Design
I’ve carried out further fabric research this week in London using my mood board as inspiration for the colour palette. Ideally, I would like to use recycled or organic materials but I am finding it difficult to find tulle that is sustainable. It’s easy to find organic cotton or naturally dyed/undyed cotton but I’ve only been able to find one sample of deadstock soft tulle. Most tulle is made from nylon but there is silk tulle that’s slightly better for the environment but very expensive the amount I would need for a garment due to smocking. Therefore, I need to do future research of sustainable fabrics.
Looking back at what I’ve done so far I’m feeling like my designs are a bit old fashioned, stiff looking and not what I want. I would like my designs to feel contemporary and suitable for today’s customer whilst still maintaining a sense of history and craft. I think there are two ways I could achieve this. Either by using more contemporary fabrics such as nylon layered with tulle or by creating modern silhouettes rather than historical ones but using smocking techniques. I’ve started to draw some new ideas of different types of garments such as bomber jackets which I’m preferring, although I would still really like to make a dress/jumpsuit/blouse. After speaking to a tutor they suggested placing my sleeves on the stand with contemporary garments to get a feel of what works well and what doesn’t. I’m also going to try out a few samples of layering/combining more technical fabrics with traditional fabrics like cotton and silk. This will hopefully help me come up with new ideas.
Another thing I need to do is review my critical path as I am feeling very behind, at this point I would have hoped to be creating full toiles but have only just started creating sleeves. Therefore, I need to really push myself to come up with ideas that I really like and start to develop them inti full toiles to push my project forward. I also need to work on market report and particularly which brands align with mine. I keep changing my mind about whether I’m looking at upper high street or higher end. The brand I look at also keep changing from more feminine, floaty dress type brands to vintage style ones, to more modern ones. The brands I had initially chosen for my garment comparison chart don’t seem to fit with my designs or desired look for my outcome.