WEEK 4: Day 3 and 4

Today I spent the first part of the day preparing for standwork. I took apart a suit jacket and a shirt, and I photocopied the knit sample I made the day before and photocopied and enlarged some of the drawing that I'd done in my research stage.

For the rest of the day I experimented with different shapes on the standing using the materials I'd prepared in the morning and some tulle/mesh fabrics I'd bought a couple months of ago. I feel like this was a really successful day and I managed to do about 20 designs on the stand including drawings directly from the stand. I created some really interesting shapes, I think the mix of photocopies and fabric gave the work a unique look and I'm really excited about what I could do with these design starting points. Next I am going to print these photos off and use these to do quick initial drawings and start to pick out motifs that I like. 

The next day I focused on drawing designs. I printed off my all of my stand work from the day before and used these photos to design from and for collages. Today was a really productive day because I did several designs and started to find common details in the designs that I particularly like which I can use as motifs to creative cohesion in the collection. Moving on from today I need to start thinking about what fabrics I want to use so I need to plan a day when I can go get fabric samples. 

Also today I had a tutorial with my main tutor Andrea. She said although she loved my designs, I need to make it clearer how I'm using my research to inform my designs. So when I go back to designing I am going to make it clear how my research is influencing my designs through collages and notes. I also want to somehow include the lyrics of Queen Latifah and Abra into my work either through typography (painting/ writing directly onto the fabric) or by creating my own print. 

WEEK 4: Day 2

Today I realised I was ready to start designing. I did some research on the 70s because it was when the feminist movement really became popular so I want to channel what the women wore then into my collection. I also really like the freedom of the time with the whole flower power movement. When looking back at female hippies they all seem to be extremely confident in themselves, they dressed how they wanted and did what they wanted to. This is how I want my women to look and feel which is why I have to chosen to use 70s clothing as inspiration for shapes and style. I really love Yves Saint Laurent's cigarette suit and as I as previously thinking about using suit I definitely want to deconstruct a suit and see what happens when I mix the harshness of a suit with something lighter and more typically feminine like florals and tulle. 

As a way to start mixing my research together, I made a series of collages which mixed different elements of my research. I really like some of the combinations that made as they are really interesting and helped me to get lots of ideas flowing. Next to these collages I did several quick sketches of designs and I really like how they look. Next I want to take some of my favourite elements of these designs and use them on the stand to see if they would even be possible for me to make and if I can get even more designs from these few ones. 

Next I looked back at the several colour schemes that I've made throughout this project and finally decided on my final colour palette. I'm going to use these colours in my designs starting from now so I can start to figure out which colours look best together and in what quantities.

Next I tried to recreate the lace knit pattern that I'd tried and failed to do. This time I did it on a knitting machine and I really like how it turned out. It didn't take too long to do once I'd got used to pattern. I think it could be a really nice way to subtly include my African influences into my work. However, it could be quite time consuming if I wanted to make a whole garment using this. I drew some designs next to it most of them with small details of this knit such as pocket flaps, collars and sleeves. 

I also did some double knit samples where I used two different colour threads. One of the colour combinations was more successful than the other two so I made a larger sample of this combination which I am then going to use for work on the stand. 

I feel like overall today was a really successful day for design because I was able to produce lots of ideas quickly which I can now use as a starting point for this collection. Tomorrow I am going to spend the whole day working on the stand. 

WEEK 4: DAY 1

Today I did lots of weaving. I made a diy loom from an old photo frame and learnt some amazing new techniques. Inspied by my research on flowers, I picked some flowers, leaves and various plants which I then wove into the weaves and I absolutely love how they turned out. This is definitely something that I want to use into my final collection. However this process is very time consuming so I will only be able to use it for small details such as pockets, hems and maybe collars. 

I also made a mock up of a mini zine using some the drawings, lyrics, quotes and pressed flowers that I've collected in my book. I really love how it turns out and I can start to imagine what a final zine could look like. It only has 5 pages so for a final zine I want to make it about 10-15 pages and around A5 size probably. To progress this zine further I need to start making more collages and art work which I can use to influence my designs but will primarily be for zine. However, I want to start focusing on design now so I will probably leave the zine to one of the last things that I do as I don't think it will be too time consuming to make. 

WEEK 3: DAY 3

Today I focused on textiles again as I don't feel like I'm quite ready to start designing. I used the knitting machine and tried to recreate the african design in it but as I was doing it without a pattern it didn't quite  work out how I wanted it to. Before I try this again I'm going to attempt to make my own knitting pattern and see how it works out. 

