Design - Burberry

Personal Design Work:

As a group we decided to base our colour scheme on the colours present in decaying objects, e.g. orange rust, beige, black etc… 

I suggested to the design team, that they create a pattern out of the ariel view of the Haymarket Burberry store that was opened in London in 1891… This would link perfectly in with our 1940's travel concept, a silky map lining in all of our travel items… I thought it would be a good idea to contrast the colours I ended up making this pattern out of a 1900's ariel view of the The HayMarket Street:

 "Author's own, Ticket/Wristband Design"

 "Author's own, VIP chatterbox Design"

 "Author's own, Press Pass Design"

 "Author's own, Stamp Designs"

Designing

Although i am more interested in the promotion side of the Fashion pathway i found the exercises in this workshop extremely helpful and insightful. I think that learning the process of designing garments can also heavily inspire the work of other arts.  An example of a task we were given was to draw as many sleeves, coats, skirts, trousers or collars as we could in 5 minutes using one shape [in my case a diamond], the idea was not to get too caught up on creating an actual garment but to be experimental with our drawings. At first i thought that none of my designs were good enough, but when refining them further into ones that i liked best i realised that by simply adding more and more detail to them, the better they looked. I was really happy with the small sketches i came up with at the end of that task [see right] and decided to draw them onto figures, sticking with my white on white theme. For the sketches i used white chalk and a strong pencil outline to accentuate the white appearance of the garments, i decided to also add hair and a fleshy tone to the figures so that the clothing stood out from the page. I think that the illustrations are a good example of what i tried to achieve and i think they all work really well, i attempted to use my shape as an inspiration to design the garments silhouette rather than the pattern.

Once i had finished the white illustrations i decided that it would be a good idea to experiment with some real samples of material, i tried to vary up the material as much as possible but i was limited due to colour and what materials i already had. The fist design shows a diamond shape dress made from felt, the idea of the dress' shape came from an origami structure i had previously made for another workshop during my foundation. The structure is a Chinese water balloon that has not yet been blown up. The second design shows a diamond shaped coat with the front undone and flowing outwards, the coat was made from paper and the skirt was made from fabric i had from a curtain sample. Design number three is an ambitious design made from stiff white lino, with a mesh interior, the skirt is made from the same material.

Knitwear

Rick Owens is a designer who uses very simplistic methods in the development of his work. His creations show innovative forms and shapes, with a monochrome colour palette, this colour palette he uses to define the figure is identified as being exclusive to him and acts as his signature in a lot of ways. For this project i am interested in his smaller range of knitwear pieces, his knitwear consists of rather basic methods which are usually created in one go on the knitting machine. What i like about Owen's work is that although the outcome of his garments are somewhat figure hugging, the actual piece its self has little human-like shape to it.

Styling&Photography

(Two examples of the clothing used in the workshop, Author's Own)

The images above show the selection of things that i brought in for the internal styling workshop, the items range from whacky sequinned blazers and Mr-T-like chains to an array of white materials including dresses and jumpers. As my mood board is strongly influenced by the colour white i decided to bring in a selection of white garments to work with during the workshop, but i also decided it would be a good idea to let my imagination run with ideas and be experimental so i brought in some vibrantly coloured items too. I started off using the colourful items so that i could throw as many crazy ideas out there as possible to begin with and them tone it down and focus on my initial idea.

(Holly&Ben Modelling for my styling project, Authors Own)

The photographs above show my final images from the styling & photography workshop, i am fairly pleased with them but it was hard to get people to stay focused and do what i wanted them to. The female model (Holly) is dressed in a white mohair jumper, worn as trousers and two completely different blazers on each arm, i decided to experiment with the way in which the models wore the clothes so that the final shots appeared more interesting and showed my thought process of developing ideas. The male model (Ben) is wearing the same white mohair jumper with a white string vest layered underneath to add more depth to the outfit, he is also wearing a dress tied around his waist creating a whacky appearance, topped off with the white accessory of rosary beads. During the workshop i wasn't very happy with what i thought i had achieved, but on closer inspection at home with a little bit of tweaking and retouching on photoshop i was actually quite pleased with my results.

(Modelling white on white, Author's Own)

The next step following on from the internal workshop was going away and thinking about real models and a real location that i could work with, i decided to carry on the White on White theme and compose my shots using white backgrounds. I thought about this carefully coming to a decision that i am not skilled enough to make a white background appear interesting, so i decided to start a locations diary when i was out and about, recording interesting locations that could be used in my shoots. The Female model is actually a young fashion journalist who is currently working alongside me to strengthen our portfolios, she appears in different white locations around her house wearing white clothes and accessories. Considering the female model was my first external attempt at a photo shoot i was over the moon with the results that we achieved together, the shots are clean and beautiful with a strong sense of fashion to each one, the ideas still have a hint of quirk to them, but i feel that they appear well 'styled' and photographed. Similarly the images of the male model (Joe) appear fresh and somewhat quirk, they were strongly influenced by the evening sunlight pouring through sash windows. In this photo shoot i experimented with white face makeup, i have painted a simple stroke of white paint across his eyes to accentuate his gaze, but i decided that the makeup did not work as part of my shoot, i wanted to keep it simple and the presence of the paint made them look too contrived.

(Idea for magazine spread, Author's Own)
Here i have quickly done a trial mock up of a magazine spread of photoshop to demonstrate how i feel my photographs could be used. 

