CV

toile review!!

So I had my first ever toile review today and it went surprisingly well, a few amendments and some fabrics to source. I found the experience really helpful discussing my ideas and showing my design and gaining feedback on styling and fabric selection. Thank you!!

IGNORE THE FABRIC THIS IS ONLY FOR TOILE!

The shoes i am styling my outfit with AMAZING!!!

toiling my design!

Started toiling my final design today, and so far so good, have taped on my design and then am going to model that off the stand and turn that into a flat pattern. For the hot pants I am going to flat pattern cut those, due to the gusset it will be easy and more accurate to turn the bikini block into high waisted hot pants, which is what I am after. The shoulder piece I am however going to toile in paper as it has the similar properties to my PVC and there will make it more accurate.

 

FINAL FEW!!

90 designs done !! Chosen my final 10 roll on design selection!

SORTED!! yesss!

50 designs done and all is well have formulated my ideas and am going to look at geometry and crystal formations as a basis of my designs as they are my main influences particularly the crystal formations!!

CDP crisis!!!

Well this is my first post on my CDP project, well I have managed to write my manifesto as you can see, and now I need to translate my design principles into reality, which is what I am finding most challenging. But I have decided to look at some sculptors such as Barbara Hepworth, and have had a few goes at modeling on the stand to get an idea of what sort of shapes I am looking at and to help me find a direction

Project time already :P

B&M project, have to look in depth at a high street chain/shop and asses it from a buying and merchandising outlook, this is has been rather difficult as you have had to look at things that we normally take for granted when shopping but are things that effect the way in which we shop, and again this has been interesting to look a a retailer in my case Karen Millen and compare how they do it in comparison to their competition.

Buying and Merchandising!

Buying and merchandising, throughout our 10 weeks with John it was a real opportunity to see the workings of the industry. As I am more design focused I had very little knowledge of the buying and merchandising side of the fashion industry it has been really helpful. We have learnt the basics but we have gained a better understanding of the fashion cycle, well I have for sure. It has really shown me how trends are translated onto the high street from the big shows and how ranges are formulated. I have also been able to see he level of risk in buying in particular. Through the course I also saw how as a designer I can be part of the promotional side of things and that there is a place on a buying floor for a designer, which showed me another pathway for a future career.

look at this!!!

illustrator skills on top form!!

MY MODEL IS 1st OUT!!

Belle Sauvage Catwalk Show from On|Off TV on Vimeo.

PAM HOGG @ On/Off

Pam Hogg Catwalk Show from On|Off TV on Vimeo.

London FASHION WEEK!

Right, well I don’t even know where to start on this one to be honest! It has to have been the most incredible week of my life, not only did I get to spend 5 days eat, drinking, sleeping fashion I got to dress some of the best shows of the week, meet and work with designers and stylist, experience the whole production side of the fashion world and meet great people.

My highlights have to be, all my backstage memories from dressing I dressed for Pam Hogg, Belle Sauvage, Ramon Gurillo, Mr and Mr, Falguni and Shane Peacock, and watch countless other ones favourite one I watched had to be Charlie le Mindu and then dressing wise Pam Hogg for the sheer thrill factor and the fact I dress Alice Dellal. So a big thank you to the ON/OFF team for the opportunity!!

Alice Dellal

Lectra Unit

Lectra is a French based design company set up in 1973 in Bordeaux which are a company who specialise in product design solutions, they are the world leaders in this field they use integrated technology solutions, that are aimed to accelerate and aid design. Lectra are not restricted to the fashion industry their systems are used across the whole of spectrum of design from fashion, to automotive design and even furniture.

Lectra offer Computer aided design and machinery solutions, which are each, designed specifically for reach industry, ranging from software for design to pattern making, 3D prototyping and cutting systems. Lectra’s high-performance automated knife and laser cutters, are some of the most powerful and most efficient cutting machines in the world, and as a result are used across the fashion industry as a whole. Lectra can be seen to be in use across the breath of the fashion industry being used by the high-end designers to high street brands.

One of Lectra’s strengths is in its capacity to have created a series of systems and programs that are specifically designed to do each aspect of the fashion design process and work seamlessly together with ease.

In my opinion Lectra has tapped into an aspect of the industry where there was a need for efficiency and as a result they have had a great amount of success. As due to the worlds increasingly technological advances the fashion industry was due an update, and this is what the Lectra systems offer the industry. Due to the production chains in the industry and the increasing pressures for fast fashion the Modaris system allows design to change an manipulate quickly and keep up with the market. Not only that it has meant that with the production of garments becoming a more global affair it has allowed the ease of transmitting patterns and designs between designers and production teams to be greatly improved optimizing efficiency.

My experience of Lectra is one, where I have really seen the advantages to designing with it. Yes, the actual use of the program is one where there is a great deal of method; things have to be done in orders for them to be understood. This is probably my biggest criticism of it as for a designer it can be restrictive, as you have to do it the systems way. Which means it is more suitable to those who have a clinical approach to pattern cutting and ones who appreciate its detail and accuracy. As for me it became frustrating to keep going through the same steps every time and often a series of steps to relatively little change. So in that respect it is a negative however in the grand scheme of things I can see the advantages.

