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Here I have composed my final COP2 image. In terms of the final photograph and layout, I have taken inspiration from my research into successful accessory shots and editorials. My final three bags all show my style of working through a 3D collage effect whilst also taking into consideration my main theme of Sustainability. The more I got into the project, the more issues with regards to Sustainability and ethics I uncovered and therefore this resulted in me creating three separate bags with three separate collages which all imply their own message. I feel my bags are given a contemporary edge with the hand-written element, this also enforces my Sustainability issue with ironic statements. I also feel that the plastic material adds an artistic, luxury feel that links them back to my research into Comme des Garcons. The exhibitions I have visited for this project have given me a goldmine of inspiration, I feel the most beneficial being Mad About The Boy in terms of it’s aesthetics. I feel that aesthetically, my bags could be almost a part of that exhibition. Through the lecture programme and my own research into Sustainability I feel that I gained a wide understanding of the issues that the industry faces. I’m glad however that my final outcome is hopeful in it’s portrayal of Sustainability as I feel that the way forward to tackling these issues is with a positive outlook instead of just spreading negativity around the issues.

Here I have experimented with scrunching up my photographs to enforce my theme of Sustainability and wastefulness as the aesthetics to the photographs now look like waste paper. However, I feel that although this idea is strong, it doesn’t convey the actual visuals and message that the bags themselves contains and therefore I feel that I will use the first lot of imagery for my final COP2 image.

Here are the images taken of my three bags in collaboration with photography student Michael Savage. I chose a pink backdrop for my studio shoot as I like how it looked behind the accessories in my research. I chose not to have a model in my final shoot, again instigated from my research, but I also feel it gives the bags a more commercial, ironic feel instead of a more serious, editorial feel. I am content with the final images produced here and would now like to experiment with printing them out and scrunching them up to link to my Sustainability theme even further.

Here I have researched images from the Mushpit Zine, a Zine I came across in village bookstore. I liked how they styled their photography as well as the majority of their photographs being shot on 32mm film which gives a grainy/ undone feel. I also particularly like how they lay out their photographs into editorial spreads. As I have three bags, it would make sense for me to have more than one photo in my final image. I like how the editorial for Claire Barrow seen within the zine uses a formation of four combined with a clean white background and hand-rendered text.

I have decided from my research into photography styles and editorials that I am going to shoot my bags in a studio with a coloured background like the accessories I researched previously. However as my theme caters around Sustainability, I’m also going to experiment with the idea of wastefulness shown through my final images being printed onto paper, scrunched up, then scanned back in appearing as though they are waste/discarded paper. This also plays on the irony and collaged aesthetic to my work. If this is successful, I will then arrange these in an appropriate formation to create my final COP2 image

TO DO LIST

- Shoot final images

- Experiment with scrunching photography

- Create final image

As I have been heavily inspired by Comme des Garcons when researching for my bag design, I chose to also look at their editorial campaigns to gain inspiration for my own photography shoot. In particular, I like the simplicity to their images. Nothing is overly styled or high fashion yet the brand itself is of high fashion status. I was particularly drawn to the images which represent screwed up paper. I think it would be interesting to create something like this in my own style as it would link to my ideas associated around wasteful behaviour and it’s link to the environment. I could possibly do a shoot with my bags, print them onto paper and then scan them back in to achieve this effect.

Here I have gathered initial source imagery that I have found inspiring for my own photo shoot. What is interesting about each of the photos is that they are all shot in a studio location with coloured background and similar composition. I feel this creates a strong focus on the accessory. However, as I have a strong message of Sustainability within my bags, it would perhaps be nice to include my message within my styled photography. It would maybe be interesting to include some studio based shots alongside some more ‘meaningful’ shots in a photography series?

Images by:

Daniel Baker : http://www.law-mag.com/archive/plastic-bags/

Jeffery Campbell

Chuck Taylor X Play

http://www.ahokshop.com/product/tabacco-silk-headband

Roger Vivier FW1314 "Sexy Cult" collection

Olivia Bee for Orla Kiely AW/15 http://oliviabee.com/commissions/orla-kiely-aw15-lookbook/

Today I made my final COP2 accessory which takes the form of three individual tote bag designs all with separate collages outlining issues regarding ethics/Sustainability in today’s fashion industry. I applied the same practice as I used for my prototype but this time used plastic and a sewing machine to construct my final shape. The first bag I created looks at issues with regards to how we treat our garments when they are bought. Through collage, it highlights the momentary ‘high’ that we get from shopping. Inspired by a washing line cut-out from a magazine, I also included the issue of how we as a society repetitively wash/dry our garments with no consideration for the impact it has on the environment with regards to how much energy it consumes. I enforced this by writing the word ‘Wash’ repetitively onto plastic, I then ended with the words ‘Chuck’ and ‘Smile’ which implies our ignorance to consuming products today.

