28th October

Inspiring light in both of these shots!

Research Images

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'

Photoshoot

The dress finished as it was in the show, photographed in the studio.Thanks so much Sarah for being such a great model...xxx.....

Fitting of my 'Mock-Up'

Here are a couple of shots taken on my 35mm, Pentax ME Super. Sarah trying on a mock up for the dress.




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Sun-Dress:the process

While thinking about the process that I could use for my prints for my fabric, I came across a process called 'blue printing' or 'cyanotype' which was discovered at the end of the 18th Century as a means of developing photos by sunlight. So i found out the names of the chemicals and managed to order them on line. After blowing up photos of my environment, subject matter for my prints( the process was almost more important than the prints themselves in this project, as it adhered to both the ideas I was investigating of things responding to sunlight as well as being sustainable(by not using harmful chemicals or having any wastage)).
First I mixed the two chemicals together and put them in a dark bottle in the dark and coated the fabric in the dark, which in my case, was the bathroom, with multiple layers of newspaper to soak up any excess. This was then allowed to dry in the dark and then once dry taken out, with my images on acetate and then pinned on to the fabric which was being stretched out on foam board. It was then left to expose in the sun, whereby the images where transferred to the fabric and then I could take the acetate off, and my fabric would be printed. After washing out the excess chemicals, I hung the fabric out to dry. Here are a couple of photos illustrating the process.

Sway 'Sun-Dress'

Sway was a fashion show project in which we were asked to draw information from movement in nature. I was looking at phototropism; how plants and flowers turn/bend towards the light, maximising the light that they receive. I made a short time lapse to illustrate this.

Although the plant does not grow that much during the video which takes place over a day, you can see the shadows changing throughout the day and I thought it was still great for my project because what is the significance of light without shadow?