In the realm of haute couture in Paris, where seamstresses concoct handmade gowns that cost as much as a car, one atelier has caused a sensation by purveying a different kind of made-to-measure. Call it do-it-yourself chic. The atelier, called the Sweat Shop, is a kind of Internet cafe where Singer sewing machines replace computers, and would-be fashion designers and creatively inclined clotheshorses pay by the hour to stitch their own garments.
在巴黎高檔女裝界，裁縫師傅手工定製的禮服，有時跟轎車一樣昂貴。一家工作坊因提供另類量身裁製的衣服而爆紅，也許可稱之為自己動手做出流行時尚。這家取名「血汗工作坊」的咖啡屋，類似網咖，只是以勝家縫紉機取代電腦，提供夢想當時裝設計師和有創意又講究穿著的人，可以計時付費自行縫製衣服。
The brainchild of a Swiss makeup artist and an Austrian clothing designer, Sweat Shop opened in March, as France was still reeling from global economic crisis and unemployment in the country stood at more than 10 percent. “It seems like a strange thing to say, but the crisis turned out to be the perfect timing for us,” said Martena Duss, the atelier's Lucerne, Swiss-born co-founder.
這是瑞士一位化妝師和奧地利一位服裝設計師腦力激盪下的產物。「血汗工作坊」今年3月開張，當時法國仍遭受全球經濟危機威脅，失業率超過10%。「說來似乎有點不可思議，但這次經濟危機的確提供我們最好的契機。」出生於瑞士盧森的瑪提娜．達斯說，她是這家工作室的共同創辦人。
The space itself sets the tone: A dilapidated former printing press in the up-and-coming Canal Saint Martin neighborhood of eastern Paris, Sweat Shop is furnished with found and secondhand objects in what might be dubbed haute kitsch style. A couch set in mustard yellow velvet sits beneath a mounted deer's head; grandma tschotskes and crocheted doilies cover every surface; the white sewing machines, provided free-of-charge by the manufacturer, sit atop refurbished school desks.
空間布置本身已經定調：這裡原是家年久失修的印刷廠，坐落巴黎東部新興的聖馬丁運河區，血汗工作坊裡全是找來的二手家具，可能被說品味和風格庸俗。一套芥末黃天鵝絨沙發，上面掛著裝裱好的鹿頭標本；老奶奶古老的小禮物和鉤針編織的桌布鋪在桌上；廠商免費提供的白色縫紉機放在翻新的課桌上。
It costs US$7.90 per hour to use one of the Singers, but some prior sewing experience is required. For novices, Duss and her co-owner, Sissi Holleis, offer sewing classes five evenings a week. Because home economic classes have long been absent from the French public school curriculum, the lessons are Sweat Shop's most popular offerings, Duss said. Beginners all start with the same simple projects - a pillow or a bag - but after that, clients come with their own fabric and ideas. “The most frustrating thing for people is that they just don't realize how time consuming it's going to be,” said Duss. “They come in here thinking they're going to make a wedding dress in a single afternoon.”
使用一台勝家縫紉機每小時酌收7.9美元，但要有些縫紉經驗。如果是新手，達斯和共同創辦人西西．何利斯每周有五個晚上開縫紉班。達斯說，由於法國公立學校早已不開家政課，血汗工作坊最受歡迎的就屬這些縫紉課。初學者一開始只做同樣簡單的東西，像枕頭或包包，之後客人會帶自己的布料和創意來。「最令人洩氣的是，他們不了解裁縫有多耗時費力。」達斯說：「他們一來就以為可以在一個下午做出一件婚紗。」
In retrospect, the pair came to the world fashion capital expecting to be wowed by Gallic savoir faire. Instead, they found a city in which the relationship between ordinary people and the hallowed workshops of the great couturiers had broken down to the extent that their French friends were asking to borrow their sewing machines. So they decided to open a friendly workshop where budding seamstresses and enthusiastic amateurs could practise their art while sipping an espresso or munching on Martena's herb-laden Finnish cake.
回想起來，兩人當初到世界時尚之都，一心期待對法國的高超縫紉技巧大開眼界。然而，她們發現，巴黎花都一般人和神聖偉大的時裝裁縫之間的關係，已經壞到連法國友人都要向她們借縫紉機的地步。因此，她們決定開一家充滿親和力的工作坊，讓嶄露頭角的裁縫師傅和滿腔熱忱的業餘裁縫，可以實踐自己的夢想，同時喝杯咖啡或吃瑪提娜親手特製的香草芬蘭蛋糕。
Sweat Shop has attracted considerable attention from French fashion magazines, and 80 percent of its clientele are women aged 25-35, said Duss, adding that for some reason, “there are lots of men in the knitting classes.” The shop also attracts a fair share of people passing through Paris, as well as some veteran seamstresses like an 80-year-old Swedish woman who spends nearly every afternoon there. One customer, 32-year-old Julie Herv, has signed up to the couture class in order to “perfect” her technique.
血汗工作坊已經引起法國時尚雜誌界相當大的注意，它的客戶80%是25至35歲的女性，達斯補充說，由於某些原因，「有很多男人來上編織班。」這家工作室也吸引不少巴黎過客及一些有經驗的老裁縫，有個80歲的瑞典阿嬤幾乎每天下午都來報到。32歲的客人茱莉葉．赫維則表示，她已經登記報名縫紉班，使自己的技術更臻完美。
The shop has already proven a much bigger success than Duss and Holleis initially envisioned. “We were a bit nervous because there isn't much of a do-it-yourself culture in France,” Duss said. “Maybe it's because there's so much perfection all around, with haute couture and haute cuisine, but French people are generally reticent to things that may not be perfect. But now, I think people are eager to express themselves and be their own designer and personalize what they wear. They don't all want to be going around in the same H&M T-shirt,” she said, adding that she and Holleis have already gotten franchise offers.
這家工作坊已經證明十分成功，遠遠超過達斯和何利斯最初的設想。「我們有點緊張，因為法國不太流行自己動手做的文化。」達斯說。「也許因為凡事講求完美，既有頂級時尚又有頂級佳餚，法國人對可能不完美的事一向保持沉默。但現在，我想大家都勇於表現自己，希望自己設計裁製個性化的穿著，她們並不希望全都穿著H&M的T恤。」已經有人請她和何利斯開加盟店。
“For the moment, we're taking it slow. This is like our baby, so we want it to have time to grow up a little. But we sometimes joke that our goal is to have three stores in three years,” she said. A top destination for the first new branch ? Possibly New York, she said. In this photo taken July 23, 2010, Switzerland-born co-founder of the Sweat Shop, Martena Duss, smiles as she poses in her cafe in Paris.
她說：「目前我們正想放慢腳步，它就像我們的貝比，我們希望再給它一點時間成長。但有時我們會打趣說，我們的目標是3年開3家分店。」第一家新分店首選地點？可能是紐約。在這張攝於今年7月23日的照片中，血汗工作坊瑞士裔創辦人瑪提娜．達斯，在她位於巴黎的縫紉咖啡屋微笑留影。（美聯社）