Notes On Fashion Designers Way Of Working

2y ago
8 Views
2 Downloads
786.73 KB
10 Pages
Last View : 1m ago
Last Download : 2m ago
Upload by : Carlos Cepeda
Transcription

Notes on fashion designers way of workingLotta Lundstedtis a PhD-student in FashionDesign at The Swedish School ofTextiles, University of Borås.Lotta LundstedtThe Swedish School of TextlesUniversity of Boråslotta.lundstedt@hb.seBackgroundWork processes and methodology in the fashion design field, how to workas a fashion designer, is a central theme in fashion design research at theSwedish School of Textiles. Main challenge is to define basic process modelsand develop generic methods with a specific focus on tracing central decisions in the fashion design process.Main objective in one ongoing project1 has been to describe and analyse central design decision in the fashion design through a series of case studies. Wehave performed long-term studies at two larger Swedish fashion companies.To complement these studies we have interviewed, actually discussed with, sixyoung Swedish fashion designers about their way of working and how theythink about their design process. They all work in companies where they havea crucial influence on the final design of a collection. We have tried to get asclose to personal reflection as possible to document practices of design methods. We have chosen the following approach: long discussions have been filmedand then transcribed with only minor text editing. The texts have then beenreviewed by the interviewees and just slightly edited. (Lundstedt, Hallnäs, 2008)This paper presents two of the designers, Ann-Sofie Back and Sandra Backlund,and some significant issues in their working methodology. These two designerswork in different ways and provide good examples of the big span in workingmethods, which of course also relates to differences in final expression.Photos (Lars Hallnäs) are all from the designers studios and public fashion shows:Ann-Sofie Back – design studio in London. Show at the Forum, fashion weekin Copenhagen in August 2007,Sandra Backlund – design studio in Stockholm. Show at Berns, fashion weekin Stockholm in January 2008.1 Design Rationale in Fashion Design – funded by the Knowledge Foundation/KK-stiftelsen10Textile JournalTextile Journal11

Significant for Sandra Backlund’sway of working is the design ofthe design process (cf. Jones 1992pp. xxvi and Jones 1998) She creates garments and expressions thatstrongly relate to the specific working methods she has developedduring a number of years.It is a matter of the systematics ofconfidence, to know when the process is right by learning how to workwith creativity. To design the designprocess and be happy about it referssomehow to a feeling of loosingoneself in the work.Sandra Backlund12Textile Journal“I am not going to come up with these ideas inmy head, if I just sit and draw. I am only going todo that if I make it with my hands. It has something to do with the brain halves I guess. I cannotimagine these garments that I do. There are somany who have difficulties understanding how Iwork and how I have come up with the garments.I experimented a lot; I spent a lot of time on that.It is worthwhile also, if you want to get somethingthat is a little unexpected. Then, it is personal,I see I have a personal aesthetic, there is a redthread in what I do, and I make clothes that fitwith my personal taste.”“I just know when I’ve found agood shape”.Textile Journal13

“I just know, I see it when I see it. I cannot think of itbefore, I cannot draw it; I cannot decide it before. I see itwhen I see it.”14Textile Journal“I work almost always only on the basis of improvisation.It is not that I sit down and think that I should find inspiration, but it may be something that has been a while inmy mind, a starting point. It is often very free and nothing that I am strict with. I see it more as a start. It couldbe the colour or the shape or any other loose idea.”Textile Journal15

Sandra Backlund includes herself inher work and works with improvisation and composition, training thecritical eye that guides intuition (cf.Arnheim 1988 pp. 1-4, 36-50). AsSandra Backlund says “I see it whenI see it”. You can se her mannequinor body as a white canvas that shepaints with her knitted fabric, shesculptures shapes and volume intowearable art.“Then I get the material and start toimprovise with the craftsmanship.I almost always build my clothes,no matter what materials I use, ofsmall pieces; the technique can becompared with collage or sculpture.I never have to go through this process of figuring out how it will workor how to do it. I am very free. Thenit is a matter of personal taste whenI know, this is good. I do not knowexactly how it works but it is whatdetermines how I want it to look like.Try out, try out and try out, I put a lotof time on the pure craftsmanship”.16Textile Journal“Then when I have got a few pieces together, I pin themtogether in different ways, and test how it looks andhow I can build forms and use my knitted parts in different ways. I am quite strict. I can say to myself that I onlyallowed to use these parts. I restrict myself in that freedom, so that the work will not be endless. I can be sostrict that even if I see that it would be a better result ifI knitted two turns to this piece, I do not allow myself todo it. I am a little bit like that but, I am trying to quit thatbehaviour, it was a good starting point when I started todesign, but there is no reason to compromise on the finalproduct for any kind of geeky matter of principle. I havetried to drop that a bit now.”Textile Journal17

When Sandra Backlund talks about craft in her work sherefers both to techniques and what Jones call a subtlesystem of efficient work methods. It is design throughcraft and not design-by-drawing (Jones 1992 pp.15-24).The form is modified by testing, testing – it is sketchingand designing by knitting.“I work with some kind of self-therapy. It sounds verystrange but there are quite a lot of artists who work likethat, if you write poetry or music or paint or whateveryou do. There is a need to express oneself or get thingsout of you.”18TextileTextile JournalJournalTextile Journal19

“I know that we all care about what other people think,but somewhere I believe that I am a very introvert person. Although I obviously care about external things, butthis way of working is still just a big ego trip. Maybe Ineed it to deal with myself, I don’t know.”20Textile JournalTextile Journal21

