I M OKAY

first sketch

The initial sketch of this garment drew inspirations from the dramatic styles of Alexander Mcqueen and John Galliano, almost mocking the state of the pandemic through the moodboard of fashion. It serves as a counterbalance to the relatively tamed versions of the other 9 pieces as part of my FYP project.

cotton prototype

This prototype was crafted entirely out of cotton to finalise the patterning required as the skirt and jacket requires extensive patterning to give rise to the architectural shape. It was lined over the boning skirt that was made to hold the “petticoat skirt” in place.

After the patterning has been made, the rest of the garment was materialised through the relevant fabric type- which will be explained further down. The first fitting was down with the model Gerald as shown below.

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Crafting  Process

As shown above, the garment is mainly crafted with sultan satin as the main body. It comprised of :

An angular shoulder jacket with two crepe flowers as the elbow patch.

A petticoat inspired skirt that is covered with ruffles that goes in different directions and wavelengths, ending with a big ruffle on the bottom. It is hand tacked  with thermochromatic prints.

A black crepe tube top

A blue corduroy tunic

A red acrylic wings laser cut to the patterns of barricade tape

A 3D printed headgear

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Technology Development

Initially the idea for this garment was to have three spikes at the top of the headgear (shown below) that would rotate when the proximity sensor detects anyone coming too close. However, the aesthetic of the garment would fall out of balance with the three spikes as the bonnet inspired headgear looked cleaner without the adornment. Hence, the idea of the technology was changed as well to an alternate location of the garment.

An unspoken technology used within the collection would be the 3D printing utilised, a passive parallel to the wearability of technology.

3d printed headgear
(Input) proximity sensor to (Output) light

The sensor would be placed at the back of the petticoat and the lights would light up around the exaggerated buttocks of the skirt (Displayed by the two rounded alternate coloured  organza) It indicates that safety distancing should not be an individual practice but a communication between two people. If said model was walking, I am practicing safety distancing to the people i am walking towards and could see. Therefore making the responsibility of other people walking towards me of whom I cannot see to practice safety distancing towards myself. It would be a panel of blue LED to establish strong contrast but also draw reference to the blue highlights of the collection.


Concept Explanation

The concept of this piece is an amalgamation of the other 9 pieces of the FYP collection, serving as a visual summary of many other motifs. The three main concepts would be the motifs of covid19, the relationships of public versus private, and the parallels of futurist versus modernity versus tradition. Ultimately an exploration of time and space during covid19.

Within this piece, the mnain covid19 motif is the idea of fur stringing within the 3D print as well as the fabrics of the satin and crepe. It resembles the stringing that facial masks have at the surface of the wearer. It draws a strange reference to the clinical usage of masks as it serves to protect the person from the virus, as though the stringing is alive and detect the illness in a tendril-like manner.  It is shown mostly in the two images below: the petticoat skirt and the elbow patches. The purple 3d prints on the skirt serves as passive protection as it changes colour with temperature, drawing reference to the social distancing motif. Another motif would be the exaggerated skirt, making a sarcastic remark of the sedentary lifestyle many people led during the pandemic.  Last but not least, the motifs of the barricade tape is shown in the red laser cut wings don by the wearer as an obvious physical symbol of social distancing.

The idea of the barricade further evolves into the exploration of space within covid19. The idea of space and time was greatly impacted during the pandemic as people could no longer move around freely. As mentioned in Bradley Quinn’s book “Architecture and Fashion”, both fields serves different purposes but also aim to solve the same issues when one could not. During covid19, many people’s field of location was affected and fashion serves to solve that. The idea of private and public is shown in the play of opacity and translucency within fabric, as well as the layering of said fabric.

 

And last but not least, the idea of traditional versus modernity versus futurism is most obvious in the shape and design elements of the garment. The bonnet and petticoat-esque design serves to draw inspiration of tradition. The material and crafting process serves to introduce modernity into the exploration. While the futurist themes come in forms of the concept as well as prospect of the whole project.


final look

Week 4/5 Biomimicry Research

Biomimicry in fashion refers to the process of paralleling biological motifs and processes with wearable garments, in attempt to create an augmented relationship of the wearer to their environment. Transhumanism is an offshoot of the process of biomimicry, referring to the philosophical advocation of a transformed human condition where modification increases quality of life through enhanced genetics. It is difficult to separate the process of biomimicry with the purpose of transhumanism.

