DNA Project

A

Al e x a n d e r Wa n g

I

I s s e y Mi y a k e

I

I r i s V a n Ha r p e n

A

An n De m e u l e m e e s t e r

I ndex: Al e x a n d e rWa n g. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 I s s e yMi y a k e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 An n De m e u l e m e e s t e r. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78 Co n c e p t u a lDe s i g n. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 I r i s V a n He r p e n. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10-11

“I TEND TO LIKE THE MOST BASIC PIECES WITH THE PERFECT FIT AND FABRIC,LIKE A SIMPLE TANK.”

A l e x a n d e r Wa n g

Bri efBi ography: Alexander Wang is an American Designer and the Creative Director of Balenciaga. He was born on the 26th of December 1983 in San Francisco, Argentina.

Wang enrolled at Parsons School of Design in 2002 and dropped out after two years in order to pursue his own label but not before he interned for Teen Vogue, Vogue, Marc Jacobs and Derek Lam. He launched his first full women’s ready-to-wear in fall 2007 and was for the first time shown on runway. A year later, he won the Vogue CFDA Fashion Fund Award which he used to launch his very first collection.

Today Wang has launched several collections, including eyewear, footwear, accessories, both men and women’s wear and has opened over 15 stores worldwide.

De s i g n DNA:

Targetgroup: It’s safe to say that Alsexander Wang’s main target group is the young, fashion forward and street/urban community. His clothes possess a certain character that can somewhat be intimidating to some people. In order to probably rock Alexander Wang, confidence has to be the most important accessory. Not just anyone can pull it off.

Ref l ect i on: Alexander Wang has been dubbed the “Rock Star” of the fashion world. Mention him to a young fashion fan and you are sure to hear Gasps, oohs, aahs and just how much they love his work and him as a person in general. It’s like mentioning Justin Bieber to a thirteen year old fan. He has a great influence in the fashion industry and has been listed under the thirty most influential designers under thirty.

After going through all this four collection, i think it is obvious that Wang’s main source of inspiration is the streets. He also draws inspiration from the eighties, rock rouge, military, french chic but also keeps a clean and classy sense to it all. In his products, you will notice that he uses a lot of leather, knits, fur and a lot of black. His silhouettes are mostly square like and gives a masculine edge.

I s s e y Mi y a k e

“From the beginning I thought about working with the body in movement, the space between the body and clothes. I wanted the clothes to move when people moved. The clothes are also for people to dance or laugh.�

De s i g n DNA:

Bri efBi ography: Issey Miyake was born on 22 April 1938 and is known as the most famous Japanese designer in the world In 1971 Miyake founded the Issey Miyake Design Studio in Tokyo and began to show his collections in Paris twice a year – that won him a great popularity.

He also opened a boutique in New York (at Bloomingdales) the same year.

In 1993 a new brand wa established – PLEATS PLEASE ISSEY MIYAKE - a new technique – garment pleating – in which the garments are cut and sewn first, then sandwiched between layers of paper and fed into a heat press, where they are pleated.

In 1998 Miyake invent a new revolutionary clothing production process. The new concept called A – POC (A Piece Of Cloth) is based on ability to control the amount of textile created through the process of casting, where each thread receives computerized instructions and this results in a clothing with a high degree of variation.

Targetgroup: Modern women, who are searching for unique and quality outfit, but at the same time comfortable and affordable wear.

Ref l ect i on: Issey Miyake has an extraordinary style and perpetual interest in creating outfits and textiles. He never stopped developing his designs during the years, without losing their unique DNA. His revolutionary inventions – new textiles, the pleating technique, A-POC – influenced the contemporary fashion industry and are inspiration for many young artists.

Product :

We can observe Japanese influence in traditional kimono-like patterns and streamlined, loose simple form. He always use strong, contrasting colours. He prefers structured materials, organic forms. The most characteristic elements in his designs are: stripes, geometric forms, big patterns, and, of course, pleating.

Us er:

Main conception - the clothes are created to be comfortable, easy to wear, compact and convenient for everyday life. His wear is highly functional modern product – long-lasting, usually light in weight, also elegant without losing the essence of handcraft.

In an interview Miyake sayd: “One of my design rules is to make clothes that fill the wearer’s heart and life with joy and excitement.” - the accent is put on pleasure and individuality. Some of his lines are made using recycled PET products, others are produced according to the A-POC technology, which increases the moral value in the production, by defining it as an environmentally-friendly and resource-conscious.

Cul t ure:

All of the brands established by Miyake are identified through the designer’s name. His style is inspired by the Japanese culture, so for his designs he uses some basic traditional fabrics, wrapping and tying techniques (kimono and obi), as well as untraditional forms.

Organisation: Issey Miyake is the most well-known Japanese designer, so his brands can be found not only in Japan, but also Asia, Middle East, Europe and North America

An n

Dem eul em ees t er

“Black is not sad. Bright colors are what depresses me. They’re so… empty.

Black is poetic. How do you imagine a poet? In a bright yellow jacket?

Probably not.”

Bri efBi ography: Ann Demelumeester is a fashion designer born in Waregem in Belgium in 1959, where she studied arts for almost three years without any interest for fashion.

Her Fashion Career started when she felt attracted by portraying and people in general. This new side of her opened the door to Fashion as an art. Afterwards, Ann D started studying Fashion Design in Ant werpt. When she graduated, she created the BVBA 32 brand with her husband, but the very first collection that was born under her own signature was in 1986. Five years later, Demelumeester made her debut with S/S 1992 collection at Paris Fashion Week.

Since then, when it comes participate at Fashion Shows, she votes only for Paris.

