1330671

[1330671]

PDP Report

I would like the outcome of my final major project to be 3 gender-neutral outfits, which are part of a collection of 8, to be illustrated with technical flats as well as fabric swatches to support the designs. I would like my collection to build drama and create atmosphere, drawing the viewer in and making them want to see, feel and interpret more. I have been looking at the Yoruba tribe in Nigeria for inspiration, specifically Yoruba masquerade costume. I was drawn to this theme because of my heritage and the exaggerated, layered and over the top costumes that I have based my research on. I’ve also drawn inspiration from the technique adire eleko, a dye resist dye technique, I would like to develop my own prints from this. I would like my collection to be less about the commercial fashion industry, in terms of target audience and more about creativity and expression. My target is for each outfit in the collection to complement one another and I want to focus on how the outfits work together, keeping techniques used throughout so that the collection is unified and as strong as possible.

Boju means mask in Yoruba. Because I’m looking at masquerade costume, this is one of the reasons I thought this title relates to my collection well. Also, last year when I was looking into the psychology behind the colour black, it can shield and protect you, almost like creating a mask. I like the ambiguity of it, it can either give you confidence and make you stand out, or you can blend into the background, almost like wearing a mask.

One of my aims is to translate the costumes from my research and inspiration into fashion-lead ideas and garments, and show how I have interpreted these in a fashion and textiles setting. I want to communicate my ideas and opinions on issues that I tackle in my project effectively through my sketchbook and research file. However I don’t feel like my personal and political views need to be at the forefront of my final major project. I feel more comfortable with them being an underlying current in everything that I do. Sometimes I don’t feel like issues that I personally feel strongly about have to be the main focus, but they will always be there because my collection comes from me. To achieve this my garments will be gender-neutral, as always. But I won’t be focusing on this issue when thinking about the creativity and design details, however when coming to pattern cutting and construction, I will think practically about how my garments will work on all genders.

It’s important that my audience understand that it’s more about the label’s of ‘menswear’ and ‘womenswear’ and not about making my clothing ‘unisex’. Even if I were to make a ball gown, or a 2-piece suit, no matter what blocks I create my paper patterns from, my garments would still be labelled gender-neutral because I don’t believe that clothing should be restricted by labels on who the intended wearer is.

Yoruba tribe in Nigeria is my starting point for my research, focusing on Yoruba masquerade costumes. I also want to visit the British Museum for more artistic and historical research, but also making sure that my research is selective, keeping the theme to West Africa.

Comme des Garçons and other Japanese designers such as Junya Watanabe have produced collections that I want to analyse and take inspiration from in terms of the stories behind the collections and how this influenced and is told in their designs. Also the innovative and unusal fabric selection and techniques used.

I plan to utilise the pattern cutting and construction skills that I have developed over my time on the course. Screen printing, using clear discharge paste onto black fabric will create monotone prints to support my garment designs. I’d also like to think about the smaller finishing details to create texture, such as glitter and hand embroidery.

Over the course I have enjoyed using Photoshop to create my portfolio, and find researching visual portfolio layouts on Pinterest and magazines exciting, so this is a skill that I want to utilise when thinking about presentation of my final collection. As well as Photoshop, I’d like to use Adobe Illustrator to create my technical flats in a clear and concise way.

Due to my internship last summer, I feel one of my strengths is sourcing fabric and trims and working out costing’s quickly and efficiently. Because of this I had liaised closely with fabric and trim stockists in London, including Woolcrest, MacCulloch and Wallis, New Trimmings, GH Leathers, BFS Buttons and London Trimmings. As well as the fabric shops on Goldhawk Road and Berwick Street. I think this is an advantage to sourcing the materials for my collection, as I have industry experience with it.

I plan to visit Dover Street Market, for customer and target audience research, because my designs are sometimes less commercial, they would attract a certain type of customer.

