So far I haven’t thought much about my presenting my work, which may be a little silly seeing as the studio is based around it. I would love to create a website that would allow me to actually show my work in an environment. I’m not sure what environment that is at the moment that will develop later. All I know is how I respond to fashion on the web, and it can be really powerful. Thinking back to when Dai Fugiwara came to class, and speaking about how the next generation receives information. Even though I am in that generation, I feel like generation gaps are shorter. I don’t receive information the same way as someone who is five years younger than me. They might never have used encyclopedias in primary school, the internet is the norm. However I was on the cusp of the Internet’s dawn, so I’ve seen this huge shift towards the Internet rather than always having it apart of my life. So facebook is something that someone 10 or 15 years younger than me couldn’t imagine communication without it. It’s these kind of technologies, like google/facebook/iphone that are rapidly recreating the world’s we live in. Looking at how designers present themselves online is something that I personally take lots of notice of. Whether it be the layout of a website, to the updates a designer sends via email, or the advertising/communication they have online and in print. This is something I want to look into, but seeing as I have no website talents of my own, I’ll need to get help. Dai spoke about how new generations are learning to ‘buy’ images, which is something I need to think about when communicating my work. What do I want to present or communicate to my customer/fan/browser/hater.

The rise of live streaming shows and website’s like Nick Knight’s show studio aims to bring a virtual reality or life to clothes. I appreciate this form of communication and made a small attempt to have a go at it last semester, but the virtual world is just that, virtual. It excites our imagination to see clothes as fashion, much like a photograph does. At the same time the audience is separate from the clothes. These forms of communication are designed for the masses, and there is still something intimate about the runway show. You can see with your own eyes, you focus isn’t directed. There is still something that can be said for this reality, so I guess my focus over the next month or so is starting to create a successful communication that includes the virtual world and the real world.

Don’t you just hate it when your working on an idea that seems like you’ve completely come up with it on your own, only to have a flashback of that exact idea. Well this happened to me just today!

I simply started off wanting to have a bit of an experiment with knitting, not necessarily in the traditional way, but just starting from scratch. I have knitted before, but I’ve completely forgotten how to do it. So I started back at primary school with the friendship bracelet. There was some thread I found at the back of a cupboard and began starting to ‘knit’. Basically I was trying to create a structure of some kind. It’s so annoying how it twists and you have to put a paperweight on the knit to stop it. This seems like something I need to investigate a bit more, trying to figure out why this happens.

Sitting at my desk I looked up and saw my jewelry surrounded by silver and (faux) gold chains. In the past year my obsession with handmade jewelry has slowly taken hold. My wallet is worse for wear, but I justify any purchases I make because they are ‘forever’. Jewelry has a permanence that fashion/clothes can’t really match. You can try and create something that is classic in style, or well made but generally each garment has a lifespan. Jewelry is very personal and intimate.

So I began to knit/crochet/knot 4 necklaces together. Loving what I had produced I was pretty chuffed when an image of Arielle De Pinto’s work flashed up in my mind. Dang it. This is what she does. So I spent the next hour or so (maybe more) looking at her work online. Aesthetically I love it, also as an idea it’s original. The pieces are delicate yet there is a strength from the metal. I liked working with the chains, and I’m hoping to buy some more so I can experiment with them as a material. Could there be knit structures that can be used to give a chain-knit fabric stretch? Does it make a difference what size chain you use?

Image: My chain friendship bracelet

Image: Arielle De Pinto’s lookbook S/S 09

This idea of permanency is interesting because garments that use metal are for armor. When I looked up chain mail on the web, I was interested to see that there are different structures with different strengths, movement, shape etc. Perhaps another line of investigation. Now I just hope that I can’t get my chains undone!

I had a chat to Winnie about last semester’s work and I took away some important ideas. Generally I have a lot of worry for my future practice. I could go on for a while about that but Winnie was like ‘don’t worry’, and yes I need to focus on the immediate future. Winnie asked me a simple question and it was so simple that it was quite hard! ‘What do you like’. Hmmm, at first I started naming things that related to fashion i.e processes, people etc. But then I mentioned how I really love cataloguing images. I’m contantly on the internet looking up sites, multi-tabbing, cutting, pasting images and text that I like. It’s kind of become an obsession, and I think of it as like making my perfect magazine or book dedicated to me. I can go back to my book and find inspiration immediately. Then Winnie asked what makes me choose those images? Hmmm, I chose them because I like them, but what do I like about them?
I came to the conclusion that they represent a good idea. I love seeing something that is really simple, that is original and makes you respond to it, be it a great piece of advertising or the lay out of a book. There’s one image I found on ffffound.com, of a campaign for peace. The image is below and I just think it’s one of the best ideas. It can’t be argued about it just is so simple and effective and really makes you stop and think…

http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2009/what-goes-around-comes-around/

In terms of fashion it’s the same thing. If you see a new shape, or a new fabric, a new way of knitting. Mark Fast represents that. He has come up with a process that created a new platform for design. It speaks for itself and is original.

So how can this knowledge inform my practice?

Well I want to take a similar route to that of last semester. Experimenting and exploring knit and knit fabrics as a starting point that will (fingers & toes) lead me to an end point.

I’ve talked enough for now..just wanted to get a few thoughts out into the world wide web.

