Evaluation

Overall, my aim for this project was to create fabrics that focused on restricting and deforming the skin, as well as revealing elements of the skin when placed on the body. I have found the process of this project very interesting as I was developing and moving forward from a previous project. Looking back through this journey, I believe I have developed and designed unique and contemporary fabrics that fit well with my target market, high-end womenswear.

At the beginning of this project I struggled with developing my ideas, colour palette and initial fabrics, and felt I hit a standstill quite early on.  I overcame these issues by taking more photographs and creating drawings from them to give me inspiration on shape, textures, and techniques I could use in my samples. I also began looking at more fashion designers and other areas of the art/ design world which enabled me to progress my ideas further.

I found my strengths in this project were developing my fabrics, once I had overcome the difficulties of creating a colour palette, I approached them with a lot of confidence to experiment and push my own technical ability. I found I gathered a lot of strong and relevant contextual research throughout the process, which enabled me to maintain my ideas and samples for a high-end market.

This project has advanced my abilities as a designer as I have improved my knitting technical ability when combining yarns like monofilament and elastic that aren’t always the easiest yarns to knit with. I now have the ability to take a project and evolve it into something new without replicating what I had previously made and achieved.  I have also learnt what is involved to make high quality fabrics like yarn choice and the research needed.

Photoshoot

I chose to take my final fabrics and use them in a photo shoot to visualise how they can be used on the body. This allowed me to show how the fabrics reveal elements of the skin through the transparent and open sections.

Below are some of my most successful photographs...

Overall I am pleased with how my photographs came out and think they show the fabrics at there best. I especially like the colour of the skin against my colour palette, and how the fabrics make the skin part of the overall look.

If I had the opportunity to redo the shoot I would evaluate all my photographs from the original shoot to help me to avoid making similar mistakes. These mistakes were such things as the lighting being too dark in some images, less photographs of particular fabrics, and other parts of the body getting into the shot that I could not crop or edit out.

My Final Fabrics

I made my final fabrics on a 7 and 10 gauge knit machine so I would have more variety.  I also used a diverse range of yarns; elastic, monofilament, mohair, antara and mercerised cotton. These yarns allowed me to provide diversity, but still keep my fabrics as one collection.

Below are photographs of my 12 final fabrics...

 

 

I am very pleased with my final fabrics, and find they work well as a collection. I think it is clear that these fabrics are designed for high-end womenswear as it can be seen through the quality, colour palette and the overall design I have used in the fabrics.I particularly like the sections that will expose the body when placed on a person.

If I were to make improvements I would include more shaping so there were less samples looking rectangular. 

Development Samples

My colour palette has developed since my previous one, and I have decided to keep it very black and white. Where I have used colour I've used a very bright colour that pops, and it is now refined and sophisticated like my target market.

Below are examples of my successful development samples...

The techniques I have used have made my fabrics unique and interesting, however I need to make sure I keep a high quality and finish in my fabrics to keep them professional. I also need to avoid using the same techniques in the same way so I am not simply replicating a previous fabric.

The next step for me in this project is to evaluate my development samples so I can transfer the successful design elements into my final designs.

Developing Shapes

This week I felt like the fabrics I have been making were too similar to my initial samples, and I had come to a standstill with my ideas. I decided to take some new photos of the skin for new inspiration, but instead of wrapping it in different materials I used fishing wire. I did this to take the attention away from the materials I was using and to keep it only on the skin.

My photographs provided me with a lot of shapes to work from, and I particularly like how the skin turned from a flat surface into a three dimensional surface with a lot of movement. 

http://media-cache-cd0.pinimg.com/originals/96/1f/78/961f789daf03c4f7b7ecf465a1b7074b.jpg

Chloe SS13

http://theglobalskin.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/sonja-baeumel_crocheted-membrane1.jpg

Sonja Baeumel

"(In)Visible Membrane"

Cut Out, Dissect, Extract, Sections, Empty Space 

http://www.designcatwalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/jolka-wiens-05.jpg

Jolka Wiens SS12

Laser cut Neoprene

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqa3QGA7PLQwn8OT6Ul_ZvthhV1D_rCZY-DhPkla1Q_72o6hXKcE4Ms2X2u748nasFGVWwFoUbtVdmJcJ7Tpcgr3DXOcKXD3UtgjVMzlLcxL49h96FReIrMYI9OBgmFDAlLLG44MJBe-xn/s1600/alexander+wang+SS13+Lookbook+steffanilouise1.jpg

Alexander Wang SS13

Laser cut

Exposing Skin

Incorporting Skin
Revealing Skin

Reorganising Negative Space:

This drawing is far more successful then my drawings from the previous week as despite having organic shapes, there is also a structured controlled element.

 

http://www.e-architect.co.uk/images/jpgs/amsterdam/arcam_rvz050109_luukkramer_1.jpg

http://museum-amsterdam.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Rene%20van%20zuuk%20architekten.jpg

Rene Van Zuuk