A recent jaw-dropper was Yuima Nakazato’s Spring Couture 2020 that has left indelible mark on audiences’ eyes. Inspired by Osamu Tezuka’s Astroboy manga, Nakazato brings about a line of otherworldly collection that came directly from the red planet. This collection utilises a specially brewed protein (biomaterial producer Spiber) that comes in different texture and form that is completely modifiable- this draws a new frontier for post-covid fashion as we abandon fast fashion. We look back at couture and attempt to bridge technology with the luxurious style of customizable fashion. Native to Nakazato’s repetoire of techniques, he utilises bio-smocking, which is a technique where he digitally control the shrinkage rate of the bio-fiber, fitting rectangle pieces that ensures efficient tailoring that brings little waste.

“Tales of the legendary phoenix have persisted across diverse cultural traditions since ancient times. The depiction of the phoenix in the works of Osamu Tezuka, flying through space and time, speaks to both the strength and folly of humanity and calls us to contemplate the preciousness of life. On a personal level, the tales of this legendary bird have deeply influenced my perspective on the contemporary meaning of beauty,” said designer Yuima Nakazato.

closeup
closeup

Week 3: Moodboard Development

Since this project is an offshoot of the current ongoing FYP collection, the following moodboards have been recycled from the FYP presentations 1 and 2.

word cloud

 

 

 

inspiration moodboard

 

 

textural moodboard
textural moodboard

 

 

style moodboard
style/textural moodboard
style moodboard
style moodboard
style moodboard

 

 

shoot moodboard
shoot moodboard
Fashiontography: All Dressed Up With Nowhere To Go
shoot moodboard

Week 3: Research Project Presentation

This week’s assignment is to present the research conducted on the course syllabus- wearable technology. One of the main themes we concluded from the presentation is the amalgamation of technology and nature as a source of inspiration for many designers. However, there is a contrasting difference of using technology & nature as an aesthetically-driven thematic inspiration as opposed to using technology & nature as a medium of conversation- both of which we would classify as wearable technology albeit of different intentions. We would use designers Iris van Herpen and Hussein Chalayan to draw the point across.

Hussein Chalayan is  eponymous with wearable technology, famous for his bold and inventive incorporation of mobility into fashion. In his iconic pieces “Robotic Dresses”, he takes inspiration from the eras of change within fashion and allows this collection to metamorphosize right in front of the audiences’ eyes. The dresses unravel, unzip or rise with fluid movements as each of them are embedded with highly technical drafting of motion technology. Chalayan’s work is representative of the notion of wearable technology, that being a conversation of how we engage in using newfound technology to subserve traditional fabric. We can parallel this conversation to a variety of topic we find contentious- such as modernisation and globalisation in the “Robotic Dresses” shown below. Certain archetypes of wearable technologies that speak directly through the robotics are aimed to have a substantial benefit on a certain problem that the designers aim to address, be it conceptual or actually viable. “Nomadism” is a popular theme highlighted within many wearable technology designers’ scope.

Hussein Chalayan 2007 Spring Summer Collection. (Above)

Other designers like Iris van Herpen tend to approach the idea of “wearable technology” differently. Herpens’ work uses technology as a tool to mould the design but in most cases the technology does not impart as much value in the due process of assimilating the garments effect. In other words, there lack an agent of serendipity within Herpens’ work (meaning technology), but in place stands an aesthetic value derived from said technology. An example of garments embedded with Herpen’s design DNA is the syntopia dress shown below. She uses technology to achieve impossibly tailored garments that are visually groundbreaking and causes audience to question their visual understanding of the pieces. Subcategories of wearable technology like these applies the “technology” in the preproduction process, using the visual cues as the firestarter of the concept instead.

Iris van Herpen Syntopia dress