UTOPIANISM  -  RUBBER  -  WRAP  

Primary research:

The entirety of my primary research after selecting the three words above came from my own knowledge and interpretations, along with aid from my other 2 team members. We stripped the words back to basics and wanted to try and comprehend the foundations of what each word meant and all of its connotations as a result. We started by bullet pointing these ideas to give ourselves a greater understanding and grasp on the concepts. Displayed below are my initial rough bullet points of notes about each word, and my own personal connotations to them.

 Following on from this, the next part of my primary research with my team was to analyse the words on a deeper level, and produce 10 potential design ideas based off the words only. This research and development of ideas allowed me to select one of my most ambitious designs, being a utopia suit idea. The concept was that in order create an idealistic world and a self sense of utopia, a user would wear this suit, preventing anything toxic and negative from entering. now that I had planted the foundations for my proposal, the next stage was to delve into my secondary research where I could expand my knowledge on materials, existing product and artistic inspiration that linked to my primary research.

Secondary research:

For part of my secondary research, I firstly wanted to find existing imagery that had connotations to these themes of wrapping, rubber and utopianism. Below I have collected a sort of mood bored of images and ideas that I felt had strong links to the 3 words I had selected.

Above is an image I selected from the stylus website, labelled (aw19: dystopia utopia). Above are images taken from the I-D website, from rick Owens ss19 runway. I carefully selected these particular images as I feel they embody the concepts behind my primary research. There is a key theme of dystopia and utopia throughout the images, conveyed through the protective nature of the garments shown. They are all heavy duty, and engulfing of the body. This idea encapsulates both the words rubber and wrap, seeing as rubber is a robust and rugged material, used to absorb shock and withstand great forces. Seeing as my initial design plan is focused around the idea off creating a suit which allows a sense self utopia, this imagery backs it up.

The designer I have selected to write this research essay about is Rick Owens.

Firstly, I felt Rick was a strong candidate to base this task upon due to his skill within the fashion industry, but also through the furniture he designs. I am greatly intrigued by his un-orthodox garments, but also by the way his skill set branches out into alternative industries too. Not only this, but in addition, many of Ricks collection have a reoccurring aesthetic that stresses post apocalypse. Owens architecturally influenced collections have a stark and brutalist look that reflect his insight into what he feels the future holds. Now, more than ever there is cause for concern for the wellbeing of our future upon this earth, as we inevitably edge closer to polluting our planet beyond repair. I feel that Rick, more than any other designer voices his outlook about our future through the materialistic things he designs, strongly conveying an idea of a dystopian, and apocalyptic end. I believe this is most strongly presented within his runway shows, where he has the ability to exaggerate his work, creating an eerie mood, through an intermingling of foreboding music, dark earthy tones and sinister silhouettes. Ricks work is very forward thinking, and he never dwells upon the past, but projects a not so hopeful futuristic scenario, through how he intertwines large, unsightly structures within his runway looks, and masks the face of the models in alarming ways, conventional beauty is not Owens' intention. He's a great example of a designer who can really set a mood through their collection and shows, and make the audience feel a certain type of way,  causing them to react to his stimulus. I feel that rick has the ability to get the audience on the edge of their seat through the drama of his pieces and production, which as a result leaves everyone so very engaged and intrigued, left questioning their own thoughts on what they are seeing. He challenges the audience's current understanding of fashion couture, and for this, I think he is at the height of his game. What excites me most about rick's work is his ability to captivate an audience through the production of his shows, and through the way in which he manipulates and utilises silhouette and shape so much within his pieces, suggesting his architectural interests, and referring to his love for furniture design more so. 

This subject specialism in design interests me so much because I feel it's a place where you can be as diverse and incompatible as you desire. The only limits are ones you set yourself, and for that, I think it's a wonderful thing. I adore how you can shed light on your own outlook on life through the design of materialistic things, where your audience can interpret it however they please. I can see myself within a career based around fashion, but whether that be designing, styling, branding etc. I'm yet to figure out. 

s/s19 - ready to wear:                                                    s/s18 - ready to wear

Above displayed are images from the csm ba fashion degree show. After I had come to the conclusion that I was going to design some sort of inflatable utopia suit, I felt it was very necessary to include some research which reflected and mirrored my design plans. Personally, I feel that Fredricks work has links to my design, which is one reason it is so engaging to me. His work inspired me to want to create a fashion focused design that was interactive, and had good function and a sense of play. The way that his work deflated to portray the experience, my utopia suit inflated, creating a shell around the person using it. The main influence I took from his work was the materials he used, and how he utilised them for this purpose. Through realising that fredrick had found the perfect material that caters for the function allowed me to understand my design better and mean that It would be turned into a reality, given time and money etc. 

