Tim Walker, Britney Spears and Busy times

Hey, if you check out my last post underneath this, you will see the Republic vest top with the 'Your Boyfriend Gave me this T.shirt' slogan on it. I am actually working on the updated version of that at the moment at work with a new slogan and different style font. So, I will be busy with that tomorrow morning as well as photo shopping the new branding onto menswear garments to present to the director. Other than that, I've had a lot to do this week from the menswear fabric swatch boards to be sent off to suppliers and to be used on the colour boards, research, sketches and detailing for the new Christmas party dresses for Miso. The head womenswear designer really liked a neckline I drew up for one of the party dresses which was awesome, plus I managed to get a few sketches hidden in the pile of research so hopefully I might get them spotted if I am lucky. Still really enjoying the job.

I was also researching some ideas earlier for styling shoots I want to do for my portfolio and was looking up ideas on a kind of 1920s Vintage look. Anyway, nothing to do with that, but I ended up coming across one of Tim Walkers Photoshoots from Vogue Italia June 2009. I think this shoot is just so perfect with the edgy and editorial look of Vogue italia but injected with the acid fairytale appeal of Tim Walkers style.

Britney Spears has a new song out called 'I wanna go' and the first thing I noticed about the video was the top she was wearing in the beginning scene and how much I really wanted it. Its just quite casual and unusual at the same time.

So its a 6.30 am start for me tomorrow so I'm out, but I shall be posting back soon :)

Work placement (Republic)

I am really enjoying my placement with Republic and learning so much already. The atmosphere there is so laid back and relaxed that it makes it work actually something to look forward to.
I am working as in the design studio as you already know, and for the first two days I was working alongside one of the designers in the menswear department. She basically drew up her flats of her designs and then I coloured them, added texture and shaded them on illustrator and photoshop. Learning to texture and shade was the first skill I learnt this week which helps flats to look more realistic. This will be so helpful in my final portfolio next year.
Better than that, today I was allowed to work alongside one of the womenswear designers of the 'Crafted' brand. My task was to research a new slogan for one of the tee's like the ones you can see below that already exist.

I don't know if I'm allowed to reveal the slogan name and design but hopefully I shall see the tee in the shop in an upcoming season. I'm hoping I get loads more tasks like this to do and maybe in later months I can even work up to hopefully them letting me create some of my own designs. I also get a 50% discount off Republics brands and 33% of their other brands which will come in very handy ;)

Biomimicry

I'm going to start focusing a few of my blog entries on 'Eco, Sustainable and Slow' Fashion as in 14 months time I will be starting my blog on this subject. I chose it as I've always been obsessed with the unique and innovative and I believe there is some really creative ideas coming under this subject. One of those is the idea od "Biomimicry", which is the green idea of "using nature as an idea to solve design problems". Some of these are not necessarily sustainable but theres a lot that do help towards a better environment. Here are some of the existing ideas I have discovered.

Karen Ingham has created a line of "Pollinator Frocks". It has been researched and  discovered that the bee population is shrinking and this supposedly threatens humans in terms of their food sources. So, the designs are treated with a "nectar-like sugar solution" to encourage bees and butterflies to pollinate. It is an interesting solution though I'm not sure how one would react to becoming a bee magnet !

When discussing Biomimicry, Ada Zanditon is a designers name that will always appear. She too translates the idea of the collapse of bee colonys but in a way that she tells the story through the clothing; she instead draws awareness to the issue. Her "Colony" Spring/Summer 2010 collection takes examples from Hexagonal Honey combs in structure, showing how high fashion and sustainability can work hand in hand with one another. She uses sustainable fabrics too and concentrates on enhancing the life cycle of her products.

Fashion Designer Mattijs van Bergen and Landscape architect Anouk Vogel collaborated to create the "Living" dress. Constructed from recycled bicycle inner tubes and wool, the idea of the dress is that it evolves every season. Its surface is constructed of "vase" like structures that can be filled with water and then topped up with flowers in various positions and of different designs to make a dress that can be ever changing.

Tara Baoth Mooney, a graduate of the London College of Fashio, created a collar that is actually made from textured moss !

Finally, Donna Sgro uses "Morphotex", a nanotechnology based fibre that mimics a morpho butterflies wings due to a trick of the light. The benefits is its lustrous hue is created without the use of dyes which saves on water and energy.

Working for Republic :)

So yesterday is was confirmed that 5 months of my work placement will be as a design studio assistant for Womens and Mens wear at Republic and I am SO SO SO excited ! I finally got the placement that I wanted all along and I'm thrilled, but nervous, to get started in the next few weeks :) As the Head Office is in Leeds too I get to stay in my gorgeous flat :) I feel like my future is finally starting to positively come together.

Fashion Futures Project

Sorry the images are absolutely awful, I lost my memory stick with the original PDFS on it so images are a bit rubbish. I just wanted to show some of the work I did for my Fashion Futures Project. I was really proud of it, despite the mark not being what I wanted. But I came out with 69% overall for design development which is great. Shame that 1% more would have got me that First!

Underneath are a few of my design development pages. The idea was they were garments that could transform from one silhouette to another but the catch was the silhouettes had to be from the trends A/W 11/12 and Spring/Summer 12. This was my solution to the sustainable design project. The idea was that people wanted longer lasting clothes but also wanted to be in fashion. I chose Zara as my company as they are known well for fast fashion and I wanted to do something to change that perception.

My final illustrations can be seen underneath. They were constructed on Illustrator then shaded afterwards with pencil. I definitely thought they looked quite professional and improved on last semesters illustration attempt.

Style Icons

Though I'd update with some of the celebrities who's style I have always adored!

Mary-Kate Olsen is absolutely beautiful without a doubt and teams Vintage and designer together, not to mention having two clothing lines of her own. She rocks this boho/gothic look which is so unique and original and she does it extremely well

Alexa Chung-Indie Goddess. I've always had a thing for the Indie Chic look at the Queen of it is definitely Alexa Chung. Whats perfect about it too is it is so simple and easy to style up your own look from. I love the lace cardigan in the first image and I believe they're doing some like that in New Look at the moment

Kate Moss. The original style icon I think. I think many celebrities looks all originate from her. She rocked the Vintage, boho, rock chick, indie and each celebrity seems to have stemmed somewhere from her. 

I could go on with more pictures but I'd totally fill up the blog til nobody could be bothered reading anymore. Check out the styles of Chloe Sevigny, Zooey Deschanel, Ashley Olsen, Emma Watson and Coco Rocha.

New Dress

I wanted a floral dress with summer in mind, but I've never been one for bright colours. I wanted a Kate Moss style one, in a faded colour, looking like it could have come from some past era. In Urban Outfitters for £65 I found the perfect one in teal.