. What’s more it reflects something that is happening, that will happen or has happened. It’s there for a reason.”
New Words
fabric /
fæbrɪk/ n. 织物；布；构造；建筑物
Zurich /
zuərik/ n. 苏黎世（城市名）
Abraham /'eɪbrə
hæm/ n. 亚伯拉罕（男子名）
label /
leɪbl/ n. 标签；商标
directorial /
daɪrek
tɔːriəl/ adj. 管理的；指挥的
nonstop /
nɒn
stɒp/ adj. 直达的；不休息的
critical /
krɪtɪkl/ adj. 关键的；危急的；批判性的；获得好评的
textile /
tekstaɪl/ n. 纺织品；织物
kit /kɪt/ n. 工具箱；成套工具
pattern /
pætn/ n. 模式；图案；样品
casual /
kæʒuəl/ adj. 随便的；偶然的；临时的
plaid /plæd/ n. 彩格尼；格子图案
gradient /
ɡreɪdiənt/ n. 斜坡；倾斜度；梯度
credit /
kredɪt/ vt. 把……归给，归功于……
knack /næk/ n. 诀窍；本领；熟练技巧
attribute /ə
trɪbjuːt/ v. 归属；把……归于……
sew /səʊ/ v. 缝纫；缝合
union /
juːnjən/ n. 联盟；协会；联合
collage /
kɒlɑːʒ/ v. 把……创作成拼贴画；拼贴
internally /ɪn
tɜːnəli/ adv. 内部地；国内地
context /
kɒntekst/ n. 环境；上下文
apparel /ə
pærəl/ n. 服装；衣服
jib /dʒɪb/ v. 踌躇不前的；停止不动的；移转
pantsuit /
pænt
suːt/ n. 长裤套装；长裤西服装
ready-to-wear adj. 做好的；现成的
affordable /ə
fɔːdəbl/ adj. 负担得起的
distribution /
dɪstrɪ
bjuːʃn/ n. 分布；分配
boutique /buː
tiːk/ n. 精品店
aristocracy /
ærɪ
stɒkrəsi/ n. 贵族阶级
dictating /'dɪk
teɪtɪŋ/ adj. 口述的；命令的
fascinating /
fæsɪneɪtɪŋ/ adj. 迷人的
Phrases and Expressions
1. Erich Biehle 埃里奇·比勒（瑞士知名设计师）
2. range from... to 从……到……
3. appear to 看来像是；看来似乎
4. figure out 算出；想出；解决；理解；断定
5. make sth. out of 用……做出
6. allow sb. to do sth. 允许某人做某事
7. attribute... to 把……归因于
8. rely on 依赖；依靠
9. in context 在上下文中；连贯起来
10. kind of 有点
11. breaking point 爆发点；转换点；断裂点；击穿点
12. do with 处理；利用；忍受；需要；相处
Related Information
1. Balenciaga：巴黎世家,时尚界最有影响力的品牌之一。1919年由克里斯托瓦尔·巴朗斯加(Cristóbal Balenciaga)成立，1936年落户巴黎，引领了1930年到1968年之间很多重要的时尚运动。有代表性的成衣系列体现了品牌的身份，皮具、鞋和饰品也取得了全球性的成绩。皮包是品牌的主打产品之一。Balenciaga着手发展的男士成衣系列产品也取得了显著的成功。
2. Dior：迪奥，由法国时装设计师克里斯汀·迪奥（Christian Dior）于1946年创于巴黎，是世界著名的时尚消费品牌,主要经营女装、男装、首饰、香水、化妆品等高档消费品。
3. Yves Saint Laurent：伊夫·圣洛朗,法国知名品牌设计师。最开始为迪奥公司设计时装，后成立自己的品牌，并以自己的名字命名。伊夫圣洛朗品牌始终传达着高雅、神秘以及热情的圣洛朗精神。品牌产品中包括时装，香水、饰品、鞋帽、护肤化妆品及香烟等。
4. Ungaro：温加罗,知名服装设计师，也是法国顶级时尚品牌温加罗的创始人。温加罗敢于打破服装设计的黄金规律：绝不要将格子和条子混在一起，大胆使用感官上冲突的颜色和图形，在时尚界独树一帜。温加罗还以其女性气质和对色彩的深入理解，出人意料的混搭风格，纯粹的形状和具体而微的细腻感享誉世界。
5. Givenchy：纪梵希,来自法国的时装品牌，它是以其创始人休伯特·德·纪梵希（Hubert de Givenchy）命名的。几十年来，这一品牌一直保持着“优雅的风格”，在时装界几乎成了“优雅”的代名词。而纪梵希本人在任何场合出现总是一副儒雅气度和爽洁不俗的外形，因而被誉为“时装界的绅士”。
6. Bally International：巴利国际,是一家独树一帜的时尚品牌公司。此品牌得名于其创始人卡尔·巴利。无论是时装、鞋类还是手袋，巴利始终全心全意去实现一种“整体造型”的设计概念，使其作品散发出魅力十足的气质。
7. Itten：伊顿,瑞士表现主义画家、设计师、作家、理论家、教育家。他是包豪斯最重要的教员之一，是现代设计基础课程的创建者。与德裔美籍画家里昂耐尔·费宁格（Lyonel Feininger）和德国雕塑家格哈特·马克斯（Gerhard Marcks）共事于建筑家沃尔特·格罗庇乌斯（Walter Gropius）带领下的魏玛包豪斯学院。