I would say that my target audience are individuals who are more interested in single items rather than mass-produced fashion. Because some of my garments are exaggerated and outlandish they would most likely only appeal to a certain sub-culture of people. However, I would happily simplify my designs for ease of manufacturing in a commercial setting.

My work will be exhibited at GFW and New Designers. I follow both Graduate Fashion Week and New Designers on social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I have also been lucky enough to be a New Designers pick, which meant that they posted a picture of my work on their Twitter profile, which is great promotion. I am also hoping this invites a wider audience to view our stand at the exhibition. Because I’ve already received a positive reaction from New Designers posting about my work, this has reassured me that my work should hopefully be perceived well at this show in particular. Artsthread is a great way to showcase my portfolio, as it is extremely well known within the industry and is sponsored and supported by both New Designers and Graduate Fashion Week, as well as this, Artsthread keeps up to date with the latest competitions and graduate jobs within the industry, so this is a great way to find new opportunities. I think one of my strengths for this year has been my portfolio, as I have really enjoyed putting it together. I’ve also done a lot of research on other fashion portfolios, which has really helped me when thinking about the layout and presentation of my own. This has supported my work in terms of being original. Portfolio is something I feel has definitely strengthened over my time on the course and something I have surprisingly enjoyed. Whenever I’ve got feedback from people who have been bought in specifically for portfolio, the feedback has been really positive which has made me feel more confident in my skills.

I am already on LinkedIn to network, however I don’t think I have utilised this enough recently. At the moment I am unsure on my future career direction. I think most likely I would like to be working for myself on a small scale, whilst supporting myself financially with a job outside of industry. I definitely want to be creative, as I think this is what will make me happiest. Another option that I have been thinking about is doing a PGCE and being a teacher in Further or Higher education. Colchester Institute offers a 1 year full time course, so this is something that I plan on looking into applying for in 2016. This really appeals to me, as it is something I can do locally and I also see teaching as a way to stay in a creative environment. Another option is to look at what Graduate Training Schemes I could apply to, as this could be helpful if I wanted to work and progress within a company, however the only issue that I would have is that I would be a lot happier if it was local, rather than London based.

In the short term I want to continue working at Colchester Topshop to support me financially. There is also the option to work your way up within the company, as well as opportunities in store to be creative by helping with displays and visual merchandising. Along side working in retail, I would like to start my own personal creative projects and selling small bits that I can make with the resources available to me. I’d also like to get involved in local opportunities within the Colchester creative scene such ascollaborations with vintage shops and styling.

Last summer I did a Production and Design Assistant internship for Bitching & Junkfood, which went really well. After I’d completed the placement my manager gave me very good feedback and mentioned that she would like to have me back as an employee after I’d finished my studies. However since then the company has had some financial trouble and my manager has left the company. The main thing that I realised whilst interning, is that I would want to do something more creative in order for me to be satisfied with my job. Also, I don’t think I would be happy commuting into London everyday, mainly because of the cost, but also because of the time it takes to get there, and moving to London isn’t an option for me financially. Therefore if I were to do another internship I would like it to be local and easily accessible, it would also need to be paid.

I think ultimately it would be ideal for me to work for myself, however I am aware that I would need to complete a business course in order for it to work. I am also very aware that a lot of start-up businesses fail, so I wouldn’t want to put everything into it. I think at first I would start off small, making things on the side that I can easily sell. Promotion is vital when starting up a small company, so I would use social media, and sell my items on Depop, which has a really good success rate. I would also see if independent fashion stores in the area would stock pieces, as well as selling online on eBay and Etsy. I have a contact who has a small knitwear company and has had quite a lot of good press, so I plan to ask her some questions on how she promotes her work as I think she could be a really helpful contact and mentor for me if I decide to go down this route.

Social networking is a huge part of the industry today and it’s really important to utilise it as much as possible. After my degree I plan to keep my blog up to date with what I’m doing creatively and what is inspiring me, but always keeping it relevant with my views and opinions on industry events/exhibitions. I think this would be a good platform to share my personal projects, so that people could see what I have worked on in the past along side things that I am currently working on.

