CalamityJane

Shannon, Currently studying Fashion design and technology at AUB, using this blog to gain inspiration and show my progress though out my course :)

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Online Portfolio

http://issuu.com/shannonslater-johnson/docs/portfolio_online

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New changes

22/5/14 After my toile review it was decided that my pvc design needed to be developed further and after much consideration I decided to combined parts of other designs into this one. I used the idea of a jellyfish shape as a short poncho developing the toile and then into the clear pvc. I feel that this works better as it allows for more of the dress and detail to be seen and doesn't distract from it as much. I added top stitch around the bottom, neckline and seams to add detail to the poncho. 

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Final Project

21/5/14 After a lot of hard work, I am into the final week of my final project for my first year at uni, the count down to hand in has begun and the pressure is beginning to mount. My dress is in the process of making and I have so far managed to almost finish up, the dress has been cut out, stitched together, the top stitch has been completed and now the vandalising of the sections begins. Ii am extremely happy with how my garment has turned out so far, although there are some small issues Ii am proud of completing it and the way it looks is how I had hoped. 

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Battling the competition 

19/5/14 In our final professional practise lesson we looked back to the first lesson in which we had accessed our skills, to create a comparison we did a quiz to find out what part of fashion we would like to progress into, I found that mine was either own label, ready to wear or haute couture designer, I feel that this is the part of fashion I have always been interested in and this further clarified this for me. Not only this, but in this lesson we carried out mock interviews in groups and compared each others techniques, interviews are always something which I have found difficult especially questions which relate to strengths and weaknesses, but from this I found areas which I need to improve on. We were also shown website such as drapers and fashion united where jobs in fashion are advertised. Overall, this lesson prepared us for what it may be like to go for a job or internship in the future. 

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Urban Tribes, Portfolio development

19/5/14 The final professional practise session of this term, and I'm starting to feel the pressure, with a week left until final hand in there is a lot to do! As well as beginning work on my portfolio pages for my Denim+ project I decided to re-visit my creative drawing unit, using some of the images from the small sketchbook project we did during the unit, I felt that these pages were much more successful than the previous ones I had created for this unit. The theme was youth and I looked at a comparison of tribes and gangs and felt that this produced some interesting work. I also found a new but similar background for my portfolio pages, now just to print it to test out if it works! 

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Nudie Jeans, the new way denim.

After having a useful discussion about sustainability during my professional practice lesson, which there will be a post about later today, I decided to look into the sustainability of denim for my denim+ project. After researching I wrote a paragraph for my sketchbook: sustainability has become a key part of fashion in recent years, in the denim industry especially sustainability is extremely important. Considering the fact that it takes around 1800 gallons of water to grow enough cotton to create on pair of standard jeans, the need to be more sustainable in creating denim has become very popular. The cotton industry itself is well known for being one of the worst in the world in terms of sustainability, it requires a lot of water to grow, the countries in which it is grown are often third world and those who pick the cotton are paid next to nothing. Denim is created from cotton and then goes through many steps of manufacture to produce the colour and effect desired, on average the manufacturing of a denim garment uses up to 5000 litres of water, denim is dyed using indigo which is key to creating the well known blue jean. Ways in which to conquer the unsustainable creation of denim involve new and innovative techniques. The use of Best Cotton Initiative recycled fibres or artificial fibres all reduce the unethical way cotton is manufactured. In terms of dying many harmful chemicals are needed for the traditional method of dying however, there are alternatives such as sulphur dyes, clever enzymes, ozone and laser beams, foam application or paste coatings to create finishing effects which reduce water usage and prevent contamination from hazardous chemicals, but most companies still use the more traditional technologies using indigo and sodium hydrosulphite which requires large volumes of water as well as chemicals. In an effort to make the entire process more sustainable many new factories are being developed with solar panels to heat water, reuse of waste water and and natural ventilation.  One company who has tried to make their denim more sustainable is Nudie jeans, a Swedish company, they recommend that people do not wash their jeans in the first six months of ownership not only reducing their water usage in the production but also promoting water reduction through their clients. Nudie was created with clear ethics in mind and they are 100% organic in the cotton they use for their jeans, feeling they have a social responsibility to take care of nature. They get much of their cotton from India and ensure that their workers are paid a 'living wage not just minimum wage', they ensure that in the creation of their denim water is reused and no pesticides are used in the rowing of their cotton. Nudie have a repair shop in many of their shops where customers can bring their old jeans to be repaired for free if there is any problems with them meaning that one pair of jeans is intending to last a person a much longer time reducing the need for denim and therefore making it more sustainable in the process. 

