Denim - Chloe

For my collection this year i have chosen to work on the brief set by World Skills, this is to reinvent the Denim Jacket based on 2010-11 trends. Looking at Chloe's collection has given me a lot of inspiration, I really like the double Denim look which has been seen on many catwalks, it works really well here in Chloe's designs, i like the oversized look and the rolled up sleeves. This season it is double denim mad!

I find denim is such an interesting and durable fabric you can do all most anything with it. I cant wait to get experimenting with it and see what damage i can do.

Tesco Charity Fashion Show!

Tesco supports one main charity every year, throughout that year as a store we hold many events to raise as much money as we can for the charity the Tesco kindly double the money we raise. We have a charity committee that organize these events, some mouths ago I was approached by members of the committee and they told me of there ideas of a possible Fashion show to raise money. I immediately volunteered myself to help out at this event, after a few meetings we had all come up with different ideas about the show. I shared my opinions on what i thought makes a great show, being the only person that has attends fashion shows my views were some what different to others. This led on to me having full responsibility and organizing of the show with the help of the other members of the committee.

A huge amount of time to organize the event from advertising, getting modals, styling outfits, this required many late nights but i was really looking forward to the result. So the day came we had sold 300 tickets and it was time to make it work! With only a few problems including modals not turning up etc the first show went well, this was casual wear we then had a break and then showed he Christmas/ Evening wear. This went ever better (many as there were no children involved). At the end of the show i was presented with a huge bunch of flowers from the committee along with chocolates and wine from my manager, I was so embarrassed but really felt all the hard work I had done was appreciated. The show was now over and the stress had gone i was so relieved and we had raised over £2000 and also had a huge increase in sales that week. After the show many of the guests came up to me and told me how much they had enjoyed the show, I was so happy and felt really proud of what i had achieved. Cant wait to do it again next year!

SUBLET - eco apparel

SUBLET - eco apparel is a brand set up by two designers based in New York, as the name suggests the brand has very Eco ethics in all the designs they produce. Sublet is a brand that really appeals to me not only due to its ethical values but also i find the style of there designs really appealing as its not the typical styles you would expect to see from an Eco brand.

Toile review- Jacket project

This was the first time in our Jacket project groups where we presented ourselves as a brand along with our designs, honestly this did not go a well as we had all hoped, with a sudden change of our target market the work we had done did not reflect this was of no one fault but our own and it was up to us to turn the situation around. However this was a huge learning curve for me as it made us pull together as a group even more so to work on the issues highlighted.

I also had to make quite a few changes in the design of the Jacket, this meant working very hard on changing the shape of the jacket whilst still keeping some of the design features.

Peclers Paris A/W 10-11

Today we had our annual visit from trend forecasters Peclers Paris. This focussed on the trends for A/W 2010/11. Peclers is used by many in the design industry and publish 2 magazines/ looks books annually that are filled with both imagery and texture.

The presentation consisted of four 'stories'

* Transmission

* Wild

* Dream

* Dimension

As you can by the names tell by the names the 'stories' take you through a series of different looks, textures and prints that are predicted to be popular in the season.

For many companies this is essential to be successful in the up and coming seasons to compete with their rivals.

Garment Tech.

Last year I found my interest lies in the role of a Garment Technician , this was through some lesson given last year, this year the lessons are much more in depth and I am really enjoying learning new techniques and skills being taught by Jo. In this lessons we have focused a lot on fit reports. This has made me look in a lot more detail at garments than i had done perviously .

This has also helped we in my design and construction work as I now look in more detail at the fit and have learnt how to produce fit reports that are similar to those used in the industry.

Kaledo

Kaledo is a new design program by Lectra that we have recently got in the studio. Over the past few weeks we have a series of short lessons on the basics of the program. Admittedly not being a massive fan of design programs preferring to do it by hand, I found this seems a fairly easy program to use and i can really see the advantages it could have especially with flat drawings. I am also interested in finding out what else it can do!!

Where does the future lead?

When preparing a presentation on where I am now, how I got there and where it could take me i first asked myself these questions.

What have I become good at? How have I become good at it?

I feel over the last year I have become good at being organized, always being quite an organized person it is now more important them ever. With an increasing amount of uni work, also managing a part time job managing time is so important.

My computer skills have also improved two years ago id do anything to avoid a computer, now i quite enjoy it. I believe this due to the constant practice on design programmes I have really seen the advantage of using a computer to do flat drawings, creating patterns and also creating design boards.

What do I feel good about?

