Fabric Collection

After many considerations I decided for my final fabric Collection and as mentioned in my previous post, to design for the fashion industry. I found that my Hero and one of the Blender designs worked really well together for this purpose. I used Contrado to print my designs as it is the most renown among students and I already printed with them. However I recently found out about Fashion Formula and I will definitely give them a try since I’ve heard are much cheaper and also better quality. I chose Velvet for my Hero Berry Design and Silk for my Coordinate.

I researched into WGSN regarding future Fashion Trends and I took inspiration from the Bomber Jacket that I found appropriate for my target market. The intense red it is also in  trend in 2020. The collection started to naturally come together.

What I was sure about from the beginning was that I wanted to digitally print my designs. As additional techniques I first considered flocking on the black berries, on a silk fabric, and cording along some of the branches. I then opted for a velvet fabric and the use of leatherette applique on the black berries and used the same technique for the branches.

I loved the play of light and dark among the shiny velvet and the matt effect of the leatherette. It also matched my theme which also included ‘Light’. As for my blender I decided to print on silk, imagining it as a scarf to go along with the jacket. At first I planed on stitching along some triangles of the design but then I opted for a more simplistic approach since my Main one would already be more elaborated.

I really wanted to actually create the Jacket but since I also had to also focus on refining my Stationery collection after the final feedback from the IG Design Group, there wasn’t the necessary time to create it from scratch. The collaboration with one of the fashion designer students has been precious both for the research of the garment and also the creation of the 2D prototype that I planned to make and display. Considering all variables I found it to be a good compromise between the finished garment, that would require too much time and a Cad Visual, that wouldn’t really represent my idea. I felt I needed to see the final outcome as I imagined it, to fully understand the process and mostly to understand if the outcome would equal my expectations and my imagination. And I have to admit that it did, and even more. I was pleased to see my idea and print come to life. Seeing a simple square of printed fabric or seeing it as a garment, with all the surrounding elements can totally change a design.

For the display, my first instinct was to use a mannequin but considering that I would only create a partial, simplistic 2D view of the garment I wanted to create something that would match that feel. Looking through the sketches of the fashion design student I collaborated with, I fell in love with one of her sketches so I scanned it in and created an illustrator file and laser cut and engraved it. The creation of the file took me around half an hour and the actual cutting and engraving took around 1 hour and 45 minutes, besides some minutes of testing on smaller pieces. All worth it.