Thursday, 27 November 2014

The final product

After I created my final design it took a while for me to get my head around how to actually construct the garment. I took the approach of attaching the in a different place to create a 3D look. 

In my honest opinion I wasn't entirely happy with how the final piece actually turned out. I think the reason for this was that I made the design far too complicated and conceptual to allow me too make it in the time frame we were given. Because of this I wasn't able to sew the garment together so that it was functional, but I think it represents the design in some form and I managed to find a way around doing a photo shoot without having to put it on a person. 

Surprisingly, the photo shoot in my opinion really worked. It looked appealing and the detailed over lay intrigues people to look closer to work out what’s going on in the image. The reason why I added the red strip was purely just to add more dimensions to the image. 


If I was to do it again I think I would choose a design that was a lot less conceptual. In doing to I would have been able to add more detail to the garment, which I was unable to do with the other one because it took so long to work out how to create the silhouette.





Tuesday, 25 November 2014

Designing

The first initial designs That I did were a combination of the collage work right at the beginning and also the collages from the mannequin work that I did. The stand work that I did wasn't full outfits, they were just section or individual garments, Buy by combining the two I managed to create outfits that were layered and also detailed.

I then chose four that I liked the most out of the 24 that I did and merged the two of them together at a time to see what I would end up creating. I think this worked really well and made my final designs almost look like a collection. 

I had a really clear view straight from the beginning of what I wanted my colour pallet to be like. One of the collages I did features deep blues and blacks with a few bod greens and reds which when put together looked really appealing. The reason why I chose against the bright colours was because I wanted to incorporate denim into my final piece and didn't feel that bright colours would compliment them. 

Thursday, 20 November 2014

Developing mannequin work

The next stage for me was to develop my mannequin work further and I did this by doing observational drawing from the stand and then collaging the different angles I had photographed onto my illustrations to see what if what I had created looked good in other places on the body. 

Personally I felt this worked well for some that I did and others I didn't quite like as much. The first ones that I did were quite disappointing and I couldn't figure out what it was that I was doing that didn't work but as I tried again with different garments I really liked them and found that combining more than one example of a reconstructed garment gave the collages a lot more depth and interest. 

Wednesday, 19 November 2014

Reconstruction techniques

I thought it best not to pick a theme for this particular project as i thought it might restrict me slightly and sway my designs in a certain direction. i tried to be as experementative as possible with the clothes that i brought in and also the way i changed them on the stand. From looking back i believe that i maybe could of taken this slightly further in regards to using really clashing colours and more adventurous fabric matches. when i looked at the work i produced today, my overall vibe is that it is quite safe looking at the moment which could let me down as the rest of my project is based around this mannequin work.
This style of initial designing definitely isn't my favourite and is something that i believe i have to work on and develop throughout this project.

Collaging on the other hand, is one of my favourite styles because it creates really interesting shapes and seam lines that you might not initially think of, so i was really pleased when we were to include this process into the project. i was actually really happy with how the collages turned out and also thought the illustrated designs i did from them were some of the best designs i have ever done. this is because it taught me to start layering up my outfits rather than just having a singular garment on top of my illustration.

The other reason why i liked my collages so much was the uses of colour on each set of three. so far this year i don't feel like i have used an adventurous colour pallet which would enhance my designs. so if i incorporate the colours i have played around with it will develop my skills further.

I think by combining these collage designs alongside my mannequin work i could come out really a really interesting garment.

Tuesday, 18 November 2014

Deconstruction Reconstruction

Deconstruction and reconstruction is the art of taking pre made clothes apart and putting them back together in inventive and abstract ways to create new garments from the old ones. When I first studied the brief my initial idea jumped straight to Faustine Steinmetz who was a huge success at London Fashion Week 2014 and featured clothes purely made from old jeans and other denim items that had been unthreaded and then remade into different garments using techniques such as heat pressing. i think denim is a perfect material for a project like this because it is used for many different types of clothing such as jeans, jackets, skirts and so on... Whereas you don't tend to find fabrics used for eveningwear such as silk and embroidered fabrics that diversely use, especially at a commercial level. 

Another obvious choice to consider as part of my research was Martin Margiela as a lot of his collections feature this process. 

Wednesday, 12 November 2014

Ad Campaign

The part of the project that I think all of us didnt look forward to as much was the ad campaign side. None of us are fashion promoters so we found this part the hardest. Because of that, we decided to do a very simple shoot that has a clear narrative to it. We want to feature just the one model in a dark space wearing one of the outfits. To start off with we was going to leave it at that, but we didn’t feel that there was enough narrative and story in it for the reader to understand our concept or to take anything from it. So we decided to add a white head piece to the model making it more obvious that she is symbolizing a nun.


