P.A.D Document

Audacious Process Analysis Document Fashion Theory Into Practice / Manufacture E19FM / E18FM

savanagh Louise lowrie h00131599 Year 3 / Fashion

Contents 3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10 11-12 13-14 14-15 16-17 18-19 20-21 22-23 24-25 26-27 28-29 30-31 32-33

design Brief Summer Work Trends Scotland and Dominican Republic Comparison Ships And Storms Shipwrecks Colour Palette fabric Manipulations Silhouettes Fabrics Final line-Up manufacturing Process Final Garments - dress Final Garments - jacket Evaluation References

Design Brief

The aim of the brief is to take inspiration from two cultures, in any way, shape or form and to eventually fuse the two cultures together in a ‘Global Mash Up’. In an ever changing world, it is important to understand and deliberate cultures, to appreciate others without breaching ‘cultural copyright’, it is important to remember that each culture is important and meaningful to each person. For a personal ‘Global Mash Up’ it was intended to take inspiration from two cultures that held a certain meaning, through colour inspiration from cultural lands, to further broaden research to something that has a personal meaning to make the brief and work something personal. The initial plan was to compare Scotland to Dominican Republic, through taking all aspects of research into consideration. Firstly by gathering a wide variety of research, from the countries’ land, weather wildlife and narrowing it down to find a theme. The theme found was one of contrast, the contrast mainly found in colours found in both lands, comparing the bright, vibrant warm tones of Dominican Republic to the dark, dull and cold ones of Scotland. From here research was moved forward from a wide search to a personal memory, one of a family member, Savanagh’s grandfather taking her out to the patio as a child to watch a lightning storm, which is something that fits in with the contrasting theme of the project, as when one thinks of lightening they think of the bright bolts of light breaking through an otherwise darkened sky.

It was through this that it was decided of the main theme, as well as the colour palette for the project. It was decided that the colour palette would be mainly neutrals, such as blacks, whites and creams, with small inputs of bright, contrasting colours such as yellows and purples. Then moving forward attention was turned towards introducing other aspects, as Savanagh’s grandfather was living in Dominican Republic due to his work, she decided to look further into this. He was an engineer, mainly working on cargo ships, so from gathering research about ships and what would be worn while workers were on the ships, research turned further to add in the concept of storms with the ships, and the idea of shipwrecks came forth. Through this the idea of silhouettes and fabric manipulation really came through, it was interesting to think what garments would look like underwater, so Savanagh began looking into research of underwater fashion photoshoots, which was where she found photographer Benjamin Von Wong, who had done an amazing photoshoot of models underwater, in lightweight, flowing dresses, posing by shipwrecks, which was exactly what Savanagh wanted to portray through her theme. From here she started looking into fabric manipulations which would give her the desired effect to give her garments a distressed, flowing look. Through searching online quite a few examples of fabric manipulations were found, however, one that really fit in with the look was a draped dress with some somewhat pleated elements. This fabric manipulation fit in well as pleats were something found in kilts, which would introduce the Scottish element into the final product of the project. Another fabric manipulation found in the designs is gathering, which also is an element is found in traditional Spanish inspired Dominican Republic dress. And to add contrast to the design element too, bulky crop jackets were added to infuse an element of the ship’s work wear, but redesigned with a more feminine feel. Once all research was gathered and ideas planned out on mood boards, ect, it was time to move onto the final production of the garments. Of which a dress and crop jacket was made, the dress was made in lightweight flower tulle fabric, which was a fabric that tied in with the sea theme, which was draped on a stand to get the desired effect. And then a three-quarter length sleeved, yellow crop jacket to wear with it.

Summer Work

I found the Summer Project as a good and inspiring starting off point for the start of the new semester. However, as I was a direct entry into 3rd year student I was given the summer project at the being of semester, rather than the start of summer like the rest of my class. I was given a brief as well as some exhibitions and new up and coming fashion designers that could be used in my project. At first I looked into some of the exhibition they had on in Glasgow’s GOMA, but I felt the work found there wasn’t as inspiring as I had hoped. I then decided to look into the Edinburgh Fruitmarket Gallery, where I found an exhibition by Phyllida Barlow, who is a British artist who primarily creates sculptures and large installation pieces. After seeing her work I felt inspired by her use of mixed colours, splashes of dark blacks on bright and vibrant pink painted pieces of wood. And also by her unusual and abstract shapes and dimensions found in her work. From here I looked into what designer’s work I wanted to incorporate into my project, and as my summer project was to tie into my Global Mash Up class I decided to take some inspiration from Oscar De La Renta, as he was a fashion designer from Dominican Republic and hence tied in with the theme I was portraying. I also looked into quite a few trends I found through Mintel for S/S 16, however I found the one that tied in most with my contrasting and distressed theme was the ‘Deconstruction’ trend.

Trends

Deconstruction

Designers place a growing focus on individuality, creating a new visual language through contemporary deconstruction. Looks are layered, spliced and reimagined to create dynamic, abstract silhouettes with a hint of 1990s Helmut Lang.

