2009-01-20

2nd Term: Tailoring Project. Woman's Blazer.

I started with this term's personal project. It's a tailoring project and in the beginning we do a workshop on tailoring with Thomas von Nordheim. Starting from this classic way to do a woman's blazer, the task will be to find a new point of view on tailoring and re-interprete blazer and coats in this collection.

2009-01-12

2nd Term: Work In Progress Exhibition. SetUp.

Back in London! 
After having worked on the digital version of work in progress during the past weeks, today started with the "real" Work in Progress Exhibition set up. The exhibition will be open to the public from thursday the 15th until thursday the 22th of January 2009, in the Henry Moore Gallery, Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore.
I display the jacket from 1st term's personal project No Gender No Genre, as well as Sketches from the current Swarovski Project, Research Pictures from No Gender No Genre, Sketchbook Snapshots and Renderings of the Glasses Project. I mixed these photos with small canvas frames, which are still empty. The concept is to develop the installation futher during the time the work is displayed, as now new projects are starting. Photos of the change and added new work will be published in this blog.
Picts from the Private View on Wednesday also will follow later.

2009-01-08

2nd Term: Colour Project. Research.

First Research for the colour project. I like the wild mix of colour but the triptychon still has a quiet and dark atmosphere.

1st Term: Glasses Project. Mix and Match.

Mixed glasses, mixed models. Suits everyone..!
I was lucky to win a second prize in this competition. Maybe somebody is interested in producing them?? ;-)

1st Term: Glasses Project. Mix and Match. Designs



Here are the six final designs, as they would come to the shops. The customer can buy either the complete set in one design, or mix or pimp with seperate parts, e.g. arms in another design, or buy extra sunglass lenses for the prescription glasses. Mood and inspiration for each design are different, with a certain focus on a materialmix, like wood, perspex, chromed brass, gold or horn.

1st Term: Glasses Project. Mix and Match. Sketches.



This project is a competition, sponsored by the Federation of Manufacturing Opticians in Great Britain. The briefing was to design six glasses for men, women or children, either sunglasses or prescriptions.
My concept is a set of arms, screws and  "frontspoilers" and the lenses, that can be mixed with each other. It gives the opportunity to the manufacturer to sell parts of glasses for a lower price to the costumer, but in the same time maybe sell more, because the customer wants to mix the parts and designs. The customer has freedom and flexibilty in the choice of design: With two sets of glasses one has already nine different ways to wear the glasses. 
The concept is to offer different designs for different customers with different taste, personality and needs, prescriptions and sunglasses, with the same mechanism to mix and match them all.
The lenses are inspired by car headlights. The lenses are fixed by the screw thread in the arms and the screws from the other side, some have additionally the frontspoilers to connect the left lens with the right. Above some of the sketches and some of the lenses.

2009-01-06

1st Term: Personal Project. No Gender-No Genre. Line Up.



Some of the final line up illustrations, with working drawings and fabric swatches. Photographs of the outfit will follow later after term vacation.

1st Term: Personal Project. No Gender-No Genre. Fitting.

Fitting of the suit and the body, determining lenghts of sleeves and legs. On the right a snapshot from the shoulderparts of the corsage, in the beginning. I like the graphic effect of the fabric when layered.

1st Term: Personal Project. No Gender-No Genre. Fabrics Overview.

Clash of materials, structure and touch: Latex, cotton organdy, fake-wood PVC, Rigilene boning, old cotton-covered buttons, silver-coated jersey, wax-coated black cotton, silk jerseys in pastel tones, mint green mousseline, white organza, PVC tape and more.

1st Term: Personal Project. No Gender-No Genre. Illustrations.



2D design development, illustrations and working drawings, with first combinations of fabric swatches.

1st Term: Personal Project. No Gender-No Genre. Draping.

Development of graphic (from round to linear), of robot silhouette and details (dirndl corsage, insect wing graphic in the shoulder construction). The latex body under the suit and the corsage is only half finished yet.

1st Term: Personal Project. No Gender-No Genre. Research and Sketches




Some clippings of the sketchbook, research on fabrics, inspiration images and sketches. The focus is on the development of the robot silhouette as well as the graphic design on the transparent fabric by experimenting with traditional tailoring details and changing the position of seamings.

1st Term: Personal Project. No Gender-No Genre. Boards and Fabric Research

I used to work on walls and change images, swatches, sketches and samples directly on it. As there's not really space for that in the studio and it is becoming difficult as a student to show one's stuff, I gave that up soon and now stay with the sketchbooks and folders.

1st Term: Personal Project. No Gender-No Genre. Mood and Inspiration.



First Terms first project is the development of a personal theme. A drawn collection of ten outfits in the line up, one realized outfit as well as sketches, research and samples is required.

I was inspired by the strong tension of garments of the past and the future. I found parallels in traditional german folk costumes like the "Dirndl"dress, "Krachlederne" men's trousers or knight's armour and robots, androids, avatars and astronauts.
Besides these influences on details and silhouettes, the graphic of insect wings, their see-through-effect and fragility led to transparency in the choice of the fabrics. Fine cotton organdy paired with modern fabrics as latex, sports jersey, pcv or coated cotton reflected the tension of past and future.