Profiles – Ravensbourne Graduates 05
20-09-2005
“We are the music- makers / And we are
the dreamers of dreams, / Wandering by
lone sea breakers, / And sitting by
desolate streams; / World-losers and
world foresakers, / On whom the pale
moon gleams: / yet we are the movers
and shakers / Of the world forever, it
seems.†Arthur O’Shaughnessy
“The scientific study for the face of Rock and Roll.â€
By Alex Field
The collection makes up the trans-seasonal wardrobe for a jet set lifestyle. Spawned from the recognition of past music icons, quirky yet cool; and combined with research into future movements in space and technology. Lab geek chic. Distinctive segmentation is used to create clothing that distorts traditional tailoring, into a representation of the human form.
An experiment into the muscular tendons is realised through an exoskeleton with scalpel cut seams that meander across the shiny render of a dinner jacket. A hybrid of the trench and Mac come to form the rebirth of a classic outerwear piece – good enough to wear out and sleep in after passing out at a party. The rock and roll tight legging reappears after the influence of a “Star Wars†filter, distorted to showcase the articulation seen in scientific dissections.
Distinctive detailing is highlighted through modern retro-reflective materials, while silver bonded textile fibres such as “X-Static†are used in key garments. This collection gives you a reason not to shave and grow your hair long!
Alex Field has made a number of achievements whilst studying menswear at Ravensbourne college of Design and Communication, including winner of the RSA design directions Merchant Tailors 2004 Travel Award, and finalist in the Reiss / BFC design competition 2005. He is currently showcased under talent spotlight on D&Ads website.
Secular societies
American bikers form union with seventies American high-school kids
By Jasper Toron Nielsen
The collection has taken its inspiration from two main sources. Firstly from looking into the rich images of American biker culture. I like the way bikers manage to create their own mini societies in which you are included and recognized mainly by your dress. The way it shows that one is bound to a certain group by which image is attached to the back of your jacket. This biker influence is visible in both prints and finishes of the garments.
Secondly I have taken inspiration from the wardrobe of seventies American high school kids. This mainly shows itself in the silhouette of the collection, which is quite narrow and slim fitting. But it also reflects itself in choice of fabrics and garments.
Prints are of great importance in the collection. The eagle is an iconic image in biker culture. I have tried to incorporate this use of imagery in my prints but changed the eagle in to a vulture. I liked the idea of a group of high school guys who called themselves The Vultures.
Finally I have tried to reflect my surroundings. Letting the people I go out with and the area I live in have quite a great influence on the collection. I am hoping that I will look back at the show and recognize friends or places in the garments.
England Home and Darkness
War time wardrobes herald a new look for menswear
By Sijia Xu
This autumn/ winter menswear collection takes inspiration from World War Two school boys’ wear. I combine tailoring and hand knitting. By using various colours to present a collection with its own character which preserves the past but celebrates and embraces a modern future.
bra3
A modern thinking persons answer to the trussed up breasts of Eva Herzigova
By Tiffany Taylor –
Having worked in the lingerie industry for two years now, it strikes me how separate it keeps itself from the other fashion pathways. Fashion relates directly to the image of the wearer, and the easiest image to sell to a person is one based around sex. The very marketable, sexual side of lingerie has therefore been dictating underwear trends for decades, and it now seems to be written in stone that lingerie will be either girlie and provocative, or cotton and comfortable. It is due to this that I felt lingerie needed a label that would question the structure of underwear and re-examine it from a conceptual perspective. The resulting brand is bra3, a modern thinking persons answer to the trussed up breasts of Eva Herzigova. Stemming from the third prototype for a flat bra which can be folded into a fully functional three-dimensional garment, this range of lingerie is technical, functional, simple and modern.
Forgoing beautiful babes in exotic locations, the marketing is clean and striking, aimed at the designer market parallel to Hussein Chalayan and Issey Miyake, the geometric logo stands out against a subtle, translucent background. This conveys the contrasting technical and dynamic nature of the garment to those qualities which make it intriguing, tactile and timeless.
In between space
szék looks ordinary but is something different, familiar but slightly strange. It will help you to escape from everyday reality. By Yoko Honda
Are you a kind of the person who tends to daydream often? Whether or not, szék will help you to wonder from dreary reality into another more dreamy world of your own frequently.
szék (sec) is fundamentally an assortment of seasonless garments for women including a T-shirt and a vest. They are essential items of everyone’s wardrobe, pieces that can be worn anytime of the year.Each piece is carefully designed to allow some ‘space’ for the wearer to feel comfortable within it. For example, the loose fit of the garments do not define the wearer and their body but leaves one to exhibit it in their own way. ｓzék’s loose fitting does not inscribe an identity, instead it release the wearer, they are to be themselves. szék is not for people who are conscious about representing themselves physically through their clothes, but are for those who believe garments to be an extension of their soul, it is more of a spiritual statement. When wearing a piece from szék, you remain yourself but are also invited into szék’s unique daydream world. szék looks ordinary but something is different, familiar but slightly strange, it will help you to escape from everyday reality.
