Culture Project

This project was based on Cultures and the contrast of opposites to compose a final outcome that is original and still has the elements of both cultures.Out of all projects this is my favourite and I have been most enthusiastic about. It allows you to be brave and adventurous as I like to mix things that are not seen in the norm. I chose to do two contrasting cultures; south-London chav verses Moroccan prints. I was most influenced by american television reality shows like Jerry Springer and Maury. However I thought I should look at a culture that I have been around to witness social and gang behaviours that I  have witnessed. I chose to watch U.K shows like Police Interceptors, Jeremy Kyle and Channel 4's Benefit Street. This was something I watch daily and have a real interest in as to find why the stereotypes of Londons gangs are so true. I also wanted to find psychological reasons to why chav's behave the way they do and carry themselves with such low status by wearing imitations of designer clothes, heavy makeup, checked printed clothes and old school Reebok trainers and hat. They are also seen to be in the governments eye's to not wanting to help themselves in the way of finding a job and caring for themselves. They are also stereotypically on benefits with multiple children trying to survive for them and their families.

On the other hand I have chosen to clash the chav culture with the Moroccan prints/lifestyle because from recently visiting Morocco I was interested by their bright mixtures of prints and colours in the use of their clothes as well as their streets eg: coloured house and plants. I have few scarfs that I have previously purchased and I am intrigued by their intricate embroidered fabrics that are done either by hand or on machine. I also thought the thought of the london female chav is seen always pregnant on shows like Jeremy Kyle or shows multiple drug addicts and alcohol abusers. In conjunction in arabic countries the laws are that the female has to be with a man of the same faith and must be faithful and must provide for their family. I like the the odd mixture and thought I could create a bold collection with the use of the clashing cultures. 

In my sketchbook I have created many prints made from a collage of fabrics and different coloured paper by using the typical Burberry check print mixed with Moroccan tile prints combined to make the collage. From the collage I have scanned and edited it on Photoshop to make three different individual prints which I then place into some of my designs. I enjoy mixing the chav theme by drawing hats on the models whilst incorporating the layers of clothing and nude tones they wear in Morocco to keep cool. To improve this project I could of produced much more designs which created a delay in my other projects.

Sportswear Project

Deconstruct - Reconstruct

The most experimental project was this one as it was very hands on and physical. The beginning was to find/buy unused clothes in its normal form and shape and we had to deconstruct them by tear, cut and un-stitch to then recreate a garment that was made from mixed materials that could not be identified from its previous form. As a final piece I made a gillet jacket that had different fabrics and textures combined. I had a vision that I wanted to incorporate fur inside my final. I bought a jacket with a fur lining and tore apart the lining and reversed it to make the body of the jacket. I also bought a gold embroidered vest that I ripped apart along side quilted pockets. One of my strengths are the use of colours therefore I thought I should used a pop of colour into my final.

I did drawings and experimental prints by using pieces of the fur jacket which I spray painted and printed onto paper which was then put into Photoshop and edited to create a ripple effect. This is shown in my final illustration designs which I enjoy doing to make sure my design development is fully explored in depth. I struggle the most with two week projects because it takes a while to think of a idea and be consistent and stick with it. The project has pushed myself to create more work and I have learnt that when under pressure I can produce a lot of effective work. 

3 Words Project

O.T.T - Gather - Berlin

Those are the three words I chose for this project. I least enjoyed the project and never had a rhythm or style of working. I was put off by the demands that we were not allowed to use the internet as source of research and had to expand my use of primary research instead of relying on secondary sources. I visited the library and found books on Berlin and fashion books relating to pleats and layered fabrics. I chose to do Berlin as I thought I could create more ideas from it rather than a artist which I tried to stay away from copying their style in my work. I decided to base it on the Berlin wall rather than the city as a whole. It was hard because I did not have much knowledge about Germany and its history. I then tried to focus on the 'over the top' word and tried to relate this by experimenting the use of colours and bold and outrageous street styles. By attending group crit that week I learnt that I have to be more experimental with the phrase o.t.t because it does not just mean the over use of colour it can mean other subjects. I then thought of the idea of cosmetic surgery and the over use of it. I thought I would gather research and create screenshots from channel 4 documentaries like 'Embarrassing Bodies' and 'Botched Up Bodies'. I chose to look more into surgery and why people choose to get them done. It links it insecurities and thought it would be interesting to research surgeries gone wrong. 

To improve this project I could of been more experimental with my designs and could try to develop more initial ideas and turn them into finals. I struggled to find motivation to create interesting work as getting information from books is not something I am used to. I did enjoy some of the workshops we did like mark making. It helped to free our minds and be more creative by adding lots more colour to our work. 

Collaboration Project - Comme des Onion!

"Comme Des Onion"

This project was a group project consisting of 9 people. We were merged into groups to create a collaboration with fellow members of the class. I was part of the designing team and came up with rough designs and ideas. I really enjoyed the group project as we came up with the main objective as to focus on morals and its meaning. We came up with a idea of doing menswear because it was less popular and though about the opposites good versus bad. We then thought about layering and wanted to create a collection based on layers and showing skin. The word onion came to mind therefore we started studying the form, shape and smell of the onion. Our concept was that men hardly show a soft emotion and do have feelings and can cry but on the outside they have a hard persona and attitude that they like to have when around other males.

We decided to reveal their true insecurities by creating garments that show the layers like the onion and but like the outside of the onion is crisp and has lines just like a man how in the public eye they look tough. As part of the design team we came up with rough drawings by imitating the shape of the onion and incorporating it into our designs. I made collages, experimentation with colour and prints. I really enjoyed focusing mostly on the ends of the onion where the stem has prickly roots and tried to use that as the basis of my designs. From the start of the project we had thought about being the best group with the best designs and concept and worked hard daily by hosting daily meetings in the library to find research and catch up on each others work. 

LFW Soropol A/W 14

Saturday 15th Feb I attended for the second time London Fashion Week. I was honored to have tickets for most shows on at the Fashion Scout at Freemasons Hall. I had watched shows of Belle Sauvage, Hema Kaul and the amazing Sorapol London A/W collections.

Here's my favourite collection from Soropol London..

Christmas!

Christmas project was to produce photos that imitate our Christmas but in a fashion way.