Vacation Project

To get a start on the final year project we have been set the task of creating 3 boards as part of our research. They must be made up of 3-6 images and consist of an inspiration/influences board, a context board and a textiles/textures board. 

I have so many ideas circling around my mind at the moment that I just know I'm going to find it difficult to limit my images to 6. I really want to portray the highly decorative and patterned element I intend my work to have but also how the different cultures I have decided to look at (Britain, Poland, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, South Africa and Islamic cultures)clash. As I am only allowed 6 images I want to have an image for each culture so 1 for Britain, 1 for Poland, 1 for India and so on. Now the tricky part...putting images to my ideas....

Poland

I love how the polish cutout art has been put into an interior context here, although I will be designing for a fashion context it's interesting to see how the cutouts have been interpreted.

India

I love the geometric shapes in this Bhutan design

I intend to look at Henna Art and use the swirling patterns as inspiration.

Dye powder throwing at Holi festival- festival of colour.

As religion is such an important aspect of culture and identity I want
to look at and compare different religions.

Another Hindu festival is Rangoli, the powder patterns people create
 for this festival are extremely intricate.

Islam

Tesselating patterns are an important freature of islamic design.

Nigeria

Britain

I love the Celtic and Medieval English manuscripts and the amount of decoration on them.

The final images I have chosen for my Inspiration and Influences board are show below.

Top left to right: British celtic art, Indian painting of Ganesh, Islamic tessellations.
Bottom left to right: Woven Bhutan fabric, Nigerian Dutch wax prints, Polish cutout art.

Mara Hoffman resort 2012

While browsing the internet a few days ago I came across Mara Hoffman. From the collections I have looked at she mainly focuses on swimwear. Despite this, her resort 2012 collection is extremely inspirational for me as Egypt is the starting point for my final year project and is also the basis of her collection.

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 I love this dress which has Egyptian images and is only partly coloured.

This skirt appeals to my geometric shape obsession.

Bits and Bats...

After publishing the previous post I've come to the decision that my blog is a little bit boring.....I intended it to be just for my uni work but I might add little bits and bats that catch my eye as well and its also a perfect place to make a shopping list of things that would be amazing to have but, at the moment, I could never afford...like this beautiful urban outfitters poncho for example. I'm not normally a fan of ponchos but I would love to own this. I must admit I've got a little bit of an obsession with Aztec prints and geometric outlines.

I've made a conscious decision that this Autumn/Winter I will not look frumpy. I never can seem to grasp winter style but this year I'm going to make sure I'm snug but chic.....well thats the plan anyway. I've been looking on the Elle website, as I am so penniless that I cant afford to buy the magazine this month, and have found an article on the classics every woman should own. Their list comprises of 44 items.....of which I have approximately three.....this indicates that I need to refresh my wardrobe and do some shopping.

I also cant wait to get my hands on a pair of these Topshop shoes...just waiting for my staff card then boom these babies are all mine...if they fit....and if I can actually walk in them!

On a more unrealistic note, unrealistic as I could never afford them, I have serious bag envy of anyone who owns one of these Alexander McQueen clutches. Pure genius- a bag with rings attached so you don't drop your clutch which, I have to admit I occasionally/frequently do on nights out, leading to scattering of personal objects all over the floor. Although I cant afford one of these beauts I am tempted to whap out the old glue gun and see if I can make one.....surely it cant be that difficult :S

The coming year...

It seems I have abandoned my little resolution to remember to blog frequently.... In my defence after weeks of 1-9 shifts at Topshop blogging has been the last thing on my mind. 
Despite this, my final year at university is looming and I think its quite important that I keep a record of what I'm doing. It will enable me to set my thoughts straight at the end of the day and will also be useful in seeing my progression throughout the year. 

So...for my final year I want to delve into multiculturalism. We live in a country which is so culturally rich and I want to look at the good and bad aspects of the mixing of opposing cultures. I intend to look at pattern and artwork from select places and also how the life of people changes when they come to England.


This idea came to me after visiting Egypt, I felt like it was a complete culture shock to me as the customs and the way people dress are so different to my surroundings in England. I also found the Egyptian decoration extremely inspiring and so this will be the starting point for my work.

table with a tessellating pattern

Some designs painted onto boats.

I loved this colourful ceiling in one of the stalls we went in to.

I really like the blue tiles used in the Mosques and want
to use this colour in my work.

These hanging lamps were sold almost everywhere, up close
they were really beautiful and ornate

colourful spices in a shop window.

Egyptian decoration.

The novelty shot- me and mon petit amis on camels.

After watching border force Uk on tv and looking at how many illegal immigrants try and enter england I decided to do some of my own research into which countries have the most migrants to the UK. I found the following table on http://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/briefings/migrants-uk-overview#kp5

Table 2 - Top ten sender countries of migrants by country of birth and nationality, UK 2009

Largest senders	Country of birth	Percentage share	Nationality	Percentage share
1	India	9.9	Poland	12.3
2	Poland	7.0	India	8.1
3	Pakistan	6.0	Pakistan	4.1
4	Ireland	5.8	United States	3.3
5	Germany	4.4	South Africa	3.1
6	South Africa	3.3	France	3.1
7	United States	2.7	Italy	2.9
8	Nigeria	2.5	Germany	2.9
9	Jamaica	2.2	Nigeria	2.9
10	Kenya	1.9	Portugal	2.5

If we take away all european countries from the statistic table the top senders of migrants to the UK are India, Poland, Pakistan, South Africa and Nigeria. Based on the research from this table these are the cultural groups I intend to look at in my work. I also want to look at the increasing presence of Islamic culture within England as, although it is not in this chart I think it is important when looking at Multiculturalism.