Although collections are released biannually, each collection is described in numbers rather than seasons. For example szék: 1 is the name of the first collection.Each collection has a familiar overall mood which unites all the pieces. However, the collection does not necessarily have an obvious theme, it is easily adapted within to the wearer’s wardrobe rather than dominating it.
szék: 1The main fabrics are natural and sporty such as sweat shirting and cotton jersey with fine silk viscose. This adds a delicate feel to the collection. Discharge and devour print techniques create subtle yet interesting effects, while other pieces are without any prints but are designed in vibrant colours. This colour palette ranges from basic colours such as whites and pale grays, to bright purple, blood orange, yellow and dulled turquoise with highlights of silver and gold.The label name szék means ‘chair’ in Hungarian. It is named simply because of the designer’s personal obsession for this piece of furniture. It also inspired the logo for the label and being used for print motif in the garments.
Tapir the dream eater is another important character of the label. Tapir is an odd-toed ungulates mammal which exists both in reality and also in Japanese mythology. It is believed to help prevent one from suffering from nightmares by eating them for you. The animal is usually black and white but within szék he also appears in different bright colours, taken from the collection’s colour palette.
szék: 1 is released with a short animated film. This film has no particular narrative, the intention instead is to leave the viewer with felling of having briefly entered into a daydream.BASIS
Quash the stereotypical 2D profile of city workers and businessmen and appeal to their intellectual creativity
By Penelope Shaw
Basis magazine is a series 12 monthly topic-based issues covering the following themes: Style (Fashion), Vanity (Health and Beauty), Masculinity, Gadgets (from pioneering technology to high-Tec gadgets of today), Extreme Activity (Sports), Diversion (Hobbies), The flicks (Film), Composition (Music), Fodder (Food), Canvas (Art and Design), Narrative (Literature) and Voyage (Travel). These assemble together as a comprehensive collection of lifestyle issues. The first issue is called Extreme Activity and aims to encourage the integration of specialist sport activities into the urban lifestyle and landscape.
Basis will be a collection of monthly books that are beautifully packaged. As a complete set the books will be a comprehensive source of information, inspiration and research on topics from the themes listed above. Accompanying the books will be an impressive website that will give news-items and more day-to-day information, complementing the material in the books. Included with the first issue of the magazine will be a puzzle, that once completed will reveal the password for a restricted-access section of the website. Each issue will have an accompanying product, for example the puzzle with the first issue, that will not only provide a password for the website each month, but that will also encourage the reader to interact with their product.
Basis magazine will be a small hard-backed book, size 185mm x 220mm. The packaging for the books will have a continuous theme running throughout the 12 issues, bringing them together as a series when displayed on a bookshelf. I aim to use as many re-cycled materials as I can to produce my magazine and packaging. It is important to me to include eco-friendly production as a part of my product to demonstrate that it is an issue that should concern the business industries that I am targeting and my generation of young designers. The concepts in the magazine will be explored and communicated with both visuals and creative writing, with an emphasis on combining cool photography and graphic design.
This monthly magazine is intended for the high-end of the UK magazine market and will be pitched to affluent, well educated businessmen, aged 20-40, who are looking for some diversity; businessmen who want to see outside of their offices without having to leave their desks. Basis magazine aims to quash the stereotypical 2D profile of city workers and businessmen and appeal to their intellectual creativity. The diversity of topics covered by Basis magazine and Basis website will ensure that it appeals to each different man. Basis magazine will provide inspiration and information about topics that men are already interested in, but will also make them more informed and intrigued about other topics they otherwise know less about. Basis magazine would be distributed in affluent metropolitan areas of the
Basis magazine is completely different from any other magazine because it is a complete contrast to the throw-away culture of current magazines. The series of books will be something to keep, treasure, and collect.
RUSSIAN STORIES
The unpredictability of life
By Nicola Morris
Is it life that mirrors the unfolding of a story, or do we create a romanticised ideal in order to excite our imagination? I serve not to answer these questions but raise them about the way in which we contemplate our experiences. I have explored the inner conflicts of a young woman coming to terms with the transition between childhood and maturity. Each of us may be struggling with the daemons of our past but in order to cope we compartmentalise our fear, we can manipulate it to add intrigue and mystique to our lives.
My collection tells of a woman who although struggling with her experiences has re-defined them as a thing of subtle beauty. She experiences a desire to be seen as self confident and assured but her innocence is always evident.
Storybook imagery influenced by the Russian illustrator Ivan Bilibin has informed the collection of printed textiles. Using photographs taken of collections of birds’ claws at The Natural History Museum I distilled the images into a dream-like esoteric print.
Using source pieces I have collected, including a vintage shooting jacket, a pair of jodhpurs, an Edwardian dressing gown and a pair of antique boxing gloves, I have derived shapes that reflect the timeless effect that a fairy tale possesses. My collection aims to tell a story that transcends fashion, the garments are designed to evoke the feelings of the wearer not to provoke a reaction from an observer. Subtle colours and intricate unusual patterns serve to show that the effect of time alters the way we perceive the past.
