Synopsis

The aim for my collection was for it to consist of outfits aimed at young fashionable businesswomen. The idea was to create something that would be professional and sophisticated yet have a sense of youth captured within the garments, I portrayed this concept through the use of bright colors and design elements such as frills, bows and lace. I see my collection being in the high end of the mid market, so for someone who would be willing to spend a decent amount of money on a good quality garment that would last. Through my collection I wanted to re-capture the younger generation and to hold onto the unique characteristics within this generation, to stand out and be individual. To have a sense of style and the chance to express themselves but to also be taking seriously in the sense of a job or career. For the colors I decided on a selection of bright and neutral colors, such as the red and orange blue are the bright and then the mauve and the beige are more of the subtle/neutral colors. I chose these colors based on the idea that they all work well together and they create a good balance. For my fabric choice I chose a range of fabrics that I would use particularly for the jackets as they were my main focus for this collection. I am happy with the outcome of my collection; the overall look portrays a very prim and proper feel. Showing the connections within my family through the use of design elements.

Macro Mood and Aesthetic Concept

Initial development write up:

MACRO CONCEPT: what are you trying to tell?

-        For my collection the idea was to show the family connection between my grandparents and I. What linked us was the church Saint Mary of the Angels in wellington, where my nana and poppa got married. I liked the idea of family connection because of the fact that our family moved away from wellington many years ago yet in a way we have come back, with me going to uni. Through my design process I wanted to show the intricate details of both the church and the wedding dress my nana was married in. All which have significant meaning and value to me.

MOOD CONCEPT: how does the story feel?

-        The story has a sentimental feeling, with the personal connection being created      between me my grandparents and the church. This also creates a personal relationship between the viewer and the design, the idea that although they personally don’t have the connection with the designs directly they feel a sense of attachment with the concept the designs are showing.

AESTHETIC CONCEPT: look, texture, color, detail.

-        The aesthetic concept I wanted to create was the idea that everything had its particular connection to either the church of some part of the wedding. I chose the color palette based on the colors that stood out form the stain glass windows in the church, which were reds, gold’s and creams/browns along with accents of black and grey. The textures I wanted to show were smooth and soft finishes which resembled the soft carpets and the velvet draping hanging inside the church, the smooth surfaces came from the marbled pillars, wood seating and smooth cooper finishing’s. All the intricate details in the designs all come from different details within the church such as the patterns on one of the capes and the lines on a couple designs came from the detailing on the stain glass windows, the certain style of garments, particularly the long dress and long sleeves were inspired by my nanas wedding dress, whereas the more rounded designs were inspired by the gilding and the statue formations in and around the church.

Samples

Felt hat

 Standerd cuff

Pocket sample: Single welt with flap

Top sample with frill v neck

French cuff sample

Shawl collar sample

Final Lineup with color

This is my final lineup, i decided to re-order my garments so that there was more of a flow. I chose to have the background as the city of new-york in a low opacity because then it wouldn't overpower the lineup as there would be to much detail in the foreground as well as the background. I also chose the image in particular as it is a link to my market group, which was a young fashionable buisness women in the hustle and bustle of the city.

Lineup with color

I added color to my final lineup, i as quite happy with the outcome but decided to still needed another element to it so i decided to added the pictures of the stain glass windows that i took from inside the church to certain garments as a print.

Illustrations

Mood Board

For my macro mood and aesthetic boards i chose to incorporate photos of my nana at her wedding to show the style of garments i was trying to achieve in my collection. I also have an image of a watch in all three boards and compass in the third to show the idea of time passing between my nana and poppa living in wellington and then me moving to Wellington to study. I wanted to show the idea of prim and proper, through the layout of my boards being simple and effective All three have similar elements that tie them together however they then have aspects that make them differ from each other. Such as in the first one i chose images that would create the sense of a story of memories being told in my collection. For the second board i chose to create more a sentimental feeling the idea that time passe but the personal connection between my grandparents and the church still remains. For the third board as an aesthetic approach i added in the fabrics i used in my collection and decided to keep the colors of my color palette apparent in the image as a way of tying the whole concept together.

Macro

Mood

Aesthetic

Range Plan

Final Lineup

This is my final lineup design with all the final modifications and detail changes. I also added int he hats, looking back through all my design to find which ones looked the best with certain outfifts. For most the garments i drew them with the jackets open for a better view of the garments underneath as there is also alot of design and thought process that has gone into designing what would be worn underneath the outfits.

Final Lineup development

From my lineup ideas i chose 10 looks that i thought worked well together each look consists of a jacket and either a dress or top and pants/skirt to go underneath. I decided to select a range of outfits, so i have a few skirts, pants and a couple of dresses. I then looked over all the outfits as a whole and decided on the changes i could make or needed to make so that the garments look better as a collection, most changes included making garments hem length longer or adding/removing pieces of the garment.

From that developmental stage i redrew that garments to see what they would look like with the changes applied to see if my ideas worked how i wanted them to. I was from then, i only had to make a few minor adjustments to some of the garments i.e, cuff change, moving one garment piece to another outfit and changing the garment length. I also came across the problem with the fact that a lot of my outfits, you couldn't see the garments underneath, so i decided that for my final lineup i'd draw the outfits with the jackets open.

Chosen final lineup

From the lineup developmental ideas i chose a selection of 10 outfits that i thought worked well together.

Final lineup ideas

From my design development i cut out all the garments and began piecing them together and then taking a photo to see what outfits worked and what didn't, i decided to do this instead of drawing them as it was a quicker process and aloud me to explore more options in a shorter space or time. from this process i came up with 17 complete outfits that i could chose from for my final lineup.