This looks interesting, I'll be attending as it links into my theory work rather nicely... Covering sustainability, environmental, ethical & global issues from a retailers, brand & designers perspective featuring some of the pioneering names in this arena.
Global vs Ethical Student Conference - The Trend Boutique
Tuesday 2 November 2010
Friday 29 October 2010
Millbank Penitentiary Cells
The Morpeth Arms pub in Pimlico has in its basement some of the original cells remaining from Millbank Penitentiary.
Here are a few of the great images that I got!
Here are a few of the great images that I got!
Inside/ Outside Project Ideas
Research
This project began by looking at the history of the Millbank penitentiary, which is now the site of Chelsea, Tate Britain and Burberry HQ.
Focusing on a time near the closure of the Prison, circa, 1880,at the height of the Victorian era which was also the time Burberry was establishing itself as a great british outdoors brand.
With the great outdoors comes a need for protection from the elements, and Burberry did this in the form of their creation of ‘gabadine’, a woolen fabric that was waxed before it was woven.
I also looked to the fashions of that time, this came about in the form of my great-grandmothers’ post card collection, cards depicting frozen sepia actresses and models in corsets, their dresses nipped in at the waste revealing ‘perfect’ 20’’waists- their bodies imprisoned by stiff structures that distorted a natural frame.
I took some photographs of the remaining cells in the basement of the Morpeth Arms pub, a couple of streets away from Chelsea. It was an eerie place to be, seeped with history and I felt a little uneasy being there.
Both of these ideas (protection and imprisonment), serve as a kind of second skin, an extension of the body in some way or another, although their concepts are fundamentally very different and contradictory; one is a form of protection, and the other a form of imprisonment- they are however both inclosing, inward.
I want to play with these ideas perhaps trying to combine them to reveal a contradiction, tension or oddity. I would also like to play with a slight feeling of unease, a feeling of something being not quite right.
I plan to take some more photographs, perhaps double exposures on a lomography camera, allowing my bleeding colour palette to seep in to the images themselves, these will perhaps be the basis for my digital prints that I could then work into…
I would like look to ideas of waterproofing: varnishing, latex, plastics, ways of finishing: bonding, foiling, darning, mending, embroidering,
Idea’s of tension, how are things joined, peeling, stiffened
Idea’s of contradiction, heavy duty things:leathers,wools edged beautifully, or combined with more delicate things, papers, silks etc
I might physically construct my samples, giving an implication of detail or a suggestion of an accessory?
Sustainability
I intend to use recycled fabrics wherever possible within this project. I have collected old prison blankets from Brixton Prison, which once offered a form of protection and I have second hand leather off-cuts to play with.
Colour Palette
My colour palette finds its inspiration within the photographs of the old cells, my great-grandmothers postcards and some of my own drawings.
This project began by looking at the history of the Millbank penitentiary, which is now the site of Chelsea, Tate Britain and Burberry HQ.
Focusing on a time near the closure of the Prison, circa, 1880,at the height of the Victorian era which was also the time Burberry was establishing itself as a great british outdoors brand.
With the great outdoors comes a need for protection from the elements, and Burberry did this in the form of their creation of ‘gabadine’, a woolen fabric that was waxed before it was woven.
I also looked to the fashions of that time, this came about in the form of my great-grandmothers’ post card collection, cards depicting frozen sepia actresses and models in corsets, their dresses nipped in at the waste revealing ‘perfect’ 20’’waists- their bodies imprisoned by stiff structures that distorted a natural frame.
I took some photographs of the remaining cells in the basement of the Morpeth Arms pub, a couple of streets away from Chelsea. It was an eerie place to be, seeped with history and I felt a little uneasy being there.
Both of these ideas (protection and imprisonment), serve as a kind of second skin, an extension of the body in some way or another, although their concepts are fundamentally very different and contradictory; one is a form of protection, and the other a form of imprisonment- they are however both inclosing, inward.
I want to play with these ideas perhaps trying to combine them to reveal a contradiction, tension or oddity. I would also like to play with a slight feeling of unease, a feeling of something being not quite right.
I plan to take some more photographs, perhaps double exposures on a lomography camera, allowing my bleeding colour palette to seep in to the images themselves, these will perhaps be the basis for my digital prints that I could then work into…
I would like look to ideas of waterproofing: varnishing, latex, plastics, ways of finishing: bonding, foiling, darning, mending, embroidering,
Idea’s of tension, how are things joined, peeling, stiffened
Idea’s of contradiction, heavy duty things:leathers,wools edged beautifully, or combined with more delicate things, papers, silks etc
I might physically construct my samples, giving an implication of detail or a suggestion of an accessory?
Sustainability
I intend to use recycled fabrics wherever possible within this project. I have collected old prison blankets from Brixton Prison, which once offered a form of protection and I have second hand leather off-cuts to play with.
Colour Palette
My colour palette finds its inspiration within the photographs of the old cells, my great-grandmothers postcards and some of my own drawings.
Thursday 28 October 2010
Wednesday 27 October 2010
Burberry Project Autumn
The project with Burberry is called ‘ Inside-Outside’ and asks the students to design a collection of beautiful fabrics to inspire fashion designers, which makes the most of their fabrics’ qualities in stitch, weave, knit, print and digital production.
The link between Chelsea College and Burberry is our location here at Millbank as well as a deep commitment to the development of innovation and quality in the design and use of textiles.
Location: The site of Chelsea College of Art and Design, together with The Tate and Burberry HQ occupy territory, which was once Millbank Penitentiary. There is a rich source of historic information and detail concerning a period in which social structures and values of all kinds were different from ours today, providing contrasts and comparisons. Social anthropological and environmental detail concerning the factors associated with the history of this site is well documented and, with the addition of some fictional accounts, can paint a picture of life in this location, up to 200 years ago, including the experience of prison.
Heritage: The project encourages the students to explore the rich local reference, and to research this period of Millbank’s history as a prison, with all the conceptual interpretations it affords. The students are being asked to connect this with a contemporary interest in longevity and sustainability in products as a way of reducing waste and providing beautiful experiences for people to enjoy. Their experimentation will be connected to such issues as careful selection of materials to express their ideas and the introduction of textile techniques to develop characterful, personal fabrics, which tell the story of the collection.
The Slow Movement places emphasis on quality and lasting value. Using models of production, valuing craft skills and awareness of new technologies, the project emphasis on sustainable luxury offers a model to translate ideas into action. The exploration of local history and contemporary local design production will give the collection a sense of the ‘terroir’ often associated with locally grown produce.
This is a ‘call to arms’ for sustainability in manufactured goods and an examination of values. Select materials and processes to explore fully the concept. Long Life fabrics are sustainable in their continued usage and heritage quality, avoiding landfill for the longest time. This should encourage and develop an understanding of current thinking in design of all kinds of products along with social and economic imperatives, whilst providing a platform for individual practice.
Values: The project will encourage the examination of historic detail, to uncover and revive vintage materials and historic processes. The possible connection with new (often digital) textile processes and contemporary innovation, can make the designer more relevant and well informed in the professional environment.
Innovation: The theme should inspire the invention of new fabric structures, surfaces and qualities which locate and capture the intellectual concepts as inspiration for making new textiles. A ‘grave to cradle’ perspective will give a new life to material considered to be waste, or of little value.
Deadline: Friday 3rd December - Burberry Selection Day
From 'Chelsea Students Project Blog'
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