Major Design Project

E L E V A R E

About This collection is a collaboration with the fashion retail brand Cantadora This range is to focus on elevating simplicity and express the bold. The concept is to create a genre of bussiness casuals, giving a new touch to the basic formals and also threw in some occasional garments in the range. The aim is to create a range of wearable garments with the purpose of commercial production. The concept is based on creating a range of garments with the purpose of semi formal occasion wear, the choice of fabric will depict contrast. The line would be designed to create sense of boldness and elegance.

INDUSTRY MENTORED PROJECT A few pieces from Cantadora’s closet

CANTADORA Cantadora Designs Private Limited is a Private incorporated on 29 September 2020. It is classified as Non-govt company and is registered at Registrar of Companies, Ernakulam. Its authorized share capital is Rs. 1,000,000 and its paid up capital is Rs. 100,000. It is inolved in Manufacture of other textiles.

Directors of Cantadora Designs Private Limited are Varghese Charuvil Thomas and Diana Mathew.

Produces a commercial line of garments with assocciation of latest trends of the season

DESIGN BRIEF SEMI FORMAL- A range of modern formals, with a unique side and statement elements.

LIMITATIONS:PRICE RANGE - Between Rs 500- Rs 5000.

RANGE - 5-6 garments including bussines casuals.

EXAGGERATED SLEEVES

BESPOKE AND DETAILED CUFFS TAILORED FIT

SILHOUETTE AND DETAILS IN THE BRIEF These were a few refrences sent by the industry to just have an idea how to move ahead and what they expect.

ASYMMETRICAL SILHOUETTES

The white tabs are my interpretations

CLIENT DETAILS CANTADORA aims to Bold, Confident women in the AGE GROUP of 20-40, with a classy and elegant taste.

Who prefer such attires that brings out their personality and makes them updated with the trends.

A range of garment which helps them to maintain their personality and is also not the ‘cliche look ’.

CLASSY ELEGANT SUBTLE TRENDY

INSPIRATION

Images from http://www.jeroenpeters.net The photography of Jeoen Peters

He is an independent photographer specializing in architectural photography, with a strong graphic character. His work is best described as a mix of minimal and architectural photography, with great attention to structures, patterns and special lighting.

In February 2012 He graduated as a professional photographer at the Dutch Photo Academy in Apeldoorn (NL).

Images from http://www.jeroenpeters.net The photography of Jeoen Peters

The photography represents minimal architecture in exaggerated perspective, this concept was really special and uniqueand also was relatable to the ideas i was moving ahead with and it certainly became mu INSPIRATION. This concept is a depiction of an oxymoron for me and it creates the vibes required for ELEVARE.

ARCHITECTURAL SILHOUETTES

Conceptualising architectures to visuals.

Embellishments

Geometric

Contrast

These are some explorations with the photography and my interpretations for the same. These lead to the identification of keywords, fabric and conceptualise the keywords to tangible elements for the collection.

Here the architecture has curves which are consituted of lines, the play of depth and shallow depicts the contrast, with the structure I could sketch out Floral patterns.

Curves

Floral

Contrast

This is a quite geometric structure but the play of light and shadow depicts a factor of contrast.

Lines

Contrast

The floral representation was quite visible but the contrast here was with opaque and semi opaque pannels used in this perticular structure.

Floral

Contrast

Floral

Contrast

Here I could sketch out floral impression through the grooves, also it is a great exampale of contasrt through negative and posetive space play.

Asymetry

Lines

Floral

The perspective of the photography shows the asymmetry with the floors of the structure, i could sketch out a floral design through the elements in the picture.

DETAIL EXPLORATION Based on the intakes from the inspiration exploration and trend researches I explored a few techniques on fabric to recreate details that I could figure from the form derivations of the architecture.

Basic stitching involved to make a scruchie stitched over a plain fabric.

Talking the principle of french knots on a cotemprory aspect.

Pinch and stictch phenomenon to create a floral outcome.

Stitching straignt pannels into a curved shape on a plain surface creating a 3D exploration.

Reverse stitching, creating a patteren out of tucking the fabric on the opposite side on the fabric.

Weaving strips of fabric into a asymetric arrangment.

A visual representation of archtectural fashion.

How I relate my inspiration to the design realisation in explained through these visuals.

Here the architectural design is converted into wearable fashion and not something avangard, same is my concept with regard to this visualisation.

Applying the fabric explorations and architectural silhouettes in avangarde designs then toning it down to commercial aspect.

CONTRAST MINIMAL

These COLOR S are the extr acted colors Jeroen Peter from ’s photograph y. Which wou further be sh ld orlisted as pe r wgsn resea rch.

PERSPECTIVE

By exploring these architectures through various angles I realised that the structure as whole looks very minimal but the details are very intrigue and intense. It creates a very interesting contrast which would lead to a very creative mood for the whole collection. So talking forward this concept I came up with these keywords.

Layer Contrast Overlap Asymmetry FUNCTIONALITY

KEYWORDS These keywords would be interpreted uncommonly through silhouettes, fabric, color, Etc. and represented through a mood board

RECONNECTING WITH SELF I narrowed down my fields of interest over the time in the academic session, I dIscovered new development in taste of fashion and also enhanced the existing interests. The connection of my won traits with my collection is something to bring about orignality and a personal touch. The concept will conclude the intangible traits to tangible elements in a garment and create a vibe that eventually caters the client and also adds an element that reflects the brand as well.

Potential realisation Standing up for self Gaining confidence

Being bold JOURNEY OF SELF Already existing interest in exaggerated elements

Retail as a field Developing interest in minimalism - jacket p.