Next I moved on to digital print. To inspire it I used an African textile which has a really interesting grid template which was then repeated. I used drawings that I'd done throughout my sketchbook and arranged them in a similar pattern to the original print. I used a colour scheme that I'd created from one of the photos of the Omo tribe. I think this was a successful first try but I don't like all of the elements such as the polka dots so I'm going to keep playing with this print and hopefully I'll come up with something I can use in the final collection. 

WEEK 3: DAY 2

On my first day of development there was a knitting workshop which was perfect for me because knitting is something that I would like to use in this collection. In the workshop Bid went over some of the techniques that he had previously taught in our first project at Ravensbourne. One of the techniques that I really love is the lace knit because you can create different patterns and shape using the holes. I'm going to try to use this technique to recreate some African symbols/patterns in the knitwear.

I also photocopied the most important pages in my sketchbook which I then taped to my board and made connections between the research I'd done and how I'm going to use it my designs. I felt like this helped me to clear my head after my research stage so I could start to think how I was going to use this research and how it will all work together. It also helps to have the pages from my sketchbook in front of me so I don't have to keep flicking through it to find what I'm looking for so this turned out to be very useful for me.

When I got home I extracted shapes from my research and used them to do some quick paintings focusing on mark making, lines and shapes. I'm going to then use these to work on the stand and start to get some design ideas flowing.

I also collaged these shapes onto a suit and I really love how it looks and the aesthetic of a man's suit with these organic natural shapes. Following from this I want to deconstruct a suit and maybe a shirt and mix it with these shapes and see what happens.

I feel like today was a successful day because I was able to organise my ideas and think about how I'm going to move from research to development.

WEEK 3: DAY 1

It is now week 3 of my project so I really wanted to start moving on from research and into develop. So I spent this day finishing up the last of my research.
I researched one of my favourite new singers, Abra. I really like her casual, feminine style and confident attitude which is how I want my woman to feel in the clothes I'll be designing for this collection. I think Abra will be my ideal wearer for these clothes so I am going to keep her in mind will designing. I also like the lyrics of her songs, particularly Roses so I want to incorporate them into my designs, maybe through free hand embroidery or I could paint directly onto fabric. The lyrics also have a lot of refers to a lot of nature which fits in with my research on the Omo tribe and Nadine Ijewere's photography project 'Flowers'.

I also research a poet and writer called Bell Hooks. My favourite quote of hers is 'I will not have my life  narrowed down. I will not bow down to somebody else's whim or to someone else's ignorance.' I like this quote because it show what a strong, confident and educated woman she is which is the type of woman I want to dress in my clothes. I started to think about what kind of clothes make someone look powerful and strong and I thought of suits and armour so I want to use elements of these clothes in my designs. I also think someone who is confident with themselves, with or without clothes is confident person. I think a person who is comfortable being completely naked is the type of person I want to dress which sounds strange I guess considering I design clothes. I want my clothes to show a lot of skin, cutouts short skirts, crop tops but since I am making an Autumn Winter Collection I have to find some way to mix the two together and still make the clothes appropriate for cold weather.

I researched Delphine Fawundu and Lubaina Humid but I don't feel like this research was very useful so I don't think I'll expand on this.

Finally I looked at possible colour schemes. I used one of my favourite photos of Nadine Ijewere's and extracted colours from it on photoshop to create different palettes. One of them was quite dark autumn colours, navy, burgundy, mustard khaki green which fits very well with an Autum winter Collection. The other is very warm tones, amber, lime green, turquoise and a deep lipstick red. The colours are very Spring Summer but I quite like the contradiction as I feel like having bright colours can give warmth to the colder months.

I feel like for now I have done the majority of my research and although I will probably continue doing research throughout this project I am now ready to move on to development. I think I'm going to start with working on the stand using shapes from my research. Although I don't think this will give the clothes the essence of the message I want to give, it will help me to create some interesting shapes which I can then work from. I also want to experiment with lots of textiles as it is something that  I'm interested in but haven't had the time to explore in our previous projects. I'm going to see how my theme translates into knitting, weaving, print and embroidery and then choose 1 or 2 of these to use in the final collection.

WEEK 2: DAY 3

Today I continued research my themes and developed some interesting patterns and motifs as starting points for textile piece.

I taped in the flowers that I'd pressed a couple days before and did some quick blind drawings of them. This was successful because I made some really interesting shapes. However, I don't want to get too caught up with shapes from my research as the main inspiration for my designs because I think it will make my design too one-dimensional and not portray the message I want to put across. Instead I'm going to use these drawings in my textile designs.

I couple of months ago I read an article about a tribe in Ethiopia where the people decorate themselves with flowers, clay, plants and scarification. What I really love about the photos I collected for my research are the vibrant colours of their embellishments so I'm definitely going to use these photos as my main source of colour inspiration.

