Jackets and Outerwear

These are a few jackets/outerwear that I designed. I found a khaki pen so have been using that instead of the green. Unsure what I think but I do know that the khaki is much more unsex and is definitely more cohesive with my collection ideas. I think the color also appeals to a larger market where as the previous vibrant green was more for someone who had that kind of loud personality and really wanted to wear something a bit different. 

The first jacket is similar to the one I have been draping throughout this assignment. I really like were it is going... I can imagine this is a thick lined linen to be more solid and also a soft organic cotton. The second design has quite a thick cowl. This would be a good time to use Maison Martin Margiela's technique of covering the armhole line with a shoulder pad as this makes it more wearable. 

I have started doing different color variations for men's and women's more for the point of seeing what different color combinations look like. I like the idea of layering vests under jackets for guys as I have done with the first design (quilted vest under loose baseball style jacket). With the second design I choose a much more tailored fit but to be totally honest I think this would be quite impossible to fit the man and the woman with that close fit. 

Experimenting with capes and fold over capes here. I like the idea of shoulder pads and elbow pads as they add a really discreet detail (and is good for zero waste when you don't no what to do with a little square!). It also brings the collection back to its 'protective' roots. 

Trouser - Unisex

For these design I was solely focussing on trousers. I believe trousers/pants are a great staple piece and having unusual trousers usually lasts through the seasons. After talking to my flatmates, who are at the lower age end of my target market they said they wished there were more interesting pants out there that go beyond the printed boat pants or skinny legs. I think this unisex collection definitely address that. I have tried to include all different types of pants from drop crotch to tailored. 

These first pants are one of my favorite. They would be done in an organic super soft charcoal cotton and as illustrated here, both men and women would wear them in different ways. The woman would most likely wear hers high waisted. 

Again playing with the idea of the tie around the leg which would be a separate feature that the shop would offer. They make a tailored straight leg quite unusual. These pants would have tuxedo straps on the waist to make them fitted for a smaller woman. 

I like this idea of using pattern but need to use photoshop possibly to mix this in as right now it looks to flat and rigid. I like the idea of having a side panel of a different color but I believe that the green is to vibrant next to that grey. 

Using the idea of the two panels again in these variations. In the design on the right, machine quilting would shape the side of the pants which comes back to the idea of 'protecting'. 

A little bit of Issey

Issey Miyake's basic view for making clothes has always been the idea of creating a garment from 'one piece of cloth', and the exploration of the space between the human body and the cloth that covers it. He has always been a designer who I have admired and his ideas around making clothes are coherent with zero waste fashion. Particularly the designs pictured above represent styles that could be effectively weaved into my collection in a wearable/ready to wear way. 

Slowing Fashion - Gene Sherman and Issey Miyake

The photograph above is an image of Dr Gene Shermans notebook which records all the amazing pieces that she formally collects. For Gene the mantra, ‘buy less, buy better’ is evident in her 25 piece wardrobe which includes the pieces of mostly Japanese designers including Yohji Yamamoto, Issey Miyake and Rei Kawakubo.

The work of these Japanese designers can be described as timeless, original in design and often unusual, which allows the pieces to easily transcend a six-month fashion season. Gene purchases garment during her two annual trip to Tokyo and when she gains a new piece she retires another which she documents carefully and donates/has donated to power house fashion museum. For Gene, this slower pattern of consumption enables her to create a deeper level of engagement with the clothes themselves and to build over time a personal ongoing narrative and set of associative values. I want my collection to correspond with this kind of value and ongoing history.