Alexandra Black H00015225 Fashion 4th Year Mini collection Portfolio
Diffusion For H&M
My main collection is very bold and bright and I couldn’t wait to strip this back and make something for the high street store H&M. The Prints in my main collection are a big focus therefore I wanted to still include these in my diffusion collection. I went back to my Graffiti images and zoomed in on the prints to make it more wearable. From my zoomed in images I decided on a much more muted colour palette with blues, grey’s and black to make it something for everyone and much more wearable for high street. The target customer for H&M is mainly 15-35 although in H&M there are different sections which split this age range, there is a section for more 15-25 then a section from 25-35. I feel this diffusion would fit more into the 15-25 even though this is a diffusion it is still quite daring and bold. There is a few pieces in this collection that are quite simple but I still wanted to make a statement with the graffiti images. For my research I felt it would be beneficial to look into over collaborations with H&M which in turn helped me with my design process. This diffusing still has the main aspects of my main collection but the main focus is more on the graffiti theme rather than the sixties.
Dover street market
The aim for this collection is to create something to be retailed at Dover street market. This task I found would be a great opportunity to really push the design process to make something different with pattern cutting. I took my inspiration from architecture and the shapes that can be created though this. The fabrics I wanted to be quite thick and easy to manipulate to make structured shapes I decided on leathers and plastics. I wanted to push the boundaries with structure and make something really daring with shapes, for this collection to fit in with the garments already retailing at Dover street market. I researched into the clothing in Dover street everything is very structural and bold with mainly muted colours. Architecture was a great theme to really get shapes from to take forward to the design process. After looking at many research images of architecture I decided on some key shapes I wanted to recreate into my line-up. The colours I wanted to keep quite a simple palette and really focus on the garment shapes. The garments will be made up of really small panels with leather and plastic to really give it the structure I desire. The colours are mainly greens, blues and greys these colours came from the research into architecture.
Sportswear
This collection the aim is to design something suitable for sportswear and activities, collaborating with the sports brand Adidas. I looked into a lot of different collaborations with Adidas from other designers and feel it is important to really focus on a sport. I decided to focus mainly on running clothing and took a lot of inspiration from the scenery you see when you’re out running. I wanted the clothing to be very functional and comfortable. I looked a lot into sunsets and woodland scenery to start off my research process. Taking this forward I was inspired by the gradient you can seen when there is a sunset, it is very natural and beautiful it will also be a great idea to take forward into the design process. My colour palette was taken from sunset images and the different shades that can be created from this. The fabrics will be functional and practical therefore it will be a lot of stretch fabrics to make it comfortable and wearable to run in. I wanted to really keep the Adidas stripes within this collection I feel this is a really important aspect in their brand and I wanted to keep it within my collaboration. When designing I thought about what I like to wear when running, comfort is always a main focus for me. I also like pockets in my garments that are secured with zips so nothing falls out, in my design process I kept all these things in mind. I wanted to really show with this collection the beautiful colours that can be created with a sunset.
Childrens Print Collection
The aim for this mini collection is to create a collection with colour and print to be the main focus. I decided from the start I really wanted to look into children’s wear and really push with colour which is something I am known for. My research started off by looking into what children love and I saw create potential in a sweet and candy theme. I wanted to make something that I knew children would just simply love to wear. I thought about clothing children would wear to a party, I feel with children’s clothing it is important to have many pockets and fabrics that are easily washed and to get stain out of. I decided on heavy cotton fabrics for this collection, this fabric is easily washed and doesn’t rip easily. I decided to create prints using candy images, I really took the brightness up on my images to make the collection really pop. I used the computer program AVA to create different prints. The silhouettes I wanted to keep really cute to go along with candy theme and keep them wearable and functional so children can still play in them. My colours were taken from an image of a doughnut, I simply loved the colours and thought they would work well alongside my prints. The main aim for me was to make something kids love to wear because they like the way it looks and is comfortable to move and play in.