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)