The essence of my current project is sustainability and responsible design. I am focusing on recycling, repurposing, sustainable fibre, zero-waste techniques. I am concentrating on designing for the circular economy. The design will be targeted to women’s fashion.
The research board above explains my concept in more detail. I will be using recycled fabrics and home-grown microbial cellulose. Will avoid dyes and any other chemical finishes. My approach to design and construction is as well resourceful, I will reuse fabric scraps and repurpose materials such as neoprene. Will give materials new life, use them in unusual ways, to prove that not the trends dictate the choice of fabrics but the resources dictate fashion.
I have not yet chosen exact garment piece for which I will be sampling, yet my samples will be multifunctional. Moreover I will be taking the current pandemic and uncertainty in the world in consideration ,making sure that the fibres and textures I create are comforting and tactile.
Time to consider colour.
During my research I discovered that colour use in fashion is altered to a radically different world. Alongside using natural materials, fashion trends are also focusing on naturally derived colours. This approach goes hand in hand with my views on fashion and the aim of my current project. The colours trending are soft, comforting, calming.
For my sampling I chose six colours. They are close to each other tonally in order to create organic, subtle look. To help me visualise the possible colour combinations and compositions I made paper collages.
The colours chosen are not much different from the ones I have been using for my last projects this year. I was considering some colour experiments, yet decided to stay with my theme and focus on sustainability. The colours chosen portray sustainable aesthetics, the aim to decrease the use of dyes, any other chemical finishes. My chosen colour palette is grounding, neutral. It allows me to focus the aesthetics of my samples on considerate material use and constructive textiles, rather than all consuming vivid colour.
After making decisions about the concept and colour I created few road maps into my future samples. They include specification of colours, materials (material wraps) and techniques.
Here you can see that I am taking forward the techniques used in Project 1, yet the choice of more unconventional materials derives from Project 2.
As mentioned in my previous blog post, the theme I am focusing on is humans skin. In these quick sketches, I was representing the structure, texture and surface of human skin, such as birth marks, stretch marks, microscopic close-ups of skin cracks or goose bumps. This theme influenced my neutral colour use and choice of structural textile techniques, as well as material choice, materials that would feel as second skin.
Worth mentioning, that I have eliminated couple techniques I planned using initially (laser cut and CAD embroidery). I realised that the aims I set myself in the previous blog post were unachievable due to the time scale. I will try to accomplish my plans in future projects.
Having the research collated, I have a clearer idea of where to start my sampling.
This post very clearly communicates your design development, connecting your initial research to your own design development which is very well rooted in the trend predicitions.