Fairytale Fashion Show

Refined Design Pages

Modelling on the Stand

Refined Concept Pages

''Darwin's Theory of Evolution is the notion that all life is related and has descended from a common ancestor therefore complex creatures evolve from more simplistic ancestors naturally over time.  Genetic beneficial mutations are preserved because they aid survival which is the process known as "natural selection." These beneficial mutations are passed on to the next generation. Over time, beneficial mutations accumulate and the result is an entirely different organism.''

I am interested in Darwin's evolution theory as it has inspired me in terms of fashion and clothing. Cross displinary areas such as technology is influencing fashion as fashion evolves into a different organism with the same genetic make up (the purpose of keeping the body covered). The imagery surrounding evolution, particulary of the ape becoming a human inspires me to wonder how one garment can change form or its 'genetic make up' due to the bodies'' position and other enhancements such as inflation and light. My aim is to explore the possibilties of evolving clothing.

Initial Design Pages

Each of these designs have been drawn with the primarily the idea of inflation,movement and light in mind, the intention is to use light fabric such as organza or a lightweight cotton which can change volume if a source of pressure of i.e wind from a fan, was placed underneath it. The fabric are all light in colour and translucent so that a light source can be placed behind it, this can be in a form of L.E.D's sewn in along the seams.

Continuous Cutting

Our one day workshop helped us explore the possibilities of innovative Japanese pattern cutting further. The darts in this bodice have all been eliminated into the circle

Concept Pages

I have created five initial concept pages to reflect my thought process at this stage, the pages show the relationship between using light within the garment, oversized silhouettes and the idea of inflation and movement and its relationship to evolution.

Light and Evolution

Light can have many meanings, I am exploring light in relation to a light bulb or a ray of light. If an object is to be seen it must either emit light, as the sun does, or reflect it from another source, such as the moon reflecting sunlight.
Light is radiant energy emitted by substances excited by other kinds of energy, such as electricity or heat, or by nuclear energy, such as the sun

Evolution is a word that I find keeps coming up through my research, I think this word plays a key part in all the the concepts I have been looking at, in particular, movement and silhouette. The definition term for evolution is the change in the inherited traits of a population of organisms through successive generations. The imagery involved with evolution reminds me of the changing silhouettes that Hussein Chalayan achieves with technology, the way Cocky Eek photographs her inflated work, the way Theo Jansen transforms something stationary into a moving masterpiece, these are all connected to the idea of evolving something from its original form.

Inspiration: Sam Taylor Wood

Sam Taylor Wood is known for her compelling portraits in photography, film and video. I am interested in the way in which she creates ambiguous orchestrated scenarios that focus on the extremes of human emotion.

 Her images seem to range from desire to anger, and loneliness to boredom, and always has explosive enery and leaves me intrigued.

Developing Subtraction Cutting Further

As I mentioned previously, I have developed the subtraction cutting technique that I mastered during the workshop, further. I decided to construct a full scale version of the dress in slighlty heavier fabrics such as cotton and polyester satin as opposed to the chiffon that I used last time. The aim of this was to see what different silhouettes I could achieve with this unpredictable method of pattern cutting an also how fabric choice can affect it.

I took pictures of how the dress looked at each stage and played around with the hemline in order to achieve a younger, more wearable silhouette The aspect which I like most about Subtraction Cutting is that the shape can evolve as much as you want it to, it reminds me of the mechanism that Hussein Chalayan used in his Spring/Summer 08 collection as that too, changed the silhouette .

My final outcome still pocessed the fuller lower body skirt of a subtraction cut dress but I shorten the hemline for a younger look and I sewed some of the drapery into place to create almost pockets of draped layers. It would be interesting to explore the possibly of pulling the hem up, in a subtraction cut dress through a mechanism to show viewers the silhouette that can evolve from one dress

Quick Sketches to capture the silhouette and technique

I drew some quick sketches of the garments that most interested me due to the prohibition of photography. My rough sketches aim to capture the unusual slhouettes and innovative techniques that exhibiting Japanese designers used.

The majority of the garments I chose to sketch and explore further, were the ones I found most interesting in terms of creative pattern cutting and over proportion. I like the drapery that the oversized garments poccess and also the way it interacts with the concept of being more of an installation of an art piece, they are very dramatic pieces. The innovation in cutting is very inspiring and broadens my mind of designs which can be achieved.