Target Market

My customer is a 25-35 year old woman, working behind the scenes in the music industry. She is single, has no children and lives in lively Camden Town, London. She takes a maximum of 2 holidays a year to the Caribbean to relax from her hectic schedule. She wears size 8-10 and shops at designer vintage stores around the city. She shops on impulse and has her own unique style, she is not trend driven or brand loyal. She will buy outfits for occasions such as album launch parties or award ceremonies. Her spending bracket is £500 -£2000. Her favourite designers are Alexander McQueen and  Gareth Pugh. She reads Kerrang, NME, Q, Vogue and Dazed and Confused. She admires Michael Jackson, Tom Jones and Amy Winehouse as they are highly respected in the music industry.

Fabric choice for final garment

After researching fabrics on Goldhawk road during my trip to London I decided that none of the fabrics I found were Suitable for my design. So I contacted a London soho fabric shop, The Berwick Street Fabric Shop and requested further samples. The samples I was sent were much more suitable for my design but way out of my price range as most were £59 per metre!
The fabric I finally decided on a bulletproof fabric as its strong, thick, heavyweight and slightly stretchy which is perfect for my design. I was shown this fabric by a lecturer and was supposed to cost around £25 a metre, but I bought it through college so it only cost £3 per metre, BARGAIN!

80's inspired shirt dress

During the last few pattern cutting sessions in College we have been working on manufacturing a shirt dress. After making the pattern I had an idea to use colour blocking and 80's inspiration. I chose the colours, neon yellow, hot pink, vibrant orange, silky teal and contrasting purple. I decided on these colours because they complimented each other. I used poppers as an easy open fasten. I am planning a photo shoot inspired by the 80's. Watch this space!
Below are a few images of the final outcome.

Trip to London 30.3.13

On the 30th march 2013 I went to london in search of fabric and inspiration towards my final garment at college. I went with the thought of tailoring,angles and sharpness. Along with a cheeky trip to Brick Lane. When walking through London I found 2 inspiring things. One was a lampshade and the other architecture outside London euston station. The angles and lines were exactly what I was looking for.
After visiting Goldhawk Road for fabrics shops, I went to Brick Lane. It's my favourite place ever! I love vintage fashion it adds character to an outfit and gives individuality. After exploring Brick Lane for 6 hours, I came away with a beautiful pair of vintage, studded Dr Martens, gold hoop earrings, a neon blue beanie hat, (which is bang on trend!) and rounded sunglasses.

Gareth Pugh

Continuing into my research of visionary designers, I decided to research into Gareth Pugh. I found his Spring/Summer 2007 collection incredibly inspiring. I love the use of angles through his collection, everything is sharp and crisp. Although the inspiration is unclear for the collection, a secondary source suggested Pugh was inspired by architectural pyramids in the courtyard of The National Gallery in Washington D.C. The pyramids are sharp and mirrored which are similar elements in one of the 2007 garments.

Design Download Results

After entering the Giles Deacon dress competition on showstudio.com, I have received some great news!  Although I did not win the competition, I was mentioned by the designer, which I am extremely pleased with!

"We had lots of incredible re-interpretations of Giles Deacon's The Troubadour dress submitted as part of our Design Download competition. Both Giles Deacon and Nick Knight faced the huge task of siphoning through the submissions and picking their favourite to feature in an exclusive SHOWstudio fashion film.

It is with great pleasure that we can announce that the winner of the competition is the very talented Leanne Broadway! Her use of unconventinal material won over the judges, 'I really liked how Leanne had given the dress a new feel and the choice of rubber was great and the execution immaculate,' said Deacon.   

Notable mentions also go to some of the other entrants who impressed our judging duo with their creativity. Knight was struck by Paula Maso and Neliana Fuenmayor's floral entry and Craig Warfield's simple elegant design, while Deacon was keen on Jolie Kay's submission and approved of the fabric of the dress made by Nichola Hanson."  

This quote was taken from the design download results. 

I am extremely proud of my submission and even a mention is a huge achievement for me. 

My favourite image is below.

Visionary Designers

We have just received a new brief, which is based on researching ideas and concepts in visionary designer's work. It also includes developing and manufacturing our final garment for the end of year fashion show.  The designers  and collections I have researched into are Alexander McQueen's "Highland Rape" collection and Viktor and Rolf's Spring/Summer 2010 collection

Alexander McQueen's Highland Rape collection caused controversy within the fashion industry and in the press, as many people believed that this collection was inspired by sexual rape, which is untrue. McQueen was inspired by his Scottish roots and was motivated by the brutal rape of Scotland by England for hundreds of years, hence the title "Highland Rape".

I chose this collection because of the controversy surrounding it. 

The second designer's collection I looked at was Viktor and Rolf's Spring/Summer 2010, which consisted of dresses and ball gowns consisting tightly packed layers of tulle that were cut and sliced into, sometimes with circular holes like Swiss cheese. the inspiration behind the collection was that the world has to cut back so this was reflected in their use of cutting into the fabric.