At the moment I feel really good about where I want to go, being introduced to the role of a garment tech has really inspired me and given me something to aim for as this is a carrier i would like to do. Looking on job websites there a quite a few jobs going for this role, so i feel this is a realistic aim.

what learning experience had gone wrong and why?

5 people I believe are successful/inspiring?

Viviene Westwood

Tamsin Blanchard

Noki

Gok Won

Nelson Mandela

These people are really inspirational, they truly believe in what they stand for and encourage others to express them self to.

They do this by openly talking about and campaigning about such issues, I believe there determination is with drives them along with there opinions.

Geting back to grips with construction.

Admittedly over the summer break i didn't spend to much time over my sewing machine. Working 12-hours shifts at Tesco I found myself with very limited free time, however working so many hours this benefited me both financially but also with new skills, I found myself with more leadership responsibility and also with the responsibility of presenting the shop floor and doing a lot more visual merchandising then i would usually do. Also with the employment of new staff to help us with the busy few weeks it was a chance to meet new people, make new friends and train them up to me confident and comfortable in their new job role.

So now it is time to get back into construction mode. This is something i don't find to easy and have to have several attempts to get it right, however it is something i enjoy and with determination i hope to improve. After all practice makes perfect!!!

Back 2 uni, group project introduced.

After the long summer break, today we were introduced the group jacket project. Working in a team with two designers and three promoters we are to work together in producing a brand along with a collection of jackets. It will be my first time working on a project with a group of people over a period of time, so I' am looking forward to the new skills i will learn throughout the process as well as getting to know my fellow team mates.

Exhibition at V&A- Royal college London

This year the V&A are having an exhibition of the work of the MA students at the Royal College London. It was defiantly well worth the visit, there was video footage of there end of year show along with many of the garments being displayed. I found it so inspiring looking at the work they had done and the different techniques they had used to get the desired look. Along side some of the garment were the sketch books from the students that showed how they got to their final outcome in a way i found this most interesting as it show their developing stages and the different steps they had taken.

fda Fashion - End of year show.

For the second years this was the night it all came down to, they had been organizing this event for the past year and was there chance to show off there amazing collections they had produced. Some of the first years also go a chance to show of there designs and I was lucky enough to be chosen. This was a great experience to have and has made me really motivated for next year.

At the show we as first years dressed backstage, the excitement and adrenalin was huge and it felt alot more personal than previous dressing experience I have had, I think this is because I knew how important this was to the designers. I cant wait until next year!

Clothes show Live LONDON!

This summer Clothes Show live returned to where it all began in London. I make a visit to the show every year in December in Birmingham but as it was the first time back in London for years I made the exception to go twice this year.....like I need an excuse to go shopping and to watch a fashion show.

However it was my first and last time I will ever drive around London again its crazy.

The stoles at the show were much the same as those at the Birmingham show, Magazines, Heath, Beauty products. Make up brands, Hairdressing, Clothes, Jewellery and informations stands on different fashion courses around the U.K.

Throughout the day there were all sorts of things going on at different stages on the arena, one of which I was interested to see was Erin O'Coners talk on how she got scouted as a model and the journey it has lead to, this was really interesting to listen to as she recalled many memories of her carrier.(photograph shown bellow)

Now to the most exciting apart, the fashion show. This year it was put together by Doll the same company that I worked for at London fashion week back in February and the producers of the fda show last year, this made it more exciting to watch, knowing what goes on behind the seen made me appreciate the show even more so.

Organic by design.

As a designer choosing the materials to make the garments are key, knowing about the materials, there properties and how they are produced from start to finish is something I feel is very important. Being aware and very focused on Eco fashion, using Organic and recycled materials in the garments I design is very important.

Today a talk was given by Pesticide Action Network UK, I was shocked to be informed just how harmful the pesticides used on cotton was to not just the environment but also the danger to the farmer that grows it due to the lack of protective equipment.

Pesticide facts

* 30% proven to course cancer

* 35% banned in Europe

* Kills 65 people in one season in one area

From the talk I find it hard to take in that companies know what these pesticides do yet there are still wanted Cotton to be made non organic when the cons far outway the pros.

DESIGN DEADLINE & CRIT!

The first year is almost complete, this is some examples of the last project we have completed - Sports V Fashion this has been the first major project we have done which has given us an insight to what will be expected of us next year. With lots to do over the last few weeks I have really been felling the preacher, however now its all over I feel it was defiantly paid off as I'am very pleased with the end result.

At the crit I presented all the work I had completed over the last weeks, questions were asked and I feel I answered them well it was alot less scary than I thought and in fact it was a good experience. I am now looking forward to design and construct garments in the second year.

