Inspiration for FMP - Couture Dior - John Galliano

My all time favourite collection......Couture Dior's Fall 2010 Collection from John Galliano...

Galliano's collection is an inspiration for my final major project, I know for my collection I would like to create a collection of evening gowns with a dramatic impact yet beautiful and sexy.

Galliano's designs are absolutely stunning, I love the amounts of fabric featured on this design yet it is still feminine and sexy. Also the flash of the close up large scale floral print, with the subtle hints of red against the red and black bulks of fabric. 

Within this collection the bold colours that are contrasted together with either block colour, a print and another contrasting colour work so beautifully.

I alos love the huge amount of fabric used on each look to create this volume within the skirts and having a fitted bodice which compensates the scale of the skirts.

This collection has been inspired by flowers and I love how Galliano has taken it to a whole new level by creating this stunning flower pieces from tulle and silk which look very realistic.

Amazing, amazing, amazing.....The huge amounts of tule layered together with the draped tonal dyed heavy satin silk repeating around the waistline of the skirt and with the narrow bright orange belt that emphasis's the smallness of the waist that compensates with the scale of the layers of fabric on the skirt.

Toile - Development

Process of making the dress design for my Pre collection - toile.

The dress is being produced in calico and having a saddle leather harness, the dress design was of a very basic shape and having circle attachment pieces over the entire full length skirt.

The overall design has a feminine yet masculine concept, I love creating contrasting elements that would not necessarily work.

Creating fullness within the skirt with layers and layers of sheer organza and then having the masculine saddle leather harness contrasts against the light and airy fabric of the organza.

Design of toile

                                       All pattern pieces of the toile ready to be sewn together

       
                 Attaching the first circle piece starting from the bottom and working my way up.

 As the circles pieces are attached the volume of the skirt starts mounting to create the volume that I had          designed.

                                    Adding in a flat skirt piece to break up the layers of circles

                     The completed full length skirt ready to be attached to the front and back bodice

 Making the saddle leather harness, which was toiled before making. I used masking tape to help keep the leather panels in place as the leather was too thick to pin.

 The two pieces of the harness ready to be sewn in the centre front and have a zip fastening in the centre back

Back of the harness on the dress toile

Pure London 2013

Pure London

A Buyers destination for womenswear, childrenswear, lingerie, accessories of all the current trends that forthcoming season.

Held in Olympia within two floors, also a catwalk and presentations of new design ideas and trends. The ground floor area was huge, each business had their own stand of all different sizes and marketed towards mid-to high end markets. Some stands really stood out with the design and layout, this was really good as I am on the Graduate Fashion week stand group within our class this allowed me to gather ideas and inspiration for our stand at GFW 2013. 

Use of mannequins and large tables for accessories

Wallpaper background on stand walls

Other ideas by using old style trunks and vegetable crates

This stand was one of my favourites. The stand was quite big, it did not look like a typical shop stand which I think is why it worked, it was very open plan and allowed a lot of walking space.

Small lamp shades and crystal beads hanging from a leaf covered backdrop
LOVE this idea

Fireplace in the centre of the stand walls, wallpapered background and variety of textile circles with mini mannequins on the fireplace. Iron garden chairs and tables with tea cups and plates....this stand was very well thought out and planned, there was a lot happening but it was not overpowering. 

For my pre collection before my final collection, I have looked at Leonardo Da Vinci's Anatomy sketches as inspiration for the construction and design of my garments. I wanted to produce a fashion design and prints within my outfits. I have also looked at other fashion designers as a source of inspiration, the designer sI have looked at Givenchy, Couture Dior, Valentino and Iris Van Herpen.

My inspirational board at uni with all the primary and secondary images that I have been inspired by...

Using Da Vinci as inspiration for the construction of my collection, I wanted to create something that created structural and 3D silhouettes within my outfits. So I began experimenting using paper to create forms and shapes in relation to what I have seen. Pining these paper structures onto the stand and began looking at placement, scale and silhouette. Here I have created a 3D paper shape using a strip of paper and cutting small long scale triangles equally the same size and same length apart, then inverting the cut triangle away from the paper to create the 3D affect. 