(Joe against white brick wall, Author's Own)

These are some more photographs of Joe experimenting with different backgrounds, i think these work better because of the contrast between the fresh, crisp white clothes and the decayed white wall. I was aiming to photograph models against backdrops like this but it proved extremely difficult to convince teenage boys to do this in public on a weekend ! Luckily with a bit of persuasion i managed to capture some truly aesthetically pleasing results.

 (George against white church door, Author's Own)

Here i have photographed my friend George against a decayed white church door, he is dressed in a simple zipped roll neck, i decided to get him to interact with the zipper on the jumper so that my images included contrasting poses. I feel that i have exceeded my idea as much as possible and i am genuinely pleased with the outcomes i have produced.

Robbie Spencer

(The Coat, Photographs by Mario Sorrenti. Styling by Robbie Spencer. Modeled by Christian Brylle.)

Robbie Spencer is renowned in fashion circles as one of those stylists that don’t just think outside the box but turn the box inside out and completely distort it into something unrecognisable. Spencer was originally an art student at LCF who studied and completed a degree in fashion promotion, with a focus in journalism, but has recently been appointed fashion director at the influential youth culture magazine Dazed & Confused. Spencer started out as an intern at Dazed & Confused assisting formidable groups, including stylists Alister Mackie and Nicola Formichetti. He was gradually given more and more responsibility when Formichetti became fashion director of the magazine, given the chance to source clothes and experiment with the outrageous ideas he had. 

This is when Spencers ideas became a reality, he was now in the position to begin creating some of fashions most striking editorial imagery. From bugs and yarn to sticky food and butterflies Spencers initial aim is to inspire readers and try to educate or enlighten them to new ideas, his connections often come from outside of fashion, and he says that he loves to collaborate with people that are far removed from the fashion industry, he feels that this “brings a new perspective to a fashion shoot, and thats what transforms an image into something else and takes it to another dimension”  

(The Sweater & The White Shirt, Photographs by Mario Sorrenti. Styling by Robbie Spencer. Modeled by Christian Brylle.)

(It Came From The Sky, Artwork Maurizio Anzeri, Photography Richard Burbridge, Styling Robbie Spencer)

A shoot Spencer was involved in was the June 2011 Global Activism Special, it concentrated on the struggle for freedom around the world, featuring missing Chinese artist and social critic Ai Weiwei on the cover, and publishing one of his last interviews before he was detained by the government. The series that i found extremely captivating was the S/S11 collaboration between Robbie Spencer, photographer Richard Burbridge and artist Maurizio Anzeri. The series consists of black and white photographs styled by Spencer, taken by Burbridge and exploded into another dimension by Anzeri who is best known for his sequence of beautifully embroidered portraits made from photographs found in flea markets. The combined media gives the effect of a dimension where history and future converge. Anzeri’s delicately stitched veil recasts the figure with an uncomfortable modesty, overlaying a past generation’s cross-cultural anxieties with an allusion to our own.  Each of them are dressed accordingly in some form of knitwear bringing the images together as one. Although the series are aesthetically  pleasing, each image evokes a certain amount of personality or psychological ambition, the images imply that thoughts and feelings are exploding from their heads.

Creating Patterns

(Repeating patterns, Author's Own)

(Linking Repeated Patterns, Author's Own)

(Pattern Development, Author's Own)

(Transferring patterns onto garments, Author's Own)

Mood Board - All White Everything

Rules ARE made to be broken -  White After Labour Day

(Ricci, Nina, AW13)

Labor Day, celebrated in the U.S. on the first Monday of September, marked the traditional end of summer, people would pack away they’re no longer on trend wardrobe and unveil their heavier, darker coloured autumn wardrobe.

"There used to be a much clearer sense of re-entry. You're back in the city, back at school, back doing whatever you're doing in the fall — and so you have a new wardrobe."

Not everyone followed this rule, even some socialites continued to boycott the trend, most famously Coco Chanel, who wore white year-round, rebelled against this.

"It was a permanent part of her wardrobe,"

(Coco Chanel, Schoor, Roland

Acknowledging the fact that the all-white fashion trend is completely impractical, even for those who swear by stain removers, celebrity stylist Rober Verdi has scientific theories about why the trends persist in the face of the stains that threaten all of us.

(Klein,Calvin SS14)

“We're dealing with global warming, which has prolonged the warmer seasons. So we end up investing in pieces for summer, like white pumps, pants, etc., because we're wearing them longer. So don't stop wearing white things just because Labor Day is over. You paid good money for that stuff and it deserves to be worn.”

(Chloé SS14)

SS13/14 and AW13 collections demonstrated the crisp, clean precisely white trends, but don’t be deceived into thinking this is in any way straightforward or minimal. The White catwalks ranged from embroidery anglaise and  filigree fabrics seen by Valentino and Stella McCartney to intricate origami folds and technical knitting skills seen by Prada and Balenciaga. The amazing thing about working with white on white is that you have a blank canvas and you can run with it for miles, creating unique designs and never seen before ideas.

(Muller Ruchholtz, Joachim)

The theme of white on white has inspired my art work for a long time now, its simplicity and minimalistic initial impression is completely hidden with phenomenal mileage. The aesthetics of creating white on white designs truly excite me, and make me want to continue experimenting with new ideas.

(Kate Moss By, Elgort, Arthur)

(Mood Boards, Author's Own)