To start mixing my ideas together I traced some of my drawings and started to blend them to see how the different shapes work together. I also taped in all my photos from the William Morris Gallery and did some collages to start blending my ideas together. I feel like I'm working in a very textile student way right now but I'm enjoying working so closely with pattern, colour and shape as it is not something I usually get to focus on. I feel like by developing own textile will help to inform my designs.

WEEK 2: DAY 2

Today I finally managed to go to the William Morris Gallery to see the African Textiles exhibition. Although it was a very small exhibition it was a great opportunity to see real African textiles and the way the prints are used. Most of the textiles there were kanghas so all had a very particular layout; a border, a motif in the middle and a phrase underneath. I want to use all of these elements to create my own prints. For the phrases I want to use song lyrics or poetry such as U.N.I.T.Y by Queen Latifah or some poetry by Bell hooks.

I noticed that there were a lot of polka dot prints on the kanghas and I love polka dots so it is something that I would like to incorporate into my own prints. I'm also going to use some of the shapes such as mangoes and floral details in my designs.

WEEK 2: DAY 1

Today I continued with my research by looking Alma Woodsey Thomas, African Prints and Queen Latifah.

I made a colour scheme from some of Thomas' painting which I really love but it could be too summery for an Autumn/Winter collection. Lots of her paintings look like mosaics so I did a blind drawing of the mosaic pattern. I'm not sure how I want to incorporate her work into my designs (maybe through color?) but I think it could also be really cool to use the mosaic pattern as inspiration for seam lines and structure of a piece of clothing. Or maybe for layers?

I briefly started to look at some African prints, mainly engravings that are used on designs and crafts such as pottery. I love the intricate patterns and I definitely want to develop these more through collaging and eventually turn it into a print of my own which I will then print onto fabric or laser cut. I definitely want to try both of these techniques then decide which or both will fit best with my designs. 

Finally I looked at Queen Latifah, in particular the lyrics to her song U.N.I.T.Y. I love the lyrics because they talk about the disrespect towards women particularly through catcalling and unwanted sexual attention. I find it interesting that this song was written in the early 90s yet a lot of what she raps about is still completely relevant today. I think I want to use some the lyrics in a print that I will be creating and it could look really interesting to mix it with the African symbols and prints. 

I started to think about the way that I want my woman to be portrayed and came up with some interesting ideas. I definitely want her to look strong and powerful and confident so I think I'll look into stereotypical clothes that fit these words such as suits and armor. However, I also want her to look strong if she's wearing a pink lacy dress. The clothes are obviously very important and I somehow want to find a way for them to look powerful even if at first glance they are stereotypically extremely feminine. I think casting could also have a big part to play in this concept but it will be something that I think about later on in the project. 

WEEK 1: DAY 4

Today I planned to visit the William Morris Gallery as they have an exhibition about African Textiles going on but unfortunately I forgot to check the opening times and it was closed.

I spent the day taking photos of flowers for primary research. I also picked some of them so I can press them and use them in collages and moodboards. I think this was very useful to do because it gave me primary research and will hopefully help me to start developing my ideas using my own imagery and research. Florals is quite a generic thing to do so I want to figure out a way to make them interesting, not necessarily new, but something that hasn't been done 100s of times over. I'm doing an Autumn/Winter collection and florals aren't typically used during these seasons but I still think I need something more to make them unique. 

WEEK 1: DAY 3

The first interview that I decided to do was with one of my classmates, Bernice. I asked her the questions that I came up with the day before and she gave me some really interesting answers. She talked a lot about how women, black women in particular, should support each other. She also told me about how at school it was not seen as normal for a black girl to be interested in creative subjects such as fashion and art and that this is one of the reasons she first became interested in black feminism. I filmed the whole interview because I thought it could be interesting if I made a short film as part of my final piece but since I have no experience in film making or video editing I think it would take too much time learning this skills which is time I would prefer to spend designing. Instead of making a film I think I want to make a zine instead with interviews, collages, photos etc..

Working from the interview, I'm going to use some of the ideas and topics that Bernice brought up (black women in the creative industry, supporting each other, black girl power, natural hair movement) as research starting points for the zine and clothes.

One photographer that I'm really interested in is a woman called Nadine Ijewere. I think her work is really interesting so I did some research on her work. One of her projects that I particularly admire is called 'Flowers'. She took photos of black girls with flowers as a symbol of their beauty. Then I started to look into flowers and their different meanings. I like the idea of using flowers, as a symbol for the beauty of black women and it could be an ongoing motif throughout my collection.

One flower that I really like, aesthetically and because of its meaning, is the orchid which symbolises 'exotic beauty' and 'glorious femininity'. I want to develop some prints maybe using the orchid and also use the shape of the orchid as inspiration for stand work.