The second bag carries the message of society’s ignorance regarding the fur industry. Through my research into how we perceive fur, I gathered that as a society we are quite hypocritical. People often desire the look of fur and disregard the suffering and implications it causes and some are appalled by fur but will happily wear the skin of a lamb. With this in mind, I wanted to create some cynicism with the quote that I scribbled onto the bag, I repeated the line ‘But Two Skins Are Better Than One?’ which I feel implies our greed and ignorance as a race as we desire the skin of another living creature yet we already have our own.

The third and final bag carries the message of how we waste items everyday with no regard for what happens to them or where they go? To enforce this, I trapped plastic forks within my bag as plastic, once discarded wrongly, cannot decompose at a fast rate and is often left to linger on garbage heaps damaging the environment and often wildlife. I also included the message ‘Use Me Then Dump Me’ to imply our wasteful behaviour in a sarcastic manner.

To two of my bags, I trapped velvet fabric recycled from a charity shop within plastic at the bottom of them to give them a quirky, contemporary feel.

I am happy with the final outcomes of this project. I feel that by creating three bags, it has allowed me to conclude three main issues with regards to Sustainability and its ethics without trying to fit too much into one accessory. I feel that by having three bags it will also be really interesting to photograph, especially with the plastic being partially see through.

TO DO LIST

Research photography ideas and styling

Plan a photography shoot for final COP2 accessories

To inform the make of my bag, I have here created a prototype in paper. i started off by looking at my design and working out how many pattern pieces I would need. I managed to figure out that I’d need seven pieces in total, one for the front and back, two for the sides, two for the bottom to trap velvet in-between and one for the centre to trap my collage. I measured these and cut them out so that they would all fit together accordingly. I then constructed the bag with masking tape using a 1cm seam allowance. I feel that this prototype has fit my vision of my final bag well. It has also allowed me to assess which is the best way to construct my bag, as plastic is not as bendy as fabric and may be difficult to turn inside out so I will have to bear this in mind when sewing it together. For the paper prototype, I attached each panel together that was next to each other, then before attaching the final side I started attaching the bottom so that the bag was not fully attached. This may work well when sewing. I am now going to use this prototype as pattern pieces for my final bag design.

Here I have designed the final shape of my bag that I will soon begin to make/prototype. I took particular inspiration by the bags researched by Gucci and Commes Des Garcons. I wanted to keep the bag shape simplistic and focus more on the embellishments and message. However I feel that the shape of the bag also reflects what I was researching into earlier on in my project where I looked at how we’re now being introduced more as a society into recycling plastic bags when doing our shopping as this shape does resemble a shopping bag. After creating samples from plastic, I decided that my final bag material will be made from plastic also. It would have been nice to have researched into how I could re-use old, worn leather however I feel that the use of plastic represents a more contemporary feel and the samples I created really excited me in terms of how I could transform it into an innovative bag. In terms of embellishment, I am going to go with the idea of making collages to represent some of the ideas associated with ethics/sustainability I have addressed on this blog. I hope to use recycled post-cards/images from charity shops as well as magazine cut-outs and 3D items that have been discarded to really enforce my message as well as text inspired by Commes Des Garcons. I did research into sizes of bags where I looked at how Vivienne Westwood dramatically increases the size of her bags for impact, however I have chosen my design to be a standard bag size as I cannot dramatically increase the size of the collages to fit the bag as I am producing them by hand. I could possibly just create more, larger collages to fit the size of it but I didn’t want it to appear too cluttered.

TO DO LIST

Prototype bag design

Begin to make final bag

Another peer’s blog I have chosen to critique is Anna Twyford’s at http://annatwyfordcop.tumblr.com who is looking at the benefits/ draw-backs of both hand-rendered and digitally produced techniques to design and produce an accessory. Her work links to my own as not only do we have a similar aesthetic, but she is also addressing sustainable practices in her work through looking at the concept of family heirlooms and cherished items which are passed down and last a life-time as opposed to unsustainable throw-away items. Anna has developed a strong aesthetic and concept through her many visited exhibitions and artist analysis, for example she gained wider context of her accessory design through attending exhibitions such as the LV exhibition, she then refined this further into her own concept by looking at accessory design by former LCA student Emma Cook which has really informed her recent sample and final design work. I also really like how Anna has used primary source imagery such as old photographs of herself and her family which really links her work back to her concept of family history and heirlooms, something undoubtedly personal to her. As Anna’s blog develops, it is clear to see how she has arrived at her final accessory which has been clearly mapped and planned out through extensive sketching and sampling. Her final accessory draws upon inspiration from William Morris prints, a familiar sight within her Nan’s house. She then makes this contemporary and exciting through her use of perspex material. Although Anna has created and shot her innovative accessory, she could possibly look at vintage style photography to really enforce her family heirloom inspired piece. For example, Olivia Bee’s used 35mm film to produce vintage style images with a contemporary twist shown above.

