Design Development: A Scenic World

a scenic world Design Development FA S H 1 1 0 : I n t r o t o Fa s h i o n Amira Hatlani

Statement of Purpose My childhood existed on a bed of oil in the Middle East. I was born in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and spent ten years in a community designed for American expats working for the Saudi Arabian Oil Company. There were palm trees and school buses. All the houses matched, beige stucco angled with matching terracotta roofs. The driveways had basketball hoops, and the grocery store sold Pop Tarts and Oreo cereal. It was scenic. It felt like a dream, a Californian microcosm situated in Saudi. Looking at pictures of it actually brings tears to my eyes. I recall such vivid memories of the place, like how cushy the carpet was in every single house and Thanksgiving potlucks against the backdrop of November’s 90-degree weather. Eating baby carrots off of paper plates and watching my neighbor play Little League baseball. It’s an American oasis in the middle of a desert, a place where two opposite cultures somehow beautifully coincide. Everything about it feels surreal; my experience of it is vivid despite the dreamlike quality it contains. It fascinates me how our memories of childhood seem more like a dream than a part of our past experience. Those memories are apart of us, yet feel like a distant reality, no matter where you grew up. My collection explores the idea of dream and memory; it explores the fluidity of the human experience and the concept of home.

The human form also influences my collection, how it is an assembly of structure and curvature.

Flowing draping and bell sleeves provide an ethereal quality and explore the idea of fluidity. This is complimented by feminine details, like v-necks and chokers. The two styles coalesce, much like the two cultures I experienced as a child; they mingle like the interaction of memory versus reality.

Looking back, it was all a dream, or at least that’s how it seems.

Yo u a r e a l w a y s h o m e .

Te x t u r e Silhouettte Structure

It was all a dream.

Memory Fluidity Form`

Fabrics and Colours

Pantone 12-0704

Cream blended woven cotton 97% cotton, 2% polyester, 1% nylon

Rose double cloth cotton twill 100% cotton

Pantone 18-1454

Pantone 11-1127

Burgundy faux leather 100% polyester

Dark green blended wool coating 96% wool, 4% polyamide

Cream boiled wool 60% rayon, 40% wool

Burgundy polyester spandex 92% polyester, 8% lycra

Pantone 16-0213 Pantone 18-1658

Collection

Technical Flats

Technical Flats

Technical Flats

Technical Flats

Technical Flats

Technical Flats