apitolis When one is born with a hunger, this hunger shall never die.
CONTENTS one: abstract
thirteen: stand /toile work
two: research three: collections that relate
fourteen: penultimate line ups. fifteen: final line up
four: market level five: silhouette six: trimmings
sixteen: look by look/ tech drawings seventeen: final photographic line up
seven: details eighteen: illustrations eight: customer nineteen: evaluation. nine: colour ten: fabrics eleven: initial response twelve: colour ways
“The Capitol is a veritable hive of debauchery, greed and materialism, tinged with an uncomfortable beauty that resonates throughout the city.”
The concept is an amalgamation of dystopia, mixed with modern day misconceptions of the “Beautifully Vulgar”. Entitled “Capitolism” the collection embodies and resonates the style of the “Citizens of the Capitol” as written in ‘The Hunger Games’ trilogy of books, and the latter films based on the literature. To properly compliment the concept, it is important to embody the spirit of the “Capitolists” for whom the collection is designed for. To do this, the collection must be aesthetically pleasurable, yet oxymoronically, it must maintain a sense of vulgarity throughout. Which will be achieved through uses of fabric and construction techniques, manipulations of fabrics et al. The collection will respect the values of both the citizens of ‘The Capitol’ as well as the ‘Tributes’. there will be an over emphasis on silhouette to typify with the ‘Citizens’ as well as a sense of confusion to the garments, to sympathise with the situation of the ‘Tributes”. The themes and issues addressed in ‘The Hunger Games’ are indeed a heightened version of our reality, civil unrest is evident in many of the worlds cultures, a drift between societies, lends itself to one, overall, broken society. A government many are unhappy with, and many citizens living below the bread line is a reality in itself, and thus, the collection becomes relevant. There is an anti-tailoring feel to the collection, and through appropriately sourced inspiration, the collection holds relevancy in modern day fashion.
It will be designed as a pre-fall 2014 collection, aimed at the higher end of the fashion spectrum.
the hunger games trilogy of books, served as a vital inspiration for this collection. through its themes of survival and hunger for change, as well as a sense of rebellion, the collection can find its basis in these novels. the game itself is a game of survival against all odds in a broken, dystopian society.
“...may the odds be forever in your favour...�
Seneca crane
Seneca crane, head gamemaker of the 74th annual hunger games barely receives a mention in the novel ‘the hunger games’ whereas in the film he is focused on much more heavily. this mans style and sophistication, an exterior so beautifully presented, an interior seemingly so vulgar, yet with an unfortunate sentimental side that would lead to his untimely demise, is the epitome and very typification of this collection, the pride taken in his appearance, and self assured aggorance make him the ideal man. to play ring leader in such a brutal game takes a man with a certain amount of gaule and confidence. to dissect the man further, seneca crane is a man of more than one dimension, unlike so many in the capitol, who, whether through personal choice or through dictated thought, typify little with the other citizens of panem (the ficticious country which forms the basis of the hunger games) . Crane spares the lives of the novels protagonists, be it thourgh pity or through having no other option, and pays the ultimate price for his actions. brave or foolish, or perhaps just a victim of his circumstance , this man who was deemed insignificant in the initial novel paved the way for real change in the dystopian world of panem, stylistically speaking he is , as all capitolist men are, incredibly well kept, as his immaculate facial hair and attire would suggest, fashion with an edge and fashion that goes against the grain, in a world falling apart these few men stand vulgarly tall in the face of this adversity, for they are in no way adversed by these circumstances, rather like the monarchy of old, they are untouchable, the purest luxury is all that they will accept, and why not, when its all within your grasp, all one can do, is try to grasp it all.
out of the fire... in the year 2011 london and indeed the nation was plunged into a darkness of which our country had never seen to such a degree. there was a sense of unrest and unease amongst the lower classes of the country which began to literally spill out into the streets of the nATion.
dystopia, the supposed ficticious state of an anti-paradise,, was very much a reality in the summer of 2011. any citizen could typify with the angst, but many were horrified by the antics of the disgruntalled, jaded youth., the sense of rebellion, without cause or indeed clue. echoed throughout the country, and few believed we as a nation would get though this period unscarred.
this sense of uncertainty creates a backdrop from which to design, be it in terms of colour or silhouette, a river of uncertain discomfort runs through the collection.
...into the flame.
eyes wi eyes wi
ide shut ide shut
a higher state of unconsciousness
a touch of luxury.
the hermes $90,000 crocodile tshirt, one of the most expensive ready-to-wear garments, ever. a vulgar display of money over sense, or a thing of beauty to be celebrated, rather than actually worn?
Thierry Mugler
Mug
gler
Michel b
a swinging silhouette from front to back, gathering in places to create dramatic draped effects, ruching sections to remove volume in some sections whilst maintaing volume in other places in the garment.
berandi
Pockets in seams, curved pockets, placement.
placing pockets into a seam, situated mid body to break up the garment, and add functionality to the garments.
curving the side seam pocket into a semi circular shape, through a relaxed approach to design adds interest to the garment.
Dart into neck
by adding the dart into the neckline, the grown on hood becomes more shaped, adding definition to the hood, in terms of the lapel area, adding more volume creates more drama.
The Man.