Ann-Sofie Back22Textile Journal“We start designing the garments of “Back”, by selectinggarments that don’t feel too rotten to take up again.””It’s a pretty good way to start using the new garmenttypes myself before I start to design the next season,then I can stop using the trench coat and think that I justhave to have collarless coats. Then I know how it works.-You wear it yourself?Yes exactly, I buy a second hand coat and sew it so that itbecomes my own collarless coat, so I do not force a garment type on myself that I don’t like.”Textile Journal23

Ann-Sofie Back often uses already existing clothes or herprevious designs as a starting point for the developmentand design of new collections. It is a certain form of redesign (cf. Hara 2007 pp. 22-25) and a search for designimprovements by searching for visual inconsistency (cf.Jones 1992 pp. 209-213), an act of making the knownunknown, to see new things in the old ones.24Textile Journal”It is about what you are inspired by in general, I aminspired by the clichés about fashion or beauty, femininityor sexiness, or how women are depicted in media, thingsthat I have a problem with, something that I dislike. Forsome reason, I feel that it is more interesting and fun,and more to work with, than to be inspired by butterfliesthat are beautiful as they are. ””I am personally not so amazinglyinterested in colour. I usually don’twear any colour, I can only like onecolour at a time, and then, I havethree garments in that colour, andthen, remove them, then I like yellow and then blue. I am not so intocolour and form, it doesn’t interestme so much, it’s the idea, and thecutting of garments, it becomes toomuch information if I use colour also.I think my ideas work best in a ratherneutral material and fairly neutralcolours. Gray, beige, brown, black,white, neutral colours.”Textile Journal25

If you are using political fashion (cf. Breward, 2009) etc.,as a starting point, ideas are not coming to you automatically every season. You need methods to find ”inspiration”. It is here many designers use thematic frameworksfor the collection and go into research about colours andtrends. Ann-Sofie Back uses scale drawings in a processof design-by-drawing to develop the design, to predictthe outcome (cf. Jones, 1992, pp. 20-24, 64-66), but alsoto communicate with the design and production teams.” When I start to sketch, I start drawing the idea of thegarments or styles that I used last season, I usually donot renew myself. It is often then I realize that if the trenchcoat is still a trend, or if it is men’s shirts or blouses, or if it ismore feminine. Then I try to force myself to change styles. ””The sketch is just so-so, well, it isnot fashion drawings we are doing,it is more so-so.”26Textile JournalTextile Journal27

ReferencesArnheim, R, (1988). The power of the center – a studyof composition in the visual arts. University of Californiapress.Breward, C. Fashion and Politics - Retrieved April 20, 2009http://www.showstudio.comHara, K, (2007). Designing Design. Lars Muller Publishers.Jones, J C, (1998), PhD research in design, Design studiesVol. 19 No 1 January 1998” I have already gone through that,because I have already sketched 40variations on the idea and thenI selected 3 out that I think wouldwork. So when we start with thepattern, I know if it is possible or not.”28Textile JournalJones, J C, (1992). Design methods. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.Lundstedt, L and Hallnäs, L (2008). Modedesign – samtalmed Centrum för Textil Forskning, CTF.Textile Journal29

Notes on fashion designers way of working Lotta Lundstedt The Swedish School of Textles University of Borås lotta.lundstedt@hb.se Background Work processes and methodology in the fashion design field, how to work as a fashion designer, is a central theme in

Related Documents:

Telkom. Mata Kuliah Fashion Merchandising mempelajari mengenai Pengertian dan tujuan Fashion Merchandising, Perencanaan Kalender Fashion dan Fashion Marketing yang meliputi fashion communication, fashion promotion, special fashion promotion, fashion

cases in sustainable fashion by Hong Kong fashion brands and designers will be showcased in a multi-media exhibition of photos and videos. The 11 participating Hong Kong fashion designers or brands include: fashion designer Keith CHAN, whose designs reflect environmental protection concept; Alice

Fashion and circuitry design through analyzing non-digital and digital designs as well as classroom discussions. Students will discuss and analyze fashion designers, fashion design and e-fashion designs in pairs. Students will carry a whole group discussion on what makes a good design and personal style. Targeted principles, standards and skills:

2.1 identify fashion proportion and the fashion figure; e.g., proportions, anatomy, fashion elongation 2.2 sketch the human figure to fashion proportions; e.g., blocking, style lines, balance lines 2.3 identify a variety of fashion poses; e.g., full front, profile, pelvic thrust 2.4 sketch one fashion illustration using a rounded figure

Running a fashion design house or managing a fashion label is vastly different to other business industries. Fashion constantly changes, so fashion businesses must change with the fashion, and continuously be offering customers new and exciting things all the time. But what looks and trends does the customer want to buy? What fashion sells, and .

2.1. Study on Fashion photography Fashion photography is defined as the len-based production of a photographic image containing fashion products. Fashion photography exists since the invention of camera, and performs the essential function of presenting fashion products for commercial purpose (Hall-Duncan, 1977; Jobling, 1999). The terms .

conceptual instruction. Courses may include fashion drawing, 3-D design, color theory, textiles, computer-aided design, fashion business and portfolio presentation. A Master in Fashion will explore how fashion is connected with other concepts, such as style, fashion design and collections, as well as fashion industry and journalism. 2 years

RM0008 Contents Doc ID 13902 Rev 9 3/995 4.3.1 Slowing down system clocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57