FAAAASSSSHHOOON.

Front cover - apparently I suck everthing in upsidedown... good for me...

Two months later and I'm back! I have just completed my first two week elective, the formidable fashion! We were given a brief based on silhouette and shape - choose either an industrial or a natural source and distill two distinct shapes, then work with the shapes on different scales and in different materials (first paper then heavy, medium and lightweight fabric) on the mannequins. Finally based on photos taken of the mannequin work, start pushing the designs (and this became the buzzword of the week, push the designs, push them, just keep pushing them till.. till,,, till you can't even find them anymore!!) By the end we had each designed a collection of six looks based on our original shapes, with colour stories derived from our source

material.

Shape 2.



Shape 1.



 


Analytical drawing.

  

Pulling shapes

For my project I picked exotic beetles (as opposed to those fat little raisin sized ones that lurk under flowerpots over here). This was somewhat an act of god because our trusty printers fritzed out on day one and the only pictures that would print for me were my beetles, which I found in an article on the new york times website. Anyhow this worked out well for me in the end because they proved to be such a rich source, their bodies are naturally segmented and each one had a really distinct and unique shell (or carapace, as I learned!). Also, their shells come in a vivid range of jewel colours, they could easily belong on a pendant or a ring in place of a stone!



Light weight



So after drawing them I chose two shapes, as different from each other as possible  to get a good contrast, one was from the body of a Odontolabis cuvera (what I would have called a stag beetle), the other was the antlers of  an Onthophagus (Proagoderus) rangifer. After working with both shapes I found I was getting for more from my stag shape, the antlers were so limp in all weights of fabric that they seemed to be more suited to being used as a pattern. My favourite part of this project was working on the stands, I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly you can invent a garment by draping and folding your shape, and then you can turn that into something else entirely different with a few pins.

My final line up

My favourite!

Second!

  

Another important part of the project (or any project I suppose) is contextual research. My exposure to high fashion has so far probably been limited to the Sunday times style magazine (which is a quality production I'll just say, incase anyone thinks I'm disrespecting it!). So Pamela gave us a list of relevant designers to investigate. Hussein Chalayans Speed collection actually looked exactly like my beetle shells before I had even played with the shape. Both of Viktor and Rolfs 2010 collections featured huge triangular folds, massive shapes, which I seen myself in some of my work in paper on the stands. McQueens 2010 a/w collection used a contrast of rich reds and golds against neutrals and white, which I think I referenced in my final colour story - Blush, Crimson and gold. Those are just a few anyway!

Husein chalayan

McQueen

Viktor and Rolf

I'm surprised at how much I liked Fashion, but at the same time I did feel quite overwhelmed at times by the sheer broadness of it all, ever contemporary designer, every designer in history, every possible colour story, every type of fabric, every type of stitching, your target market, your season, all this needs to be taken into account with every piece you design! I know we are here to learn how to do this but it can be intimidating starting on a blank canvas! .. or a blank stand!

*More pictures to come, my camera is fritzing as per usual!*