LinkedIn is also a really good way to find job opportunities, and for employers to find you. For this to be utilised best I would keep it up to date and check it regularly. You can also post your CV to your profile, so that possible employers can find out all relevant information. My CV is also posted on both my online portfolio and my blog, so that it is easily accessible to anyone viewing my work online.

Recently I have made an Instagram account exclusively for my design work. This is a fairly new platform for me to use to promote my work, but I feel like it’s a good way for people to see my work quickly and easily, from all aspects. Such as initial designs, right through to finished garments and photo-shoots.

When showing at industry events such as New Designers and Graduate Fashion Week, it’s really important to have something small and convenient to give contacts, such as business cards, which I have included within my portfolio, as well as on the stands at all exhibitions.

Bibliography

Anon, (2015). [online] Available at: https://mypenmypaper.wordpress.com/2009/02/12/between-tribal-marks-and-child-rights/ [Accessed 5 Feb. 2015].

Asooke.com.ng, (2015). Aso-Oke | Heritage Aso Oke. [online] Available at: http://asooke.com.ng/www2/asooke.html [Accessed 5 Apr. 2015].

British Museum, (2015). Welcome to the British Museum. [online] Available at: http://www.britishmuseum.org/ [Accessed 10 Feb. 2015].

Doverstreetmarket.com, (2015). Dover Street Market : doverstreetmarket.com. [online] Available at: http://www.doverstreetmarket.com/ [Accessed 17 Feb. 2015].

Newworldencyclopedia.org, (2015). Yoruba People - New World Encyclopedia. [online] Available at: http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Yoruba_People [Accessed 5 Mar. 2015].

Nigerianostalgia.tumblr.com, (2015). Nigerian Nostalgia Project. [online] Available at: http://nigerianostalgia.tumblr.com/ [Accessed 10 Feb. 2015].

Pinterest.com, (2015). [online] Available at: https://www.pinterest.com/jeffkhodges/nigeria/ [Accessed 7 Feb. 2015].

Pinterest.com, (2015). [online] Available at: https://www.pinterest.com/paulamengual/yoruba-art-craft/ [Accessed 5 Jun. 2015].

Style.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://www.style.com/fashion-shows/spring-2015-ready-to-wear/comme-des-garcons/collection [Accessed 5 Mar. 2015].

Style.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://www.style.com/fashion-shows/fall-2015-ready-to-wear/junya-watanabe [Accessed 5 Jun. 2015].

The Cutting Class, (2015). The Cutting Class. [online] Available at: http://thecuttingclass.com/ [Accessed 5 Feb. 2015].

Tulloch, C. (2004). Black style. London: V & A Publications.

Wikipedia, (2015). Adire (textile art). [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adire_(textile_art) [Accessed 5 Jun. 2015].

Wikipedia, (2015). Boubou (clothing). [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boubou_(clothing) [Accessed 5 Jun. 2015].

Wikipedia, (2015). Wrapper (clothing). [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrapper_(clothing) [Accessed 5 Apr. 2015].

[1330671]

Graduate Fashion Week!

I can’t believe that GFW is here already, it seems to of come round so quickly. i think the stand looks amazing and everyone has done such a good job. I visited GFW today on the Sunday, as this is the only day that I could get off work.

After walking around and having a look at other peoples work and the stands, I must say I don’t think overall it was as good as last year. Last year I remember getting so excited and inspired by seeing everyones work, whereas this year there were very few things that stood out to me, but I’m not sure if this was because of the added pressure of our own work being shown.

Sunday was a quiet day, I think because the hype of it being opened up to the public on Saturday was over, and a lot of industry people had planned on coming on either the Monday or the Tuesday. Unfortunately, the stand was very quiet and I personally didn’t meet anyone from industry. However I think the stand looked brilliant and it was exciting to see everyones work come together! I know a few of the girls had positive feedback and made contacts with industry which is amazing.

