Garment Development.

I have been experimenting with my sampling, using different types of techniques to bring through occurring texture and detail. Whilst doing this I have found that when trying to relate these techniques into garment design and tension squares, it has been extremely difficult to figure out how to keep sample detail, fully fashioned and to create the shape I would like for my garment without compromising one of these elements. Having to tweak and further develop garment designs to achieve a look I want.

Working on a stand using jersey I started to pin out the designs I plan to knit. For my first outfit I plan to knit a sleeveless dress, with fully fashioned neckline and arm holes, using the contour technique, gradually using this give the illusion of the technique taking over the dress, coupled with the amount of fabric in the dress appearing to consume the model.  I looked at higher end garment production, researching designers such as Paco Rabanne, exploring how they designed their garments, identifying the elements which to me, made it look more high end.

                                                                                                                Paco Rabanne.

 My research led me to incorporate a looser fitting body with a higher neckline using a light colour pallete into my design in the belief   these details will bring a higher end fashion feel. In addition, I wanted to add more intricate details in this garment such as fading beaded detail as used by Balenciaga, which I feel will bring a sense of sophistication which with specific placement will be intricate and appear to seemingly take over the dress, yet progressively fading out on the front.

The second look will be a crochet top and knitted shorts. Initially, I wanted create a crochet dress similar to the one made by Dolce and Gabbana, however, I felt the technique I wanted to use wasn’t strong enough as a stand-alone technique for a whole dress. So I did further garment research and found the aforementioned look, via Pinterest. Inspired by this, and how effectively it worked, I wanted to incorporate the technique into one of my vest designs. I felt it would introduce a summerier feel to the line up.

Dolce & Gabbana                                                                                                                                            Source- Pintrest.

Alongside the vest I also designed shorts. using the Lycra and pipe cleaner sample. This posed some very discouraging and disconcerting problems, due to where the pipe cleaners would be sitting and how close the skin they would be. However, through experimentation I discovered it could be avoided by incorporating a lining, this plus excessive fabric and clever placement of the pipe cleaners, ensured they weren’t in close contact with the skin.

 For my third garment, I designed another free flowing dress with front detail. I have had unrelenting problems with the technique and yarn I have been using for the design of the dress. When I was sampling for this garment the problems I encountered were mild due to the much smaller scale, therefore the scale of the problems were not something I could foresee or anticipate.  Decisions whether to carry on with the making of this dress are still unclear.

With all the detail design features in the garments, mainly the dress and the shorts, the focal problem is time consumption; underestimating the time consumed by individual beading the design on to the dress and the slow process of placing the pipe cleaners into the shorts was an unpredicted problem. This has meant prioritising more time to this than to other components, which in turn may mean jeopardising other elements of the project.

 

Stephanie Rolland                                                                                                                                           Sandra Backlund

With the use of yarn and techniques I currently employ, I would like to feel that my work is comparable to designers such as Stephanie Rolland and Sandra Backlund.