Sorry I lost my Head

Hey sorry I haven't blogged in a while and it will take me a while to fill you in, but here I go.


Right so last time I spoke to you, was when I started felting, soon after this I realised it would take along time to felt whole pieces, and it would create a collection with much creativity, I then started to look at felting fabric in between, this come out with some lovely results and I started to bring a level of fashion design to my textile which was my main struggle.


We had a toile review and it was so relieving to see my garments on the stand room for development was need but I was pleased with the stage I was at.


Heres a picture of Two outfits that I designed.

Shortly after we had a formative I had a massive loss of confidence, I completely lost my head!!


My shapes need more consideration and for a week I had been looking at different ways I can master a shape for my textiles to be applied to, look at other designers that I like looking at silhouettes I like.


I also needed to find a solution for my textiles instead of wasting time, i decided to start producing textiles with effective results.

Then I came across another process called Nuno felting :O

This picture is where I cut into a blazer I then took off some of the felt to make a layered affect on the revere, this helped my felting with other fabrics problem and it also created a layered affect that I desired from the first time I started using felt with this I will develop more, maybe experiment with more layers seeing how many I can get, this is a big step in the direction of applying textile to fashion.

Then to Understand my silhouette, I wanted a structured but fluid idea, this idea is obvious but the way in which you can convey it can be subtle, this is how i found knitting, knitting with big needles can create a structure that you can see, I decided to stretch and pull the structure against a jersey dress I made, making the piece more vulnerable, relating back to the wearing down of rocks in the process of erosion.

Then when I started designing again my confidence still struck, I didnt no how to, it was hard i wanted organic shapes but how can you draw organic shapes?

So thinking about basic shapes making them slightly bigger for the body and using textiles and applying a silhouette with an organic shape by pulling and sewing on top of it, felting with silk chiffon with give me fabric with structured and stiff qualities but also with a loose and uncontrolled feel. 

This idea of applying an uncontrolled fabric is hard because there needs to be a level of control somewhere, this is where my basic silhouette shapes come in, it also feeds my concepts that erosion is a natural process and it shapes the rivers and rocks in the world.

Sorry for the lengthy Blog but needed to get you up to date

Thank you

:)

Textile Techniques

Thinking of your strengths and weakness, what is your strength and what is your weakness... this is what i was asked day one of my project.

Textiles is a strength that I have, creating new fabrics understanding what can be achieved by different fabrics.

After explaining my concept i started to think about materials which would relate and started of changing, making and sourcing fabric.

and this is what started my inspiration.

Craig Lawrence

 Craig Lawrence "new collection, using an unusually supple yarn called Kyototex. The slashed Gaga-approved knits from past seasons have been tightened for spring, with a slinky silhouette akin to a mermaid’s tail. In fact, all the dresses are inspired by a siren’s call—like a metallic-green gown with pleat-like ladder stitches or a white dress streaming with chopped yarn that literally billows up a storm in the wind”

http://www.vogue.com/vogue-daily/article/craig-lawrence-spins-yarn-to-a-sirens-call/

Craig Lawrence inspires me through his use of materials, creating mermaid like figures through the use of knitted fabrics. When thinking of knitted fabrics you would think of thick chunky knits, not something sleek and close to the body as it as seen in Craig Lawrence collection, this inspires me to use knit as a delicate fabric in my project instead of using as a chunky fabric. I could also look at the structure of wool and how this contributes to the rock formation.

Its made me think about weaving and also using rug canvas and wool to create a weird texture, and also trying to create a delicate fabric.

In this video is Craig Lawrence S/S 2011 collection


If you want any more information go to Craig Lawrence website http://www.craiglawrence.co.uk/pages/SS2011.html  

Felicty Brown

Felicity Brown a fashion designer which graduated from royal college of art, is inspirational to me because her collection has elegance wear ability and surrounds textiles, which are all things that I find inspirational.

"Wearing Felicity Brown is a sensuous, delectable, covetable experience. It makes you feel like kicking off your heels and running through a dew sodden English meadow, kicking and twirling all the way. These are the dresses girlhood dreams are made of. In a very grown up sexy way."


"Raw yet refined the collection shows the amazing attention for detail and fantastic creative talent that have marked Felicity's career to date." Vogue Italia March 2010.


"Largely inspired by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's paintings where flamboyant and provocative women are painted wearing extravagant silk ruffles and showing off shamelessly. The dresses, using precious silks are highly structured with hand dip dyed pleats and prints. The British Fashion Council were quick to recognise Felicity's talent and have awarded her the much coveted NewGen sponsorship for SS11."

 

I like the way she has used dip dye and silk fabrics, creating this really dream like collection, inspired by an Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's which painted women in big ruffle silhouettes also his painting were very colourful, which is where Brown has got her inspiration for colour, felicity brown has inspired me through her textile techniques, I am going to explore into dip dyeing and other processes of dyeing to get the desired effect from my inspiration.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's art work.

http://lkthayer.wordpress.com/tag/henri-de-toulouse-lautrec/

Felicity Browns pictures and quotes and any more information you can look her up here:

http://www.youngbritishdesigners.com/designers/newgen/felicity-brown/

Fashion Journal

Looking at the graduates last year and students that have inspired me, and now the time for me to put a print on the fashion world has come, to inspire someone, somewhere would be a great achievement for me, so the next posts are going to be about my work where it is going and how I have been inspired by different artist, designers and anything else.

The summer went quick, and I have been looking closely at rocks and water, about erosion, weathering, the shapes that are created and how the water has changed the environment we live in, how this is so calming to look at but it is so destructive.

Here are some images I took in Wales

It is here where I sat and thought about how I could translate maybe feelings, shape, texture, or destruction into my garments, that I wanted to design.

