Sculptural Silhouette

I was going back through images I had sourced as inspiration for silhouette and came across these two. I think that they really further my point about interesting silhouettes just having a few simple details that have been carefully thought out for proportion and scale. They are from the book Fashioning Fabrics: Contemporary Textiles in Fashion by Sandy Black.

Pattern Magic

Just a further note on my posts about architectural fashion and sculptural silhouettes, the Pattern Magic books are an excellent way to help you to think outside the usual square. The books are Japanese and are a great way to help you change the way that you see garments and silhouettes. Although they have not been translated into English the pictures are quite clear. There are two books Volume 1 and Volume 2.

Muse for my collection

Images from Italian Vogue

When I began designing my final collection we were encouraged to find a muse for our collection. After seeing these photos in an issue of Italian Vogue I certainly found my muse in Daphne Guinness. The editorial is “The Honourable Daphne Guinness” and was shot by Steven Klein for the 2008 September edition of Italian Vogue.

Back to basics

When I'm designing I think that I am a very logical designer, so breaking all the rules can be a little hard at first. Consequently when I'm not getting the results that I would like I go back to the basic principles of design:

Colour – Fabrication – Texture – Shape – Line – Detail – Surface Design – Embellishment

All of these elements are extremely important in design work, so when my designs are not working I try and see what elements need to be simplified and what elements exaggerated. A few small tweaks here and there can make a simple design so much more interesting!

Santiago Calatrava

Image from http://www.calatrava.com/main.htm

This is certainly an undeniable relationship between architecture and fashion. Many people have written substantially about it and many designers have designed with architecture in mind. I found the work of Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava particularly inspiring for his fascinating futuristic designs. I found the movement in his designs so fascinating the designs almost leap off the page. Have a peak at his website to see his vast portfolio of work.

Sculptural Simplicity

Images from http://www.sandrabacklund.com/previous-collection.php?page=28

In my design work I am trying to achieve a strong and sculptural silhouette. My designs are often very simplistic because I try and use detail and textiles to create interest. I am often drawn to sculptural pieces hence my excitement to design with the hyperbolic shape in mind. Sandra Backlund is a Swedish designer who has redefined knitwear. Her beautifully sculptural designs have been created by hand knitting. What I really love about the designs is their simplicity at their core silhouette. Another point that I really love about Backlund’s work how she build her pieces from a few basic blocks, which is definitely something to keep in mind when designing.

Thinking outside the crochet circle!

Images from http://www.imrevolting.net/?p=3831

My friend Lydia brought this fabulous doily rug to my attention. I think it is so great!! I really like how the old doily has been made into something new and functional. I think that it is such a shame that we are losing the skill of creating handicrafts. When I was in Venice at the beginning of the year I went to a lace house, where a Venetian lady spoke about how handmade lace in Venice is now subsidised by the government because it is so expensive to make and there are very few people who are able to produce the quantity and quality which Venice is so famous for. This is one of the reasons that I have chosen to use crocheted elements in my collection because I feel that it is so important firstly learn these new skills but also to apply a modern twist to make them relevant again.

Slight Change of Direction

In my original outline for a blog, I thought that my point of difference would be creating prints that could be used in my collection. However after more investigation around the hyperbolic and the ideas for my collection, I feel that at this stage I can't see myself using many prints in my collection. Therefore rather than wasting my valuable time producing images for my blog I will use this blog to document inspiration and try to uncover my own design aesthetic in a clearer manner.

Design ideas for collection

Last year as part of a subject Textiles Installation I was introduced to the idea of hyperbolic space, which was a little daunting for someone who has not studied maths in five years! However after some explanation and research I came to really fall in love with the physical model of hyperbolic space. Mathematician Daina Taimina through the technique of crochet first created this type of physical model. So for an assessment task a group of us set out on crocheting our own hyperbolic modals for an installation. We chose as our final material cotton cord. I think in the photos you can see why!

Galya Rosenfeld

Image from, http://67.207.145.213:9025/index.php?id=10

Image from, http://67.207.145.213:9025/index.php?id=10

Galya Rosenfeld is a designer and artist who uses "Lego" like pieces which interlock allowing the wearer to create their own garment. Could be a bit chilly in winter but it is such a great idea for transforming a garment.

Dissertation to Design

I have been thinking for sometime how I will relate my dissertation to my design work for this year. And after a great deal of research I have come to realise that the reason that transformable design is not everywhere in fashion design is because in reality it is extremely hard to produce transformable designs that are aesthetically pleasing and practical. However after doing some more research I think that the key to transformable design of a commerical nature is in fastenings. Being able to add, remove and customise products adds greater value to them. So the key is in the fastenings!

Conceptual Transformable Design

"Aeroplane Dress", photograph Christopher Moore,
from http://www.husseinchalayan.com/#/past_collections.1999.1999_a_w_echoform.0/

Table that transformed into skirt, photograph Christopher Moore,
from http://www.husseinchalayan.com/#/past_collections.2000.2000_a_w_after_words.22/

Hussein Chalayan is an amazing designer there can be no disputing that. His transformable designs though are what I have concentrated on most for another "chapter" of my dissertation. Chalayan is a particularly interesting for the conceptual nature of his work. He thinks of an idea and is able to create it through collaboration with a number of people from various designs disciplines and other backgrounds such as mechanical engineering. Collaboration I feel is one of the most important lessons that can be learned from the work of Chalayan. I think that with more collaboration more transformable design would be created. Chalayan has produced numerous projects that are transformable. Most notably is his "Aeroplane Dress" and "Remote Control Dress" both using similar concepts around the idea of flight and his After Words collection in 2000/2001 which dealt with displacement. The After Words collection had products such as tables transform into skirts and chairs into suitcases to allow them to be carried away easily.

Transformable Design for Protection

Image from Techno Textiles: Revolutionary Fabrics for Fashion and Design, pg 176.

Transformable Design for Protection is one of the "chapters" of my dissertation. It is about garments which have been created for protection in the urban environment of the time. It is through researching this section that I discovered the work of artist Lucy Orta. Lucy Orta is an artist who brings the plight of homeless people and refugees to our consciousness by creating garments that transform into various products such as tents and mattresses. Her pieces are practical solutions as well as being catalysts for ideas which could be taken further by governments and manufactures.

Transformable Design

When I first started to research transformable design I found that there is really not a great deal written about transformable design, which could explain why it isn't used much in fashion design today. Another reason why I believe that transformable design is not used more in creating fashion, is the proliferation of fast and disposable fashion in the market currently. It has become so inexpensive to by clothes, that people rather than paying more for a garment that has several uses and a longer lifespan, purchase numerous garments for numerous functions. However, an overhaul of how the clothing industry is run and the greater awareness of fashion’s effect on the environment being now very much at the forefront of people’s minds, practices such as slow fashion have started to change the way we see fast fashion and its major pitfalls. Thus I can really see the potential of transformable garments.

Dissertation Topic

For the final year of my course in the subject Fashion and Textile Research and Conceptualisation I am required to write a dissertation on the topic of my choice. I have chosen to write about transformable design in fashion. I chose this topic because I find it very interesting that with all of the advancement in technology and in huge increase in multifunctional products, that transformable clothing has not taken off to the same extent as other products. So for the next few posts I thought I would share with you some of the interesting points that I have learnt about transformable design.