Roll on New Designers.

[1330671]

Some images from my portfolio!

I’m really really pleased with how my portfolio has turned out! And I think it showcases me work well, and in my own style. Working on photoshop has been one of the things I’ve enjoyed the most about this year, I think it’s because you can see your work come together in a way thats aesthetically pleasing.

I’m excited to get it printed and ready for GFW.

If I’d had more time I would of liked to thought more about different paper finishes, and drawing directly onto some of my portfolio pages, as well as incorporating fabric swatches and print samples.

[1330671]

Above are some of the final Images from my photoshoot and I’m so pleased with them!

I think they really make my outfits look good, and the location works well. The pictures look better than what I ever thought they would. The contrast between the models is perfect for showing the diversity of my garments which is something I always wanted to portray within my work.

It’s so good to see the hard work that went into my garments paid off, and I’ve got good feedback from the images that i’ve shown people so far. I’m looking forward to putting the images in my portfolio ready for Graduate Fashion Week.

[1330671]

Today was photoshoot day! Really exciting because at one point I didn’t think it was going to happen, due to time management and being free on the same day as both the models and the photographer.

My good friend Jessica Leach who graduated in Fashion Photography and I went to university with in Bournemouth took the photos. I gave her total control and I trust her and I know she’s really good at what she does.��

We did hair and make-up together, which I enjoyed as it meant I could have control over the look that I wanted. 

The above pictures are just images I took on my phone, but I’m so excited to see the final edited pictures!

We shot it at the old bus station behind firstsite as it had an urban look to it, which is what Jess suggested and I agreed.

[1330671]

Today I made an Instagram account! Exclusively for my creative work.

I already have a personal account on instagram, and follow a lot of creative accounts so I have seen how easily people’s work is accessible to the public. Because of hashtags, this means that anyone searching any word you have hashtagged can see your work, meaning that it reaches a wider audience really quickly, this also means that people don’t have to be following you to see your work. 

[1330671]

PDP Presentation

This afternoon was my PDP Presentation, talking about my Final Major Project and my career plan for the future. 

Pre - Afro Combs – exhibition in cambridge  2013, I knew that some of the combs were at the british museam so I went there to get some more research etc relevent research – one of my weaknesses is that I can research too much which then makes it harder for me in the long run because I have too many influences from too many different sources

British museum – went to the british museum which was great, took lots of pictures of art/masks/sculptures and I tried to keep it narrowed to just things from yoruba, to make sure that I collected relevant research.

Dover street market for audience – high fashion, because the fashion I’m interested in and one of my fave fashion labels is commedes garcons, it was suggested that I visit here to get an idea of where something I made could me retailed, how much for, looking at how the garments are made etc, target audience.

DESIGNERS AND WHY

Materials, and why?

Junya watanabe – garment shape and silhouette, also in his collection SS15 the materials,

Comme des garcons  - always a fave, colour, mainly black which is what I work in, colour sometimes feels too much for me, or not enough, I think sometimes it distracts.

Meadham Kirchoff – diverisity, which is something I think about when choosing models for my collection, also loved all the finishing touches, lots of uses of so many different materials, trims etc, different opacities.

Etc

Didn’t really look for much of design details, just overall mood.

Looked at them because of interesting/innovative ideas, exaggerated silhouettes etc, which are the things I find exciting about fashion.

Research map

Nigeria, yoruba – my pre collection was based on african afro combs, from this I began to look at yoruba, which is a group of people based in Nigeria. I decided to look at this because this is where my dad is from, and although I have never been to Nigeria, it has always been something I’ve been interested in as it’s part of my heritage.

