Material Illustrations and Samples

    From my previous works, I have finally purchased my garments which I need to deconstruct. I decided to keep a very minimal colour pallet of grey, white and blue as they are more the sort of traditional colours you have with either towels or dressing gowns. I particularly wanted to work with both of these because they already come with a unique, yet comforting texture which could easily add body to the garment if I reconstruct it just right. I have also tried to make my illustrated models keep the 'japanese look' as this is what I am hinting as a concept, but predominately I still want to keep my mind open with all the potential outcomes and possibilities. Moreover, the illustrations are not of garments I have drawn, but photographs from stand works that I have created by using the garments I recently purchased. I am really getting more of an idea as to what I want to achieve by the end of this piece and needless to say, it will be rather complex, but yet again minimalistic which is what I am aiming for. With both my samples and illustrations, I think they reflect very well off of each other, nonetheless, I would have never thought of these concepts without doing the mannequin prior to this work.

     As an A/W collection, I also liked the idea with working with thicker materials to enhance the climate in which it is suited for, but it also reflects that people wear it as a sign of comfort or an extra layer to keep warm when its cold. Overall, these ideas all coincide with each other, but it also adds humour to the project in a sense that I am using something considered as a shabby/lazy garment into something much more elaborate and glamourous than it could ever be, which will probably be my main highlight of the reconstruction of such a "poor" classed garment. With the samples, again I wanted them to not only be minimalistic but also rustic, hence the shredding technique, pleating, tucking, weaving and more which completely manipulated the fabric even though it was only done by using the same material as from which it started from. Again, this enhances the reconstruction of the same garment, but juxtaposed against itself to create something much more unique and diverse that what it was previously. I have really enjoyed created samples, admittedly there is a lot more processes that I could try out, but being so time restraint, I will now know to practice new techniques in my next project if I continue to work with Textiles.

   During this past week and a half, I have really enjoyed what I have created. It has not been my best I must admit, however the work within my book is much more enriched and finer than how it was when I started at the beginning of the year and for that I am very happy with how far I have come whilst being at Ravensbourne. Nonetheless, I am very excited for the end of this project in regards to photoshoots and presentation, also yet again, I am creating something within 2 weeks which I am very proud of considering the short deadline we had.