PANTONE 428 C PANTONE+ Solid Coated R 193 G 198 B 200 L* 79.48 a* -1.29 b* -2.10 HTML C1C6C8 PANTONE Cool Gray 10 C PANTONE+ Solid Coated R 99 G 102 B 106 L* 42.91 a* -0.23 b* -2.80 HTML 63666A PANTONE 19-3906 TCX Dark Shadow PANTONE® f + h cotton TCX R 74 G 75 B 77 L* 31.94 a* 0.08 b* -1.25 HTML 4A4B4D PANTONE 15-1049 TCX Artisan’s Gold PANTONE® f + h cotton TCX R 242 G 171 B 70 L* 76.10 a* 20.84 b* 61.21 HTML F2AB46 PANTONE 7597 C PANTONE+ Solid Coated R 209 G 65 B 36 L* 50.67 a* 58.05 b* 50.97 HTML D14124
LINING DOUBLE WOOL JERSEY CREPE
Y WOOL LEATHER
Initial response.
a use of fur, feathers and luxury fabrics shines through in this initial response to the research. silhouette is a little basic, however can find its basis in the style of seneca crane, slightly avant garde, a little garish, in need of much developing.
from the initial stage of responce, the collection began moving into a much more exciting and dynamic direction. shapes became far more dramatic, exaggerated and blown out of all proportion.
themselves first back, then forward, then back,to create a concaved rounded feel to the garments. sleeve heads are dropped, rounded, and relaxed, extending from the body of the garment, creating bat wing effects.
story of the hunger games. not all elements are successful however, trouser rises are much too low, greatly diminishing ability to walk. as well as simply not looking aesthetically pleasing.
colourwise, silhouette gathering plays too dark, too became much a part in the earthy, it needs more relaxed, collection, uplifting taking on an channels built somehow, and anti-tailored into the placement of feel, echoing garment colour needs the research of constrain greater michel berandi. certain aspects consideration. the way the of the clothes wor garments, placement of almost against whilst others fur detailing the natural are remaining needs greater silhouette, yet free, this sense consideration, enhancing the of constraint fur form. versus freedom, reveres aren’t throwing echoes the going to work,
and a fur trimmed hem on a coat is much too feminine for this collection. length wise the coat in look six may be too long, consider shortening. trouser pockets on look three and patch pockets on tops look one and two need erradicating. consideration of construction detail, darts, panels, pockets and pocket placement etc all need considering further and developing.
one
two
three
four
a selection of proposed colourways, identifying key colours for use in the collection, note the inclusion of gold tones in each colourway. one and two were discarded early in the process, three and four were used in the early development stages, and the final colourway can be seen earlier in the book.
from the initial responses and developed ideas, the collection went through a metamorphisis into something much more cohesive and aesthetically pleasing. gathering becomes much more imperitive to the collection, sleeve heads drop futher down, and different colour shapes are investigated, forming more rounded shawl collars on jackets, and rounded colour wings on shirts. some of the shapes are a little too similar in the outerwear garments, could stand to be varied somewhat.
the jacket in look four needs work, consideration on the placement of the gathered waistband/hem, make it one or the other perhaps? perhaps around the waist is too feminine in shape? unify pocket shapes throughout the collection, consider universal details through each look, to make a more cohesive aesthetic.
development
Banana leg trousers.
in this , a digital print has been introdced to limited effect, garments seem suddenly too long, particularly looks one and two. added skirting details to garments, which do not work too brilliantly. shape of the coat in look six has become too exaggerated and out of proportion with the concept. colourwise however it is starting to come together well, the earthy tones have been eradicated however the metallic gold remains, creating a luxurious colour spectrum.
darts and panel placement need much more consideration. rather than simple panels, consider breaking up the garments into more panels, to create different silhouettes and shapes of patterns. pockets, and pocket shapes must be unified. remove print from garments, shorten tshirts and shirts, rethink silhouette of coat to a degree,
something is missing?
in this revised line up, several things have changed, darts in coats and jackets have been replaced by seperate curved panels, and pockets have been inserted into these seam lines. shirts and tshirts form rounded scalloped shapes. the jacket in look four has had its waist gather removed and now only has one, on the hem, which has been dropped to lengthen the jacket. trouser shapes have taken inspiration from the idea of gathering and have been banana legged to create rusching effects.
develop trousers further and create more features with the banana and gathering. consider the coat, should be more ‘designed’ work with the fur, grown on hood perhaps? the idea of grown on is something that is already so prominent in the collection with the grown on shawl collars in many of the outerwear garments, still needs more variety. think about accessories? i.e. bags, hats etc.
AT THIS POINT THE COLLECTION HAS TAKEN SHAPE, AND HAS BECOME LARGELY WHAT IT IS INTENDED TO BE, A FEW MINOR TWEEKS HERE AND THERE, AND IT WILL BE COMPLETE.
EVALUATION. This collection, on a whole, has been relatively successful, with a few issues along the way. The garments eventually worked out, after toiling and re-toiling, they became garments that worked out well. Some looks are stronger than others, however there is a continuity to each look, and every garment works well within the collection, and indeed they work alone as individual garments. Some aspects of the project have been more difficult than others, due to financial restraints and spending perhaps too much money on fabrics, I wasn’t able to afford any manufacture, and therefore had to make everything myself. Making is not my strongest skill, and therefore there was a constant battle with machines in order to make garments work and look presentable, which, I believe, did work out well in the end. If I were to redo this project, I would have most of the collection manufactured, as I feel the quality and luxury aspect of the manufacture side of the collection has been completely lost.
daniel hunter 2013