I have developed a technique of free-form crochet that represents the unpredictability of life how it grows around us, in some cases it leaves us exposed and vulnerable, it can take a stranglehold and weigh us down or it can become a thing of comfort and familiarity
Cobwebs take on a similar appearance and theme. Structures that begin as a delicate dwelling made by hand with the darker purpose of trapping prey. They last only a few days before they soften and collapse into ethereal floating remnants of themselves with hints of their former use still embedded within. My crochet will echo the idea, attached to the garments with keys and broken jewellery that represent the past that stays with us but alters with time, it takes on new meanings.
By fusing these disparate elements have created an eclectic sophisticated collection.
SPORTY CHAP
Horseracing and hunting celebrates traditional motifs
By Charlotte Hooper
This collection celebrates ‘The Traditional English Gentleman’. It is a rarity today for a wardrobe not to include at least a few stripes or checks; here the patterns include classic influences of Prince of Wales check, herringbone, hounds tooth and tweed and stripes. There are few guidelines with shirt patterns; most concern only the background colour and the size of the pattern and in the majority of cases the smaller the pattern the dressier the shirt. Knitwear also has the same principle, the smaller the knit the dressier the jumper.
There is a tradition in the influence of sport that is interwoven into an Englishman, especially horseracing and hunting. Throughout my collection of work there consist different stories with colour and inspiration, all in keeping with the English Gentleman. Using influences such as the dark tones of the horses, I blend tonal on tonal colours, photograph different textures for detail, and use the existing prints by playing with scale. I overlay and redesign the traditional prints to create a range of samples with a new technique and quality.
In keeping with my theme and colours I have created another story which involves cottons and silks. It is based on different sports in which an English gentleman would be encouraged to play or watch, such as tennis or hunting. Taking images and recreating a new print which could be used for linings, shirts or dresses, and using a strong colour base which is bright and fun, I recreated stripes and images to a scale using a range of tools and media; ribbons, embroidery, Photoshop, and screen printing.
I am collaborating with Victoria Townsend, a women’s wear designer who has a strong interest in my prints, and who will be using them for the catwalk show.
STYLE SPY
Classic, inherently sophisticated items with a lasting quality
By Donna Powell
The collection has stemmed from an investigation into the life of a World War Two, female spy. Research into period clothing, personal qualities and activities undergone, have all informed elements of the collection. It is hoped that the nature of such a woman: intelligent, cautious, clever and brave, yet seemingly quaint, feminine and innocent, is expressed thoroughly through the clothing and styling utilised.
The collection is comprised of classic, inherently sophisticated items with a lasting quality, and has been created in the genre of a ready to wear catwalk compilation which will comprise of six outfits. Period accessories such as leather gloves and hats enhance and highlight the ladylike but subtly mysterious style envisaged.
The aim is for main emphasis to be on the textiles of the garments, with shape forming appropriately to enhance the textiles produced,
the silhouette is predominantly A-line and there is emphasis on producing a proportionally small, petite, upper half and a proportionally larger A-line lower half.
There is a deep inky palate derived from the fabrics used and prints are bold in shape but play on subtle, tonal differences in colour and printing finishes in metallic and foils.
The collection is very personal and through styling, has a strong sophisticated presence in an inherent and quaint manner.
Graphic development
Illustrative images from religious shines in
By Dulcie Flynn
The source for my research is the relationship between objects in formations using two ideas based on this concept. These are the arrangement and compositions that are used to form religious shines and rituals in
Concentrating on these symbolic items has inspired my collection and this is combined with an abstract interpretation and drawing of the physical formation and visual patterns created by birds in movement. Using my research I have created slightly abstract graphic development drawings to inspire me in print and knit concluding with a mixture of definite and illustrative images or print and sexy tassels for knit.
JAZZY CLOTHES
A mellow collection that exudes an easy attitude.
By Emma Ruffles
The eclectic blend of styles found at
This is a diverse, eclectic textiles collection, incorporating aspects of print, embroidery and knit. As juxtaposition to the 1930’s style, a sharper textiles influence from menswear will be introduced, in particular the dishevelled, careless characteristics of the Beat Generation and the understated, clean cut of the early Jazz and Bebop musicians that influenced them. Elements of Beatnik’s clothing such as the bulky shapes and fabrics, in particular the duffle coats, will sit alongside the sharp, unpretentious look of the Jazz menswear (in crisp shirting fabrics, and knit) and the elegant dress fabrics.
As a mixture of these styles I want a collection that is layered with a multitude of textures, patterns and details put on top of one another. I want the collection to put across the “cool†exuded by musicians such as Miles Davis and Charlie Parker. The designs have a subtle attention to detail; those who wear them would appear fastidious yet unconcerned. This is a mellow collection easily adapted to your own expression of yourself; a symbol of an easy attitude.