Doing the same as above with a bigger piece of paper to create a bigger structural shape and placed onto the hip of the stand.

Again here I have used a similar technique, however using a strip of paper folding it in half and cutting straight lines to the edge making sure not to cut all the way... continue to cut along the entire strip of paper to create a row of triangles attached to one piece of paper. Using the same technique but using leather, I folded the leather in half and cut straight lines all the way along the strip of leather, however with the leather it created a barrel of circles, very much like the spine rows of bones.

Working on the stand for floor length skirt ideas, I had one large piece of fabric and began to play around with it pining and positioning the fabric on the stand to create different shapes and generate ideas that I could take further for my design ideas.

Added in a different weight fabric, the green fabric is like a velvet so it is quite heavy and drapes very nicely, however I though it would make a nice contrast to use two different weight fabrics together. 

Talk about 'no pressure'....

A friend of friend asked me if I would help her, as she had purchased her wedding online and turned out be absolutely awful, it was poorly made, the fabric was cheap and looked yellow when it was supposed to ivory, the beading on the front and at the back of the dress were hanging off. She hated the dress and could not afford to send it back or buy another dress, so I said I would try and help her.

                                               The back of the original dress with beading

I found some lace motifs from a fabric shop, they were quite big, I brought 4 for the back. I cut around the floral lace shapes to create a new floral motif . It made the dress look more like a wedding dress, I am really happy with the outcome. 

Before I brought the lace I decided to bead the top of the bodice... which took hours. I am a bit of a perfectionist so it all had to be perfect, especially if its for a wedding. However I later on then found the lace after I had beaded all of the front and had sewn the lace onto the back which looked so much better than the beading, in the end I decided to take all the beading I had done on the front of the bodice and then put the lace on there instead. It was horrible to take all those hours of work I had put into it out, but I believe it was for the best... and I am so glad I did.

The lace motifs on the front of the bodice, which I dont the same as the back cutting the lace motifs up to create my own floral lace motif, making sure it was symmetrical on both sides. Its beautiful I am really happy with the outcome..... and so was she! Its rewarding knowing that I have helped someone with something she hated and turned it into something she loves!

Designer Inspiration - Valentino

Valentino Haute Couture Fall 2012

My pre collection at the start was inspired by Egypt, and once I started experimenting with my prints they began to look more oriental than Egyptian, with this I then began to further my development with this by looking into designer whom have used oriental as an influence. I came across Valentino, whom has used oriental prints within this collection.

Valentino has used very subtle prints with added surface detail, which is beautifully made. I love the use of colour and the femininity of the entire collection. 

I love the sheer pleating on this evening gown

 All in one jumpsuit with repeated subtle print

I love this dress, the print on this fabric is so beautiful, its very pretty and girly. I love that the print is symmetrical

This gown and jacket is my favourite of the Valentino collection, the colours of surface detail, I really love the yellow floral print on the jacket and the novel surface detailing on the sheer full length gown.

My pre collection

My pre collection hand sketched.. I can not draw heads, they end up looking very manly. They are full length evening gowns, with attachable leather harnesses on the bodices of all of the gowns.

I think I could have experimented more with the designs, however I did not want them to be too much and too complicated. They tend to look quite oriental, which I m going to use for my final collection which I am starting to research for now, playing more with different lengths rather than just one length. They also lack sexiness and femininity.... 

This design is a dress I have decided to make as we could make one of the six that we have designed as a toile as I think it looks like the most complex and uses a of fabric.

                                                         This dress looks very oriental

I like this dress however I think it looks a bit frumpy, I think all the dresses I have designed lack sexiness, they are not feminine enough which is something I need to take into consideration when designing my final collection.

This is my least favourite design, I am not too sure why I just really do not like it.