Adire eleko – ancient resit dye technique, simple but effective patterns, minimal colour. Didn’t use indigo or starch, used different techniques which I was more familiar with, but can still create the two-tone effect. This was the inspiration for my print designs, I wanted to keep it monotone, which is why I opted for mainly black fabric, and created the print using discharge paste to take the colour out of the fabric. Used this to make it more contemporary.

Masquerade costume – my main inspiration for my garment shape and silhouettes came from yoruba masquerade costume, which is what they wear when they have a spiritual ceremony to contact spirits of people who have passed – only men can dress up in the costumes.

Gender-neutral – my collection is gender-neutral. This is something that I realised meant a lot to me when doing my personal philosphy last year, and since the beginning of the second year, everything I have made has been gender-neutral and this is something I plan to always be an underlying theme in my work. For me personal it is underlying, because it’s something that I think should just be natural, I don’t want it to always be right at the forefront of everything I do. Even if I were to make a ball gown or a wedding dress or a tuxedo, each of these things would still be gender-neutral because I believe that anyone of any gender/age/race can wear it if they choose to.

Cotton

Embroidery with thread

Pink pvc

Rivets

Eyelets

Black pvc

Glitter

Buckles

Print created with discharge paste

Gun metal foil

Jersey

Leather

One of the things I identified at the start of the project is that I wanted to use a variety of materials with different finishes, textures and a selection of trims. I always find that having what fabrics I want to use in my head really helps me visualise and work out how my garments are going to work in my head.

Critical judgement/studio practice

What went well – I enjoyed researching the most as this is what made me excited and enthusiastic about the project, however I felt restricted because I wasn’t able to research as much as I usually would, as this has been highlighted as one of my weaknesses in previous projects. I think this made it harder for me because I was working in a different way to what I usually do.

Portfolio so far has gone well – this is something I feel has definitely strengthened over my time in the course and something I have surprisingly enjoyed. Whenever I’ve got feedback from people who have been bought in specifically for portfolio, the feedback has been really positive which has made me feel more confident in my skills.

Sourcing fabric and trims – internship

Screen printing – considering printing and textiles haven’t been my focus previously, I actually enjoyed screenprinting and was happy with the outcome.

What went wrong – lack of sampling meant more problems in construction which in turn affected the quality of my garments. But I’m happy they are finished and all together and that I didn’t have to compromise my designs due to lack of time.

What I would of done differently – if I were to redo my project, I main factor that I would change is my time management at the beginning of the project. I’d say it makes things a lot easier in the long run to get initial designs done fairly quickly, responding directly to research, and then the sampling process will inform your designs and they will naturally develop this way. I think this also makes the collection work a lot stronger together as you can choose design details that directly link from outfit to outfit.

Internship with Bitching & Junkfood – financial trouble, but got on really well for my boss who is still working as a production manager in industry and if I wanted to find out further about opportunities I would ask. Really good experience but made me realise if that was my job I wouldn’t be happy, would like to be more creative in my day to day job. It was quite technical. Also travelling to and from London was too tiring – the only reason I got through the whole 3 months is cos I knew it was temporary

Sourcing fabrics a lot, liaised was in contact a lot with factories in london as well as overseas – SOLDA, Face of London, as well as fabric warehouses and fabric shops on Goldhawk road, London trimmings, BFS buttons

Sury Baegnal – mentor, did some work for the company ME&EM on photoshop for a couple of days, she did ask me to do more, but with my workload from the course I was unable to commit to it.

Possibly looking into teaching at FE/HE – always in the back of my head but never at the forefront, I have tried to look into it, but found it difficult to see a set route into it, which is something I need help with – would want it to be local so I can stay in colchester. I feel like it’s a way to be around creative minds, in a creative environment. PGCE at the institute. I think this is the main thing that I want to look into and see how I can apply and if I can get funding

Transferred to colch topshop – currently work in Topshop, I’ve just been transferred to the colchester store, this is something I am hoping to pick up hours in once I have finished uni, it’s a job in which you can work your way up, also there are opportunities to be creative with helping with displays and visual merchandising.

