protective undergrowth

So this project was for our Fashion Realisation unit. The first part, we had to come up with a new brand following some market research, as a group (I can't lie, it's really not my favourite way of working; "I work well as part of a team" is not my first choice of clichéd response for application forms/interviews... I am extremely anal-retentive - the first step is acceptance right!?). Anyway, ours was called VINCENT. That is actually the name of my mum's cat, I liked it so I added it to the list of possible names, others included Morton, Seminal and Piano? And the girls chose Vincent so there we have it.

The second part of the project was to develop a trend, taking inspiration from the general trends of Autumn/Winter '12 and gathering our own primary influences. Then using this, we had to create a silhouette, colour palette, design details etc. to design a collection for our made-up brand.

So I looked at the Eco-Hedonism trend, and developed ideas surrounding protection, nesting, swaddling, coddling, cocoons and juxtaposed textures (all kind of depicted above on my mood board and design board - click on them to make them bigger/clearer) took some buttons from my button jar, stuck them on a leaf and photographed it. Stuff like that. There's a big ol' sketchbook from this project but I handed that in, so I may put some pages from that on here but for now this is it!

"do forgive me"

 

Since the tender age of 2 I have been a huge lover of Tim Burton (or, so I've been told). Yesterday I found an editorial spread from Harper's Bazaar, October 2009, shot by Tim Walker; click here for a cheeky peak. I'm particularly fond of this shot, as it's referenced characters from two of my favourite films as a child, Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands, (yes, as a child - I have strange parents). 

 

I recently got around to watching Corpse Bride and subsequently decided I'm going to teach myself this. But we can't solely credit Tim Burton for that, that beautiful tune is the genius of Danny Elfman, a whole other story entirely.

la maison curieux

In the past I've been particularly interested in Martin Margiela's experimentation with identity (and concealing it) - this would explain the histrionic sweeping hair dos and possibly the neutral colour palette. This is the Spring Summer 2012 collection from Maison Martin Margiela. There are hints of deconstruction but with the main emphasis on the shapes and silhouettes. Dramatic draping and cowled tops with cowled bottoms. I like the functionless details of the skirt on the right with the adaption of the classic white shirt.

The mix of fabric density and white with beige and darks is an intriguing choice for spring; when I came across this collection I genuinely had to check that I was in the right section and hadn't accidentally wandered into winter! I guess Margiela will do as Margiela does!

management and marketing

These are some illustrated designs (for a project I finally handed in yesterday... woop!) drawn on illustrator. This range plan is for my Fashion Management and Marketing project; a marketing report on a high street store, followed by a proposal for a niche idea. Thought I would suck at it but turns out I did alright! I chose Topshop and my niche strategy was a celebrity collaboration with Olivia Palermo. Yes, I have gathered that a lot of people hate her but I don't - she is gorgeous and has great style, what's not to like?! 

These are screen grabs from my presentation assessment. I do love a bit of PowerPoint but public speaking has never been one of my strong points! In fact, I'd go as far as to say I'm allergic to it - it brings me out in a rash (...and there's shakes, and there's stuttering. And there's also bright red ears? It's not a good look.) But thank goodness that's now out of the way! 

For some reason the writing on the images has gone all blurry, thanks blogger, so if you click on them... they might bring up the bigger size and not be blurry. But I don't know about that until I publish this post so we'll have to see!

atelier mayer

Here are some of the results from the talented stylist Rachel Gumbrill's promotion project for Atelier Mayer. She managed to nab some gorgeous stuff (that we didn't get lipstick on) back in December for her Lost in Translation themed shoot and above are a couple of my favourite ones. Click here to see her lookbook and have a browse of her blog Elyshia Style.