Deconstruct/ Reconstruct Day 6

Today was the deadline of the deconstruction/ reconstruction project. I was pleased I managed to finish everything in time including my sketchbook. I spent the time before the presentation doing the finishing touches such as photographing my garments on a model. I was pleased with them on the model, they are interesting shapes and create interesting silhouettes especially from the side view because of how the fabric is gathered up in places and lies flat in others. 

In the afternoon we had to present our work. We all laid it out and went round looking at everyones. This was a really helpful exercise as it means you can see what works well from other peoples work which you could use in your own work. What I found interesting about other peoples sketchbooks was how some had quite artists drawings at the beginning as observation work. These were really nice to look at, creating some beautiful sketchbook pages and were not in the brief so were more unexpected which is something I was told I could improve on in the group tutorial. I also think these could add something to my work to make it stronger at interviews and I could use them to create some illustrations for my portfolio. During this presentation and group crit we had a piece of paper next to our work which others could write comments on, I didn't find all the comments helpful as many didn't contain any constructive criticism but one said that I could have been more experimental in some of my stand work exploring how jackets and shirts could become trousers etc which I agree with, this is something I found difficult so definitely something I could have worked on more and can think about now and in further projects. 

Deconstruct/ Reconstruct Day 5

I started my second final piece today. I developed it from one of my initial experimentations. To contrast with my first final piece which had a sporty starting point this one had a more formal/workwear starting point. I created it out of a wool skirt and a pair of grey trousers. I decided to use the skirts waist as a neckline as the zip opening created an interesting shape meaning the rest of the skirt could become the main body of it. For this piece I am trying to combine the different garments to make a sleek outcome. It is easy to combine them and it to have a mis-matched look, I have found, so I wanted to create something that was well put together. I wasn't directly influenced by anything for this piece, it was a development from an earlier experimentation, however the idea of reconstructing tailored pieces is similar to the work of Comme des Garçons whose Spring 2011 collection did this. My initial experimentation using this shape of garment features a shirt sleeve at back, I decided to remove this as the contrast between the pale lightweight shirt and the heavy dark wools didn't work well. I did decide to add a half skirt feature to the bodice out of a trouser leg as I felt when it was just a short bodice it was a bit bland but the skirt created a more interesting silhouette. 

For our deadline tomorrow I need to work on finishing my sketchbook. I think I mainly need to go through adding more colour into my work as this will give my designs a better understand of how they would look once made as well as giving a hint at the fabrics used. It will also mean my sketchbook is more interesting to look at for others as the colour will catch peoples attention. 

Deconstruct/ Reconstruct Day 4

Today we have been starting to work towards our final piece. I have been doing this using all my development and sketches from the past week to work out what I have liked most and this will be my final piece starting point. Today I have focused on my first final piece. 

For my first final piece I am using a large sports jacket and turning it into a dress. I have distorted the main body of the jacket by turning it round as well as detaching the arms and lining. For this I have decided to focus on using the original details of the jacket such as the elasticated hem and zips to create the main interest of my final piece. I am focusing on using up all the elements of this garment to completely transform it rather than mix multiple pieces together as this creates an interesting outcome that distorts the jacket itself rather than hiding it between other garments. I also like that it has a new feel without being overly layered and muddled which I found with many of my initial developments. To influence this piece I have looked at the designer Christopher Raeburn and his recent collection using up cycled parachutes. A lot of these piece had the same relaxed feel to them that I am trying to achieve with my final piece with a sports influence and elasticated details. 

Today I also had a group tutorial with Becca. I found this really helpful as it gave me a chance to see other peoples work as well as gain their opinion on my work and what I need to do to improve. The main points I found I can improve on is having more stand work images in my book that are possibly larger images as this is key for this project. I also need to have a more unexpected element in my work I found, something that isn't exactly to the brief. Looking particularly at Lena’s work showed this, she had a really fun feel to her work that I enjoyed and had a lot of abstract drawings and ideas which is something I could use in my work to boost my grade up as well as create an addition for my portfolio. 

For tomorrow I am going to sew my first final piece as well as start my second. I am also going to think about using photoshop to create some designs and illustrations that show my final outcomes in a different way so I have more skills in my sketchbook and for my portfolio.

Deconstruct/ Reconstruct Day 3

We had a number of exercises to complete today both 2D and 3D. First we worked with photocopies of our garments and using cut up basic garment shapes we experimented with the placement of details. From this we then thought about how we could translate this onto the stand. I enjoyed this exercise as the 2D task allowed me to develop a lot of ideas quickly meaning I have a bigger collection of imagery to work from. Translating this to 3D worked well as it gave me a starting point to how I was manipulating the item on the stand, rather than blindly draping. I did this using a shirt and having the 2D ideas helped as it meant I had a reference to wear to create folds as well as where to place details such as the cuff and collar. I also found it helpful as I was struggling with creating ideas for skirts and trousers out of my garments and doing this exercise meant I could design them more easily which means I have a starting point for more development now. 

