Emma Griffiths

I love:

- black

- panelling

- geometry 

- body con

- futuristic

- leather

Therefore...

I must really love Emma Griffiths

And team it with these Andreia Chaves heels

Martina Spetlova

The movement in these pieces are spectacular!!! They move with such bounce and fluidity and it really is a joy to watch. 

Coinonia

Lovely work by a Japanese duo. I love how the various textures work with black. It's one of my favourite colours to work with and can handle great complexity. The sheer parts are tasteful but playful enough and the injection of orange really adds a sense of energy to the collection. 

I am jealous of Elliot Ward-Fear!

This work is by the aforementioned extremely talented young man. To make things even scarier...he is 21! Such beautiful lines and paneling work which I love! Architectural yet soft...love it!

AND BREATHE...

After three sewing projects, I had got it into my head that I pretty rubbish at sewing. Upon further consideration I realised I probably didn't do myself any favours due to making highly complex thing and forgetting that I am a first Year who is taking her first steps rather than an MA student. It is good to push yourself but sometimes you can push yourself too far.


Over the holidays, I decided that I would practise my sewing in a non-pressured environment. So I bought a few sewing patterns. They would help me develop my knowledge of pattern cutting and how to make patterns whilst also aiding my construction skills.


Two days later and I had made myself a fully lined (complex of course stupid me!) dress from 1946. It really was a rewarding feeling to have made something with love and focused on what I considered to be my weaknesses. I realised that I cannot hide from my weaknesses but rather need to practise and practise until I become confident enough with the task at hand.


I also realised that I am very impatient which is often to the detriment of my work. With effective time management, I can give myself enough time to construct my designs carefully.


Over the summer, I think I will give myself lots of sewing projects to really improve my skills as I will need them for second year work placement. 

Teamwork makes the dreamwork?

I was thinking about my experience of working in a team so far. In the Belbin test we did my two highest scores were for Plant and Chair which were two quite different roles. However, on closer analysis of myself I realised that I am an amalgamation of the two with both the good and the bad qualities!

Working collaboratively really allows you to challenge your ideas. The presence of other creatives acts as a catalyst and new and exciting ideas are born.

So far there hasn't been enough collaboration in a team. The fashion course hasn't provided this opportunity yet. However, I am looking forward to aiding the third years and also the current E & E project that we are starting

AUTUMN/WINTER ROUNDUP

Here is a trend report I did for the A/W11 season

MY INDUSTRY

Before deciding on the level of entry into the fashion market, first the tiers themselves need to be investigated.

Who are you designing for?

HAUTE COUTURE - associated with fitting individual customers with a lot of money . Either traditionalist or pushing fashions boundaries. The creations tend to be dictated more by the customer than the designer.

READY TO WEAR - Expensive but still not as expensive as couture. The construction is still of a high quality but more of the product in produced. More influenced by the designer’s vision than couture. This is a diverse range of designers who include the super brands and the independent designers. 

LUXURY SUPER BRAND - Conglomerate brand such as Gucci Group or LVMH (owns a considerable amount of designer’s labels) who have a whole range of products associated with a name i.e a brand. This is includes accessories, footwear, jewellery and perfume. Generally tend to have their own shops and a huge advertising campaign behind them. 

MID-LEVEL BRANDS AND DESIGNERS - An established company that has been trading for a few year. Not as powerful as the super brands but still have an excellent reputation and following. Tends to sell clothing in franchises and department stores. These could range from Liberty to Debenhams.

INDEPENDENT DESIGNER LABELS - The collection is created with a small team. They run their business solely and have to deal with all the other aspects of a designer label as well as the design process; this means accounts, advertising and everything else is their responsibility. Still shown on the catwalk or shown in franchises and department stores.

HIGH STREET - collections go straight to the shop with the exception of Topshop who have catwalk shows for their higher end products. These are products that are meant to fulfil the desire for fast fashion. Influenced by catwalk fashions. Construction and fabrics are of a lesser quality. 

SUPERMARKETS - satisfy consumer demands whilst they food shop. Quick consumer product, quick construction and basic quality fabric.

What type of garment?

