Process Analysis Document

P . A . DMadeleine Brown, Fashion Theory In Practice, E19FT

(Vogue - March 1963)

To begin, I sourced through the Vogue archives. I had chosen to be quite specific about the decades I was looking

through. I researched fashion illustrations and editorials from the early 60’s to the late 80’s. I found that Balenciaga

seemed to be what drew me towards the 60’s as felt the shape and silhouette beautifully complemented the soft with the structured.

Moreover, I liked the exaggerated shapes with soft flowing fabric that gave the look more a feminine edge. Although I felt like I slightly lost my way in the process as the research ended up focusing too much on the 60’s rather than purely looking into Balenciaga and how he cuts the

pattern and turns it around to get a completely different outcome.

The concept of this collection was to be a natural progression from our summer project where we researched various designers and brands that

used recycling and upcycling in their collections; from Stella McCartney, Maison Martin Margiela to, From Somewhere and Titania Inglis. From there I created design boards which focused in on there recycled and

up-cycled collections. I took this research and designed and produced an up-cycled a garment. Following on from the research I collated in the summer, I was given the task of picking five iconic images from Vogue

Archives that I found interesting. This became the focal point of my col-lection and from there I started gathering more research to further de-

velop my sketchbook

Concrete MoldsMadeleine BrownPage 1


(Vogue 1967)

Furthering my research, I was told to consider recycling an ancient fab-ric technique which would follow the theme of my project. I looked into techniques such as hand painted prints, Shibori, and block printing (in-sert image and reference). I was inclined to try Shibori out as it looked

unusual. I felt that the 3D shapes reminded me on the work I had collat-ed. In addition, because it is a heat manipulated technique I could create a variety of shapes. When I determined this was the technique I wanted

to explore I quickly realised that it did not have as great an effect as I had hoped for and although I found this technique interesting when I tested it I recognized that it did not give me the overall look I was aim-

ing for as well not being suitable alongside my research.

When I was given some feedback from my lecturer I was told to re-consider my initial idea of using Shibori as we agreed it did not fit in

with the theme of my sketchbook.



Shibori Fabric Technique

Furthermore, I considered exaggerated flounces that Balengiaga so easily created which continued on to a fit and flare silhouette. From there I ex-plored modern architecture and architecture that was innovative for its time that related to my original theme. Zaha Hadid was my main muse as she too succeeded in bringing the soft and structured together as well

as bringing me back to Balenciaga.



Zaha Hadid Architecture



Moreover, I rethought my recycling concept taking my design re-search into consideration and found that shape was ultimately what I wanted to focus on; I wanted an oversized silhouette with smooth lines to just give a hint of Balenciaga. When I realised what I want-

ed I began to look at recycling old garments and creating something completely different. From Somewhere was my first point of call as I had already researched this brand in my summer project and found their concept of recycling the old and giving it a new lease of life was

exciting. The brand itself ‘works with pre-consumer surplus from the man-ufacturing houses and textile mills of the luxury fashion industry’.

(From Somewhere, 06/12/14)

However it was their collaboration with Speedo that ultimately inter-ested me as they managed to create beautiful garments out of an un-conventional material which led me to consider that kind of fabrics I



(From Somewhere Collaboration with Speedo)

From Somewhere Collabora-tion with Speedo

From there I began the design development process where I took direct inspiration for silhouette from architecture, I created the smooth and structured lines on the garments; I turned garments upside down to

see what the overall impact would be though I gradually started to re-alise that although I was designing for high-end fashion I did not want to create something that was avant-garde; I wanted something that was high fashion yet ready to wear which is where I began looking at sculp-

tural fashion designer Katherine Mavridis who may still be avant-garde I feel she had some looks which where innovative yet very much ready to

wear.



(Katherine Mavridis - MOKUBA)

Furthermore, I had not yet decided on the materials I wanted to use. I had considered heavy materials because I needed something that would hold its shape. This is what brought me to the idea of using wool and ne-oprene. Originally I had thought about going to a charity shop and buy-ing woollen jumpers and boiling them to get boiled wool which would have been a cost effective way of getting boiled wool as well as bringing in the aspect of recycling. However, when I recollected on the from my

research on From Somewhere s’ collaboration with Speedo and how they used quite an unorthodox fabric to create beautiful garments as well as using dead stock. I was inspired. I looked at unconventional fabrics and something that would give me a structured shape which what led me to

My colour palette stemmed from my architecturally inspired research. In my sketchbook I had mainly looked at modern architecture but was

also inspired by the 60’s high rises therefore for my colour muse I looked to concrete which varied in colour but was overall quite muted. In addi-tion, I feel like concrete can often be overlooked and can be described as bland but I found the texture and tones interesting and fitted in with the normally industrial fabric neoprene. As well as this I included a muted

green because I had chosen to recycle fishing waders which were already this colour and I felt like this completed the colours I had already cho-

sen. My colour palette contains hues of grey, cream, white and has a hint of green from the fishing waders which brought as part of my recycling

aspect.



