Shayoma Dilhara P.A.D E19CA/CVB Capsule collection Year 3 BA fashion West London College
SENSATION I began by choosing the color white as my inspiration towards my project. I chose the color white as my theme because of the whole idea of white linking back to purity and happiness and how it is used in weddings. However I began to explore different cultures and various other occasions around the world and studied the ea i g ehi d hite . This is when I started to think of changing the concept of white being a pure color into something else.
Fig 1 For my Cultural research part of the project I explored other countries around the world such as Sri-Lanka, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. I examined the definition behind white in those particular countries and throughout my research I learnt that most of the countries use black as the symbol of sin and sadness, where, Sri-Lanka, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh use white as there miserable color for occasions such as funerals etc.
Fig 2 This brings us back to the women society in those countries wearing white as there symbolism to loosing their hus a d s linking back to funerals and other sad moments.
Fig 3 On the other hand white is also used for buildings most of Buddhists temple in Sri-Lanka, which show the signs of purity and peacefulness of the people
who come to visit the temple. Throughout the project I am trying to find out different meanings and explorations to the colour white.
(Sub-atomic Love Story) fig 4 I looked at different artists who work with lace effects and designs. One of the artists who work using this technique is Rob Ryan who is a British artist. He works with paper cutting designs and his work has really inspired me in many ways. Firstly I was inspired by the way he tells a story in every art piece he creates yet keeping the paper cut style and technique. Throughout y esea h I ha e ealized that y o k a d ‘o ‘ya s o k ha e a similar style and I would like to create a story in my work too.
Fig 5 Peter Callesen is another artist who has inspired me; he has done this by transforming black and white paper into amazing art works. Therefore the work he creates is remains of cut and folded objects. They are literally shadows of objects that form it self. However some of his work has related to my project, such as the intricate designs.
Fig 6
Kris Trappenier is a highly talented artist who does the same technique of paper cuts yet working with fine lines and intricate patterns that are precise and fine. The image above of Kris Tappenier work is done using a lot of time and with high standards. Every detail and pattern tells a different story which really did fascinate me. Therefore he is one of my favorite artists who use paper cuts.
r Fig 7 Victoria and Albert museum (Tile from tomb of Buyanquil Khan About 1358) Victoria and Albert museum is an amazing place to gain inspiration on lace and other lace related sources. Many of the historical art pieces definitely did relate to my work, particularly the lace fabric designs. The image above of the tile from tomb of Buyanquil Khan has beautiful forms lines and patterns, I was mostly fond of the way each wavy line made the tomb have some sort of movement which created some energy to the tile.
Fig 8 This i gs us a k to the fa i I ha e hose to use that is La e . Lace is a delicate fabric that is made by threads and yarn; most of the lace fabric has a transparent effect, which creates a different feel and image. Therefore in my project I have made a garment, which has a lace effect. I have stitched two types of different fabric together, focusing on the shape and style to work with. The photograph above is an example of one of the lace effect fabrics, which I created by using two different fabrics. Meanwhile I am bringing back my last project to my capsule collection because of the lace and pleats that has been used previously.
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Over here I have experimented using the same technique yet with a different type of fabric, I did this to observe the different effects that I will create from this. I have done silhouettes and different cuts to show the variety of emotions such as the sadness and happiness in the colour white. This expresses the contrasts of the sensation and it s mixed emotions. Therefore materials of the opposite contrast each other such as hard and soft, this is expressed by different moods in my project. The image below is of my first toile for my jacket and this was created with fine straight silhouettes, Calico and a mixture of net fabrics. I also attached the net to the calico with a combination of different unique stitches. Therefore this makes the net fabric more visible by cutting the calico fabric. With the combination of different stitches fabrics and techniques used in this piece I definitely feel that my experiment was successful and I gained the sensational feel that I desired from this garment.