Fredricks work links so thoroughly to the words I was given for the ideas factory that it was really inspiring to see his designs, and have an insight into how it could all work, but then I made it entirely my own, as seen from my final designs. 

As there last section of our fashion and textiles class on Monday the 9th, we had a styling challenge, where, using a range of fabrics, prints and structures, we had to style one of out team members. My outcome for this is shown below.

As is evident from the photo above, we took a very print heavy approach, and layered heavily, creating a very unique silhouette, with a vibrant range of colours. I believe much of the inspiration for this look stemmed from a variety of different runway looks I'd seen. We wanted to create a very runway focused look, which would be much more exaggerated, and less wearable in every day life.

Sacai ss19 women runway show

In my opinion, the womens ss19 sacai runway had many looks which inspired my styling approach seen above from our fashion class. Within this particular runway, the prints were heavy, and bursting at the seams with colour and pop. In addition, there was lots of layering with these prints, long flowing dresses and draped looks; all of which mirror my styling outcome. Below are some images taken from the runway show. I have carefully selected looks that really convey similarities to my work, highlighting the influence it had on me. 

The utilisation of print, layering, colour and draping is amazing throughout this collection, its so fun and easy on the eyes which I love. I took inspiration from the concepts used within this collection, but still made it very much my own when it came to the styling task. I took a much more 'out there' and abstract approach, hangings ropes and string from the silhouette, tying a wide range of materials around the body, and crafting a wacky hat out of sugar paper.

What I think is the most engaging thing about this Sacai collection by Chitose Abe is the freedom and carelessness/ hippie vibe of some of the looks, that are yet contradicted by the beautiful fabrics, tones and tailoring within. It will only speak to people with an eye for great design. 

Above here is my final outcome for the product design class. We were given the challenge of creating a product that could store/support/hold the weight of a full size watermelon. I decided to take this down a fashion focused route, and throughout I could make an on body accessory to hold the melon. I designed and made this water melon should bag from only cardboard, tape and hot glue. It was a really effective outcome, as it had functionality, wearability and was made sustainably, meeting all criteria points. It also had a cool aesthetic which elevated it higher. Following on form this, I will explain my research and inspiration that helped me achieve this result.

Seeing I planned to create a watermelon carrying device/bag, I wanted to find some sort of inspiration, that would influence my design and final product. After researching various product designers, I found Mans. I was instantly captivated by his work, and I found myself engaged and excited with what he was proposing. I wanted to bring this aspect of design into my outcome, and create something that is very unique, and effortless, like his fruit bowls. Below are some photos of his hanging/suspended fruit bowls, which were the main inspiration for my watermelon bag.

Above are images taken from google of Mans fruit bowl concepts. The key points I took from this design were the way the fruit is suspended/ held above the ground, and the way the structure is designed to cater for specific fruits, of that shape and size. What I find so exciting about Mans work is his ability to create something so useable and functional, yet has so much design about it, allowing it top look very aesthetically pleasing. I believe this is a far better concept for a fruit and flower pot. It eliminates the need for space on a counter top, as it is suspended, and takes up nearly no space. It holds all of your fruit securely, while still being very easily accessible and in reach, and also, it looks so much more advanced and stylish than a regular fruit bowl. I took influence from this design, then made something completely unique to myself. I decided I wanted my outcome to be wearable, which is the main difference to Mans concept. I made my design entirely from cardboard and tape, making it sustainable, recyclable yet still aesthetically pleasing. The functionality of both my work, and Mans' is what makes them such successful products.

Above is work by an artist called Rupert Shrive. I first fell involve with Shrive's work back when I was at school, when I stumbled across his art on Pinterest. I was instantly hooked, and have had a passion for it ever since. Rupert actually paints these amazing portraits, which is quite unbelievable. At first glance, they appear just printed out pictures, which he has screwed and crumpled, and engulfed within plastic bags, but they are actual paintings. What I find some captivating about this work is Ruperts ability to manipulate the human face through the creasing, folding and screwing of paper within his paintings. He completely changes the aesthetic of the human complexion through this idea of simply crunching paper. I used Rupert as inspiration for part of my work within the erasure project. After I had erased the faces, I would then screw, twist and crumple the paper, to add texture and structure to the outcomes, rather than just a flat 2D piece. That was me taking inspiration from the process Rupert depicts in his paintings, and bringing the concept to life, where I was physically manipulating the paper to create these distorted and disrupted faces. In addition, this whole visual links to my other research, from Christo, to Baldessari. Where forms are being covered and wrapped to change the aesthetic of what lies beneath. This is a reoccurring topic within my work and research because I am fascinated by it.

