London!

As part of my research I was required to go to London and do some fabric sourcing and market research.  As we were allowed to take up to a week off, I of course decided to go for the full week!  I'm not going to write too much about it, but here's a runthrough of the highlights of my time there.

Day 1

I visited Harrods, Harvey Nichols, The V&A, The Library and Tate Britain.  Harrods was a great place for market research, the menswear floor is packed full of great designers and really gave me a lot of inspiration in terms of silhouette, fabrics and detailing.

The Library

This is a small Menswear boutique in Knightsbridge, packed full of designers that I wasn't even aware of!  There were so many stand out pieces and interesting use of fabrics with a great and coherent colour palette from each designer.

Incarnation

Isaac Sellem Experience

Lost and Found

The V&A

I went to "The Power of Making" while at the V&A, which I must say, I was a little disappointed with.  Although there were quite a lot of interesting pieces on show, it wasn't quite what I was expecting, however I liked the emphasis on the importance of the skills we posses as designers/artists and how these skills can be utilised to shape the world that we live in for better and for always.

Sandra Backlund

I love this knitwear, Sandra Backlund is one of my favourite knitwear designers, not just for the garments she designs, but for the textiles themselves.  The volume and dimensions of this piece is fantastic.

Commercial Portfolio Revisit

So I ended up with 8 books in total amoungst other things! The final outcome of my project was a suitcase of evidence, which I felt could be shown in an exhibition, kind of like an installation I guess, with the films running in the background.

Not only did I make film 2 films, I also arranged the audio track behind the first one. A mashup of pretty much every visual source I used, audio pulled from interviews, films and documentaries as well as a song which related heavily to the evidence of the moors murders case.

Here’s a few snaps of the books that I put together for my research.

Below are a few garment ideas - just rough!  For the next three weeks I am concentrating on the design of my collection.  Let's see how much these original sketches change!

Backtrack

Autumn/Winter 11/12 Capsule Collection

I looked at clothing as a form of protection, a way to expose a personality while hiding an identity.  These images were taken by the amazing David Anderson and are going to be featured in the "Emerging Fashion Designers Europe" publication.

Photography : David Anderson

Model : Kevin Mdanga

Styling : Amber Hunter

As well as my capsule collection the publication will also include my surrealism dress, inspired by armour and lobster shells and Fashion Theory Piece, a mini dress burka with revealing panels.  This looked at the clash between British and Muslim youth.

Photography : David Anderson

Model : Nicole Gardner

Make Up : Nicole Gardner

Styling: Amber Hunter

Thank you to Framed Gallery Edinburgh for letting us use the space!

Graduate Year

This year is my final year at the School of Textiles and Design.

I've moved over from wordpress, so no followers at the moment, hopefully that will change soon!  I'll be posting anything relevant to my design work and final collection on here, to give you an insight into my work and what it's like to be a final year student on a fashion course!

Watch This Space!