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Fig 12 As part of my second garment experimentation, I designed a body fit blouse with expanded collars that could be used as a hoody as well as a collar. On the other hand I wanted some link and reference to the Hindu culture,
referencing how that woman who are widows in the Hindu culture cover their heads with their white sarees linking this back to the color white defining sadness. I wanted to express the sign of being a widow throughout my garments. However the toile I designed with a hoody had a negative point, as the length of the hood was not long enough, therefore this did not cover up the head. Due to this negativity, I changed my hoody structure and began to add more lengths vertically.
Fig 13 Lace has always been one of my interests and I really wanted to combine lace into the garments I create. To create this look I began by attaching and combining the net fabric to the calico. Therefore by cutting the calico fabric I appreciated the effect the garment expressed. The garment below displays and presents the sensational feel that I wanted to obtain throughout my outfits and I think this has been a great success. I choose three types of fabrics for my outfits organdy, new print and another fabric. The most used fabric is new print and organdy. However I did t use the organdy, which had the new prints because of the new print being so stretched, and therefore the fabric was very difficult to stitch together. On the other the new print and organdy was combined together yet I preferred the cut outs and affect which was created in the new print fabrics.
Fig 14 For my third garment, and my first outfit, I designed an extra white lace trouser. Therefore I wanted to make a different bottom piece for this project. I then experimented with many drawings and shapes that give the pattern of my trouser design. This experimentation developed my drawing skills and I achieved the effect and final outcome I wanted. To achieve this I wanted to make a trouser with wide legs yet keeping a limitation of minimum seems and I used a circular shape to transform into a trouser. However I did not experiment with the tiny round cut fabrics as it worked well and looked really suitable with the whole outfit. I also used calico with the lace cut effect and this created the combination of the two fabrics that I experimented and played around with. Consequently I played with my toile to achieve the correct solution. Then I attached my net fabric to my lace fabric. Firstly I merged the code edge of the seems together and I stitched both together so I can pull the code and seem to provide the effect it gives. The effect and outcome was different but I appreciated the different yet unique style that was expressed.
Fig 15 I Unfortunately ould t discover my fabric any more and this meant that I could t use y sa ple la e te h i ues on my garment too. After putting so much hard work and effort to find the fabric, I decided to use the new print fabric on my trousers as well to give a link between the garments. I stitched random yet distinctive stitches on the bottom of my trouser legs for the following stages. After creating all the stitches and feeling satisfied with them I amended and cut bits of from the shapes which were created y the stitches and this then will blend in together. The only disappointment I had through creating my trouser was that I did not use the fabrics I wanted to use, however the outcome and style of the trouser flowed really well and I was proud of what I have achieved.
fig 16 My first outfit was a great success and I was glad I completed the complete first outcome for the sensation project. The outfit includes three garment jackets, a hoody top, and a trouser all designed in beautiful new print. However because of the uncounted situation I faced with the fabric on my first outfit I had to use three different types of fabric to create my sensation collection. I ega ith y se o d outfit fo y se o d ga e t a d I did t a t to use the ordinary blocks, which were there. Therefore I wanted to use and explore with different techniques to create my sleeves yet with minimum limited seems and to play around with the lace effects on the garment. Though in this situation my research from the Victoria and Albert (V&A) museum really assisted me. Due to the visit to the V&A museum, I was amazed by a traditional dress from the East Asia sector. The beautifully shaped and structured garment from China had beautiful cut outs and this really inspired me in need for my second outfit.
Fig 17 In my research I established that East Asia garments are generally open down from the front and that they can be worn like a coat in the past generations. This was clearly because of the no need and effort to pull the garment over the head and because of the elaborate hairstyle and hats which were adapted by men and women in the past. However I just acquired the silhouette from this historical garment and in my first outfit of both the jacket and top I made sure there was a front opening. I didn t want my second outfit to have a from opening, therefore instead of a front opening for the top I gave it a lace effect in front area. I also did the bleeding towered sleeves to give a different yet stylish look to the outfit. I used size 8 blouse blocks just to get the body shape and structure to add sleeves to the block. So I folded my fabric into two halves and I cut the pattern that I created.