I must admit that I’m a total fashion tragic. Before coming to the course I was besotted by the idea of the perfect dress, the perfect photograph, the perfect magazine, the perfect designer… I loved reading about fashion, but only skimmed over the designers that were ‘in fashion’. I’m still in love with fashion but in a different (and surprising) way. I know more and have an appreciation for designers I know I wouldn’t have come across otherwise. I think you can lump any ‘alternative’ design house in the catergory. You know those ‘exploratory’ designers that create completely unwearable and weird pieces. I would have put Issey Miyake into that category. Knew the name, knew he was important but was like ‘what’s it all about Alfi?’ A week can change a lot, and now I’m a little in awe of Issey Miyake and as such the creative director, Dai Fujiwara. There’s been a little bit of information overload this week but I thought I’d summarise what his visit meant.

Design…in it’s truest form is exiting. I still have a complete love for fashion and pop culture, I think I always will. Fugiwara explained his process of design, and I was amazed by the research that went into his work. It started over each season and was original. He lead a team to find new discoveries which was surprising. I hadn’t paid much attention to the collections he was showing before, so hearing about the processes the studio went through and then been shown the images of the collection was great. There was a greater appreciation for the collections after I had heard the research behind each one. Style.com is a daily fix for me and I love reading the reviews, so I was really interested to read how it was interpreted by the media. Most of the ideas of the collections got through, but at the end of the day they are judging the aesthetic qualties of a collection, like anybody. And the same goes for my semester long research, at the end of the day it comes down to the end product, and everyone’s opinion won’t have been there every step of the way to see the collection developing. That’s fashion… Em asked Dai after his talk on Wednesday if the research always had to come back to the clothes. And it seemed obvious but listening to the development you could be mistaken for thinking that they just keep researching and researching. His answer was ‘of course, always’. And I guess that’s at the end of the day the common denominator for every designer, mainstream or not. It’s all about the body.

Our class discussion was a great insight into Dai’s views on his brand and the industry. I was surprised to hear he eventually wanted to become a teacher. My thesis this year is around fashion education and I was at ease to know that he sees education as a means to truly design. The fact is we wouldn’t be able to have this support and freedom if we were in the industry, thinking about the bottom line all the time. He commented that design is expanding your aim for the world, finding the un-thought. I’m paraphrasing but I liked this idea of the unthought. Something at the back of your mind that hasn’t been discovered yet, but it’s there! Actually now I’m not sure if that was Dai or Winnie. Haha, both are masters…

Working on the triumph brief turned out to be something I needed. At the start of the semester I don’t feel the pressure to get things done a.s.a.p because I know there’s nothing due immediately. Having the week to fill the Triumph brief I knew I had to get straight onto the work. I started from using the three workshops that we were given in class. Sitting at the mannequin I felt no inspiration hitting me from a lightening bolt, but I did the exercises anyway. I didn’t like the results. I was trying to recreate the function of the bra by pulling in a knit fabric with thread. Sounds simple but because I was using a knit fabric the hand sewing just looked like gathering, and to be frank pretty ugly gathering at that! So I decided I needed to employ more extreme tactics so I started using a paper clip to thread through the knit fabric and I was able to control the fabric a lot more. The wire held its place and I started pulling the fabric and knotting the paperclip which made me think of the underwire of a bra. It plays a major part in shaping the breasts and if not fitted correctly can be really uncomfortable.

Images: Making the underwire pockets, the prototype on the mannequin

When I was writing out my concept for Triumph on Tuesday I described the underwire as something that your really conscious of, rubbing against your skin, pressing into your rib cage, riding up your chest. When you think about the amount of adjusting that a bra causes it made me want to put the underwire on show. I cut out the underwire from a bra and started placing it around the bra. Changing the position created a new shape over the breast. Essentially it was still creating structure and form, it was just redefining it. Repetition is something that I like, for what ever reason I’m not sure but I like it. The crescent shape was so simple yet on the body it created a dramatic difference to the body’s contours. I started cutting out the crescent shape with wire, encasing it with paper and pinning onto the mannequin. It was a slow process and I did have the urge to go to a piece of paper and draw the possibilities, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to successfully translate it with my grade 3 sketches. Instead I kept repeating the process until I covered the front half of the body with the underwire’s. The silhouette and structure on the body was effective, and started to remind me of the skeleton. Photo’s of the ‘skeleton’ were then manipulated in Photoshop to create new give a clearer picture of possibilities of the garment. I wouldn’t be able to imagine these garments without PS so it allows me create shapes first, and then think about construction. I had used PS last year alongside my 2D developmental work and I had a bit of success with the process so it was a good alternative to just the 2D. It was the first time working with Indesign, and apart from some frustrations at the beginning, it was an easier way (in some respects) to using a ‘maunal’ folio. The fact that I could set out the photo’s and text at the same time, without having to go back and forth with printing and cropping, saved a lot of time. However there is the other side which means that I spend more time ‘editing’, which can be a time sucker.

When I moved into the 2D work I realised how out of touch with it I was. The sketches were awfully sketchy and I didn’t feel like they represented what I imagined. Submitting the work I was happy with what I had produced but it was more of a learning curve. Having such a short time to produce something,your not going to be able to be totally satisfied. However if I decided not to do Triumph, I’m not sure if I would have actually have done any work! So basically it was a good kick up the bum to get back into the routine of working. Aaaagggghhh, I’m back to the start!