In week 6 I was given the opportunity to take part in a walk through where I presented my research I had collated, design development so

far and garments I was considering to take into manufacture. This gave me the chance to meet with my lecturers to discuss my work and re-

ceive feedback on what I had done. From meeting with them they en-joyed my research and ideas but felt that my design ideas did not relate to my theme. I then decided to go back and look at my research again

and develop my designs again until I felt they were suitable.

During week 7 we handed put a production brief which explained we were to produce for garments for high-end designers. From there I chose

to research designers who had a similar vibe to my collection in the sense that it is ready to wear. I felt that my collection reflected that of the

designers Titania Inglis and Stella McCartney.



(Titania Inglis - A/W 2014)

Primarily, I chose to focus on getting all of my patterns completed before continuing on to toiling the garments as I felt it would better to focus

purely on pattern drafting. In addition I believed this would be the most efficient way to see if my ideas worked in 3D form as well as giving my-

self plenty of time to make any adjustments if necessary.

When drafting my skirt pattern, I initially chose a basic skirt block that I could make adjustments to. In addition, I chose a size 12 skirt block as I felt this is a reasonably average size and therefore would make it easy to find someone to model the final garment. I had chosen to make an

asymmetrical skirt with a circle skirt attached which was to help create large flounces. I had no issues when drafting my pattern or when man-ufacturing my toile. However, when I was producing my final garment I found that due to the construction and the material I used the corner of my garment became bulky. To resolve this issue I had unpick my circle skirt at the seam and cut the side of the skirt so that it sat straight. For a fastening I chose to use a concealed zip as I didn’t want to make the fas-tening a feature. In addition after thoroughly researching how to finish neoprene I chose to leave without a finishing because other techniques such as rolling the hem could make it too bulky and could change the

entire shape.

For my jumper pattern, I chose a basic blouse block that I made mod-ifications to. I decided to use a blouse block as I wanted my jumper to be oversized therefore I did not want any darts on my pattern. I had to modify my sleeve pattern since I had designed a raglan sleeve with cut-outs at the elbows. I had no real issues with the production or pattern drafting of this garment. However, because I had used the recycled ne-oprene from the fishing waders I found that it considerably thicker and extremely difficult to sew and get a great finishing on. Another problem I encountered was that there wasn’t that much material on the waders therefore I had to use a lot less of the recycled material than I had in-

tended.Concrete MoldsMadeleine BrownPage 15


Final Designs

Overall, I am happy with the outcome of my final garments and am pleased with how smoothly the production process went. However, if I were to make any changes I would possibly have made a third garment such as a coat although due time constraints I felt this was not possible.

In addition, through the production process I realised that neoprene was a difficult fabric to work with due to the weight of it. As well as this I found it particularly difficult to get an excellent finish on therefore I would reconsider using this due to the thickness of fabric and I would consider if I were combining it with wool again as they were very diffi-cult to work with collaboratively. Furthermore, I was happy about the overall silhouette I had designed and felt that it met the design brief as

well as suiting my target market.

References



Balenciaga - Vogue 1963, Vogue Archives -March 1963Balenciaga Photographed by Irving Penn, Vogue 1967Grethe Wittrock, Bobble Heat Treated Shibori - 2003 - http://www.grethewittrock.com/projects.php Zaha Hadid, N.D. - http://www.zaha-hadid.com/Zaha Hadid, N.D. - http://www.zaha-hadid.com/Zaha Hadid, N.D. - http://www.zaha-hadid.com/From Somwhere Collaboration with Speedo, 2011 - http://fromsome-where.co.uk/ From Somwhere Collaboration with Speedo, 2011 - http://fromsome-where.co.uk/Katherine Mavridis, MOKUBA, May 2014 - http://katherinemavridis.com/mokuba/Titannia Inglis, A/W 2014 - http://www.titaniainglis.com/fw2014/

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Process Analysis Document