Our second task today was to scrunch up our garments and photocopy them again. We then had to cut out interesting shapes from these and add them to a figure. Again this meant I could develop a lot of designs quickly and this exercise meant I had a lot more abstract ideas to work from. This was helpful as I could then use these on how to manipulate the garments in a more abstract and artistic way on the stand. I am now going to develop these and combine them with the other techniques to create more designs with a more contemporary look. 

Generating more and more ideas is helping me to see more what is working well and what I would like to take forward to my final garment. I am enjoying working with the wool bottoms and shirts as well as the denims, because the fabric are easy to manipulate into interesting shapes around the body. I am going to continue developing this over the weekend along with manipulation of the jeans because of the interesting waist detailing. I am also going to explore more using the sports jacket with the elasticated bottom and cuffs to see how I can use this to enhance what I have already designed because I haven't explored yet the gathering of fabric instead of folding and draping. 

Deconstruct/Reconstruct Day 2

Today we carried on with the development of deconstructing our garments to generate design ideas. We were cutting along the seam lines and draping them onto the stand.

I found this workshop today very helpful as actually cutting the garments up made them better to manipulate on the stand, as it meant parts of the garment were flatter making them better for draping. It also meant I could create focus on the detailed parts of the garment such as the waistline on jeans or trousers so I could create more interesting shapes. I found this exercise better than yesterdays as it enabled me to created more precise shapes that could become garments compared to yesterdays work which felt quite jumbled and messy. 

Today I decided to use the garments which had more structured materials to create my designs. I chose these as the heavier materials created stronger silhouettes which feel more exciting to develop further. From doing this there are particular ideas I feel I would like to develop. Features I liked where using trouser legs as sleeves because they are wide and too long so can be folded up or left to hang. I also liked using details off of garments such as waistbands on trousers and shirt cuffs as the detail in them such as the stitching, buttons and zips are interesting to play with as decoration or the feature of a design. I have also decided from today that I prefer creating more structured shapes rather than draped, hanging shapes which feel more boring and don't make use of all the fabric which can be moulded into new shapes better complimenting the figure as well. 

From this I think I need to continue working on the stand to experiment with more shapes till I find what works best, I think working with the shapes I have already made as well as doing more stand work will allow this. I also think I need to start thinking about colours and what colours I put together as this will help in my final design construction.

(stand work, authors own, 21/11/14)

Deconstruct/ Reconstruct Day 1

Today we started our new project deconstruct/ reconstruct. We brought in fashion magazines and charity shop clothing to work from. Initially we were introduced to a range of designers who have used a similar deconstruction technique in their work. The ones I found most interesting were Junya Watanabe, Comme des Garcons and Martin Margiela. Watanabe and Comme for there experimental silhouettes and exaggerated outcomes, which I think I can look at to help me become more free with my work and Margiela for his use of interesting construction techniques particularly when he has used items such as gloves to make up a garment.

The first workshop we did used the magazines, we had to cut out garments or the interesting details on garments and collage them together on a figure. The aim was to not use a garment for its typical purpose. This was a good exercise as it helped me start to think about where items could be placed on the body and also enabled me to experiment creating new shapes and silhouettes. I have tried to use more colour in these illustrations as I think colour is something I could improve on as I tend to typically use more neutral colours.

The second workshop we did was using the clothes we brought in. We were putting them on the stand, inside-out, upside-down, in the wrong place... to try creating new shapes and more interesting garments. I actually found this exercise quite difficult as placing the clothes where they aren't meant to be is hard to imagine so is a lot of trial and error. However this did help to create interesting outcomes. (shown below) Unlike the first workshop the outcome felt more realistic and are almost better to work from and develop just because you can see how it could be constructed. This workshop allowed me to see what fabrics and garments were working well. I found the garments made of heavier or more sturdy materials like the cotton shirts, denim, wool trousers and thick jackets worked best as were easier to move and manipulate.

To continue I am going to use the photos I have taken of my stand work and start creating sketches in my sketchbook to work out what shapes have worked best. I also think I need to be more experimental with my work as at the moment I feel I am still being quite safe with some of my ideas so tomorrow I need to imagine the garments as not having an original purpose so that I can create something more original.

