Industry week 1: Jil Sander

Initially we began by researching 8 main categories of fashion houses presented to us, these categories were Colours used, Fabrication, Detailing, Styling, Make up, Concepts, Promotional themes and Music.

The fashion houses: 

Meadham Kirchhoff, Edward Meadham & Benjamin Kirchhoff:

Colours: bold print, golden lame, pastel pink

Fabrication: Appliqué 

Detailing: Beading, crystal embroideries

Styling: flared heel multicoloured metallic boots

Make-up: day glow make-up

Concepts: Romanticism,  

Promotional themes: Topshop collection

Music:

Comme Des Garçon:

Colours: Black, maroon, Greys & navy

Fabrication:

Detailing: Inverted seams, chunky knitt, unfinished hems

Styling: Skinny jeans, met by rebellion in the form of messed up barrister wigs

Make-up:

Concepts: Big, Bold, looped, structural - naturally 

Promotional themes:

Music:

Exhibition pieces, manipulation of the human form.

Givenchy, Riccardo Tisci:

Colours: Mint, black, multicoloured palette, 

Fabrication: surface printing, embroidery

Detailing: prints - butterfly and moth wings imagery

Styling:

Make-up:

Concepts: Grown-up take on female sexuality
'He said he’d found his way into it by looking at the work of the Italian furniture designer and architect Carlo Mollino, a man with an interest in insects and taking pictures of naked and scantily clad women (it’s amazing what we find out about obscure practitioners of the arts through fashion these days, isn’t it?).'

Promotional themes:

Music:

Miuccia Prada:

Colours:

Fabrication:

Detailing:Narrow piped edgings,

Styling:Narrow silk scarves, wedge heeled boots & strappy sandals 

Make-up:

Concepts:

Promotional themes:
Music: Kurt Weill, Barbara Sukowa

Iris Van Herpen:

Colours:

Fabrication:

Detailing:

Styling:

Make-up:

Concepts:

Promotional themes:

Music:

Jil Sanders:

Colours: Greys, neons, metallic/ iridescent, pastel blues & pinks, mustard yellow/ yellow orchid

Fabrication: Knitwear

Detailing:

Styling: Bright neon platform brogues, 

Make-up: Natural make up (nudes), washed hair un processed, naturally dried  

Concepts:

Promotional themes:

Music:

Burberry Prorsum:

Colours:

Fabrication:

Detailing:  

Styling: 

Make-up:

Concepts:

Promotional themes:

Music:

Concept: 

Prior being put into groups from the previous lesson as a group we all had to piece together a concept, research and mood board for the designer Jil Sander focusing on the initial criteria we were given forming an industry these included Menswear and Womens wear designers, fashion promotion, textile designer.

As the only womens wear designer in the group I focused mainly on my own individual area of strength and interest, surface print.

Water marbling, Aurora Borealis: 

As the only womens wear designer in the group I focused mainly on my own individual area of strength and interest, surface print.

The third day into the two week project consisted of fabrications and sampling, as the womens wear designer focusing on the textile element of the project it was my role to creatively come up with the appropriate fabrications for the Jil Sander fashion house. As the overall theme that we had all come to agreements with derived from the quote given we extracted 'Massive gaps', 'searching', 'traveller' and went along with the idea of a nomadic/ Eskimo theme. I in turn looked into maps and the artist Lordy Rodriguez who paints maps which have 'massive gaps' within them highlighting the places he has travelled and wishes to return one day. This Nomadic idea lead me also to look into the Aurora Borealis also known as the Northern lights - a natural light display in the sky usually seen in the high latitude (Arctic and Antarctica) this liked closely to Jil Sanders AW 2014 collection which exhibited iridescent and metallic accessories and garments.

My interpretation of the Aurora Borealis was the process of water marbling using sublimation inks transferred onto paper then fabric.