Image:http://www.nudiejeans.com/moodboard/

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Future Fashion

12/5/14 Considering elements which may effect fashion in the future goes hand in hand with issues of sustainability and ethics so looking into this is a useful component to our professional practise. We looked at our opinions on how fashion may be in the future, looking at elements such as the way the internet will effect fashion, I think that the internet will only get bigger and marketing and selling via the internet will become more and more popular, however there will always be a difference in actually shopping compared to internet shopping and I think that in the future both will still be around. We also had to choose three things we think may change fashion in the future, the things I focused on were the raise of BRIC the 4 most developing countries in the world, Brazil,Russia,India,China, who will, in the future  become more and more powerful and influential. I also considered the way the environment will influence fashion, such as the lack of land space which may reduce production of cotton due to more land needed for housing for a growing population and crops to feed them. 

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Ethical Conundrum

12/5/14 Looking into ethics and sustainability of fashion can be daunting and complicated, but by looking at it during our professional practise lesson has allowed me to look it in a new way. By looking at where I would place myself on a scale of one to ten on various questions, I was able to judge my own ethics, I placed my person ethics at a 7, however in terms of a project,material sourcing and responsibility and purpose within design I scored myself lower, I think this shows that, at the moment due to being a student and having a lack of income, being able to consider ethical solutions isn't an option for me. Being ethical and sustainable tends to cost more money, and therefore further in my future I may be able to pursue an ethic business when I have already created a career and have a sustainable income to help my achieve this. There are many ethic companies within fashion, for example Monsoon have many schemes which aid education and fair work within production country's and Stella McCartney is vegan and uses no materials that are a by product from an animal and all her designs are sustainably and ethically sourced. I have a few images from her look books which I picked up from our previous uni trip to London. 

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Mythical Galaxy, Portfolio development

12/5/14 Further development of my portfolio was needed and the next project to tackle was the digital fashion unit, this unit had involved a lot of development on the computer systems including the use of the Lectra suite to create our patterns and Photoshop to develop our print. My theme was Disney and I development mood boards, from that took images from my surrounds and work in the dye room to create a interesting almost galaxy like print on Photoshop. I kept my layout simple and clean for this project as it involves a lot of colour and busy prints, unfortunately after printing I've come to realise that my chosen background doesn't print the way it looks on the computer as it loses its textured effect, may have to change that. 

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Portfolio progress

12/5/14 Creating my portfolio pages for my creative realisation unit, a unit which involved developing a capsule collection of 6 outfits from a theme of our choice. I chose the theme of decay and rust using my own photography from around Bournemouth to develop patterns and prints and shapes. I then used this to develop 50 designs then narrowed these down to 6 for my final capsule collection. I really enjoyed this project and found it easy to create my portfolio pages for this project. 

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Curriculum Vitate

12/5/14 Finally finished and printed my Cv, it has now been handed in for feedback. Although I already had a CV editing it to suit the format required was very difficult, not only did I struggle to describe my skill set without sounding silly but fitting it onto two pages, what a nightmare. I finally managed to get it down to 1 and a half pages. 

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Blood sweat and tears

8/5/14 After all the energy I could possibly muster had been put into my toile it is finally finished, it took a very long time to complete and I was pleased with the end product. Using my edited shape I layered up 4 layers of fabric and stitched wavy lines into it then cut through them to created ruffles in the fabric. I then overlaid this with a clear pvc dress. Although I was proud of the result I did receive some criticism in my toile review so I need to revisit my patterns to edit the bodice of my dress as it was too small for the mannequin and too big for my model, typical.  The clear pvc layer was also questioned so I am going to think of a possible way to create a more in-depth less obvious way to incorporate this into my design. 

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Grand Designs Live

5/5/14 Although not totally relevant to fashion, I visited Grand Designs Live this bank holiday Monday. It mostly focused on architecture and building however there were certain parts of it which I felt would be useful for me. There were many stands for interior architecture which showed fabrics and textile design which I found quite interesting. I also found it interesting as I have used architecture as inspiration for many of my projects during the visit there was a talk given by Jessica Barker, who with her husband has created a house in south London with a forest like pattern on the front of the property which I found quite interesting as it could be used to develop an interesting print or silhouette. 

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Leisure living- Griffon studios lecture

24/4/14 A guest speaker from Griffin studios gave a lecture today, being shown many of the companies videos opened my eyes to the influence fashion video can have on a brand, these videos highlighted and summarised the brand and made me consider the ways in which I may want to promote myself in the future. Fashion video considers many elements including shooting styling and music in order to reflect the brand itself. Although Griffin is not a the type of clothing I see myself designing in the future it was interesting to consider the brand as a whole and the way in which the company involves many different elements of their lives within the company as a whole. 

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Toiling 24/4/14 

After developing my pattern to get rid of the straps, lower the neckline and shorten the skirt I used them to create my second toile. This toile was much more in proportion and was the shape I was hoping to create, it is very feminine and the skirt has a good flow which will aid my sea life effect. I am adding the straps separately now in order to create a better shape for the bodice and neater straps. 

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Conquering failure 22/4/14

My first toile wasn't all I hoped for but after using my original patterns to create it I realised there were a few issues, the skirt was too long for the other proportions, the straps were too short to connect and the neck line was a little to high. Time to develop the patterns and try something else.