B&M complete

Today was the deadline for the Buying and merchandizing unit, gathering the work together it became clear how much we have learnt through the short amount of weeks. This unit has been very informative and has given us a view of what happens in the head office of the clothing company introducing me to roles i have never considered in the past one of which is the role of a garment technician this has interested me a great deal so much so that through the summer i will be doing some work experience with Jo the unit lecturer doing similar jobs that a garment technician would do.

Final Post... for now

I have spent the last few hours looking back on this blog looking back from when i started the blog back in September to now. Although initially  I found it hard writing the blog, thinking what to say what is relevant I soon began to relax and as the course went on I found more and more to write about and began to express my feelings and opinions on both course related subject areas, fashion issues and current things going on in my own own life that have an effect on the work I produce etc. 

Recently I have been contacted by a girl that was in the year bellow me at school studying a few of the same a-levels that i had done, earlier in the mouth she had an interview for this course and she was pleased to find out she will be a 1st year next year. Naturally she is a bit nervous about starting and wanted to know all about the course and how i was enjoying it, i found this blog a great tool to show her and from the feedback i have herd she too has found it really useful. 

looking back on the blog it has really hit me how much I have learned, achieved and how different my life is now compared to when i started. keeping this blog has really helped me and given time to think about what is going on and reflect on that in this constantly  busy life. 

I believe i will keep updating this blog as i have found this a great personal development tool. 

Sri- Lanka

   Pictured to the left is my sister Becky feeding a baby elephant last week in Sri-Lanka. It is now here third week out there out of nine, where she had gone to tech and help children many of which have been orphaned due to the resent events such as the suenarme and the war currently going on in the country. 

she is staying with a sri- lankan family there as is really experiencing a new way of life. 

bellow is a recent e-mail i have received from here, i' am so proud of here and think it is such a brave thing to do on your own it is truly inspiring.

o and on a more fashion related theme iv asked here to go go and source some nice colorful fabrics while she is out there. 

Just a quick update. I can't believe its my third week here, it is going so fast! 

The programme I've actually signed up for isn't going to plan exactly! As you know, I was meant to be in the orphange, but I've only been there once. The matrons are very strict and weren't expecting us. I have learnt that Real Gap are not the most organised organisation! However, the family I am living with have found another orphange that actually want help, so I am starting there tomorrow!! :) 

I'm still doing the teaching everyday though, which I wasn't expecting to do, but loving!! The kids are now experts in 'Row, row, row your boat', 'The wheels on the bus' and 'I'm a little teapot'. I'm going to attempt 'Old MacDonald' tomorrow! He he. 

I've done a lot of trips on my days off, been to Kandy to watch the dancing and see the temple, climbed Sageria Rock and Adams Peak, visited lots of ruins and been to a beach on the East coast. The beach was quite emotional, the buildings had suffered many bombings in the mid 90s, and they started building them up again, to then be hit by the tsunami. Very sad. 

On a brighter note, I went to one of the teachers weddings last week, it was so beautiful and I got to wear a saree!! 

Better go, I said this was going to be a quick update and I've waffled on a wee bit! 

Speak soon, 

Love Becky xxx

PETA takes over Paris Fashion week

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is mounting a major assault during the current Paris Fashion Week.

Following a noisy demonstration outside the Jean Paul Gaultier show on Saturday night, PETA’s next platform will be at the Stella McCartney show tomorrow morning. computer-generated video features the singer, Pink, and the actor and comedian, Ricky Gervais, as the voices of skinned animals, demanding their skins back from a couple retrieving a fur coat and an alligator bag from a cloakroom. Pink’s voice is that of the alligator; Gervais’s that of the rabbit.

The commercial will be screened at a news conference following McCartney’s fashion show, where Stella McCartney, Pink and Dan Mathews, the vice-president of PETA, will lead a question-and-answer session.

PETA believes alligators killed for their skins may be beaten to death with hammers and axes, while undercover investigations of fur farms in China – now believed to be the world’s largest exporter of fur – revealed animals, including rabbits, cats and dogs, are often skinned alive.

Stella McCartney does Comic Relief

 

Making it even more of a family affair, a host of celebrities and friends of the fashion designer, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Keira Knightley, Claudia Schiffer and Sam Taylor-Wood, have been photographed by her sister, Mary McCartney, wearing the T-shirts.

The T-shirts, priced from £5.99 for babies and children, and from £9.99 for adults, are now on sale at 214 TK Maxx stores nationwide, with all net profits from sales going to Comic Relief ahead of Red Nose Day on March 13.