Fig 18 The image above shows a simple silhouette of my second top that I created. I made sure to catch the lace effect in all the front areas to form a visible look to the garment. The image below shows how the fabric looked after all the cuts. But I left row edge in the garments. I finished a short fitted blouse with this top, which could be either worn in side, or on its own. Onto my second outfit, I wanted to make a skirt by using the similar technique as the trouser to keep the ongoing pattern throughout my collection. As I wanted to use the minimum seem in my each garment, I did lots of experimentation about how to do a skirt with minimum seems. This helped me out positively and as a result of my experimentation and exploration I created a big circle and in the Centre of Fig 20
the circle I cut out a 28 cm opening, this gave me a circular skirt. The length of the skirt is below the knee to give a traditional Asian effect of ladies not being allowed to wear skirts above knee length. So I used wide elastic for the waistline and with the skirt I also used the same technique. However I did t use the te h i ue all o e the ski t a d I ai ly fo used o ly o the bottom section of the skirt. I placed casual stitches around the skirt and I cut out the bits that were not needed to create the style. The shape of the skirt looked quite interesting after the cut out and I think with the new print fabric it worked out better and I successfully completed my second out fit.
Fig 20 On the whole my sensation collection has six out fits, which contains different garments such as the skirt, trouser, tops, jackets, dresses, and coats. The inaspiration and feel of the lace really expresses the autumn and Winter 2015/2016.
Fig 21 The image above illustrates how the final outcome of both of my outfits was approached together. Therefore I chose a white background and I used white fabrics together to finish the effortless yet powerful approach and meaning behind my collection to express the color white. I made sure my photography expressed imagery the way my garments did, therefore I played around with the contrast of the images and created a white background with the white garments to show a powerful concept. I made my models to express sad emotions by the way the facial expression work such as keeping a sad straight face and looking straight into the camera, showing a sign of struggle, depression and sadness. Throughout the sensation project I was exploring different meanings behind the color white, and to see if the color has lots of different stories as well as meanings. This was to express how people would imagine and have certain mindsets to find out whether white is a color or not. Many people in many different cultures and traditions have different thoughts and understandings of white, mostly showing that white is the sign of
happiness, peace and freedom but did they know that in other cultures such as my culture white means and has a completely different concept to it mostly showing sadness and depression. I personally want to say yes and agree that white is a color with a lot of meanings and different cultural values which also can give a sensation. Especially how the more deeper you study into the meanings of different colors the more curious I feel to explore more and understand the concepts of every other color. Towards the end of the project, I would like to do more research and development ideas of artists and designers who have used lace as part of their work. This project has helped me to develop my design developing skills and to work on different outfits just using a limited amount of fabrics and techniques throughout my entire collection.
Reference Fig 1 https://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=15642 Access day 19/01/2015. Fig 2 https://nandishiva.wordpress.com Access day 19/01/2015 Fig 3 http://www.jokeroo.com/pictures/travel/998752.html Access day 19/01/2015 Fig 4 http://josephscissorhands.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/rob-ryan-there-isonly-time.html Access day 26/01/2015 Fig 5 http://www.petercallesen.com Access day 26/01/2015 Fig 6 http://www.cmybacon.com access day 26/01/2015 Fig Autho s own 9 January 2015 Fig Autho s o January 2015 Fig Autho s o Ja ua y 2015 Fig Autho s own 19 February 2015 Fig Autho s o March 2015 Fig Autho s o Fe ua y 2015 Fig Autho s o e Fe ua y 2015 Fig Autho s o March 2015 Fig 15 Author s o March 2015 Fig 16 Autho s o Ma h Fig Autho s o 9 January 2015 Fig Autho s o Ma h Fig Autho s o Ma h Fig Autho s o a h