CASUAL WEAR? - The clothes that we wear everyday. Everyone has a slightly different opinion on what they wear everyday. Perhaps some people prefer to be more extravagant. However, it is generally a more relaxed form of dress influenced by sportswear and underground cultural scenes.

EVENING WEAR? - Allows you to be more imaginative. The fabrics tend to be of a higher quality and much more luxurious. They should be able to transcend the seasons and not be as obvious in regards to which year they are from.

SHOWPIECES? - This is the undiluted vision of the designer. Most of the other designs in the collection will be a toned down version of the showpieces or the avant-garde pieces. It helps to get recognition and press coverage to show off the rest of the clothing.

TAILORING? - More structured and fitted than casual garments (unless it is casual tailoring of course!) and require more skill to develop and construct. They tend to be seen as something to wear to work or for a more formal daytime occasion for women. They tend to be more form fitting and seen as more serious. However, that is not a reason to not have fun!

Fashion really does capture the culture of the world it was created in at the time. Cultural, economic, political and social changes all influence the progression of fashion. Currently everyone is aware of the state of the world recession, the majority of the countries in the world are in economic crisis so how does the world of fashion contribute to this? In the previous two recessions designer lowered their prices or created diffusion lines. Today it appears that neither of these are happy. Perhaps people still want luxury in a time of crisis and London Fashion Week showed that the need for escapism was still prevalent in our British culture. It also appears that people don’t buy investment pieces any longer and go for fast fashion; there is always the desire for women to want something new. I also feel that people are in general becoming more experimental with fashion and enjoy different looks. They can adapt to a trend rather than fully buying into it and crave transitional pieces too. Even though wages are being frozen or decreased, people are still buying into fashion whatever level of the sector they are aiming for. Culturally, more awareness is being raised about the use of furs and exotic skins and more and more designers are opting for alternatives. Stella McCartney promotes the use of alternative materials to real fur and leather. However, some designers claim that real fur and skins are actually more environmentally friendly due to their biodegradeable nature. Personally, I don’t agree with the way in which exotic skins and furs are cultivated and therefore would not use them in my designs.

Prevalent trends this winter season:

- CUT-OUT - Many collections showed structured pieces with cut outs

- PANELLING - panelling was shown in either contrasting or similar tones 

- ASYMMETRIC - Asymmetric was shown everywhere; perhaps clothing doesn’t have to be symmetrical and matching any longer!

- EARTH TONES - following on from the nude tones of the summer collections, the colours become more autumnal

- RED AND ORANGE - red is the new empowering colour, find the right colour for your skin tone

- LEATHER & PVC - these fabrics are becoming more acceptable in mainstream fashion. We want to be excited by new textures and looks.

- METALLIC - more specifically gold, bronze and off-gold. Adds an air of expense or will update anyone’s wardrobe.

- LAYERING - whether it will be see-through layers, layers of textures or different lengths; this is a key look.

- SEE THROUGH - a coquettish element of teasing without fully revealing. Tastefully placed transparent materials.

Thinking about my first pattern cutting lesson...

I was thinking about the journey I have made so far in regards to my pattern cutting skills. On the first week when we were all eager to show our potential; we had our first pattern cutting lesson. I had never  been taught it before and so previously developed my own method of creating patterns but I can see the progress I have made so far and hope to continue growing.


Some people appear to be a lot needier than others and can take up a lot of the tutorial time which is for other students too. I am aware of when I need help and when I ask for it, I am conscious of the other people around me too. 


It really shows the technical side of fashion. It is not an easy subject like a lot of outsiders are lead to believe (including my guy friends who think I sew a couple of time a week and thats it!). You have to have a clear vision and an ability to see things in both their 3D and 2D forms.


I especially enjoyed further workings on the stand.

CUTS CUTS CUTS!!! Again!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12892473

Very sad that the cuts could destroy the wonderful groups mentioned in this article

F.A.B.U.L.O.U.S

The lovely Diana Dors! Need I say more?

UNA BURKE...SHAUN LEANE

Fine art, jewellery, fashion? Her work would be ideal for any of these three categories. I find the working haunting and captivating. She creates beautifully fluid shapes out of seemingly hard materials

Her work reminded me of Shaun Leane and the way he created jewellery which almost suppressed the women who wore it.