Another point from my experience of Lectra is that on certain tasks patterns that require a lot of drafting or are large then this is where Lectra really comes into its own. As manipulating an existing pattern or block is really eased by Lectra as the steps are easier, quicker and will have a greater accuracy then if done by hand.  Also patterns that are created with measurements such as circle skirts for example are definitely going to be more accurate as the curves are created a lot easier on Modaris than by hand.

So for certain aspects Lectra will be definitely useful and I will use it however for me the manual pattern cutting still has some advantages and it can often be more evident where there is a mistake than when using the Lectra system.

Yet in conclusion I can say that the my Lectra experience has taught me a lot and will definitely help my pattern cutting in the future and feel that the unit has gone well for me as an individual, definitely challenging in the beginning. However once I grasped the basics and it was becoming evident that the more you use the system the more the it will become like second nature and I think this is when you will really see the benefits as I feel you need to have a good grounding in its price less to get the best out of the software. Even so I found the unit informative, useful, and enjoyed its high level of technicality thoroughly throughout the whole unit.

check this OUT!!!

http://fashiongonerogue.com/

Ilustration Hand In!

Just had the hand in for the FDP unit, in which I focused on Japanese street fashion. The unit was really fun as I came from a completely fashion free background, so throughout the duration of the whole unit I was learning new things, from illustration skills, style, proportions of the body. This unit also showed me the criticalness of flat drawings and the need to be sure they reflect what you want to make otherwise your designs will not be interpreted correctly. I am really pleased with my final outcome as it is a real example of the skills I’ve learned and it has let my develop my own illustration style and also draw in a way that reflect the style and influence of the design. I really learnt a great deal from this unit!

LONDON FASHION WEEK PRESENTATION!

New Brief!!!!

Got started on our new project Manifesto, so my initial thoughts were focused around the whole eco scene however, that is something I am more aware of rather than what I wanted to focus on so I have decided to look into other ideas. The main principles being:

1.     The collection is to be void of any colour (completely black)

2.     Focusing on texture and form rather than colour

3.     To extenuate the figure not to hide its shape

Feeling really enthused by the brief allowing me to really focus on what I like about fashion, allowing me to take a less commercial approach and really been creative. I think this project is allowing me to play to my strengths much more than the technical unit and think I might get a good outcome and am enjoying employing theory and weight to my designs!

CHECK THIS OUT!!!

This blog/website covers all trends in both fashion, hair and make up and its great for general styling too !!

http://www.fashionising.com/
CLICK ON THE POST TITLE FOR A DIRECT LINK!

TERM 2

Term 2

So what do we have to look forward to this term:

Illustration hand in

Lectra UNIT

Buying and Merchandising

Collection time

Fashion show

Placement

Lots to do! 

HANDING IN

HAND IN!!

So our first hand in is here, its been a push to get everything ready for the hand in as the shirt was more challenging than I anticipated, I thought that it might be the pattern that would be the difficult part however its clear that the construction is the harder aspect of this task, with the collar being tricky and –time consuming, overall I’m pleased with what I submitted and look forward to the results!

One of my housemates modelling my Toiles :P 

CHRISTMAS TIME

Time for a little break from AUCB!

ASSESMENT time !!!!!

TICK TOCK!! So we are getting close t the end of term and we are reaching our first hand in which is the PCCP, which is our pattern cutting and construction unit. Which has been the bulk of our learning this term so far, covering the basics in both pattern cutting and construction. I had very little experience in this area and this was one of the main draws to the course. I have found the unit very challenging due to its pace and the scale of what we have to learn in such as short time. However it has been highly rewarding as my skill level has improved so much, and I can now pattern cut. So bring on this final shirt project!!

TRAINER TIME!!

Week 3 - Black meets White!

Week 3 was a really creative week, we started our Visions in Black and White project, looking at the work of Gareth Pugh in particular I looked at his work for inspiration, then in the afternoon I began to construct my garment working in paper to create the shaped shoulders which were to be the focal point of my design. I chose to start with the paper structure as this would give me the strength that I need to support the shape that I wanted. I then chose to use a black woven fabric with a little sheen. I began modelling over the paper shoulders, to begin to get the initial shape of my garment.

I took inspiration for my initial structure from the work of Alexandra Zaharova and Ilya Plotnikov, particularly they’re use of paper to create shapes that otherwise wouldn’t be obtainable in fabric.

SWEAT SHOP!!

Thursday was a brilliant day it was a our first day of construction, we had an introduction into everything in the studio, however the seams where difficult and we had a lot to go through however it was really rewarding in general and with more practice I think I will get better at the overlocker as I am really enjoying working on the more technical side rather than the designing at the moment as I am finding the drawing very challenging. Friday was more pattern cutting, this time we were modeling calico onto a stand, and creating a bodice and then from that we turned this into a flat pattern it was really great to learn another skill and I thoroughly enjoyed the demonstrations and felt I really grasped what we were learning this is a piece of the course I really enjoy! Overall it’s been a packed week but we really accomplished a lot in general.

Illustrator

An Illustrator Session with Jamie!!