Within the architecture class, me and my group designed and made a portable/wearable shelter/tent. This was a large structure made from bamboo. We didn't just want to make a random structure, but instead thought we would make something with purpose, and function. I found much of my inspiration for this whole design from a spring/summer 18 collection by the designer Craig Green. In this collection, Craig took a very utilitarian route, which saw large architectural structures, draped with vibrant fabrics and pops of colour. These looks were very architecturally influenced, and had links to scaffolding etc. below are some images taken from this particular collection:

What I found so inspiring about these looks were how playful the colour pallets are, yet are bold, and severe the structures that they lay within are. I love how Craig has created these bizarre and un-orthodox silhouettes on the body. They are very engaging visually due to the unknown nature of the shapes he is presenting. This idea is something I desired to take forward with my work in the architecture class. I used this idea of creating a sort of eco-skeleton/scaffolding rig around the body, to layer materials upon, creating protection or shelter from the surrounding environment. using my inspiration from Greens work, I then made something completely unique to me, that had real purpose and function as a portable tent, rather than just a fashion runway look.

Valie Export is a feminist, who's artwork was her using her body as a sort of sculpture, seeing how she, as a women, can fit within the male dominant world, where the majority of her surroundings were made by male figures. I love how Valie used her body and the surroundings as artwork. She did not rely on anything else other than this, and for thjatb reason, these outcomes are so engaging, and speak such loud messages about society. I found her work very intriguing, and felt I could use it is part of my influence for our 4D project. I wanted to take this idea of using your body to intertwine yourself with the surrounding environment. I opted to use my body as furniture, replacing everyday object with my body in weird configurations to depict certain objects, which was a different approach than Valie. She wanted to show how women are surrounded by males work, and how women can fit into this male dominant world. some images of her work are displayed below:

Robert Mapplethorpe was an American photographer known for his quite eerie and outlandish black and white photographs. I have decided to add this particular shoot into my research because I am fascinated with the composition and vibe of the image. This photo is titles 'white gauze', which features 2 bodies, a male and female wrapped together using gauze, with quite a sinister, and oppressive mood portrayed. I felt this piece by Robert was quite reminiscent of one of my one day projects last week on erasure. There is a very similar vibe of hiding, masking and shielding the human face, which ran throughout all of my outcomes for that particular workshop. I just thought I would add it as it has had influence on me, and my work.

I think the simplicity of the concept of this photo is what makes me love it so much. In addition, the use of negative space surrounding the subjects is great, and really helps to build the eerie vive given off by the focal point of the photo. Furthermore, the monochromatic style of the image reflects the deathly connotations depicted, with 2 body wrapped up like they are dead. I feel this resembles ancient Egypt, where bodies were mummified. To me, it is really interesting how Robert used this ancient history as an influence for his work.

After looking into Robert Mapplethorpe's work, I soon came across this Raf Simons ss17 collection, where Simons had screen printed some of Roberts most iconic photographs onto a range of different garments for his '17 runway show. This was just a little edition to my research into Mapplethorpe, and linked it to a fashion context, which I think is a great look.

For this weeks contextual studies research task, I decided to base it upon Maison Martin Margiela, in particular his fall/winter 2012 womenswear couture collection/runway. There are multiple reasons why I selected this particular season of Margiela to talk about in m research. Firstly, after completing the week of fashion classes, I have made up my mind that I definitely want to be within the fashion industry as a creative. Secondly, these make link to some of the work we completed this week in the jewellery design class, and also has connections back to some more previous work in fine art erasure, and even all the way back to the week 1 ideas factory, where I was covering the face of people in my utopia suit. There are loads of reasons I felt this was a great subject to research about, but it all comes down to the fact that I simply admire this collection by Margiela. This specific collection really resonates with me and i'm totally inspired by the aesthetic pf this show, in particular the coloured crystal masks. For me, these jewel engulfed masks sported by every model on the runway are so powerful, and so beautiful. I adore the concept of masking and covering the human face. It builds a sense of the unknown, and curiosity which helps engage viewers with what is before them. I further love how Margiela doesn't want the appearance of the model to alter the impact the clothing has on the audience, and so, if they all look the same, there clothes will speak much louder and have greater impact visually, as viewers cannot judge it from the models appearance. In my opinion, what Martin did with this 2012 show is genius, and will have inspired generations. The masks do nothing but further enhance and showcase the clothing sported in a brighter light. The way the crystal stones refract and reflect the light shone down onto the catwalk is a powerful visual, that pushed the show into an even more successful level. In addition, the fact that this piece of art reflects so much of my other research, and even relates back to much of the work I have completed over the course so far, tells me that this is something of great influence upon me. Furthermore, this piece of art my Margiela also mirrors the contextual studies class we had in which this task was asked to be completed, where we spoke about Western ideas of beauty, and how the idealistic body has evolved over time. This work remind me very much of the things we conversed about in that class. We spoke about how men and women used to alter the shape and size of their body in order to portray wealth and riches, and how as the years went on, more materialistic objects portrayed these things. With this, the use of large jewels embedded into the masks of the models portrays a sense of prestigiousness, and royalty. This idea of showing off wealth and power is automatically contradicted through him covering the identity of these people through masking them with the jewels. It could be analysed as Margiela speaking politically about how the wealthy minority are blinded by their own power, that they cannot see the struggle of less fortunate people. Margiela in some cases contradicts this idea of power and wealth through styling these masks with a top made from old baseball gloves all reconstructed together (shown above). The clash between luxury and streetwear is prevalent here. I admire how Margiela creates contrasts within his own art, that leave the audience questioning and considering what they have seen, long after the show is finished. 