(Stand work, Authors Own, 18/11/14)

Industry Day 5 and 6

(Jade Goodwin and Zarah Ahmed's cohesive final collection, Authors Own, 16/11/14)

Wednesday as a group we spent finishing our final collections and creating our presentation.

I was pleased with my four final designs, I presented them using photoshop so I could edit the final designs to include the correct fabric textures as well as my textiles samples from when I scanned them in. In order for me and the other textiles designer Zarah’s work to flow we combined our designs and our textiles to create a joint eight outfit collection. (shown above) They worked well together as we used the same fabrics and colours. The colour palette was off white and neutral tones so we were solely focusing on the fabrics and shapes rather than colour and so we continued Comme des Garçons recent collections of mono colour. We used a mixture of rich and poor fabrics so there were bold contrasts, we chose calico, wool and hessian to mix with silk and leather, they are all fairly heavy weight so the outcomes have a solidity and so that the fabrics can be easily manipulated into the shapes we have designed. Comme des Garçons looks are often distressed and deconstructed which is something we wanted to continue, we did this by having layering of alternative fabrics of which some would have raw seams which has led to the disconnected look and in some asymmetric silhouettes continuing with the important essence of the brand.

In our collection we used our textiles separately linking them through the similar use of fabrics and some silhouettes. The collection could be stronger if we had had more time and we’d have sat down and designed them more thoroughly together by working out which of our textiles compliment each other and could work well together. We could have done this by working on the stand with out textiles samples, looking and recording which of our textiles worked together and discussing how we could then take these into designs.

I found it hard to create our presentation in the end, we decided as we had so many designers in our group to make our work into diffusion lines as well as main lines. From doing the presentation there are defiantly some things that my group could have improved on. We were all very creative individuals and individually I think we created some good outcomes but we defiantly needed to be more cohesive at the beginning of the project. I think if we had picked a more solid concept at the start it would not have led to where we had too many separate ideas. I think this led to us not having a good overall group dynamic which meant our outcome was quite disjointed in places.

From seeing the rest of the presentations I could see what led to a good presentation. A lot of the presentations were very strong on the promotional side which as we had one promotion girl who unfortunately was ill for some of the time was something we didn't have a lot of. I think this high percentage of promotion made the presentations more memorable but then I did find this overshadowed the design element. Our presentation was design focused which made it a bit different to others but I think we could have used promotion to help link everything. I also enjoyed the presentations where I felt there was a story flowing, the Meadham Kirchoff presentation with the ‘Walk of Glory’ theme was fun and led to a very strong project, this is something I could use not just in further presentations but in my own personal work. 

Overall with this project I have found that I really enjoyed working with Comme des Garçons as the brand, I have learnt about fabric manipulation and texture and how this can help create stronger designs that have detail and interest. With the brand it has allowed me to focus on more experimental silhouettes and combinations developing my thought processes and confidence with designing.

(Final Presentation, Authors Own, 16/11/14)

Industry Day 4

(A3 Samples, Authors own, 11/11/14)

At the moment we are starting to round up our individual areas of the industry project. From creating two A3 textile samples over the weekend I am now creating four final designs to present on Thursday. I have been using my textiles to create these designs as well as referencing the ‘comme’ look and the group concept board from last week. I didn't have much design research as I have been focusing on textiles so I developed design ideas by doing lots of quick sketches using biro and marker pens looking at the images both I collected as well as other group members. Working quickly helped create more experimental shapes as I wasn't overanalysing my research imagery meaning I was more loose and abstract with my drawings which was successful for the style of Comme des Garcons.

I tried to keep to large exaggerated silhouettes to fit with the look of the brand. I think this is going well, the designs are abstract and modern, I think the overall feel of them is right and they work well together as a ‘mini-collection’ because the textiles flow through them all. I now need to think about the materials I will be presenting in the final outfits and how I present them. I will use photoshop to import the fabric textures and my textiles onto my designs to create a professional looking creative collection to present. 

What didn't go so well today with my work is being able to incorporate all my textiles, I struggled with how to incorporate the plaits and knots. I think to overcome this I should have tried experimenting on the stand with these textiles as it would have helped in how these textiles could work on the body and be incorporated into garments successful which I found hard to do by just drawing.

As a group I think we are working well but we need to collaborate and combine our work now so we have a successful presentation. I am still unsure about what some of the group members work looks like and is about which makes it quite hard to know if our work is going to flow well as one concept. Tomorrow we need to finalise the work rather than expand anymore so we can create an interesting presentation and so we are all clear on what exactly we are presenting.

