The Views Above Cristina Gonzalez del Peso Process Analysis Document Capsule Collection E19CA/CB Year 3 BA Fashion Heriott-Watt University
The Concept We have been given the final project. The aim is to design and make a capsule collection for the high end market place. Using luxury fabrics with a touch of urban wear to create a fresh and innovative collection for a young urban consumer who is not afraid of spending money for a unique garment. The first step to take in order to start the research is going to the Tate Modern to have the first breath of inspiration. I am not sure whether I am going to find something interesting that I can start working with. I should chose images carefully and they must fit my aesthetic and be a reference in my research folder which should feed my project continuously. Staying open minded and away from my comfort zone is my aim for this semester.
Fig 1. Dynamic Suprematism by Kazimir Malevich
Tate Modern The Tate Modern is an art gallery where British and international artists show modern and contemporary art in London. I visited a few rooms along with my class mates. There were exciting pieces of art. Others were not that interesting to me or I might did not perceive the meaning. Finally I took more pictures than I expected I also bought more than forty post cards at the shop. It was a great start of research. I am excited to see what is going to happen.
Saatchi Gallery Saatchi gallery is a beautiful place to get lost in. It is white walls and the wooden floor gives a cosy yet big open space. Contemporary art is displayed in different rooms. I am looking for geometric shapes and dark colours, mainly black, although I am interested in everything that catches my attention. From a dissect Donkey to a sculpture made off plastic materials in metallic colours. It is fascinating. Going to The Courtauld gallery was not very exciting for me. I would rather see contemporary art than historical paintings. There were few Monet, Kandinsky and Picasso which I admit was impressive to see in live. Everything inspires me from one thing to the other.
Fig 2. Metaesquema by Hélio Oiticica
Fig 3. Metaesquema by Hélio Oiticica
Fig 5. Untitled by Julia Dault
Fig 4. Metaesquema by Hélio Oiticica
Mood Board It is been hard to choose only few images from the more than fifteen I took at the exhibitions. After putting them in groups to see which ones work better together I finally chose three. It is very early to say that those images are going to give me everything I need to build an entire collection. I feel quite unconfident now. An artist called Seung Ah Paik is my choice for my first page in the sketchbook. As I said I am not very sure of the images that I chose today although this time I will not waste my time wondering about things that do not need it as I did last semester. So I already know that this is going to be a challenge. One week after starting the project I decided to change the subject. The advice from the teachers was to keep working on something that is related with Re-Re project in which I focused on pointed and sharp geometric shapes on soft white fabrics. At the beginning I thought to stick on geometric shapes as my last project had triangles and was inspired by those forms. It was an easy way to start working but then I realised what Justine said to me “staying away from the contort zone”. So having that in mind I selected completely different images that had nothing to do with geometry. Personally it was hard for me to get inspired but I still wanted to use them just because it was challenging. I am trying to be receptive and welcome any fresh idea for this project. Chatting with Justine about it made me realise that the images I chose were a mistake so I went back to the pictures I took from the galleries and museums lied them on the table and made groups based on shapes. I finally picked up the image I always wanted to use. A painting from the Russian artist Kazimir Malevich. The creator of the Suprematism. Followed by few more that have the same aesthetic. Now I believe I have chosen an interesting subject to be inspired by for my capsule collection. I am researching on Kazimir Malevich, his life and influences, the Suprematism artistic movement, the Russian avant-garde, geometric forms and shapes. I have lots of information in my research folder although it is not doing anything there if I do not use it to feed my sketchbook. And that was exactly what Justine told me: I should be using all that research to experiment in the sketchbook. I have to go deeper in my concept.
Colour Board I am convinced of choosing black to be the main colour of my final collection. I used grey colour for the tailored jacket project and white colour for Re-Re project so I have not worked with black however now it is my time to relish myself manipulating black fabrics. Black it is the most challenging colour. It can look flat on the runway, and even flatter in runway pictures. It is also going to be difficult to show details. I know I would have to make it interesting to make it work. Kazimir Malevich traced the evolution of Suprematism in three stages: first black, then coloured, and finally white. I will focus on the first stage, black colour. Characterised by the absence of light. People usually relate black with sadness or negativity but I think that black can also lead us to brightness.