2 The thing that caught my eye most about the ‘Deconstruction’ trend was the distressed look that a lot of the garments possessed. As a lot of my work was based around shipwrecks caused by storms, I liked the idea of some of my garments really having a flowing element, to think of lightweight garments underwater. I felt that the ‘Deconstruction’ trend done a good job of portraying the distressed look I wanted, by some of the garments being sewn in unusual places, and some pieces of fabric flowing freely off the garment.

1

Scotland And Dominican Republic Comparison

As a starting point for my Global Mash Up I wanted to pick from countries that meant something to myself. It was obvious that wherever I picked for my second country, it would be compared to Scotland / Britain because of it being where my family and myself grew up. And after a bit of thought, I decided that the second country would be Dominican Republic. Growing up I was always very close to my grandfather, but when I was young he travelled a lot for his work, so I didn’t get to see him very often. However, through his work he lived in Dominican Republic for quite a few years, so our family got a few chances to fly out and see him over there. As I had a lot of family photos and great memories from there I decided this would be the best choice.

3 4 After choosing my two countries I started to gather a wide variety of research to give myself a good idea of where to go with my choice. However, after gathering some research I noticed a distinct difference in colours found in the countries. Dominican Republic was a bright, vibrant and warm country, with a lot of colour everywhere you looked, from the buildings to the wildlife. Once you turn your eye to Scotland though, things get a bit duller, from the cold and unforgiving weather, to the distinct darkness in your surroundings, save for the luscious greenery found here. And even when it comes to traditional dress in both countries, they tend to be quite different. In Scotland a kilt is the known traditional clothing, however in Dominican Republic it’s quite different with their long flowing and ruffled Spanish inspired dress.

Ships And Storms

Once I’d finished gathering the majority of my research for Scotland and Dominican Republic I started to look into a more personal memory of my time in The Caribbean. During one of the nights there happened to be a storm, and instead of hiding from it my grandfather took me to the patio and we sat and watched the storm. To this day I still find this a very fond memory, as without it I feel I might be afraid of storms, but instead with the flash of lightening comes a feeling of contentment from remembering. And to push this element of storms forward I started looking into my grandfather’s background more. He was a engineer, mainly working on cargo ships, so with this I looked into both lightening storms and some cargo ships, and also what they wore while on the ships. I felt that the lightening element fit in well with my theme as when I thought of lightening I thought of the contrast of colours it brought, bright bolts of light breaking through the otherwise darkened sky. I decided this would definitely be a key element of my designs as I was interested in the stark colour differences found in Scotland and Dominican Republic and I felt the contrast of light and dark portrayed it well.

6

5

Shipwrecks

7

8

Moving storms and ships on to shipwrecks always seemed to be the direction I was pushing my theme towards. I was interested in the kind of look garments would have whilst being underwater. As well as, once again, the colours found in the remains of ships sunken at the bottom of the ocean. I felt that there was once again a drastic contrast, the blue of the ocean, compared to the old brown, or in some instances, black rust of forgotten ships. Through this I started to look into some garment concepts, searching for images of flowing garments underwater. It was through this search that I found a photographer, Benjamin Von Wong, who done amazing photo shoots of models underwater, near shipwrecks, with lightweight material dresses flowing in the water around them. Which was exactly the kind of images I was looking for to portray the look and theme I wanted.

9

Colour Palette

For the colour palette I wanted to keep things somewhat neutral, as I felt there was many ways I could take my theme, however I felt that taking my palette from the lightening would be most interesting. Henceforth I decided to use mainly blacks, whites and creams as my main colours, then to go forward with introducing some elements of yellow and purple as the flashes of bright colours. Still in keeping with the contrast theme I was really pushing to show through my designs and research.

Fabric Manipulations

From the beginning one of the fabric manipulations I wanted to do was draping. I felt that it would work well and fit in perfectly with the flowing underwater look I wanted to portray. I also felt it would fit in well as I intended to drape from the side seams of the skirt to give it a somewhat pleated look, something that fit in quite nicely with the Scottish element of my theme as kilts are pleated along the back. Another fabric manipulation I wanted to do was gathering, as this was also something often found in traditional dress in Dominican Republic, and I wanted to have a bit of both cultures showing through my designs.

11

12 10

Silhouettes

The kind of silhouette I wanted for my designs was quite fitted at the top and then loose at the bottom, with flowing skirts for example. Although, I was interested in keeping the contrast comparison theme going with some of the silhouettes as well, to keep with the theme of the sea, an element I looked into was what my grandfather would have worn whilst working on the ships. What these people normally wore were large yellow work wear suits, so I wanted to incorporate these, but whilst making them more feminine, I thought that these would work well as bulky cropped jackets, with three-quarter length rolled up sleeves.