'The kids turned out fine' is an artistic film designed by the creative Dexter Navy, for Asap Rocky's song, 'kids turned out fine'. The meaning of the song and video is to do with childhood, trying new things, experiencing the world, and all it has to offer. The title is a reflection of adults talking about their children, and are suggesting they are happy that the kids turned out okay, and are not drop outs, for example. The reason I selected this short music video to be a section of my research into my extension project was because I can draw much inspiration from different aspects of it, and it is something very relatable to me visually, as it depicts growing up though you teens, and the things that you come across in that time. I can really engage with this short film because it isn't so far from reality, and it portrays growth from childhood to teenage years in a great light. 

I feel that the main aspect of this film that has inspired my outlook onto the extension week task is how camera is used to enhance a setting or composition, and bring the best out in the situation. Throughout this film, the camera pans across a range of still scenes, with kids frozen in their position, portraying them doing various mischievous things, and just being kids as we know it. The way that the majority of the shots are stills, as the camera moves across is a really engaging aesthetic when played with the right music. If I am to create a short fashion film for my outcome, this is something I would like to experiment with, as its a more unique and original direction to take it in.

 Another point to mention, is that the vibrance of the colours throughout really stands out to me. It is constantly catching my eye, and the colour pallet of the garments used are very authentic to the time they are portraying through there film. In my own work, I plan to use this idea of colour very much, as I feel it relates to childhood and the playfulness and fun of it all. This relates back to the brief, where we are asked to compose a fashion outcome based off our upbringing, culture and hobbies etc. 

Where ive found the majority off my reference points within this film are not the styling choices throughout, or clothing used,  but simply the portrayal of a point in time through the aesthetic of the images created. Using props and garments that relate to the time in history you are depicting, in this case, around the 70's/80's. Within my own practice, rather than just taking shots from around the university campus, I really want to consider he surroundings more, in order to achieve more powerful imagery. For example, if I want to portray a group off skater mates, I want to find a grungey, dirty setting, that gives the authentic picture of what it would really be like. This isn't necessarily one of my ideas, just an example of how I will use inputs taken from this film. 

A designer that I have chosen to reference within my fashion communication project is Junya Watanabe. In particular, this autumn/winter 2006 collection by the Japanese designer has had influence on me and inspired my thought process for this mini project. Along with all my other research into skate culture and rebellious youths in the 90's, there then comes the punk/grunge aesthetic, which is exaggerated and enhanced within this 2006 runway by Junya. The whole skater, living a free lifestyle scene is also quite reminiscent of the grunge aesthetic. Massively oversized trousers, frayed hems, pins and badges, studs, chains, reconstructed pieces etc. Personally, I feel the skater and grunge styles are that far apart, and therefore, I want to include some of this classic grunge aesthetic into my styling. What I love most about this particular alar collection by Junya, is the fact that he has taken the basis of the punk/grunge style, but then blown it out of the water and made it so intense and dramatic. Elongating sleeve lengths, fraying the edges hugely, reconstructing pieces out of up cycled garments etc. 

At essence, what I really want to take from this collection is the ability to exaggerate silhouettes, go over there top with the garments, making them much more dramatic on screen and I also admire there way Junya has covered the faces of the models in various masks. This is something that relates back to my ideas factory project, where I was masking people, and to other 1 day projects ive completed like the erasure class. This is something I have experimented with before and been successful with, so I feel it would be beneficial to explore it further with my styling. In addition, Watanabe's use of cargo material, khaki greens and olive tones are things I will defiantly take inspiration from. This hand-made/ reconstructed aesthetic is something I want to build upon and depict within my styling also. I adore the simplicity of taking old unused items, and vintage military wear to recreate new wearable garments.