Dylan Thomas, “Do not go gentle into that good night� Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Inspiration Going to the LN-CC was total experience and a source of inspiration. This hidden store in a basement of a building somewhere in Hackney borough is amazing. “The space is an evolving platform of curated ideas that encompasses menswear, womenswear, music and books. The store consists of individual product rooms, a library, record store, gallery and a club space for private events featuring a state of the art sound system.” It is a progressive, innovative and conscious retail concept. LN-CC presents its own individual interpretation of luxury, redefining the perception of modern retailing in a personally curated and considered way. Working away from the restraints of trends by selecting products and ideas that inspire them, is its own culture, unprejudiced and inclusive. You can easily tell the luxury environment and at the same time the urban vision on it’s clothes. They stock brands like Stella McCartney. The clothes I could see celebrate the liberated spirit of summer with energetic and colourful pleated dresses, sculptural layers, and light knitwear. Another brand to name is Marius Petrus, blending vintage sports influences with contemporariness. Navys and indigos and black. Utilitarian details and exaggerated pockets.
Fig 6. LN-CC Store
Shape and Silhouette The focus of the course is that I combine, remaster, reinvent, customise luxury fabrics with a sense of urban wear to create a collection that is fresh, forward thinking and innovative. Urban fashion is a style born of the street. A bad boy look that rises from neighbourhoods often associated with hip hop style that moves the opposite direction of traditional fashion. The style made a strong impact during the 80’s known as ‘grunge’. This look officially became a standard when designer Marc Jacobs previewed his “grunge line”. Into the fashion world, Coco Chanel, who admitted loving her luxuries, is quoted saying that “Luxury is a necessity that begins where necessity ends.” Luxury can be defined as superior, unique, exclusive, rare, unguent, etc. In my opinion we can not define luxury in terms on monetary value. There are so many other elements. A piece of jewellery, art, a dog, people, etc. I have done some research on the upcoming trends for a/w17 trends. The dishevelled looks are a little more edgy. Designers capture the new romantic, punk, rave and pop scenes of the 80s and 90s. Considering style influences from Adam Ant to Pac-Man. Words like metallic, ruffles, frills and Marabou timings are among the most listened to for the upcoming season. Everyday jackets, dresses and trouser suits are transformed in sumptuous velvet, which suddenly looks modern. Oversized quilting and luxe bed jackets, the bigger, the better, when it comes to coats next season. Red and mustard are key colours this season, punctuated by touches of pink. This collection is inspired by the painting Dynamic Suprematism by the Kiev born artist Kazimir Malevich. Along with the 80s fashion and hip hop singers. It is a mix between artistic movements, 80s trends, contemporary fashion and technology. Malevich founded the Russian abstract art movement Suprematism, which is based in the application of the fundamental geometric forms. It was artistically revolutionary and explored a new freedom of expression which was absolutely abstract.
Shapes have length and width, forms have depth. Squares and triangles develop into forms such as cubes and cones as they are transformed into three dimensions. Focusing on fundamental geometric shapes like squares, rectangles, circles and triangles, I would like to explore pure geometric three dimensional forms. The artist’s paintings were composed of flat, abstract areas, multi layered symbols and mystical feelings of time and space. He wanted to create a type of non-objective art which would allow him to break from all references to the real world and focus particularly on pure form. The overall brand aesthetic is a balance between clean lines and graphic details, mixing minimal and maximal elements. Using multiple layering for opaque volumes.
Experimentation Today is pad review. Before I did not like to show my writing very much as it has never been as personal as it is now. For this project I am writing in a very different way. I try to be myself. Expressing the challenges I find on the way of creating my very own fashion collection. The feedback was exactly what I expected. I have to write more from the heart. Go deeper on my subject and find my aesthetic. So I am going to take the advice very seriously and do what is expected. We have been given a timetable. The schedule is pretty tight. We have very short time. From now on we have been given just two months to finish everything. So first thing I did was go to Shephersbush market to get some fabrics to sample. I have a week to hand in the first toile. I have few ideas in mind. I am going to work with scale and textures. The first outfit in calico is done. It took me a while to decide the silhouette. I went back to the shape and silhouette mood boards and it helped me to keep going with my idea. Now I am struggling to decide on which fabric should I use. I want to go for sporty urban fabric that has a luxury touch and that bit is the hardest. I will find a cheap fabric that gives me the feeling I am looking for but I do not want it to look cheap at all. It will take time to find the right one. After I finished the first toile it was kind of easy to keep working and make the garments in real fabric. I past the hardest part of creating the patterns. So all I have left is make the three outfits. I designed silhouettes at the same time as experimenting with fabrics and creating details. I always had clear that I did not want a feminine look although I was designing for women. So my design will remain unclear, maybe even categorised as ungendered.