13

14 15

Fabrics

For the fabrics I had a variety of fabrics I had to work with, as before designing my collection I had made up a small fabric book which consisted of a multitude of different fabrics I had gathered, ranging from light weight to a more heavy weight fabric. In the fabric book I also recorded the prices of my fabrics, as well as the names so I could always refer back. The main fabric I had to work with was a cream flower tulle, which was a very light weight fabric, which only cost me ÂŁ6.99 per meter as I had bought it when it was on sale. I wanted to use this fabric for some dresses and draped pieces as I felt it was a very good fabric to drape, and all around work with. I also had a somewhat sturdy/waterproof yellow fabric which I found to use for my cropped take on ship workwear. This fabric cost around ÂŁ19.99 a meter. These were the main two fabrics I used as these were both used in the garments I brought into production. However, for my collection I also sourced other fabrics, ranging in type and colour. Some were light weight black chiffon, a purple and black cotton material and a polyester material with yellow and silver threads sewn into it.

Final Line Up

In my final line up I have quite a few draped elements showing in most of my garments as I wanted to keep the ‘flowing’ kind of theme going and I felt that drape would be the best method of achieving what I wanted. Some of the garments also showing the ‘distressed’ theme to continue in the slight shipwrecked element found in my research.

As well as some of my garments being cropped to achieve the more feminine look, this mainly being the case for my jackets as I wanted to include the ship worker’s work wear in my designs somehow, but felt they were a bit too heavy built and wouldn’t fit in with my project’s atheistic, so I shortened the hem of the jacket and make the sleeves three-quarter length to introduce the work wear in a more feminine way. The designs are also quite short, in skirt length, and some of the bodices are only one shouldered to introduce the ‘tropical’ element introduced by the involvement of Dominican Republic. I also included pleating in some of my designs to add in the Scottish element, as pleats are a main part in the back of kilts.

Manufacturing Process

During the manufacturing process I felt that I spent most of my time manufacturing the dress. As it was something that I couldn’t just go and get a made up pattern for, I had to pin the fabric on the mannequin and place where I wanted the drapes before cutting off the excess fabric so that I was left with the shape I wanted when I took the fabric off of the stand. From there I had to draw out the pattern on paper and take out the darts before trying my pattern out in a toile fabric. This process did take me a lot longer than I initially would have liked, but I feel that once I made the dress up in my final fabric it was worth it. As I had marked where my drapes would be placing them all on the desired position was a somewhat easy process on the stand, it was a sense of retracing my steps and pinning them all in place before carefully taking my garment off and sewing it all, then making all the final touches before gathering the hem in a somewhat ruffled fashion.

Once the skirt of my dress was complete it was a fairly quick and easy process making up the top half o f my dress and manufacturing my jacket.

Final Garments - Dress

As the dress was what took the longest to manufacture I was quite pleased once I’d finished it. This garment was produced in flower tulle and lined with a cream, anti-static lining on the bodice. A one sided shoulder detail with a side drapes and a gathered hem. I feel this garment was quite a challenge, and yet enjoyable to produce.

Final Garments - Jacket

I found the jacket to be quite a quick and easy garment to manufacture. I used a pre-made pattern for the initial silhouette, and shortened it, as well as shortening the sleeves to make it into the crop jacket I wanted. The features of it are a collared crop jacket with three-quarter length pushed up sleeves with an exposed zip which comes down to a slight ‘V’ shape at the hem.

Evaluation Altogether I felt that the ‘Global Mash Up’ project was certainly interesting. At the beginning I found the concept a bit hard to grasp, but eventually I began to understand exactly in which context the project was to be taken in. I spent quite a while on the research, changing my ideas quite a number of times as during one to ones with my lecturer I was told I wasn’t quite gathering the right kind of research. So after scraping some of my ideas I began to piece together in what kind of way I wanted to take my project. Taking inspiration from certain ideas and then processing them forward until I was happy with the direction I was taking things. I was also happy with my final garments, especially the dress I manufactured as I felt this took most effort and also showed most aspects I was trying to portray through my research. There isn’t much, if anything I would want to change about my project as I feel that I put a lot of time and effort into this project and I’m quite content with the outcome.

References 1: http://www.apparelsearch.com/fashion/forecasting/mudpie/2010/march/paris_fashion_week_anticipated_2010.htm 2: http://www.thefashionspot.com/style-trends/170117-destroying-fashion-the-deconstructed-look/ 3: https://www.flickr.com/photos/paisleyorguk/2883344610 4: http://cheapvacationholiday.com/dominican-republic/ 5: cropped image of google search: Lightning 6: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-01-09/half-of-cargo-ship-sinking-off-n-z-coast 7: http://www.theworldroamer.com/most-famous-shipwrecks-of-the-world/ 8: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/10953910/Freedivers-star-in-Benjamin-Von-Wongs-underwater-photoshoot-on-shipwreck.html 9: http://jillheinerth.smugmug.com/keyword/wreck/ 10, 11 and 12: Pinterest.com 13: https://www.etsy.com/listing/251892519/woolen-jacket-crop-jacket-yellow-jacket 14: http://ocerecltd.com 15: http://www.foxgown.com/collection-chic-wedding-dresses-with-stunning-fabrics-and-alluringsilhouettes-24.html