PROCESS ANALYSIS DOCUMENT
C H RO M AT I C
KATY MACDONALD 00132820 E19FT YEAR 3 | FASHION
CONTENTS 3-4 7-10 11-12 13-14 15-16 19-20 21-22 23-24 25-26 27-28 31-32 32-36 37-38 39-40 41-42 43-44
DESIGN CONCEPT VOGUE ARCHIVE RECYCLING RESEARCH TREND ABSTRACT ART INITIAL SAMPLES COLOUR PALATE SILHOUETTE FINAL FABRIC FINAL COLLECTION PROPOSED OUTFIT JUMPER TOILE JUMPSUIT TOILE FINAL JUMPER FINAL JUMPSUIT REFERENCES
WITHIN THIS COLLECTION I AM EXPLORING THE IDEA OF HOW COLOURS WORK TOGETHER TO CREATE TEXTURES AND MOODS. PLAYING WITH THE IDEA OF THE PURITY OF WHITE MESHING WITH THE HECTIC NATURE OF BRIGHT COLOURS. EXPERIMENTING WITH HOW BRIGHT COLOURS IGNITE A FEELING OF JOY WHILST SOFT WHITE EVOKES ELEGANCE. NAMING MY COLLECTING ‘CHROMATIC’ AS A DIRECT RELATION TO THE IDEA OF DIFFERENT HUES OF COLOUR AND CHROMATIC PURITY AND HOW THEY CAN BE INTERTWINED TO CREATE A MOOD.
DESIGN CONCEPT
TO ACHIEVE THIS AMALGAMATION OF COLOURS I HAVE LOOKED DEEPLY INTO THE NEEDLE FELTING TECHNIQUE. THIS MESHES TWO FABRICS TOGETHER TO SEAMLESSLY CREATE A GRADIENT BETWEEN TONES. AFTER RESEARCH INTO DESIGNERS WHO HAVE USED THIS TECHNIQUE I CAME ACROSS SHAUN SAMSON. HE USES END OF ROLL WOOL TO CREATE HIS DESIGNS. THIS GAVE ME THE INSPIRATION TO RECYLE BASED ON WHAT IS AROUND ME. THE SCOTTISH BORDERS IS FAMED FOR ITS HISTORIC WOOL PRODUCTION AND BECAUSE OF THIS DISGARDED PURE WOOL GARMENTS ARE IN ABUNDANCE IN CHARITY SHOPS. AFTER PAYING WEEKLY VISITS TO THE CHARITY SHOPS AROUND GALA I FOUND THAT THEY WERE REGULARLY RE-STOCKED WITH NEW WOOL SWEATERS AND COATS. I WILL USE THESE GARMENTS IN ORDER TO CREATE FABRIC USING THE NEEDLE FELTING TECHNIQUE. WITHIN MY COLLECTION I AIM TO NOT ONLY RECYCLE UNWANTED SCOTTISH WOOL BUT TO ALSO RECYCLE THE IDEA OF FELTING. THIS TECHNIQUE IS ONE OF THE OLDEST KNOWN FABRIC CONSTRUCTION METHODS, DATING BACK TO 6300 BC. THE CONCEPT OF FELTING IS OFTEN DISGARDED AS BEING CRAFTY HOWEVER I WISH TO CHANGE THIS VIEW AND PUSH FELTING INTO THE CONTEMPORARY FASHION INDUSTRY. GAINING INITIAL INSPIRATION FROM THE 1920’S VIA THE VOGUE ARCHIVE, I CHOSE TO PARTICULARLY LOOK INTO THE SHAPE OF GARMENTS FROM THIS ERA. FOCUSING IN ON A LOOSE FITTING CONCEPT WHILST PUSHING INTO A MODERN DAY SILHOUETTE. PARTICULARLY INSPIRED BY SILK PYJAMA STYLE SUITS I HAVE TAKEN SOME MASCULINE SHAPES FORWARD INTO MY OWN COLLECTION. USING SLIGHTLY URBAN UNDERTONES AND PAIRING THEM WITH FEMININE TOUCHES SUCH AS SILK ALONGSIDE WOOL I HOPE TO CREATE A VISUALLY STIMULATING YET HIGHLY WEARABLE CAPSULE. THE USE OF SILK WILL GIVE A SUBTLE NOD TO THE STYLE OF THE 1920’S WHILST STILL BEING CONTEMPORARY AND NOT A DIRECT REPLICA OF THIS ERA.
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RESEARCH
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VOGUE ARCHIVE Beginning my research with looking into the vogue archive I chose to go all the way back to when the magazine was made up of illustrations instead of photographs. I found various pages from 1900 – early 1940’s that were used for advertisements, ‘photo shoots’ and general articles. When I came across this article from December 1924 I was immediately drawn to the highly stylised illustration. I felt like this image could easily have come from a modern day magazine. Upon reading the article itself I became further inspired by the glamour and affluent lifestyle that was apparent within the 1920’s. The article speaks of what is predicted for the following year and about how Paris and London are no longer the party capitals, New York City was the up and coming location. Which did, indeed, end up being the case.