Fabrics Stretchy fabrics for cozy and comfortable clothes. This a/w 17 is all about creating a laid back, effortless look. My choice of fabrics for the collection was easy at the beginning and got difficult at the some point. When the main fabric I had in mind did not work as I thought it would. Cotton organdie was my choice for the last project. It worked really well on details and it was also very easy to manipulate. So I wanted to use it again for the capsule collection. The difficulties came up when the fabric did not achieve the texture I was looking for. I quickly decided to research deeper and found silk organza that gave the garments the luxury urban style I wanted to show.
Silk Organza
Felt
Neoprene
Nylon
Cotton Drill
Cotton
Faux Fur
Cotton Rib
Spacer Mesh
Costumer Profile Carly is 30 years old, born and raised in New York. Art is embedded in her DNA as both her parents are artists; it is where her passion for painting comes from. After graduating from Columbia Graduate School of Architecture she moved to Japan where she worked for two years. She currently earns over £20,000 working in a studio as an architect. She loves her job where she can fully express her creativity. In her spare times she studies Spanish. There is no doubt she is an independent woman. She socialises and communicates through social media. She is always connected and uses media to be updated in the latest fashion trends. Carly likes to maintain her casual style with a young touch in her clothes. She shops for familiar trusted brands at her favourite stores. She also owns a few designer garments to define a level of elegance in her style.
Fig 7. Resort collection by Acne Studios
Dynamic Suprematism. These two words took my attention at the Tate Modern. What did that title mean? Who was the painter? Where did he take the inspiration from? When did he live? Lots of questions came up to my mind. I did not know the answers but somehow I knew those geometric shapes and colours had an interesting story behind them. The mood board is my visual inspiration. The images that help me to stay focussed and drive my project in the right direction. The board is something I come back to every time I find myself to be lost. Analysing these images clearly tells me what I am looking at and what my aesthetic is. This season a woman is not afraid of expressing herself. She choses clothes that allows her to show individuality. This customer has a creative background. The collection is dedicated to the customer who loves and enjoys exploring life.
Bibliography Text Suprematism http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/suprematism.htm (accessed 23.02.16) Tracee, Ng (2016) Suprematism [online]. Available at http://www.theartstory.org/movement-suprematism.htm (accessed 02.03.26) Zaum [online]. Wikipedia. Available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaum (accessed 02.03.26) Shape, Form, and Space http://www.glencoe.com/sec/art/art_talk/students/chapter5.php/al (accessed 08.03.16) LN-CC about us http://www.ln-cc.com/en_en/customer-care?cid=about-us (accessed 09.03.16) (2016) The world in fashion: ruffles [online] The Daily. Available at http://www.lfwdaily.com/2016/02/23/the-world-in-fashion-ruffles/ (accessed 09.03.16) Heath Brown, (2016) Now tranding [online] The Daily. Available at http://www.lfwdaily.com/2016/02/23/now-trending-2/ (accessed 21.03.16) Ellie Pithers, (2016) London Fashion Week: The Trends [online] Vogue. Available at http://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/trends/2016-17-autumn-winter/autumn-winter-2016-trends-london-fashion-week/gallery/1583506 (accessed 21.03.16)
Bibliography Illustrations Fig 1. Dynamic Suprematism by Kazimir Malevich (1916) http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/malevich-dynamic-suprematism-t02319 (Accessed 21.02.16) Fig 2. Metaesquema by Hélio Oiticica (1958) https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/542120873870383124/ (Accessed 22.02.16) Fig 3. Metaesquema by Hélio Oiticica (1958) https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/78250112253952294/ (Accessed 22.02.16) Fig 4. Metaesquema by Hélio Oiticica (1958) https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/443182419561819791/ (Accessed 22.02.16) Fig 5. Untitled by Julia Dault (2016) http://www.saatchigallery.com/artists/julia_dault.htm?section_name=champagne-life (Accessed 23.02.16) Fig 6. LN-CC Store http://www.businessoffashion.com/community/companies/ln-cc (Accessed 02.03.16)