Ann D gave Belgium High End fashion reckon, with the help of Antwerp Six and gave ¨¨made in Belgium¨ the meaning of design, transgression and vanguard.

Targetgroup: The Target group of Ann Demeulemeester is wide open including all men and women because of her variety collections. The market segment is between high end and luxury RTW.

Ref l ect i on: Ann D is one of the most important and respected ¨avant-gard¨ designers. Her influence is all over the High streets and also in other designers work. She is more than a Fashion Designer, she is a Fashion Poet who writes poems through her designs and art. Even if she has always been out of trends and never followed them, her shows are expected with the biggest desire and the expectations have never failed.

De s i g n DNA:

Product : Ann Demeulemeester is a creator of RTW for women and since 2005 started her menswear label, footwear line and also jewellery.

Her collections are hallmarked by the layered fabrics, asymmetric, architectural and de-structured silhouettes and dark with shades of black and grey garments such as silk chiffon, leather and even feathers. She always expresses sensuality and maximum androgyny. At the same time, her garments require a sense of time lessness, given that there are no trend rules on her creations.

Frequently you will find black and white contrasts, fluid and constructed shapes and fragile but strong appearance. Long-line leather waistcoats, black leather boots, floating long skirts will never miss from her collections.

Us er: As a user of Ann Demeulemeester you feel romantic and beautifully sensible like a free spirit. In Ann D clothes you ¨fill with the emotion you want to express¨. Ann Demeulemeester’s users look for high-quality, good design and also timeless products.

Cul t ure: Ann D brand reflects an avant-garde design. It is all about art, about clothes telling poems with punky music notes during the ‘80s with a gothic influence inside the Japanese culture, all this reflecting the visual contemporary arts and the Decadent literature.

Concept ualARTandDESI GN The conceptual art or otherwise said conceptualism leads its real beginning in the early 70ties, but even earlier there were conceptual artists. Perfect example is Marcel Duchamp who has great role in conceptual art development with his piece of art “Fountain”1913. In the field of the conceptual art the most important thing is the IDEA itself, observed like piece of art. Even in its ultimate form the conceptual art has not an exact shape, it exists only in words. This IDEA could be subject, image or even reflection of the artist himself. In 1967 the American artist Sol LeWitt defined conceptual art as “the idea itself, even if not made visual is as much a work of art as any finished product”.

The first wave of conceptual art movement extended from approximately 1967-1978 and artist like Henry Flynt, Robert Morris and Ray Johnson accepted this way of thinking.

Nowadays, the conceptual art is very popular around the world. Many fashion designers, architects, artists and actors are influenced by the conceptual art. The conceptualism invades the fashion very strongly and many famous designers chose to create their piece of work in that field. . The conceptual fashion bets on asymmetric and vague shapes with predominant colors- black and white. One of most popular designers in our present are conceptualists, such as Iris Van Herpen , Alexander Wang, Rei Kawakubo, Issey Miyake, etc. And also there is a wave of fresh and young designers who want to prove their self in the conceptual design. The conceptual fashion goal is to attract young auditory and people who are not afraid to express their self with their way of dressing.

I r i s V a n

Herpen

“For me fashion is an expression of art that is very close related to me and to my body.”

Bri efBi ography: Iris van Herpen was born in Wemel, 5 June 1984. She studied at Artez, academy for Art and Design in Arnhem. She did an internship with Alexander McQueen in London and Claudy Jongstra in Amsterdam. After her studies, she had made shoes for United Nude and in 2007 she started her one fashion label, but she is not only doing clothes, she also makes shoes. Iris Van Herpen showed her collection at he Amsterdam International Fashion Week, London Fashion Week and the Paris Haute Couture. With her designs she has won many awards: 2010: Mercedes-benz Dutch Fashion Award 2010: Dutch Fashion Incubator Award 2010: Dutch Accessory Award 2010: Dutch Aesign Award, RADO 2009: Dutch Aesign Award, best product of Fashion and Accessory 2009: Dutch Media Award Also, the TIME Magazine named Iris van Herpen's 3D printed dresses one of the 50 Best Inventions of 2011.

De s i g n DNA:

Targetgroup: Her target group is a women that want clothes that is functional, quality, comfortable, flexible and it must by something nobody has.

Ref l ect i on: Iris Van Herpen’s latest collection is one influenced by the increasing digitalization of the world around us, which affects her technique and designs. As always on her catwalk, art, fashion and sculpture melt into one, bringing in materials commonly used for product design and architecture.

Iris van Herpen makes her work very personal. To creating a new silhouette is important in her work but the portability is not the starting point for her new collections. Every collection she makes is different because every collection she makes has another story. Example the collection Radiation Invasion about the invisible radiation and signals around us that makes all telecommunica tion possible.

Iris van Herpen is a great example for haute couture designer but also as a conceptualist designer. She has collaborated with many different designers but she always keeps her signature. Every collection has one story and inspiration that makes the collections different and personal. The views of her inspirations are: The project hylozoic, the wild nature and photoshoots of the science using scanning electron microscope.

In the collections you can see that the main colours are grey, white, black and beige. The colours are also coming back in every collection she makes. In every collection there are also another colours, like blue, red and green.

I In every collection she use different materials like: rubber chickens, metal, umbrella, leather, novel materials and many more.

She has also worked with 3D print technique for clothes, so that it get the 3D effect and it looks as the clothes are alive.

The clothes she makes are comfortable and flexible, because it is very important for the target group to be functional and with the best quality.

Ta k !

nayawa.al exandra. ral uca. prel ava.ol ga.anouk.End