Not career driven –  Never been career driven, never had a huge desire to work in london or be big in the fashion industry, I like the little things like doing things for myself and just being creative in general, and doing the degree along with doing my internship last year has made me realise this even more, so that’s what I want to be focusing on for the next couple of years at least.

selling things, doing odd bits of styling, getting involved in the colchester creative scene.

Graduate training schemes – if I want to after I’ve had a bit of break I can look into graduate training schemes, especially arcadia, because I already work for the company and they have a lot to offer graduates

Facebook page (picture) – our yeargroup has a facebook page which I started uploading things on.

Competitions and exhibitions – GFW + New Designers – emily who graduated last year has chosen me to be covered by social media on the Sunday on either twitter or facebook, I am waiting to hear more details, but I know I can link my artsthread or online portfolio, which will be great exposure

CV – has been uploaded to my blog and online portfolio.

Linkedin – Keeping it up to date to search for local opportunities.

Instagram – this is a fairly new thing for me to use to promote my work, but I feel like it’s a good way for people to see quickly and easily not just finsihed work, but work in progress also, which is a very important part of it. I feel like once I start doing more little things such as weaving, drawing, etc, this will make my instagram more exciting.

Need to turn the negatives into positives – Overall, I want to see the degree, but mostly this past year as a positive, even though I don’t want to go into industry at this point but I have learnt a lot, not just skills etc, but more about myself and what I need to do to be happier and enjoy being creative etc which personally is what is much more important to me, which is what I’m looking forward to doing after the degree, and through doing things and being able to be creative in different ways and having the time and energy to do these things, I think this will help massively in terms of what my future plan would be.

Even though I had notes and bullet points on topics that i wanted to cover during my presentation, I found that once I was up there I didn’t need to look at them once. I was still really nervous and I definitely forgot to say some of the points, but I think it went smoothly and I was glad to hear that i passed!

[1330671]

Today was the evening of the fashion show and I really didn’t know what to expect!

I was put in charge of the music which was really exciting, and it was nice to have a bit of responsibility. One of my good friends is actually a DJ, so I asked him to help come up with suggestions of songs and mix us a CD.

I also managed to persuade my brother (again!) to model for me, which was really nice.

I’m so happy with how my collection looks on the models, you don’t realise how different the garments look when they are actually on a person.

I watched my garments come down the catwalk and it was actually really overwhelming but such a good feeling of accomplishment! 

Overall the evening went really well and everyone I spoke to said the show was really good. 

[1330671]

Finished my jacket!

And I’m so happy with the outome. I really love the hood, but the back is my favourite part of my collection so far. It’s exactly how I wanted it to turn out and I think the glitter really makes it, as well as the eyelets and rivets. 

The construction actually went smoothly, other than the fabric shrinking from the steamer, but luckily it was only by 2cm on the length. When cutting out the pattern pieces from the fabric, I did leave an extra centimetre for shrinkage, but this still wasn’t enough. I don’t think this has effected the end product of the garment though. This could of been avoided if I’d of done sampling before making the final garment, but at least now I know that if I were to make the jacket again, I need to add at least 3cm to the pattern to allow for shrinkage.

[1330671]

Development of outfits #2 & #3 

Today I managed to get the remainder of my printing done for the other two outfits which is an achievement. This now means I can fully focus on the construction to get my two outfits finished.

Initially I was worried about the glitter print staying on the leather, but it turns out that this print is actually the better of the two. I am happy with the glitter motif on the cotton cape, however the glitter has already started to fall off, even after fixing it under the heatpress, so I am a little worried about how long the glitter is going to last on the cotton. I wish I would of had a little more time to sample before printing straight onto my final garment. This way I could of hopefully resolved this issue before this stage.

[1330671]

Really happy with how my printing has turned out! 

I’ve never been a particularly textiles based designer, but so far for this project I have been really enjoying it. 

