Katie Eary

Katie Eary is a designer I recently came across when reading about London Fashion Week, I decided to blog about her, as she is a very inspirational menswear designer who graduated in 2008. Her work is new, interesting and very unusual. I could imagine Lady Gaga being a fan of Katie Eary’s pieces as much of her work is very eccentric. As Katie Eary is only in her mid 20’s it is exciting to see where she is today…could this be me or one of my friends in a few years time?! I also came across the following interview from 2008, which may be of interest: http://www.dazeddigital.com/article/1428/1/Fashions_New_Optimism_Katie_Eary

Below are some images of Katie Eary’s Spring/Summer 2010 collection.

Paul Smith

I love bright colours and recently some of Paul Smiths work caught my attention when I was flicking through Elle Magazine. I like his use of bright, clashing colours and the mixture of bold prints. I think his work is fun, yet quite sophisticated due to the tailoring of the garments. The pieces shown below are part of one of his collections.

http://www.paulsmith.co.uk/collections/index/women,245,PSC.html

Stripes from the Sea: More research

When I first began the ‘Fashion Forecasting Project’ I seemed to struggle a little looking through magazines for garments influenced by my theme ‘stripes from the sea’ but since I stopped looking I have come across plenty of examples and sources of inspiration. For example I have just come across this spring 2010 collection by the Proenza Schouler designers, Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McColloug, I think many or the garments in this collection have been inspired by the sea.

website:http://nymag.com/fashion/fashionshows/2010/spring/main/newyork/womenrunway/proenzaschouler/#slide30&ss1

Many of the pieces are made from shimmery fabrics, bright blues and yellows and many have tassels or ruffles to enhance the sense of movement. I should perhaps take these aspects in to consideration whilst working on this project. The colours used in the above garments remind me of some of the fish i photographed at the aquarium. Shown below:

Another garment I remember seeing the other day whilst browsing for new clothes is this Shark Print dress by Unique at Topshop, there is also a jumpsuit in the same bold shark print fabric. Here is a link to the Shark Print garment. http://www.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?beginIndex=0&viewAllFlag=&catalogId=19551&storeId=12556&categoryId=180026&parent_category_rn=175984&productId=1523131&langId=-1

A slightly more subtle approach to the sea can also be seen here in some of the Miuccia Prada’s garments.

http://www.showstudio.com/collections/seasons/milanwomenswearss10/38518#/2009/09/24/19-05-415x623.jpg

Stripes from the Sea

This semester we have just began a new and exciting main study project entitled ‘Fashion Forecasting’. The idea is to select a current fashion forecast for 2010/11 on which to base our project. After much research and deliberation I discarded ‘Sophisticated rustic’, ‘Rough luk’ and ‘Global Boho’. My source of inspiration will be drawn from ‘Stripes from the Sea’ based on a prediction for summer 2010/11. I began research online and in the library and quickly come across a couple of interesting designers who were influenced by the sea. The work of Junko Shimada is in many instances very unusual and colourful. I find the garments particularly inspirational. The second designer who caught my eye is Lie Sang Bong. Below are some images of their work.

Junko Shimada (http://www.junkoshimada.com/)

Lie Sang Bong (http://www.liesangbong.com/index.php)

The initial task after deciding on a theme for my project was to create a mood board. To do this I decided to take a trip to North Queensferry just outside of Edinburgh for inspiration. I went to Deep Sea World (a large aquarium), had a stroll along the beach and also took time to explore the quaint town. Throughout the day i took a lot of photographs, roughly 200 at the aquarium, however less than a quarter of those were of any use! I found photographing the fish very challenging, they move very quickly, the tanks are often poorly lit in a fairly dark room and using a flash reflects off the tank. Below are some of my more successful photographs.

Sandra Backlund

I came across Sandra Backlund a contemporary knitter on http://monomoda.com/ which is a graphic design based website full of visual inspiration. I really like the diversity in Sandra Backlund’s work, her knitted garments are usually created using only one colour of yarn but she creates interest by using unusual structures to alter the body shape of the model. I think some of her work relates well to what I was creating in the knit workshop this week. Below are 3 images of Sarah Backlund’s work and an image of a sample I created based on a page in my sketchbook.

Mixed Media Inspiration-Alison Willoughby

Alison Willoughby is a textile designer, who creates mainly skirts as well as some other garments and installations. I feel her work is quite unusual, I like her use of appliqué, bold prints and bold colour pallets. I particularly like the two pieces shown below. The first because it is very vibrant, very textured and an unusual mix of materials. Although perhaps it is not so practical. The second piece I like because the combination of print and sewn circles all on a diagonal is interesting.

Fashion Show 2009

On Thursday night I went to the STAG (Scottish Textiles Academic Group) fashion show in Edinburgh. The show was set in a beautiful converted church and I found the evening to be very enjoyable and inspirational. Students from 13 Scottish colleges and universities were showing their work, some of the work was very unusual and more suited to the catwalk, other garments were more mainstream such as little black dresses I could imagine seeing in high street stores. Below are a few photographs I took, unfortunately the quality is quite poor.