Martin Margiela

For a Design module at University we were asked to research into a designer that is considered avant-garde. We were put into groups and allocated a designer to research, our designer was Martin Margiela. Before this project I had heard of him but never really knew much about him as a designer, then after researching neither did most of the world considering he is known as the anonymous designer. I found this really intriguing. He is considered 'the designers designer' as other designers look to him for inspiration as he is ahead of the fashion pack. Within the fashion community he is well known for bringing back the shoulder pads in 2006, people thought it was strange, but just look at them now, shoulder pads are everywhere!
From researching into the Martin Margiela brand we then had to create a customer profile. Once the research was complete the next step was to look into trends, because Margiela doesn't follow trends this journal was quite difficult to start with however we made it our own by taking inspiration from trend prediction websites such as wgsn.com and trendstop and researching more into the areas of our choice therefore making our own trend.
I was then asked to design a collection for Martin Margiela taking inspiration from the moodboard and research. These are some images from my design journal, my final illustrations and my final flat boards.
We handed everything in today so basically fingers crossed for a good mark!

Nicest Thing

I am really into dancing and I have been doing it since the age of 3. I think of it as another way of expressing my creativity.
I came accross this video on YouTube and fell in love with it, this song 'Nicest Thing' by Kate Nash is one of my faves.
I hope you like this as much as I do. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhWhdKiK2ks&feature=related

Collage and Canvas

In my spare time I love to do creative things, such as making things or painting. The most recent things that I have made has been a collage of inspirational imgaes that I have found and a canvas that I have painted of the Union Jack. I really wanted to buy a canvas of the Union Jack which I found in Debenhams, then I thought I could make my own for an extrememly small portion of the cost considering I already own all the paints. I used acrylic paints and made it very thick so it stands up off the canvas.
I also make other things such as scraobooks, which are full of inspirational images I have found in magazines or on the internet, photographs I have taken and drawings or doodles.

French Connection Desn 1653

In the second Semester of Uni last year we were put into groups in our Research and Design Development module. Each group was given a brand to research into and design for, my group and I had French Connection.
As overall team work we had to produce a Brand Journal, a Trend Journal, a Designs journal (covering menswear, womenswear and knitwear) and then 3 mood boards and 3 fabric boards for each pathway. I really enjoyed the group work and I think that we each created great work at the end of it all.
After researching trends on the well known trend prediction website WGSN.com we chose 3 in which to re-create into our own trend from which we were to design from. These were; Scarytale-Womenswear, This is 1981-Menswear and On the Buffalo Trail-Knitwear.
Each member of the group designed for each pathway and this was enable us to decide which we enjoyed the most and what we were good at to help us choose which pathway to undergo in our following years at University.
Here are the mood boards and fabric boards which I created for the group and also some of my design sheets.

Lace... Again

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh7hE5aiNLTrGJO6uAdslmnaMNh0zOs88cfC48gDw_a6wzIEW3VpTYQqO3VjX1I79wJclPGSg7Y37H2YKiIKatoyxGtWKk4BIMUJrZYuiGGm2M67tEAA3GgMEZUZqzhxQseCtufiHZdDAW/s400/Isabel+Marant.jpg

Still obsessed with lace I decided to go back and buy some more to make a skirt. Lace is very big this season and it was seen on many catwalks over the summer and I didn't just one a top in lace, I wanted a skirt too. So I made this lace skirt with a black satin underskirt. It was hard sewing it straight onto the elastic because I had to pull the elastic to gather the lace onto it. I really need to use an overlocker to sort out the hem of the satin under layer but apart from that it's actually pretty darn good, if I say so myself. I love this skirt though, I usually wear it when I go out at night and I have also had a few compliments asking where I had bought it from. My handy work with lace seems to prove success full! Onto the next...

Lace Cropped Top

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggMT4jN7pmZh916Wx4_CeB8zOUBLPTMcgB0xtSuHYqMCAzkcSbQvuMzyR0ScORyx4kdBC96kZOX23jQRgcm-rbYt00y8ZTvwRJ3iP0n91V5HRB0HaRC4VzAyvp0oq8Zzwx3xcMtvpNBlGY/s400/topshop+lace+cropped+56.jpg

http://www.elleuk.com/var/elleuk/storage/images/starstyle/celebrity-trends/everyone-s-wearing-lace2/florence-welch/3357143-1-eng-GB/florence-welch_mode_large_qualite_uk.jpg

Over the summer I was obsessed with this Topshop lace cropped top, every time I went into a branch I would try it on. Considering I am a poor student and the summer period is long and hard so when you are short for cash the cost of this lovely top was a bit of a stretch at £28. So....
I decided to make my own!
I went to the local fabric shop and bought a metre of lace for £1.50. I don't think it looks that much different and I love it! Plus it was only a small percentage of the cost. Chuffed. It was so simple and easy to make and I get many compliments when I wear it such as 'I've got that top from Topshop' or 'I really wanted that top'. I just smile with a great sense of satisfaction that it only cost me £1.50

A Level Textiles

These images are from my A level Textiles exam work. The theme was Boundaries and I chose the boundaries of eating as a topic. Focusing on healthy and unhealthy food, exploring why certain foods are good or bad and also the pressures of eating healthily in the modern day. I used many textile techniques such as, applique, molar, felt making, machine free-stitching, hand stitching, screen printing, soluble fabric and many many more. Through developing my ideas i created a screen print which was then used for the skirt part of my bra dress. This dress had to be made in 6 hours. I really enjoyed this project as i got to explore lots of techniques and I love textiles because you are basically decorating a piece of fabric.