Primary Research for Pattern Ideas

 During the recent trip to V & A in London , I also looked at other galleries inside like the introduction to iron work which fascinated me a lot . I was really intrigued with the designs of the gates and other metal steel gate parts hanging inside hence i took quite a few photos from the gallery for inspirations. I have never seen such  gigantic display of keys in my life before and this gallery was my favourite from the V & A which had nothing to do with fashion but in a way it did i guess because the people who designed these wonderful iron gates used their visions and skills. They put lot of dedication and thoughts towards these designs like fashion designers do with their collections.

Previously I used one of the iron gate as a chosen shape to work regarding pattern ideas but I wasn't so keen with the shape so i decided to use one of George Gilbert  metal piece below as my final choice to work on. I know its just a simple round shape but i can really see it working . At this stage , i am not sure were this will lead me to and in terms of shapes i will be experimenting with different scales and interesting patterns with gradually evolve using colours from my chosen palettes.  In meantime i am excited to see how far i can develop from this.

            

 

Patterns

During the reading week , I created colourful collage patterns. I enjoyed experimenting with  this technique which allowed me to work with different shapes and colours for development.  I never thought yellow black and pink would combine together but it has in a way. I used colours from my chosen colour palette . For this task becky suggested me to use gouache paint to paint on paper. I found gouache paint really ideal for this type of work as i was able to get the right shade easily and the paint ran smoothly over the papers . It's so much better than the acrylic and water-colour paints despite the hefty cost. I did cheat a little by using black sugar paper only because black is in my colour palette.  To create exciting patterns i experimented with different shapes. I used tools like stencil knives to create thin circles and overlapped them with different coloured papers on top for experiment. I also cut them in different sizes and rotated them in different angles . I am really pleased with the work i produced  today and going to make stencil designs out from these shapes for screen-printing in later sessions.

COLOUR PALETTE AND INSPIRATION

 Colour can make the pattern look alive and exciting. It's not just that but using different colours can enhance the patterns. There are different meanings to colours depending upon your moods. It is said that colour has a profound effect on a human behaviour. Like designer Valentino is known for using lot of red palette for his collection which is his signature colour i suppose but he once left a famous quote 

''Red has guts.. Deep strong, dramatic.A Goya red..to be used like gold for furnishing a house.. for clothes , it is strong like black and white'' he said.

“Women usually prefer to wear black at events because it makes them feel safe, however, if there’s one woman wearing red, she will inevitably be the eye-catcher of the evening. It’s as though the room is suddenly illuminated-simply perfect for a grand-entrance”.

Its about exploring with new palettes you have never experienced with before. Hence for my colour palette, I used inspiration from the costumes of club to catwalk show and from the 18th century court fashion . At first I was quite hesitant with my final choices but I decided to go for it for experiment.  I deliberately chose brighter palettes like magenta and red as its completely out of my comfort zone and to be honest I'm not used to working with bright colours but in a sense it reflects my bubbly personality so  i am looking forward to see what i can produce from it.

                                                     Primary research 

                                                  INSPIRATION 

I also found some interesting inspirations from my secondary research like the Art-work of Kandinsky were he worked with round & geomatric shapes all in one to create unique patterns. He actually inspired me to push myself further with new concepts . I also love the way he connects with colours and uses his visions to transform something ordinary into something wonderful and exciting. I am hoping to do the same with my samples i will produce.

                                                   KANDINSKY

Spring/Summer 2014

Today in Gill's lesson we discussed about Fashion week. Every year a Fashion show is held in 4 fashion Capitals New-York, Paris, London & Milan. We talked about how each cities has different visions coming from designers for e.g- New-york is all about commercial because of all the hustle & bustle (busy lifestyle) so the collection are quite wearable with clean cut silhouette where as in Paris it is all about houte-couture where everything is exclusive & private. London is vastly different and is all about street-style and designers like henry holland's collection are funky & fresh inspired by London fashion scene & lastly Milan represents  wealth with Flamboyant style. They like to flash their money on extravagant clothes hence gill set out a task for us to work in a  group of 4 and collect much information of current trends from cities given to us (Milan fashion week ).  Kerry also helped us how to format the information on Pebblepad which was helpful and the work looked presentable too.   From the spring/summer 2014  Milan fashion week , I did research of 2 well known designers Sports-Max & Dolce & Gabbana.  Both designers had different concept to their collections. 

 Sport-Max also known as Max-mara S/S 2014 was utterly breathtaking with variety of loose fluid silk dresses.  The use of soft neutral colour palette bought easy, romantic and feminine feel to the collection which oozed the modern day of woman today. Graphic cut silhouettes that everybody wanted which also bought fun to the collection . They understood the desire of what woman craves for in 21'st century . The collection had lot of wearable pieces yet very on trend and they certainly have succeeded on mastering it.

Dolce-Gabbana was different contradiction though . Everything about the collection represented wealth which comes in the territory of the designers duo as they are known for their glamour and versatility. Dolce & Gabbana women is strong: She likes herself and knows she is liked. They justified just that for their S/S 2014 collection.  It oozed money and luxury with flower blossomed prints. 