Mind Map

BOLD STRONG POTENTIAL INDEPENDENT

This perticular exploration on myself lead to a new perspective, i discovered i have an urge to work on minimalism but I always had a thing for exaggerated elements like sleeves, necklines, cuffs etc. So moving forward with this though i planned to use this balance as a leading aspect of my collection, and it will also include my personality traits. New keywords came on the surface with this research on self.

The looks created with this collecton would represent elegance in a subtle way, it would exert the personality traits confidence, boldness, fun and independence. It will be a modern collection of the old bussiness wear genere.

I decided to create CONTRAST through fabric surfaces and colors, LAYERS and OVERLAPPING would be depicted through number of garments in a specific look, playing with lenghts would create ASYMMETRY, FUNCTIONALITY would be depicted through silhouettes details.

KEYWORDS TO CANVAS

TREND REsearch

r g factor fo in n n u r a is ry Minimalism enhance it in a ve to connect ld u ss22 and o w I . r anne ion. modern m ‘work wear’ elevat y this with m

This is an evolved concept with the ongoing situation, adapting to the aspect of work from home, this insight was able to take over the element of adding an edge to the formals for me. Blending of lounge wear with formals gave eme the direction to add Specific silhouette element to elevate the basic.

The sheer or translucent factor is a part of the upcoming trends and i felt it relates to the concept of contrast, also the play of sheer and opaque creates a good impact.

This is the key aspect of the research that took my ideations to hike. Perfectly fitted into my frame of perspective to elevate the basic, making it less yet better.

Minimal perspective to the garments with an element that creates an edge.

Relating to the colors extracted from the architeecture before the color board was created with the overlapping colors of both, my explorations and WGSN

COLOR BOARD

SILHOUETTE BOARD

NOTCH COLLAR

FLARED PANTS

DOUBLE NOTCH COLLAR

Images from Google images

STRAIGHT FIT PANTS

ITERATIONS

RANGE PLAN

NOTCH COLLAR BLAZER STRAIGHT FIT PANTS INSEAM POCKETS

HOOKS FROM INSIDE

BELT

DESIGN 1

HIGH NECK

CAPE SLEEVES

ZIPPER ON THE BACK

DESIGN 2

MANDRIAN COLLAR

PANELS

LANTERN SLEEVE

SIDE ZIPPER

CUFF

DESIGN 3

COLD SHOULDER

BUTTERFLY SLEEVE ATTACHED TO BODICE

FRONT SLIT

TOP

CONTRASTING TAPING

BELT DESIGN 4

CONTRAST TAPING

Zipper on the back

BIG BUCKLE

POCKET

ROLL UP SLEEVE

FLARED PANTS

JUMPSUIT DESIGN 5

SWEET HEART NECKLINE BARDOT SLEEVE

BUTTON

CONTRAST TAPING

DESIGN 6

FABRIC

Cotton and lilen fabric to be used and self embosed fabrics with floral theme.

PROCESS

Pattern making

Bodice

Cutting the fabric

Sleeve

Fittings

hooks Lantern sleeve

Sleeve and Cuff

Mandrian Collar

Zipper

Panels

Full Fit and Bodice neckline detail

Final muslin

SELF REFLECTION

My major design project has been something that included my new discoveries on self and also enhancing the old. Through out the academic year I realized my direction in this industry, and worked towards the same in this project. I collaborated with a retail brand to make this process more efficient, I got familiar with how the retail sector works, what are in inclusions and what all it offers. I explored new areas for sourcing fabric just to fit between the price range provided by the industry, something different from the usual that I was doing from all these years. This experience guided me towards the choices i need to make for my career ahead. MDP was a project I enjoyed the most maybe because it involved my latest development of taste in retail sector. The process was quite interesting as well new during the session of pandemic, I was not able to make the best use of time but I kept my motivation to produce the best out of me. Working with a lock-down and not being able to access the resources created many drawbacks mainly in the construction part but how to manage with such situations just added to my skills and experience. Overall this project was an essential part of the journey in Fashion design and I made it sure to maintain that essentiality through thick or thin and also picked up some new skills, not being a pessimist and looking at the half empty glass but optimizing the half full with each drop. This project sure helped me ELEVARE.

Final REFLECTION

Revaluating my project I realised the gap that was visible, and reworking on the same through a systamatic process, I tried to fill those gaps. What I thought was missing was a lost connection between my visualisations and and the way of expressing it. As I started to rework on the project many more details were added and new enhancements were don, the only drawback here was not being able to source fabrics personally due to lockdown and the whole pandemic situations. This would have helped me visualise the the garments in a better aspect, based on the previous experiences when we source fabric and relate it with the design many changes are possible. This retake was a posetive oppertunity to improve myself, this time I could relate to the concept with a better aspect but the fact that i still think could have been better was the iteration process. Overall this MDP has helped me to improve and enhance my skills before actually entering the industry.

INDUSTRY FEEDBACK

Ever since we started our collaboration together, Ms. Stuti Arora has never ceased to amaze me with her attitude to life and dedication to her work. From the very first day, she came out as a very friendly person who was not only patient enough to listen to my requirements but was not afraid of giving her suggestions to better build the brand. She has excellent communication and interpersonal skills and was able to bond well with others in the company. She is not afraid of making mistakes but is a hard worker and her ability to learn and adapt according to the situation is something to envy about. She possesses excellent time management skills and has never failed to deliver on time. Stuti Is also highly creative and keeps herself updated with the latest trends and is therefore never short of ideas. She has a clear vision of what she believes to be the best for a Brand and does not hesitate to go out of her way to deliver it. Another quality to be admired is how she foresees problems and her remarkably interesting perceptions on how to resolve them. I am extremely pleased with how she has grown, both on a personal as well as a professional level over the last year and I wish her all the best in all her future endeavours.