With this idea in mind, I am looking forward to the year ahead as there are so many aspects of this topic I can look into:architecture, lifestyle, food, traditional dress, art....it will be difficult for me to run out of ideas. I am a little concerned, however, that my topic is too broad but i can always home in on one specific area later on.

Rob Ryan

Some more good news is that I have a trial day at Rob Ryan's studio in London. I love his cutouts and stencils, especially the black and white cutout dress he made. I'm really interested in looking at laser cutting and Polish cutouts as part of my final year project and so a trial day in the studio will really help and inspire me.

                
                    Below are some examples of Polish cutout art.

I can't wait to visit the studio and hopefully I will be inspired to get started on my project for next year as I still haven't started.....although I do have some ideas.....

Internships...

After I graduate I want to spend a year working and interning for various companies. I have already got two internships set up with Erdem between July and September/October and Zandra Rhodes between December and March. I really need a third internship as well so I have been e-mailing companies and I have an interview with Alexander McQueen on Thursday.


Ever since I became interested in Fashion I have loved McQueen and his theatrical collections, some of which are more like stage costumes than fashion garments. Below are some of my favourite McQueen collections.

'Angels and Demons' Fall 2010 collection.

This collection was my favourite- I loved how the models came out like a futuristic army and the prints on the garment are amazing


I'm so nervous for the interview but so excited at the opportunity of interning for McQueen, even though I've heard that it is extremely gruelling. Hopefully I'll be what they're looking for and the interviewers will like me.

New designers

After going to the Textiles degree show at my university I was in a state of shock about how much work I need to produce and the quality of work I need to produce for my degree show. I know I am capable of doing the work, but creatively where I am now seems miles away from where I know I need to get to. 


While talking to the studio designer at Zandra Rhodes, she told me that The New Designers exhibition was an opportunity I shouldn't miss out on while I was in London. I booked my ticket straight away as I was eager to see what my competition in the Textiles and Fashion world was like.I also wanted to see how the work was presented as presentation seems to be an area needing improvement for me. After the shock of the MMU degree show I thought I should get all the shock of next year out of the way before I go back to University.

There were so many exhibitors at New Designer's and the standard of work was extremely high. Although I found some work I loved, there were some pieces of work that I felt were not completely original, through no fault of the designer, I was just reminded about how difficult it is to create something unique and individual. For my final years work I will have to choose something I am really passionate about and can do a lot of work towards, so as not to tire of the project. 

I was able to pick up the business cards of the Graduates at New Designers and have been able to follow their blogs to see what they are doing and what they intend to do next.


I noticed when looking around New designers that a multitude of the designers had been experimenting with stenciling and laser cutting and this is something I would love to experiment with in my final year.


When talking to one of the graduates I noticed she had a very unique dress on, when i asked her if she had designed it herself she said, 

"Well if I don't wear my designs who else is going to!" 

This statement is so true and has made me realise that in order to get my textiles seen and appreciated in a fashion context I will have to make and wear my own garments.

Work experience

I have just finished a 2 week work placement at Zandra Rhodes' studio in London. Having always wanted to live in London, being down there for this placement gave me a taste of what it would be like to live and work down there. I loved how busy it was and how every seemed to have somewhere to get to, I found it extremely exciting. 

On my first day of work experience I had to unpack some museum deliveries of old Zandra Rhodes garments from the 70's, it was amazing to handle the old designs and see how the company's style has changed over the years. Most amazing was seeing Zandra Rhodes' penthouse, it was huge and painted in vivid colours, it was amazing to see how her own style from her work was reflected in her home as well. Being there and seeing what you can achieve through being a creative and dedicated designer has really given me something to work towards. 

I got this image off google but the penthouse still looks exactly the same. I am still amazed by where she lives, it was just so full of creative energy and personal style.

The placement itself was very helpful. Zandra Rhodes' textiles are all screenprinted and, as I have not experimented with screen printing a great deal, it was interesting to see how the separate colours were printed. I also was able to see a new design being created and the process behind the design, which was far more complex than I had imagined. Separate drawings and designs are made, then cut up, then placed in diffferent positions until Zandra is happy with the result. I would quite like to try this approach in my own work next year as it will help me create a final design. 

Another useful thing that I learnt while with Zandra Rhodes was how her designs are made so that, when screenprinted, the screen is simply turned around to create the repeat pattern instead of creating more than one screen. 

While at the studio I had the opportunity to see some of Zandra's doodles and pattern drawings. They are all kept in files so that they can be looked at for inspiration in the future. I love doodling patterns, but i had always dismissed them thinking they were of no use, I think I will try the approach of putting them together in a folder.

Above is one of Zandra Rhodes' pattern drawings.

Looking back I wish I had taken more photographs of the studio itself, but I will be able to do that in the future as I will be going back in 2012 to do a 3 month screenprinting internship. I am really looking forward to this as I feel there is so much more I can learn from the people at Zandra Rhodes.