To aid my bag designing, I have here created some samples using plastic, stitch, collage and text combined. In the top sample, I started by creating simple machine stitches into the plastic to see how well both the media worked together. I discovered from this that plastic is very easily sewn and runs no risk of tearing, making it more than suitable for a bag. I then decided to experiment by making different compartments and pouches so that I could ‘trap’ items inside of them, I have created a sample above showing velvet fabric inside of the plastic. I really like how the velvet could give my bag a ‘luxury’ feel, something I want to achieve in my final design to avoid the typical ‘dowdiness’ associated with Sustainability. In my final sample, I really started to unlock the creative possibilities of combining collage and plastic. I created a basic collage from magazine tear-outs and stitched them into place with random, enhancing lines. I also experimented with writing directly onto the plastic in marker pen, which worked well and didn’t smudge. I like the idea of writing directly onto the plastic. I could combine this with ethics behind Sustainability? However, as the nature of my work is quite playful, I would like to experiment with the words I use and what thoughts they provoke. Linking my work back to Commes des garçons, I like how they package their products with labels such as ‘a dress’ which provides quite an ironic tone. Perhaps irony is something that I could explore within my own work. For the final sample, I looked at trapping items found in my fashion room that has been disposed of and not recycled. I could continue to explore this in more depth looking at more interesting items that I could re-use to enforce my subject.

Here I have created a mood-board to inspire my final plastic bag design and idea development. In particular, I looked at High-end designers who have used plastic to create fashionable bags. Designers such as Commes Des Garcons, D&G and Hermes used plastic for both their actual bag and often the packaging of their products as a design feature. I like how the material choice is the main feature of there bag but it also has subtleties such as text. I would possibly like to include this in my own designs to really reinforce my Sustainability message. I also like the idea of combining items that are seen as typically wasteful and which we replace frequently into the plastic either through trapping it or collaging to link my ideas back to the research I undertook into Consumerist culture.

All images from:

Commes Des Garcons

D&G

Hermes

‘Bobby Pin Art’ by Anna Bond

‘Rubbish Jewellery’ by Hollie paxton

As I have decided to start designing bags made from plastic material, I have decided to research whether there are actually any benefits towards using plastic in the fashion industry as it is often perceived as a material that impacts negatively upon the environment due to it often been found un-decomposed on landfills and polluting the ocean.

Through a quick internet search I came across this website http://www.curtec.com/en/sustainability-plastics who are a company who specialise in packaging for products. This company ‘CurTec’ state that there are benefits with regards to Sustainability when using plastics such as:

Although they are processed from natural materials which creates pollution, they are light-weight meaning that they can be transported with lower emissions produced

They are durable and strong and therefore long-lasting, meaning there is no need for hasty replacement

Although they are often disposed of irresponsibly, they can be recycled meaning that new products can be replaced over and over again

After conducting this research, it has shown me that plastic is an evident route to take when looking at sustainable materials, especially considering the characteristics needed when making a bag. By using plastic I can create something durable and long-lasting that can be recycled back down when it is un-needed or eventually broken.

Another blog I have chosen to look at which addresses issues of Sustainability is Lucy’s from lucywhiteheadcop2.tumblr.com Her initial research investigates designers who use playful and experimental approaches to fashion design, both in terms of fabric/material choice to the scale of their piece. An example being CSM graduate Hayley Grundmann who uses sponge to create knitted pieces.

Based on Lucy’s extensive research into textile based fashion designers, she has started to sample pieces looking at using sponge, weaving techniques and threading through mesh. I feel that by creating knitting samples in an innovative way with the use of contemporary colour palettes, she is adding invigoration to the knitting industry, which can often be typically viewed as ‘dowdy’. Sustainability is also something which can be viewed this way, and so her work could also change perceptions of this too.

I also like how Lucy has enriched her project conceptually by addressing issues of gender in her work as well as looking at hand-crafted techniques. I feel that by researching current Gucci collections, which are quite fluid between gender based fashion in terms of styles and prints, will inform her final accessory well. It would be interesting to perhaps design an item that can be worn by both genders? In terms of a final photograph, I think it would be cool to perhaps use two models to wear the same accessory, one boy one girl, to really enforce this concept. As gender is something which I am subtly addressing in my new media module, I have included a photograph which I found to be particularly interesting when exploring gender fluidity. Photography by Jork Weismann for Under The Influence magazine.