12 BODY SHAPES!

We all though apple, pear or hourglass (and perhaps boyish) but T & S have discovered 12 distinct body types. It is interesting from a designer's point of view to understand the body shape of your client and cut something flattering. Perhaps designers need to bring out a range in a variety of fits!

http://bodyshapestyle.com/2008/09/01/the-12-shapes-of-trinny-and-susannah/

Transgender and Androgyny

I love playing with the idea of sexuality and the nature of the two sexes. Only when we are aware of someones transgender or transsexual nature do we change our opinions.

Andre Pejic, androgyny is his middle name. Infiltrating both the catwalks of both Menswear and Womenswear. 

Lea T and the Moss kissing on the front cover of love. Standard media found it almost too controversial. BOO HOO! 

Spray on clothing

What a marvellous concept! I remember reading about it in a book I referenced for my Foundation essay. I want a go!

Something brain related!

http://www.differencebetween.net/science/health/difference-between-grey-and-white-matter/


This article was really interesting. I've often wondered what the difference between 'white' matter and 'grey' matter is an finally I know! I love evolution and find it facinating that the brain evolved two specialist tissues to work in tandem with one another.


The human body is really one of the best creations ever!

So True!

I love subcultures and studying them. I love parodies of them even more. I enjoyed this lighthearted parody of the typical east london art student.

House of Commons

If you ever see any footage of the debates which occur in the House of Commons; you will notice it is banal as ever! The suits and the haircuts may be more tamed but the banter and tensions still run high. 


Thankfully the speaker is there to calm them all down!


I am proud to say that Betty Boothroyd served for a very long time as speaker and is from the same village as I am. Tell 'em girl!

Balenciaga

Whilst researching my essay, I rekindled my love for Cristobal Balenciaga and his amazing visions of classic and simplistic elegance. Modern shapes, beautiful fabrics and inspirational pieces. Much love!!!

If I had the ...

I would buy every piece that Max Azria creates for Herve Leger. Elegant, sexy and empowring - the perfect combination for any woman

FELICITY BROWN

Oh what things of beauty good old fliss creates! Elegant ombre dyeing with pleating and ruffles in luxurious fabrics. Can I deal with this? Anybody got a couple of grand lying around to purchase me one of the pieces please?

Alice Palmer

Up and coming designer! Lovely work. Structured yet soft and modern. Exactly what I love! Keep up the good work

ATSUKO KUDO

Latex is an amazing fabric and should be used a lot more often! I really want to get practising with it.


]http://www.atsukokudo.com/shop-page-multiple.php mmmmmmmm

CUTS CUTS CUTS!!!

It's everywhere and you can't escape it...coverage of the cuts. You should be paying attention too! 


Is it possible that David Cameron is wanting to widen the gap between working classes and the upper and middle classes? Does he want to destroy the nouveau riche? 
Why is it that working class children will now find it even more difficult to pay for education. Everyone deserves the right to an education


Article found here:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12767850

Favourite model of the moment!

I love Lindsey Wixon and her baby doll lips! Interesting to see a new face shape on the catwalk!

Her models.com profile: http://models.com/people/Lindsey-Wixson

A bit of a tangent

In my current project I was looking at the psychology of the mind. This is just an amusing video accounting the experiments of LSD on soldiers at the time!

USSR

The recent Japanese earthquake which resulted in the loss of control at the Fukushima nuclear plant got me thinking about previous nuclear disasters. I investigate Chernobyl, Three Mile Island and Windscale and was interested to find that bad decisions by governments were to blame for all three! 

Although nuclear energy is effective; it is highly unstable and needs to be disposed of carefully. There have been too many incidents where we have come close to a global disaster.

It also got me thinking about the USSR and what the world was like after World War Two. If the Nazis had won we would all be speaking German and Russian. I became interested in the uniforms and discovered that Hugo Boss designed the German military uniform. Perhaps the most famous of all is the SS. Very imposing and empowering!

Against Fur!!! Disturbing Images

I have always been a lover of animals and recently I have noticed that exotic skins and furs are on the increase once again. It's true that the skin looks better on the animal it is meant to be on! There are plenty of alternatives and as technology advances it becomes more and more difficult to distinguish between the real and the fake. 

Its cruel and unfair and vile. I have never and will never purchase or be associated with these products!