From concept to design, it is a hard process as my idea relates hardly to fashion, a designer that has always inspired me for this is Hussein Chalayan and his blurred lines between art and fashion. He designs from concept to garment is a follow through of his desirable work ethic, he never fails to amaze me. 

So this is the start a little idea to spark my fashion career

http://artandfashionfusion.blogspot.com

Enchanted Palace

"Kensington Palace is being transformed. As the walls of the palace are being shaken by a £12 million renovation project the rubble and the dust is unleashing powerful and secret stories about the lives of Kensington's princesses. 

At the heart of the Enchanted Palace journey is a quest for the seven princesses who once lived here. Their lives have been re-imagined as installations offering a fascinating interpretation of the palace’s hidden stories. The rebellious princess who ran from an arranged marriage into the arms of love. Sad queens who bore the pain and sadness of lost babies. The young heir to the throne who escaped the controlling grasp of her overprotective mother."
http://www.hrp.org.uk/KensingtonPalace/stories/palacehighlights/EnchantedPalace.aspx


I visited the Enchanted Palace yesterday and it came with wonderful inspirations, installations, arts and fashions.


I wanted to visit the Exhibition because it had pieces by Vivienne Westwood, William Tempest, Stephen Jones, Boudicca, Aminaka Wilmont and Echo Morgan.


Boudicca pieces in this exhibition of the wierd and wonderful,Boudicca had the room that has endless time, his garments are inspired by the pieces of a grand father clock, wire spins and coils, the pieces were so inspirational to look at, they also spun round as a way to symbolize the way the clock ticks in a forever ending circle, you couldn't touch the pieces, they were to far above your head but this also seemed to symbolize the endlessness of time.

http://www.platform13.com/pages/news/news_main.html



William Tempest piece was more fantasia, his piece was made from origami birds, and it flowed across the ceiling like a flock of birds, it was so beautiful, the thought and construction, came across in its fantasia and beauty, something you need to see just to capture its beauty.
William Tempest says that it was to symbolize the freedom he was giving to the princess as the princess felt trapped inside this very room, it is also claimed this is the room where the princess slept in the same bed with her mum until the age of 18.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coZ2R2I7xyo
Vivienne Westwood, has an amazing beautiful gown, the extravagant draping that Vivienne is very well known for is what you will see, you feel as if the princess could stand there with the dress on, waiting to greet you into the palace, a piece you could only admire in its flesh, it stood on the stairs with no body inside the dress this reminded you of the princess that once lived there. 


Stephon Jones head pieces, were unusual and remarkable, i took inspiration to these, as i started to make fascinators the other week, some of his pieces were made from unusual materials and some of his pieces were extravagant, fantastical and were amazing in structure. The light shone on these pieces and cast a shadow on the wall and the shadow really reflected the fantasia of the head piece.


Aminaka Wilmont piece was about the sadness hope and serenity of princess Mary, the room was named the room of tears, the fabric was printed, the image was of rain, smoke and small detail of a baby, Aminaka Wilmont says that in this room princess Mary is claimed to have 14 miss carriages this fed their inspiration to create this sadness and hope through the garment.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYljU-6VkVI&feature=channel


Echo Morgan's room was all about the world about collecting pieces of art, pictures and more, the room was all about the curiosity, there was loads to look it was really overwhelming but it made you feel as you were voyaging on the princess's life, and this reflected the meaning of the enchanted palace.



Wild Works are the people who really made the fantastical fairy story of the palace come true.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8M_2_LBhp4&NR=1


Watch this video to find out what thoughts they had when creating the enchanted palace.


Art and Fashion Fusion. 

Caught in a Tale

I was touring around the internet, discovering exhibition I will be visiting which had the most outstanding creative work ive ever seen

I am looking for inspiration through my summer for my final project in fashion, so i have been looking at previous graduates and what they have been doing to make there line up or garments stand out.

Trisha Sakhlecha

Looking through the graduates, Trisha's work really stood out it was something that i have a deep interest in, but its not just Trisha's Theme that is inspiring its the way Trisha has made her garments and the fabrics they are made from.

Trisha Describes her collection:

"Escapism and utopian desires are certainly a much needed indulgence today!

My Spring Summer 2011 collection “Caught in a Tale” begins with the story of a girl who once loved fairy tales, and who wants to believe again... in fairies, enchantments and magic.

Inspired by the Victorian illustrator Arthur Rackham, Caught in a Tale uses fine goat suede, lightweight silk and sheers with techniques such as marbling, laser cutting and engraving. Silhouettes play with scale as Victorian frills and baby’s clothes are blown out of proportion, cut up, and collaged to build a range with childishly naive, asymmetric shapes, quirky prints and laser cut suede laces. Shoulders droop, frills start to look schizophrenic and dresses and skirts get twisted to the point of subversion.

The fact that a skirt sits diagonally on the waist adds to the strange, wonky undertone. Add transparent glass nylon so shiny it looks like plastic and gigantic platform shoes and this season’s somewhat absurd, somewhat fabulous character is born."

I like the way Trisha used a story line for inspiration, the way the story developed through her research and work, and ended up with a beautiful line up

Trisha's work can be seen at the London College of Fashion Graduate show

You should also look at her "Caught in a Tale" Books they are influential and inspiring, you see this story develop through Trisha's work and it takes on such a weird and wonderful story with a beautiful out come

To look at her "Caught in a Tale" books and The Pictures above Visit:

http://showtime.arts.ac.uk/showtime/TrishaSakhlecha

Trisha also has a blogg

http://caught-in-a-tale.blogspot.com/

I wish Trisha all the best with her career!

She has started it of with a bang

Well done!