Industry Day 3

(My initial textiles samples, Authors Own, 6/11/14)

Third day of this project and we are continuing to create our individual work at this stage. I continued working on creating small samples experimenting with techniques for creating surface design. From this I have found that plaited calico creates a really interesting texture that I can now develop more possibly incorporating other fabrics as well as fraying and fringing. I also experimented today with creating wool pom poms and how I could create textiles from these. They work really well as they create very 3D shapes which I think are much more interesting as a surface texture as well creating better silhouettes. I am also thinking of working these into a poster as part of our promotional element of the project. From now I am going to develop my existing textiles to make them into larger samples possibly a3 size that we can present as a group next Thursday as well as use photoshop to create experimental posters.

One thing I think my group could have done better is not expanding our ideas too much more, our ideas have changed from yesterday into a more playful theme which will work well, but expanding our ideas too much with such a short project could end up with a non-focused outcome. This also made it difficult for explaining to our absent group members what we are doing as the ideas are continually changing, emphasising how important communication is. However overall I think our group is working well together, we are starting to work incorporating each others ideas so the collaboration of elements is progressing well. We need to continue communicating away from studio time now so this carries on as successfully.

Industry Day 2

(Personal Concept Board, Authors Own, 5/11/14)

Today I felt as a group our ideas began to come together. We had all created initial concept boards last night so sharing these between us meant we could have a clearer image of where we are heading. Although we all have different ideas of what we interpret the quote as, this works for the brand as Comme des Garcons collections do not make sense, so the fusion of all our thoughts is a reflection of the brand.

I spent today creating our group concept board so we all have a visual reference of what we are doing as well as starting to create initial textile samples. I have started by fusing different materials together in contrasting fabrics such as linen with leather and calico with lace and net to create interesting surfaces. I am pleased with how this is developing as it is helping me realise what works well together but to move on I need to work bigger on the stand with larger pieces of fabrics to create more dynamic textile designs. I especially need to focus on my researching looking into knots, explorers and possibly print. 

One thing I realised today is the value of a team. Two of our team members weren't there today and it made me realise how important it is that everyone is committed and are contributing as we found there were gaps creating with decisions which was hindering our work.

(Group Concept Board, Authors Own, 5/11/14)

Industry Project

Today we started our industry project, where we chose a particular designer who we would then ‘work’ for. I chose Comme des Garcons and within the brand I was assigned to be a textiles designer. I chose this brand as I was attracted to their image, it is outrageous and individual and I knew it would push me as a designer. Being assigned textiles was interesting as although I find it fascinating it isn't specifically what I would like to do. However within Comme des Garcons textiles feels more like surface design and manipulation which I think will be to my advantage and I shall hopefully be able to incorporate this more into design as I will have a better understanding of it. 

We were put into groups for this task and were given quotes to work from. I think this works well as it gives us all a point to start with and expand off in different ways. One difficulty I have found is that we seem to very contrasting views and ideas, which could become an issue but I am hoping will mean that we have more to work with and can create a stronger concept as long as we all listen to each other. 

‘there are massive gaps in this essay, it is broken and re-wound, not always knowing and yet searching. Respond, Exchange, Converse. Be traveller in this novel, Even if only for a while.’ 

From this quote my initial thoughts are to look at fabric manipulation involving distressed fabrics and knotting as well as picking out traveller and thinking about what fabrics could be contrasted such as a waterproof fabric with leather as well as emphasising practical aspects such as pockets into a textile design. Tonight I shall research these initial ideas further to create a visual recording that we can then work with as a group.

(Images: Various Comme des Garcons Images, Available at www.style.com, Accessed: 04/11/14)

HORST Photographer Of Style

Yesterday, I went to see Horst at the V&A. Before I went to the exhibition I did not know anything about Horst so did not know what to expect. The exhibition started with his early works, beautifully glamorous women, in shadowy lighting, a style that became his signature. His style was very obvious, the figures looked statuesque and youthful and the photographs felt perfectly precise. One of the captions wrote "three-dimensional and dramatic, striking without harness", this summarised how his lighting especially using spotlighting to highlight key features made such great images. This style continued through his surrealist work too.

Something I found interesting was how different his colour photographs were from his black and white pieces. They still had the precision and the perfect women but they were a lot more fun. The colours were bright and many were almost theatrical, the women wearing rich fabrics and costume jewellery.

I really enjoyed the exhibition and what I took most was that I felt like he had a style of woman and an audience which is something I could take into my work in order to make it stronger.

Images:

Image 1- Horst exhibition banner, V&A, Image, Available at: http://www.vam.ac.uk/__data/assets/image/0020/242453/horst_banner.jpg, Accessed: 2014

Image 2- Mainbocher Corset 1939, V&A, Image, Available at: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/exhibition-horst-photographer-of-style/about-the-exhibition/, Accessed: 2014