                                             
                                                        Milan Fashion week 

   

Sports-Maxx

Dolce & Gabbana

Developing Pattern & fashion Ideas

Today on charlie's session , we chose a shape from the photographs we took from our primary research during our trip to London . I randomly picked one of the iron gates from V & A museum. I started off with black & white sugar paper and than i cut loads of these chosen shapes into different scales and layered them on top of each other to create  repetitive patterns. In the afternoon with val, She taught us how to get a figure template using magazine cut outs of models and working with garment ideas.  I also played around with my patterns by rotating them into different angles & photocopied the patterns into smaller size using photocopier machine. I really enjoyed experimenting with this technique as it allowed me to create so many different pattern ideas from one shape though i am considering using different shape to work on for this project as i am not particularly keen on this shape to be honest.

National History Museum

Val suggested us to look at other museums for inspirations so  we decided to visit national history museums to look for anything relevant to our chosen theme. I also forgot to mention in my previous post about the project we will be working on for this semester which is called contemporary heritage. From this trip we are supposed to collect images of anything inspirational as a primary research . At first i was quite apprehensive about going there as there wasn't anything fashion related however I did enjoyed looking at shapes and the textures of the limestone rocks. The unusual imprints left by the lava from the volcanoes intrigued me. I suddenly thought this would look great for print ideas. This experience has also made me aware of natural forms and how we can be inspired by shapes , patterns and colours. It also gave me opportunity to work with the colour scene though I haven't thought about my colour palette at this stage.  I am considering using these rocks as a shape inspiration for my theme. I can really see these patterns working using the screen-exposure technique which i have experimented in will's textile session on friday in the print studio.I really enjoyed experimenting with this technique so hoping to use this technique more often. 

18th Century Court-fashion

18th century costumes

       I enjoyed exploring other galleries at the V & A museum like the 18th century court fashion for instance . It reminded me of the fashion & Textiles museum i visited in paris called Les Arts decor- tifs where they had costumes from that era. i found out some of the costumes were actually exported from France during the war. It felt quite strange walking around the gallery seeing all these  wonderful costumes . They were preserved  inside the glass to keep to its original condition which was a same really as i secretly wanted to touch and feel the material. 

 The costumes were made of different materials like silk, cotton, linen & lace. Some of the garments seemed ridiculously tight looking especially around the waist area like the corset dresses and you often wonder how it can possibly fit on a human figure. My only guess is women in those days were either of petite frame with less appetite or they were genetically born small.

 However it was quite exciting to look at the garments because i had only seen them on periodic dramas like Downtown Abbey & Mr Selfridge.

Cast of Downtown abbey

Cast of Mr Selfridge

  Talking of costumes , there were some heavily embellished dresses with big volumes .The corset dresses had amazing floral prints and it amazes me how the people managed to do all this without the use of technology we take advantage of these days. What fascinated me most was how the costumes were still in its original condition and there was not a single damage . 

  My favourite was lace material dresses. They looked really romantic and feminine.  People into those era mostly preferred to wear light colour garments maybe because they believed it bought happiness and love. Most of the costumes in the gallery were also made for people with wealth because it was impossible for lower class people to afford luxurious materials as they had to be special made by an private tailor.

LONDON TRIP

 Today's trip to London was quite interesting. we went to Victoria & Albert museum to see the current fashion exhibition .The club to catwalk show was the main highlight in the museum . I enjoyed looking at all the costumes displayed in there. The gallery was based on 80's London scene with quite exquisite looking garments .There was explosion of bright colours with art-deco prints. Designers used inspiration from the musicians like Adam ant, Madonna  and Boy George for e.g.        

   Designer's like Betty Jackson also caught my eye. Her 1994 black suit piece displayed in the gallery looked simple but the way its cut to fit on a women's body was clever and with added little accessories like shiny dog's brooch and multicoloured sheer blouse added extra ooze to the outfit because if it was just plain black suit, it would have defiantly looked like any other dull and boring suit.The designer clearly stated her inspiration behind the masculine concept came from cross-dressers in the 80's in Soho London. I admire how she is not afraid to be completely bold and has used lot of bright bold colours and printed garments which looked like line drawings for her other collection thought i wouldn't be brave enough to wear something that bright to be honest.    

     There were also other well known young contemporary designers like Katherine Hammett , John Galliano and Wendy Dagworthy whose collection caught my eye. One thing i noticed was most of the costumes at club to catwalk looked quite wearable and looked young, fresh & imaginative .  

    The denim collection 'Blitz' by levis strauss & co was also my favourite from the gallery. It bought levi's brand to a whole new level . It was risky but with passion and ambition due to its creativity. I researched a bit about the company and learnt they are actually a fashion run magazine which reflected on the 80's pop scene to club scene.  The 80's scene also attracted lot of other cultures globally and thats when the craze began really.  I also  felt this show was quite different contrast to the exhibition i saw last year which was based on hollywood. I learnt how music can play a huge role in fashion scene and how a character of a person becomes an inspiration . Each costumes certainly had a story to tell.