OUR SCHOOL
The Ligas School of Cutting (Scuola di Taglio Ligas) was established in Sardinia in 1928. In 1934 “ARTE NOSTRA” (Our Own Art), bimonthly magazine of technical information, was first published. Meanwhile in Turin, where the school moved later on, a new branch was being set up.
Between 1935 and 1942, out of many other small publications, “Il rapporto di proporzione per abiti maschili” (The Scale of Proportions in Men’s wear), “Il rapporto di proporzione per abiti femminili” (The Scale of Proportions in Ladies wear) and the 1st edition of “Il moderno grande sarto” (The Great Modern Tailor) were also published.
It is at this time, in Turin, that the first enterprises are born to support young tailors in their recovery after the hard times of war. The School director was one of the co-founders of the “Maestri Sarti” (Master Tailors) Association (A.M.A.S.).
In 1953, the 4th edition of “Il moderno grande sarto” (The Great Modern Tailor) is sent to press. In 1967 a new branch is opened in Spain, and in 1968 starts the publication of the fashion-plate album “DANDY”, containing the cutting techniques.
The long collaboration with GFT begins in 1972, at first only with an insert of a few pages of pattern technique in the magazine “Vestire” (Dressing), distributed by the Turin-based group in more than 20 countries. Later on, thanks to the success of this venture, a whole dossier is dedicated to the “Ligas Rational System”.
Since the beginning of the 80’s, the Ligas School collaborates with the magazine “TECNICA DELLA CONFEZIONE E DELLA MAGLIERIA” (Ready-to-wear and Knitwear Technique), on which articles edited by the School still appear.
Around the end of the 80’s the Ligas School of Cutting changes its name into Centro Studio del Modello (Pattern Study Center), proper service center for clothing industries, thus shifting its chief activity from teaching to pattern production.
But we never stopped to teaching.
PATTERN TECHNIQUE
The discovery of pattern technique in the life of young small-town tailor “Master Ligas” has an almost legendary flavor.
When some well-off fellow villagers brought him works by renowned big-city tailors for repairs, Master Ligas became aware of the existence of different techniques.
His thirst for knowledge made him do things any other tailor would have considered madness. Even if the mending merely consisted in fixing a button, during the night he would completely disassemble the garment, note down the pattern and reassemble everything. The next day he would return the garment exactly as it had been, if not better.
The opportunity to see the work of his city colleagues gave Master Ligas the motivation to better himself and spurred him to start a probing study of all the cutting systems known at the time: he was already convinced that the most important link in the perfect clothes-making chain was the model-making.
During his studies he first of all tried to distinguish the systems which had scientific basis from those which didn’t.
Up to then, this discipline had been considered a form of handicraft. Master Ligas’ penetrating observation of the human body’s development and his accurate examination of the relationship between the different measures of an individual gave him the firm belief that it could instead be based on scientific foundations. Furthermore, he was the first to understand that the ideal body standards set by genius artists such as Leonardo, Policleto, Fidia, etc. had been and still were precious guidelines for painting and sculpting, but couldn’t be fitting for cutting technique.
The link below refers to an editorial by Prof. Ligas, published on one of the first editions of “IL MODERNO GRANDE SARTO” (The Great Modern Tailor) method, in which he explains precisely his thesis on measure proportionality.
SCALE OF PROPORTIONS
The Ligas System’s basic principle is that the human body, whatever its physical structure, undergoes a harmonious development.