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Taking further inspiration from the style of the 1920s I looked into the various fashions statements women of that time made. Feeling deterred by the typical dropped waist gowns and flapper girl dresses I felt the need to look at something slightly different. It was from this that I found the image on the left, a woman in a masculine stance wearing a silk, draped, pyjama style outfit. This outfit was probably worn within the home as lounge wear, however I felt the masculine shapes featured in this photo paired with the general idea of dropped waist and loose fitting garments would be an interesting place to begin.
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RECYCLING RESEARCH From my body of research into recycling within the fashion industry I decided to focus upon the technique that’s designer, Shaun Samson, used for his masters collection at Central Saint Martins. Samson uses a technique called needle felting in order to create seamless transitions between fabrics. For his first collection using this method he contacted Woolmark and they provided him with archival samples of their wool for him to experiment with and devise the best technique of needle punching fabrics together. He then went on to use end of roll wool from factories to create limited batches of his work, thus stopping this wool from being wasted and going to landfill.
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TREND
Although a trend was not specifically required I felt I needed that extra element to help me with my design direction, particularly in relation to colour. I looked into the ‘Bio-Dynamics’ trend that was featured on WGSN and used this trend to aid my overall aesthetic. I felt it was useful to use a trend as it injects a contemporary element into the project. The Bio-Dynamics trend gave me the inspiration to create a vivid colour palate, featuring bright tones of blue, yellow and green with a heavy base of pink tones. Using the structured cellular shapes and fluid slime as a stimulation for the shapes within my collection. Translating these shapes into subtle structure and flowing drape.
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ABSTRACT ART
Following up from my trend inspiration I looked into a lot of abstract art. I particularly enjoyed Yago Hortal and his technique of combining colours by using visible brush strokes. His paintings are highly visual and use stimulating colours. His inspiration is his material, the paint. I feel like this is a concept I could take forward into the felting, using the way the wool works as a focal point. The energy emitted by Hortals designs is also something I’d like to encapsulate. The way that his paintings come to life against their surroundings, almost three dimensional. You can imagine the texture even without physically seeing it. A visual delight for the consumer’s eyes . . . Perhaps a wearable work of art.
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DEVELOPMENT
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INITIAL SAMPLES I began by sampling various woollen fabrics using a hand needle-felting tool. The process involves layering two fabrics slightly and then pressing the needle-felting tool (which is made up of several needles) repeatedly into the fabric. I started out with heavy woven wools, this combination seemed to be too heavy as fabrics did not gradient well, and they merely joined together. I then moved onto some woollen jumpers I bought from local charity shops, I first felted them in the washing machine and then used the needle punch tool. However this still did not give me much luck in creating a seamless join. I eventually had some success in combining a woven mohair / wool mix fabric along with a lightweight dress fabric. The fluffy nature of the mohair allowed for a transition between fabrics. That quality paired with the fraying dress fabric attributed to the success of this arrangement.
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COLOUR PA L AT E
Using inspiration from the Bio-Dynamics trend along with vivid abstract art I devised a colour palate that features a variation of bright, energetic colours. Using various tones of pink within the palate as a main colour however introducing accents of sunshine yellow, bright green and a pastel blue. Within the colour palate I have incorporated a few shades of white. This relates to my concept of mixing the purity of white with vibrant colours. Although a very busy colour palate, I feel as though the hectic nature of it adds an extra element of interest to the collection. Especially when muted down with white.
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silhouette
Focussing on a silhouette taken from the 1920’s vogue research I have based the general shape around a loose fitting and highly draped approach. Mixing this style with an element of structure to provide a contrast. This idea of a contrast of shape mimics the juxtaposition of colour against white. By using two similar concepts I believe this will add cohesion to my collection. Oversized silhouettes are very on trend at this current moment so this helps to push the 1920’s inspiration into a contemporary aesthetic. To achieve the drape and fluidity I plan to use high quality 100% silk. This fabric was heavily used in the 1920’s and as mentioned in my design concept, evokes femininity and elegance. This leaves room to be structurally creative with the wool. Depending on the weight of wool I manage to source, I will be able to mimic the draped qualities in a three dimensional way as well as achieving masculine shapes inspired by the pyjama suit.
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final fabrics
Sourcing various wool garments from local charity shops I narrowed down my selection to a pink mohair coat, light pink sweater and a red/pink sweater. After trying out a few small scale samples using these fabrics along with a sample length of 100% white silk I found that these were the best combination to achieve my felting technique. I discovered that the mohair meshed extremely well with the pink sweater so decided to pair those two fabrics together for a final garment. After a process of trial and error with a silk and wool blend I found that by placing the silk on top of the wool it created an interesting crepe-like textural effect, which would be an interesting feature within my collection.
