Fashion Designer Transforms Ordinary Clothing Into High Fashion Using Only a Pair of Scissors

Fashion designer Adam Saaks demonstrates the incredible power that a pair of scissors can wield. For over 14 years, he has refined a design technique that involves nothing more than shiny, razor-sharp blades and strategically-placed snips. With his tool and an eye for style, he cuts intricate motifs into ordinary bodysuits, dresses, and jumpsuits, transforming them into high-fashion ensembles with ladder-like patterns that accentuate the curves of the human body.

Although Saaks’ creations are impressive on their own, they become even more so once you learn his process. He often hosts live cutting events where he’ll trim and shape a garment as it’s being worn. The performance aspect presents its own challenge, as he has to come up with a design on the spot. With a crowd watching, every cut matters—unlike conventional garment construction, there’s no way to take out the seam and restitch it later.

For much of his career, Saaks has created fashions for celebrities like Heidi Klum, Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, and Britney Spears. His signature aesthetic—established long before decorative t-shirt cutting went mainstream—has appropriately deemed him the godfather of this trend.

Saaks has now takes commissions through his recently-established online shop, allowing anyone to feel like one of his A-list clients. Watch his mesmerizing work in process, below.

Adam Saaks: Website | Facebook | YouTube
via [Bright Side]

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met and Manager of My Modern Met Store. She is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art where she earned her BFA in Illustration and MFA in Illustration Practice. Sara is also an embroidery illustrator and writer living in Seattle, Washington. She runs Bear&Bean, a studio where she stitches pet portraits and other beloved creatures. She chronicles the creativity of others through her website Brown Paper Bag and newsletter, Orts. Her latest book is Threads of Treasure: How to Make, Mend, and Find Meaning Through Thread, published in 2014. Sara’s work has been recognized in Be Creative With Workbox, Embroidery Magazine, American Illustration, on Iron and Wine’s album Beast Epic, among others. When she’s not stitching or writing, Sara enjoys planning things that bring together the craft community. She is the co-founder of Camp Craftaway, a day camp for crafty adults with hands-on workshops in the Seattle area.
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