My third years inspiration for her collection

Leah Olivia Stone

The concept for my collection is determined by a variety of influences. The first was the contemporary installation art of Tara Donovan. Donovan creates huge biomorphic forms out of ordinary objects (buttons, pencils, straws). The work Donovan creates appears to be a living, organic mass that is growing and spreading so I used appliqué to create structures that appear to be growing on the garment. When researching into the building up off pieces to create organic forms I came across the appearance of scales I nature. I also noticed that samurai armour was similar to scales in nature in that it intended to protect and yet still allow movement. I was also influenced by a trip to the digital design exhibit ‘De:code’ at the V&A which explored the latest developments in digital and interactive design. The colours of the digitalised light were what inspired my colour palette. The scales and digital artwork also informed my fabric print design.

Second session with 3rd years

Today was my second day with my third year and thankfully the third year I was originally meant to be working with was here. I was pleased, and in some respects I felt that I was at some advantage as I was gaining an insight into more than one persons work.

My Third year is called Leah, she was really friendly and bubbly which is always a positive when you are meeting somone new because you never know what to expect, and personally I always feel really shy at first but hey most people are like this. But anyway I got set a variety of new tasks today.

Tasks....

Morning Tasks:

• I began the day by going to Leeds Market and Samuel Taylors to buy 4M lining fabric. Leah had asked for my own opinion on what I would feel would work best for her collection, there was a choice of either just a plain black polyester lining or a shimery dark metallic grey. I personally felt that the grey would work better as it would create more interest to her garments by using a different coloured lining fabric. So we went ahead with that. I was pleased as she agreed with what I had said.
• When arriving back at college we spoke through the following tasks for the afternoon. Leah briefly spoke to me about her collection which features structured and futuristic elements such as large shoulders, and areas that stick out on the hips and waist. I was intrigued to see some of the garments in order to see how she had created such structure.

Afternoon:

• During the afternoon session I did some pattern cutting. Cutting out the linings for some of her garments out of the fabric I had bought in the morning. At first i was really anxious because I didnt want anything to go wrong with it been someone elses work. However I soon overcame that feeling and trusted myself with what i was doing. This took up most of the afternoon as there was quite a lot of cutting to do.

First day as a third year assistant.

Today was the first day where I became a third year assistant. I was really excited and intrigued into what tasks I would be set. I feel that this is going to be a really positive experience as we are able to gain and insight into what we should expect from our final year at college.
Unfortunately the third year I was meant to be working with today was ill, so I was paired up with another third year. I was paired with a student on Pathway B, which is the route I hopefully intend to follow. During the day she had complete a variety of tasks-

TASKS: Basic things such as photocopying line ups, going shopping to buy various things such as hook and eyes, Zips etc.

Once completing these tasks she then gave me a brief talk about her collection and her inspiration for her work. I found this really interesting as she had designed garments based around sportswear using fabrics such as neoprene. Her work was really influential and completely different to anything I would design which was really interesting as I learnt more about new fabrics and Ideas.