A Woman's Right to Shoes.

Alejandro Ingelmo 

Alexander Wang



Still Lots To Do!

First samples of tailored jacket with fur sleeves. The fit and finish needs to be worked on but these are details I will refine when I try everything on our fit-models.. after all it is the first try!

Original Sketch.

Styled with the bodice from previous post.

New Toiles.

Here are the pleated pants!  When walked in, they create so much movement and flow. This has been contrasted with a structured, leather bodice that will be worn over a silk shirt. Keep in mind these are just the first toiles/ samples of this look!

Just because it's amazing.

I found this editorial on the blog NO FOURTH and love the images, styling and the whole mood of the shoot..these are just a couple of images. I also think Kelsey is divine!

Snow Blind Editorial - Images sourced from NO FOURTH

Ready .Set. Go Again.

After giving myself a very long, lazy, needed break I started toiling and draping again. I had a few things already in mind that I wanted to do after my critique, (which went really well by the way.. so I'm very happy)! I don't return to Uni for another two weeks but we are required to have work done by the time we start again! I'm actually looking forward to going back as during the semester I'm always so busy that I hardly know what to do with myself during the break...

I got ten meters of polyester (because it is just for toiling) silk chiffon pleated, at Rado Pleating, to make a pair of trousers.. I have to say that sewing pleats is quite a challenge.

The finished fabric comes sandwiched inbetween the paper that is pressed to create the permanent pleats.

I've mainly been working on creating more volume throughout the silhouettes, because this was a feature that was recognised in my range drawings and toiles and suggested to be further pushed and explored. Right now only clean lines are being experimented with so when we have fittings in the first week back I can begin to alter the designs.

Looking really trendy being my own fit model for a day. Further pushing the historic influence in the volume of my silhouettes.

 

Textiles.

An overview of my colour palette and fabrications that include silk failles that I have digitally printed onto myself, chiffons, leathers, furs and Italian wools.

Detail Sneak Peek.

Some details on the toiles for my first two looks:

Silk chiffon blouse with leather detailing. Immitation leather jacket mock up with lining.

The First Line Up.

For our catalogue draft we were required to have all twelve looks drawn up, front and back, to give an overall feeling of what our range is going to be like. These are the first twelve looks that are illustrated, and although they will give me the initial direction of where my designs will be heading, they are bound to change and alter even more throughout the design process... highly likely up until the last day! These are just to indicate colour balance, silhouette and fabrication!

Lock Down.

The first massive hand-in for our collection coming up, and soon after our critiques. It's that time of the semester where you begin to go a bit weird from sitting in your room all day and barely see anything but when you've handed everything in its almost as though the feeling of relief is worth the effort.

I will make sure to keep you posted on how the critiques went! Fingers crossed.

Laying out my fabrications on my work desk.

Toiling away.

Operation: Fail.

I toiled my second shirt today, and although the shape came out well, it somehow managed to shrink about four sizes from the pattern to the actual garment. I fear it is going to be a long but interesting week!

Back to toiling/ drawing/ catalogue/ headers/ dissertation/ toiling/ toiling/ you get the drift.

Mentor Inspiration.

Lanvin FW 2011. Classic silhouettes with clean cuts and lines.

Source: Trendland

Jacket One.

So this is the second toile for jacket number one. I have lengthened it and added more volume at the back for more dramatic effect. It is a simple silhoutte with an exaggerated cape, that will be worn over a dress. The underneath will be lined with either a print or contrast lining.

The fur hat isn't attached to the jacket... I was just experimenting with faux fur and really getting into the Russian mood.

Jacket Toile.

Faux-fur hat that I may use for styling in the first critique.

Indent.

After a long morning of illustrating I have put together the first few drafts of my final looks. I'm excited to see how it's coming together...Now I have to appropriately fabricate and colour them. Right now my collection is looking very aubergine/ burgundy..almost as if someone spilled a glass of Pinot on it..but I like it!  
Here's a little sneak peek...

Original Illustrations

Stampede.

Well this is kind of cool! Click on the link to check out the video.

Sunsilk Vimeo

A New Life.

I have been researching different types of fur; the price of fur, quality, colour and the ethical aspects of using furs (and leathers) throughout my collection. As the running theme of my designs is Russian, fur will be playing a key role in my designs as fur was worn for protective and luxurious purposes across classes throughout Imperial Russia. It will not be the main fabrication, but will be used in contrasts with leathers, wools and silks.

I have gone down the path of re-using the fur from vintage fur coats, for two reasons. Firstly, the price of fur skins is huge, and secondly (more importantly) I feel that reusing and reworking an old fur will introduce a sense of sustainability within my designs, and slightly.. and I am aware that it is only slightly, be more ethical.

This being said, I went and had a look at some vintage stores today in the hope that I would find a white or cream fur coat that I could dye to match my colour palette. I was lucky enough to find a jacket that was exactly the colour I would have dyed it to.

I will be pulling apart the pieces from this jacket and re-working them into my new designs.

Wine coloured fur coat.

These Boots Were Made for Everything.

Source: Unknown

Think Positive.