Its charitable activities range from supporting orphans in Africa who have lost their parents to Aids or helping older people in the UK who are abused by someone they should be able to trust.

 McCartney said: "It's a real honour to be involved in such a tremendous cause and be a part of the Red Nose Day campaign 2009. The designs of the T-shirts were inspired by iconic images of iconic people by iconic photographers and adding an element of humour to them."

In line with her beliefs, the T-shirts are manufactured in Africa, using Fairtrade-certified organic cotton co-operatives in Senegal, ensuring a pesticide and GM-free product at a fair price to farmers in developing countries.

Sir Paul McCartney has happily gone ‘Red Nose’ to promote the ‘photo’ T-shirts designed by his daughter Stella for this year’s Comic Relief.

The limited edition T-shirts, for children and adults, are available from TK Maxx outlets nationwide.

My favorite is the Beatles t-shirt shown above worn by my boyfriend Gavin, not only did they produce great music but its such an iconic image to. 

Toile and the review.

The deadline for are final project - 'sports V fashion' is fast approaching. With all the design work now compleated a week or so ago i began to put my final design together creating a toile. This is something i have never done before and have always gone strait into making the final garment. However this was such a massive  lurning point for me i think i shall now always create a toile before hand. 

I was a first a little nervous about the toile review however it was such a good experience and i learnt so much from it. A team of professionals  suggested  improvements about the garments, from shape, colour and fabrics. I now feel really confident about my final outfit i will produce with all my questions and unsurtinteys  now answered and i'am now ready to get on ...can't wait to see what it looks like!

Its Over

With only a few shows to go we were looking forward to the relief that it was soon going to be over, by now we had started to forget about the pain our feet were in after doing 14hr pluss days. 

It was now time to pack up, this happened allot quicker that i had thought everyone worked at a team, when this was done a group of us went out to celebrate the last day, this was really nice and gave us a chance to catch up what we had all been up too and our thoughts of the experience. 

Dressing at fashion week

The Final day was now upon us, feeling that we had missed out on the backstage activities i was so pleased when asked if i could give a hang dressing a modal for the Ashely Isham show and jumped at the chance. I was introduced to the modal...trying to be as friendly as possible it had no effect she was very grumpy. 

It was a new experience, looking at the clothes of such high quality, detail and uniqueness. i was  suppressed at how much work goes on backstage, how many people were involved and the busyness. There was a sudden buzz, each modal had to changes and it was all system go. within minutes the show was over and people were leaving. As a souvenir we were given the dress sheet for our modals which had a photograph of the modal on and the outfits she wore.

On/Off presents

It was now the third day in, Pam Hogg was the main show of the day. Not releasing how popular she was that evening i found myself reading 'love' magazine where it had an article about her along with a photograph spread. 

The show that interested me most off all from the week was On/Off presents this featured varies designers with the theme to re-use, this being my main theme across my design work, an issue that is very important to me. I found it really inspiring to watch the show and was so glad i got to see it and take many photos. This was the high light of my week.....as well as seeing Gok!  

Thoughts and Emilio

The Second day of fashion week was now here, after the first day we had soon released it was not so much of a glamourous affair, it was hard work with allot of standing around and involved lots of un-inspiring jobs i.e hovering after the shows. However this was over powered by the occasional chance to get to see a show, meet the designers and some celebrity faces. The main job role i had was standing outside with the on/off umbrella showing people where to go, this at times was fun but after a few hours out there it got very cold. The team tried to change us around as much as possible but due to many people not showing up this was quite difficult for them. 

Sundays shows included Rocky S, Krystnof Strozna, emilio de la morena and Sado. Working front of house for all of there events i didn't get a chance to see any of the shows, however the most popular was emilio ( image shown above), knowing this from having to turn people away at the door. I was keen to see what his work was like and tock it upon myself to find this out. 

Designer name: Emilio de la Morena

Origin: Spain 

Career highlight: “Having one of my dresses bought and displayed in a permanent exhibition at the Museu Textil e Indumentaria de Barcelona.” 

Design background: Emilio studied at Central Saint Martins and the London College of Fashion. He has worked for Rafael Lopez and Jonathan Saunders. 

Name three things that are inspiring you for autumn/winter 2009: “The work of Spanish sculptor Eduardo Chillida; pop art; colour.”

 

London Fashion week 2009 Hannah Marshal

When arriving in London on friday we were all excited about the week ahead and all thinking and wondering what it would be like. After finding the hotel and getting greeted to two blue mouse traps in our room, it wasn't the best start to the week. However we then unpacked and went our for some a meal and some drinks, not realizing this would be the only time we would have to relax until after the week had finished. 