Another peer blog I’ve chosen to look at is Nat’s at natalieleongcop.tumblr.com Nat’s project focuses around how we as the consumer, define the choices we make in terms or what we do and what we buy. It brings to light how we interact with our surroundings in a negative way, yet her work also showcases a hopeful attitude to Sustainability in fashion where she states: ‘Sustainability and fashion can work together side by side quite effectively. There are many benefits in working with sustainable fashion- in a world where most people are trying to do better and prove that our planet matters by protesting against careless production.’.

I find this particularly interesting, as in my own research conducted for both my practical work and essay, there was a general negativity around fashion being sustainable. It is inspiring to see what fashion is typically seen as today, in a new light.

Nat’s work takes on a very conceptual aesthetic and meaning backed up by a great body of research through attending multiple, different exhibitions. I like how she has applied this extensive research to come up with an idea which addresses issues of Sustainability, such as our wasteful nature as a race, through the combination of wasteful items and the creation of a feeling of ‘uncomfortable-ness’ through the creation of ‘skin-like’ textures.

I think that Nat’s idea of creating gloves to highlight man’s negative impact upon the world is really considered and will definitely produce a really thoughtful final accessory. Although Nat’s accessory is still in development in terms of materials, fabrics, techniques and design, I think that her concept is really strong. To further her project, she could possibly continue to explore different materials to create her gloves. It would maybe be interesting to use alternative materials maybe like mod-rock to create something solid for the structure of her gloves, almost like a 3-D piece in itself informed from her many attended exhibitions? She could then perhaps apply texture through pressing items into the mod-rock whilst it is still wet? I think a solid structure would be really interesting to photograph also...

To gain a wider understanding for my own COP2 practical and blog work, I have looked at charlotteloasby.tumblr.com (a university peer’s) blog to gain knowledge and understanding of sustainable fashion from another perspective. Charlotte’s project is catered around ‘the manufacture and communication of an accessory based around the theme of “hand versus machine”’. Looking at the earlier stages of Charlotte’s blog, she has researched the idea of craftsmanship through attending the Louis Vuitton series III exhibition. Her research concluded that it takes over 100 hours of artisan skill to produce a Louis Vuitton bag, something which results in ‘exclusivity’ of the product alongside making it a luxury staple. I feel that this research will have helped direct Charlotte’s project from an early stage as she has already explored the benefits to creating an accessory by hand in comparison to that of mass production. This links closely to my own project, where I discovered that mass production by machine is not necessarily the best option within fashion production as not only does it generate waste, but it also propels a consumption based society that cannot be maintained sustainably.

In contrast to this, Charlotte also researched Julian Hawkes’ ‘Futuristic Footwear’ at the V&A ‘Pleasure and Pain’ exhibition. She discovered that accessories like shoes can be manufactured by machine to create innovative, conceptual pieces. For example, she discovered that a single piece of carbon fibre can be digitally printed to create a radical trainer design. In this instance, it suggests that perhaps machine production can be used to create one-off pieces also and not just mass production of generic products. This research helped inspire Charlotte into looking further into shoe design.

After exploring different methods of creating shoes from fabrics like paper and card, Charlotte started to look at using alternative fabrics to create something innovative and fresh. For instance, she started to look at the use of durable plastic within her work to create some form of packaging for her shoes. I find this particularly interesting from my own point of view as plastic is a fabric that I would like to explore in my own bag design. She has prototyped with recycled plastic bags to create new pieces. Although this is only in the early stages of development in Charlotte’s project, I feel that this is an interesting avenue to explore, especially from the perspective of a Communication student. It has also confirmed to me that I am on the rights lines of fabric choice in terms of current fashion trends and links to Sustainability.

To further her project, she could possibly start to design/rough sketch ideas of combining her packaging with her shoes to create an overall innovative piece. I feel that if she starts to sketch ideas down, it might start to inform what she could create in terms of samples and her eventual final accessory.

Here I have created some initial bag designs created as a result of my compiled research. From looking at both classic and current styles of bags it has helped me design with different shapes and features in mind. After a discussion with my tutor, I have become more interested in using plastic to create my bag. I thought that it might be interesting to trap typically wasteful items such as coke cans, hair grips etc to highlight our lack of consciousness about consuming and waste in today’s society. I could also make physical collages to trap in the plastic as well. I think that to inform my designs further, I could start to experiment with different types of plastic looking at ways I could trap items, construct a bag and possibly combine with other fabrics.

TO DO LIST

Research plastic and create samples

Refine design ideas further to come up with a conclusive design

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