In 2010 I shared the Sponsors Choice Award with Penelope Allen, the for the UTS Scarf and Tie Competition, and won a voucher to spend at Think Positive for my fourth year collection. With my excitement... I'm sure i'll be using all of it!! Think Positive is a digital printing company in Alexandria that can basically print any digital image onto fabric.

Following from my previous post about my printing experiments, I went to Think Positive today and had a chat with them to discuss what they can do for me. Penny, from Think Positive, was confident that my designs would be successful so I'm intrigued to see how they will turn out!

Some printed silk fabric samples from Think Positive to demonstrate the work they do.

Toile - noun: a garment of exclusive design made up in cheap cloth so that alterations and experiments can be made.

So the toiling process has begun! All fashion people will agree with me that toiling is no easy task! It always somehow manages to take about five times longer than you expected, with many alterations along the way. So far I am working on look number one: a skirt, jacket and a shirt. With the skirt and the jacket being the statement pieces of the look, I have kept the silhouette and shape of the shirt very minimalist and clean, with a slight detailing on the collar. The collar and placket are in a plum coloured leather, and the actual body of the shirt will be printed with one of my digital print designs.

This is the first toile of my very first shirt. Keep in mind alterations are to be made and the design will most likely (in fact, most definitely) evolve.

Collar detaling. Toiled with the actual plum-coloured leather and a wool-crepe imitation.

In my workroom.

Gareth Pugh.

Silhouettes... Perfection. Video...Perfection.
I feel that my design aesthetic in terms of structure and silhouette for my collection is very similar to Pugh's SS11.

Gareth Pugh SS11

Ellery.

Ellery's Fall '11 Range captures classic tailoring in a contemporary way, perfectly. The designs are clean, but interesting...and different without being too complicated or quirky. To further share my love (and/or fetish) for the label's aesthetic... check out ELLERY.

But here's a little taste for now:

Images sourced at ELLERY.

My [Digital Printing] Love Affair.

I have chosen to further push the concept I am exploring within my collection through textiles: that is, the contrast between social classes throughout Imperial Russia up until the Russian Revolution.

To do this I will be printing textures and fabrications that were indicative of the working class peasants (eg. raw wools, tweeds, furs and leathers) onto luxurious fabrications that resonate with the textiles of the elite (eg. silks, finer wool and silk blends).

In fewer words, I have printed textures onto fabrics as a digital textile print. The results that came out were better than I expected - and will be making a trip to Think Positive for my digital prints!! The prints will be mainly for shirts and some silk panels that make an appearance in some of my skirt designs!

The almighty Digital Printer.

Printing tweed onto silk.

The tweed print creates an interesting illusion.

Larger scale tweed print.

Some digital printing experiments.

Sunsilk: Aisle Avant Garde

Following up on my previous blog entry about the Sunsilk Competition:
12 students who were picked as finalists, including myself, were required to design and create a garment that was inspired by the colours or shapes of the Sunsilk products. The brief  was to design something "avant garde", crazy, fun, bold and colourful.

Yesterday, Tuesday 10th May at around 10.00am, shoppers at Coles Waterloo were interrupted by a stampede of colour, fabric and 6 foot models walking through the aisles. The entire event was pulled off seamlessly, with a professional runway through the Health and Beauty Aisle. We were fortunate enough to have our garments worn by models that had been casted in Rosemount Australian Fashion Week, styled beautifully by well-known stylist Michael Azzolini.

Massive congratulations to Caitlin Davies-Forsyth for winning Best Designer Award and a nice $3000 prize, and well done to all the finalists. And a big thank you to Sunsilk and Coles, and everyone involved in the event. It really was a fantastic morning and made me even more excited about my final collection this year!

Spot the big pink 'balloon'.. it's kind of hard to miss.

Featured in The Sydney Morning Herald, Page 5, 11/05/2011

Winner: Caitlin Davies- Forsyth with her amazing design!

Images sourced from: Aisle Avante Garde

Retrospect.

For Assessment Three in Professional Practice, we are required to submit an eight page digital portfolio of approximately five or six projects that we have done to date. We have been told to keep photographs simple and clean as to not clutter the pages with overwhelming amounts of visual  information. I organised a small photoshoot to take pictures of last year's womenswear and menswear tasks.

A big Thank You to Lauren Morgan for kindly modelling my designs!
Photos taken by myself with a Canon E0S Digital SLR

Womenswear Dress: Inspired by the concept of being wrapped up in straitjackets.

Ponte Jersey with Leather Straps.

Womenswear Jacket: Inspired by the concept of being wrapped up in straitjackets.

100% Wool with Leather Straps.

Menswear Shirt. Hypothetical Client Assessment - Dai Fujiwara for Issey Miyake.

100% Raw Silk.

Menswear Jacket: Hypothetical Client Assessment- Dai Fujiwara for Issey Miyake.

Velvet and Leather.

Please Note: Unfortunately the photographer lost the pictures that were professionally taken for my menswear assignment so I decided to re-do them myself, styling them as womenswear! Which I think works equally well, if I may say so myself!