Arriving at the science museum , we were first showed round and told a basic brief this included what was going where, job roles and what to expect. 

The first show was  new designer Hannah Marshall along with her muses girl band Ipso facto. Marshall's "a/w 09 collection is inspired by insect skeletons, this includes intricately paneled dresses, her signature skin tight leather, python, stingray and chiffon materials. This was both beautiful, fierce and delicate. " Elle mag.

Tesco Clothes go online!

I have now worked for Tesco Clothing for nearly two years, this has provided really good experience for the career path i wish to take in the fashion industry. 

Over the next year Tesco will be investing £19 million in lowering clothing prices, making clothing budgets go further for the customer and helping customers dress to impress for less. 

" customers can rest assured that low prices are here to stay. the garments are from the same suppliers and of the same quality". Terry Green -  clothing chief executive.

Due to the success of sales in 2008 the company have decided to sale clothes online, the aim of this is to reach more customers as many stores sale non or very few cloths. this will enable those that don't live near an 'extra' store to still be able to shop and pick up Tesco's fashion bargains. 

Lectra

A new program that we have started to use, to aid design and manufacture(CAD) and (CAM) in the textile and fashion industry. We have begun to use this program to create pattern pieces to  make a jersey t-shirt. At the start i was quite nervous about using this equipment as it looked quite scary and complicated, still not confident  about using the program i am getting increasingly aware of the tools and what you can achieve with the machinery. Knowing how the program works and once you have got to grips with the different functions and what they do i can see that it would really speed up the the design and manufacturing processes saving companies a large amount of money.

Last week we were visited by a Lecta representative, she gave a presentation on the other products the company offered and the constant  research they were undertaking  to create new products and to update current equipment for the textile and fashion industry sector. From this it is cleat that Lectra is defiantly leading in this type of technology and seems like it will do for some time, making the jobs for the people in this industry sector quicker and more accurate  .

http://www.lectra.com/en/index.html

Here is an example of the design program by Lectra (top left)

Buying and Merchandizing

With the introduction of the buying and merchandizing unit my initial thoughts were that i really didn't think it was for me, however within the first half hour i became griped and really interested in the different careers that were available in a fashion companies head office. Jo's experience as a buyer makes the lessons very interesting, i feel we get a personal insight to the world of a fashion buyer from the stories she tells and the lessons learnt. So far we have covered the roles of a buyer, merchandizer and garment tech, the role of the garment tock has really appealed to me as it involves working with the buyer and merchandizer as well as work doing work/adapting pattern blocks, checking garments and where they are produced. This has attracted me so that i have now tock it upon myself in finding out more about this role and have started looking for placements in this area of work. 

With the hotel accommodation now all booked and sorted out i am really looking forward to helping out at london fashion week with On/Off. We are staying in a guest house just a short walk from the science museum where the event is tacking place, there are a few of us sharing a family room so we hope we have time to go out and have some fun as well as getting experience from working at the show. This weekend i received an e-mail from the On/Off organizers informing me that i will be working at front of house, required to wear a lab jacket and take on the role of a scientist..wearing funky glasses etc .......  how exciting!

london Fashion week

I am soooo excited about the new off helping out at london fashion week. Currently sorting out accommodation....stressfull

New Project

The new project Sports v Fashion is something i have never really thought about in the past and have never had a real interest in sport wear. to be honest at the start i wasn't really very motivated at the start of the project, however when going the the sports V fashion exhibition and the V&A  in London it really inspired me.

from then i have started researching and i am currently e-mailing the classic sports brands to see if they could send me any information...fingers crossed!

I have also started to experiment making new shapes of garments using existing and recycling garments- photo shown. 

First day back after Christmas

Last week we had a Lecture about current issues around the fashion industry which opened out into several different debates etc. Points that stood out me,  was realizing that the creative industries currently at the forefront due to the current economic issues. People are now looking for new and innovative designs that stand out from the rest. 

Question that arose:

Does what we wear define us?

There were lots of views on this and we talked about groups including Goths and Chaves.

My personal opinion on this is that the clothes we wear define who we want to be rather that who we are.

Quotes that also left me feeling inspired included:

"Clothes create a wordless means of communication that we all understand"

"Fashion is an endless popularity contest"

From this lecture it has inspired me to build a file of designers reference and also a trend research sketch book. 

Communicate, reuse and reinvent

This is my final design from the philosophy project, where i set out to communicate and recycle clothes that are of no use.