I’m really happy with how my oversized dot print has come out for my cape. I also want to print a face motif over it using silver glitter to develop it further, as I think just the dots isn’t pushing it far enough.

[1330671]

From the start of the project I knew I wanted to use motifs in some way, possibly from the images of the masks that I took at the British Museum at the beginning of the project. 

I wanted to make this into a screenprint, so I used a black markerpen to draw the mask. Drawing has never been my strong point, so in general I try not to take too much time when I’m doing it, but I have noticed that because I know I’m not a great drawer, I don’t put pressure on myself and the more I draw the more I’m starting to like my outcomes which is really exciting for me!

Next step is to scan in the drawing and adjust in photoshop, then I can start thinking about scale as well.

[1330671]

David Lam Photoshoot.

Originally I was hesitant on using David Lam for our photos, because of what I’ve heard from previous years, and I’ve never been particularly keen on the images that I’ve seen from him before, but it was definitely a pleasant surprise!

The whole day was really exciting, and I’m really glad my brother, Max, was able to be my model because my outfit looked amazing on him.

I didn’t have a clear idea in my head for hair and make-up, so I let the make-up team take full reign and this is what they came up with! I was unsure at first, but on camera I think it works really well and creates such a strong look and presence, which is exactly what I wanted from my collection in the first place.

David Lam was really helpful, I didn’t have a set idea on poses or anything, but he was good at giving direction and Max took it well!

Excited to see the final image!

[1330671]

Feathers!

Before I could start constructing my jumper, I had to hand sew on 50m of feather marabou trim. I think in total it has taken me about 20 hours to sew on the feathers to all the pattern pieces, it has definitely been a lot more time consuming that I originally planned.

As the feathers in total cost me £102, I think this is definitely going to be the most expensive garment in my collection, but so far the feathers are looking really good and I’m excited to put it together!

On the inside of the garment, the stitching has created a really unique effect and texture. I am planning on putting a lining on the inside of the jumper to protect the delicate stitching, so unfortunately this will be covered up, but I would like to develop the idea further to possibly use on the outside of one of my other garments.

[1330671]

McQueen Savage Beauty.

Me and Katie had booked tickets for the McQueen exhibition last year as soon as they came out, so I had been looking forward to it for about a year.

McQueen has always been one of my favourite designers and was one of the reasons I decided to go into fashion, after basing my Final Project at Art A Level on him after his death.

The whole exhibition was so overwhelming, but in the best way! I could of stayed in there all day and never got bored. It was the first time in a little while that I got really excited about fashion and I came away feeling so inspired and the feeling of wanting to create something amazing. 

After a slow start to my final major project, this really helped me to remember why I love fashion and why I wanted to study it in the first place.

The room at the centre of the exhibition had such an atmosphere it was was exciting and intriguing, with so much to see.

This has really inspired me to find the passion that first drew me to fashion.

I can definitely say that this is probably the best exhibition I have been to.

[1330671]

Thinking about prints throughout my collection!

At the beginning of the project I had done some initial mark-making in ink and bleach, from these initial designs, I dropped them into photoshop and started playing around with collaging different shapes filled with different patterns to create new prints.

My tutor suggested to me that because most of my garment silhouettes are oversized and exaggerated, that I should take the same approach with my prints. I took each motif from the mark-making and increased the scale. I printed them off so I could experiment with placement. I’m really glad I increased the scale because I think they are much more successful now!

[1330671]

First toile!

I have had a bit of a slow start to the project, but today I got started on finalising my first outfit!

The first garment that I am going to make is a jumper which I have interpretted from one of my research images of Yoruba masquerade costume. I wanted the jumper to be gender-neutral and really oversized and baggy. I took this pattern from a jumper that I already had, and created a paper pattern from this. First I took measurements and took the shape from lying the original garment flat and looking at what angles the sleeves and side seams were.

I’m happy with the finished toile and I think the elasticated waist works really well with giving the jumper some volume.