We took a lot of inspiration from the pop magazine shoot that manuela pavesi did that also showcased nuns. We loved the simplicity of the images and the styling of it and wanted to translate that effect into our own outcome. 

I was the director for the photo shoot that we did and Sophie was taking the photos. When it came to doing it i really enjoyed myself, even though at the beginning i was apprehensive about it, and i think this was because it allowed me to develop my vision off the page and start to create something that was more physical. i think this was really important at this stage because everything that i had previously done was very conceptual. 



i think the decision to do the shoot was very positive, as without it, the whole project would have been a lot weaker, not just because it was the only physical evidence (besides the sample outfits we produced), but also because advertising is such an important part for any brand no matter how established and well known they already are. without the campaign, the collection won't be seen by as many people and could also dramatically effect sales. it is extremely important that brands like Prada stay at the front of fashion, otherwise they will start to be overlooked. 

The advertising also allows Prada to reach a completely different audience that doesn't usually get the opportunity to appreciate their work in person. the campaign would be featured in magazines such as vogue and Marie Claire, which is bought by the masses including people from completely different backgrounds. This keeps Prada on its unreachable pedestal that "normal" people tend to put it on, keeping the brand as prestige as it already is. 

Monday, 10 November 2014

Fashion Show

The theme for our fashion show is going to be a traditional Italian family dinner. The reason why I chose this theme was because in this scenario the woman is in control, even though the man sits at the head of the table, the mother decides what is put in front of them. Stereotypically in TV shows we see the mothers demanding respect from the other members of the family and this is what we want to portray. We envisioned a large dining room table with real food cooked by real Italian housewives from local villages that is bordered with a runway all the way around the perimeter. The audience will be lower down as if they were sitting at the table, which will make them have to look up at the models, giving them a sense of empowerment. 




Some of the people we thought about inviting to sit in the front rows were people such as Anna Wintours, famous actresses who are repeatedly seen wearing Prada and has a positive female image such as Gwyneth Paltrow.  I also think its important to include celebrities that will be big at the time. The Oscars are usually held around the same time as the show, so celebrities such as Anne Hathaway would be good to include as she is predicted to win best actress for her role in interstellar. Bloggers are also very important to have at events like this because if they like it they can reach a large audience and create more discussion in the public about the collection. Some bloggers I have hand chosen is Susie bubble (who writes reviews on all of the big brands collection) and Yvan Rodic who is the writer of face hunter, which does collaborations with brands to advertise their work on his site, which can actually be really helpful.

The Guest List 

Anna Wintour 
Gwyneth Paltrow 
Anne Hathaway 
Rihanna
Beyoncé and Jay Z 
Susie Bubble 
Yvan Rodic
Karl Lagerfeld 
Baz Luhrmann 
Leah Chernikoff
Bryan Boy 
Lupita Nyong'o
Elle Fanning 
Lea Seydoux

The venue that I have found is called the Palazzo Serbelloni and has been used to hold some of Milan fashion week’s most prestigious events. The catwalk will be placed in the courtyard as this is the largest space and the event will be held on the 28th February 2015.

 Before this point I was quite enjoying the group environment that we had going on. But I think that now I realise how much work goes into doing all of the roles of the promoter I am starting to find it difficult, mainly because it leaves me with very little time to do all of the jobs as thoroughly as I want to and with as much detail. The reason why I am not enjoying the group environment as much as at the beginning is because the other members of my team haven't taken on as many roles as I have and don't seem to be working with the same amount as urgency as me. I don't want this to effect the group dynamics though so I have decided to keep doing what I am suppose to be doing and support the other members with what they need, so that the project is successful.

Sunday, 9 November 2014

Hair and Make-up


After choosing what models we wanted to work with, the next step was to focus on what style would suit the theme best. I wanted a really neat look for the models slick back middle partings with subtle make up; all very neutral excluding the bold red lips. The reason why I have chosen red lipstick is because people associate this colour with sluttyness and prostitution, which runs with the established theme of sultry nuns and also compliments the colour pallet, decided by our textile designer. 





Even though I haven't focused all of my efforts on designing the garments throughout this project, I am really enjoying the other aspects. By watching tutorials on make up design I think it has definitely helped to further my knowledge in a different area which I personally feel is really important as it has widened my skill base, allowing me to show that I have a diverse repertoire in interview situations.