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final
collection
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PRODUCTION
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PROPOSED OUTFIT Due to the time consuming nature of the needle felting technique It was only feasible to execute two garments to a high standard. The two designs I chose to carry forward featured enough challenging pattern cutting to make for a challenging process in the workshop. The jumper will be graduated between pink mohair and soft pink boiled wool. I had to source alternate light pink wool, as there was not enough fabric in the sweater to cover the jumper design. Within this jumper there is a hole through which the silk jumpsuit will be pulled, this illustrates my idea of combining purity and vivid colours.
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jumper toile I began my make process with the Jumper design. To achieve the twisted polo neck I decided to adapt the ‘twist top’ pattern from ‘pattern magic’. This idea worked really well on my initial toile of a basic top using this method, however when I then adapted this pattern to a neckline the twist did not have the same effect. It seemed that the body was pulling the stretch fabric when around the torso but when places around the neck in a loose format there was nothing to pull and twist the fabric.
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I discussed this problem with Robbie and he helped me to come up with an alternate pattern idea. I suggested the concept of slashing and spreading into the neckline to create the drape and he agreed that would work but would not create the structure required as well. We then devised a pattern, which is one continuous front panel, along with one half of the back attached at the shoulder. This pattern was then ‘exploded’ at the neckline to create the structural drape.
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FIG 14. This pattern worked extremely well to create the neck shape I required and I now felt confident to move onto my final piece.
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jumpsuit toile To achieve the draped jumpsuit design I decided to use the stretch one-piece block and add my exaggerated shape around this. I chose this block because it had no darts so would be easy to manipulate. I first narrowed the center front into a halter neck that would be small enough to pull through the hole in the jumper. I flared the shape out at the waist to allow the fabric to fall down to the hips and create the draped silhouette. To further add to the drape I experimented with gathering and pleating the neckline. After trial and error I discovered that pleating provided a more substantial and uniform drape. I also added a mock jumper sleeve to the bottom of the jumpsuit to get a feel for how the garment would sit when the wool was felted onto the bottom. Through this I discovered I needed to add further flare to the entire pattern.
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final jumper Although I thought I had troubleshot most of my problems within my toile, I came across a few within the make process. I firstly ran out of mohair fabric to do a full sleeve so had to change my design to gradient from light pink, to mohair and then back into the light pink. After putting the garment together, I actually feel that the final sleeve is possibly better than the initial idea. The final problem I came into was that the initial idea of a large hole in the front of the garment no longer seemed feasible. The large button hole clamp did not arrive therefore the hole would have to be made on the zigzag machine which would require a large amount of practice, at this stage I did not have the time to execute the hole to a high enough standard and was afraid to ruin the time consuming needle felting work. After discussing this with the technicians and Robbie, we decided that the garments still had enough technical properties to stand-alone without the hole combining the two together.
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final jumpsuit Since the design of the jumper was changed to have no hole I no longer had to worry about attaching poppers to the front of my halter neck to allow the front to pull through the jumper. Because of this I was now able to have a simple button fastening at the side of the halter neck that will allow the wearer to completely step into the garment. I did, however, keep the front of the jumpsuit the same narrow width therefore it is not practical to be worn alone, however if I had more time I would have created a simple top to wear underneath this. I am still pleased with how the silk looks flowing out from underneath the vibrant jumper and feel my concept is still portrayed within my final outfit.
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REFRENCES Fig 1. Mcmullin, J, 1924. The Curtain Goes Up on 1925. Vogue Archives, December, 15. Fig 2. N/A, (1928), TWENTIES FASHIONS [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.flickr.com/ photos/castlekay/1673772548/in/set-72157602588581898/ [Accessed 03 December 14].
fig 12. Katy MacDonald, (2014), Twist top fig 13. Katy MacDonald, (2014), Jumper Pattern fig 14. Katy MacDonald, (2014), jumper toile fig 15. Katy MacDonald, (2014), jumper toile 2 fig 16. Katy MacDonald, (2014), Jumpsuit toile
fig 3. Shaun Samson, (2012), N/A [ONLINE]. Available at: http://shaunsamson.co.uk/ pages/samsonstudio [Accessed 03 December 14].
fig 17. Katy MacDonald, (2014), jumper technical drawing
fig 4. Naomi Southton, (2011), New Painting [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.flickr. com/photos/nimanoma/6702475553/in/photostream [Accessed 03 December 14].
fig 19. Katy MacDonald, (2014), Final jumpsuit
fig 18. Katy MacDonald, (2014), Colour Palate final jumper images
fig 5. Yago Hortal, (2012), 2012 [ONLINE]. Available at: http://yagohortal.com/2012-2/ [Accessed 05 December 14]. fig 6. Katy MacDonald, (2014), Initial Samples fig 7. Katy MacDonald, (2014), Colour Palate fig 8. Style Bistro, (2014), Lucas Nascimento at London Fashion Week Spring 2015 [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.stylebistro.com/runway/ London+Fashion+Week+Spring+2015/Lucas+Nascimento/Details/xlMzZzNm0AY [Accessed 10 December 14]. fig 9. Katy MacDonald, (2014), Final Fabrics fig 10. Katy MacDonald, (2014), Final collevtion fig 11. Katy MacDonald, (2014), Technical Drawings
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