Toile Development

This image is an example of a toile that I developed whilst making a pair of jeans for my AS Product Design: Textiles project. The problems that occured during the toiling process are highlighted within the text and also how I solved these problems. There are also images taken during the process that show my initial problems with the fit of the garment and images that show how I changed the garment to make it fit correctly.

A2 Product Design: Textiles Sketch

This image is a sketch of a potential idea for my client. After reading 'The Dior Revolution' by Nigel Cawthorne and visting the V&A Museum in London I was inspired by elements of the 1940s raditioned fashion and the 'New Look'. I sketched an idea of what I believe to be a modern interpretation of a 1940s inspired blazer, which I presented to my client as an initial idea to see what changes could be made to the design in order to develop the concept into a final design that could be produced.

1940s Research

This image is research for my A2 Product Design: Textiles course, in which I am making a contempory suit inspired by the 1940s era. One form of research that I conducted was reading 'The Dior Revolution' by Nigel Cawthorne. The image was origionally a photograph that I sketched with no alterations or development made. I did this because I wanted to see what elements of the 'New Look' my client liked and what elements she did not. This helped me as a designer because I could take elements from the 'New Look' and combine them with other styles of the 1940s, such as military uniforms, and combine them to finish with a piece that has been inspired by the 1940s and is not a 1940s replica outfit.

1940s Research

This image is research that I conducted for my A2 Product Design: Textiles piece. My client requires a contempory suit inspired by the 1940s era, therefore I conducted in many different forms of research in order to understand this era and the styles within it. One form of research was visiting the fashion department in the V&A Museum in London. Many pieces that were on show were inspirational to me as a designer, however, this suit inspired me the most for my project as Schiaparelli is an important icon of the time, this lead me to look at other influencial designers such as Dior and his 'New Look' line. I took my sketch book with me to the museum and I sketched whilst the ideas were fresh in my mind. This image is a 1938 Elsa Schiaparelli suit that I viewed. I took the concept of having embellished shoulders on the suit and developed it by making a sample of what could be on my garment if i was to make it. I could then develop this through embellishment, or the use of wire to manipulate the leaves to create a natural form effect.

A Little Bit About Me...

Why Fashion?

Since a young age I have been intrigued by the fashion industry, in my opinion, the fashion industry is so much more than the clothes that we wear; I believe that pretty much everything around us is affected my fashion trends. Although those who would not associate themselves to follow fashion, and all the connotations that often come with the industry, are affected by the ever growing industry and the history behind the clothes we wear today and the people that created them. Take Else Schiaparelli for example, she introduced knit wear into the fashion industry which led to Schiaparelli’s unusual prints of food and body parts. Knit wear today is a great segment of the textiles industry and is regarded by many as a basic item in their wardrobe and printing has also become an everyday process in the textiles industry. Furthermore, Schiaparelli was the first designer to use zips that were dyed to match the colour of the material used in her garments, along with being the first designer to create buttons that were not only used to fasten garments but were also decorative. Her innovations played a huge part in the development of the fashion industry but the most significant and influential innovation was creating fashion shows. She used a run way, with loud music and tall, shapeless women to present her creations to the world. It is clear that her contribution to fashion and the impact that she had upon the industry is not fully understood by many. Therefore, everything that we wear has a history behind it and has been developed into what it is today and should be recognized as I believe, what we wear is a part of who we are and what we represent, and if we don’t know the history behind what we wear, we don’t fully know what we represent.