GFW

Last week was graduate fashion week, where Colchester had a stand and my collection was exhibited. It was an amazing week and very overwhelming. All of the industry professionals go to the show to scout new designers and see the work of the graduates. I wasn't expecting a lot from it as there is so much competition and lots of graduates in one place!

However, I had some great positive feedback from lots of people who were interested in my work. This was a massive confidence boost. I made lots of contacts with the industry and interviews lined up with people that have contatced me! Very exciting!

I also sold a dress to River Island! They loved our college stand at River Island and I was so excited when they siad they wanted to buy my dress. It will be amazing to see my design in their stores, I can't wait!

Overall a brilliant week- so worth it! I now look forward to an exciting career as a designer!

Photoshoot!

I have now done my photoshoot which is really exciting. I was really fortunate to be able to use the studio at Matches where I am interning. We had a sensitive background colour of a light orange/cream which worked perfectly with my collection. The model was also amazing with super long legs and beautiful porceline skin with elegant features and dark hair. She did some really striking, elegant poses which fitted the mood of my collection really well,s till creating a 'fashion' look. Perfect!

Today I worked with the images on Photoshop putting poses of the same outfit together creating interesting juxtapositions. This shows lots of angles of the outfits and brings the images to life. My photos when finished will be going into a look book of my collection, which I am planning on keeping quite simple but effective with the strong striking images.

Keep looking to see finished images...

Photoshoot

I have been thinking of locations that I could do my photoshoot for a lookbook of my final collection. Looking at other looks books of brands I like, they tend to do it in a setting reflecting the theme of the collection. I like shoots where there is some relevance or meaning to it, but I also don't want it to be too busy with my busy prints...

As my collection is called floral queen, I thought I could either go with the floral theme or queen...

I like the idea of a field, and this beautiful field in Wivenhoe could be a possibility. It is full of flowers and would have a real summer feel. I like the idea, but am worried it might be too much with my colourful, busy prints and details...

This is Wivenhoe church, which is really elegant and vintage feeling, which goes with the theme of my collection. I like the idea of this, beause it is a more simple, neutral colour for a background...

A third idea I have is a brick wall with vine. This has a really English feel, which I like. I think this theme would go well, and is quite simple, however I'm still not sure if any of the locations are too much...

Another option would be to photograph my collection in the studio with a simple grey/white backdrop like with the David Lam photo, which I loved. I have a photographer who is going to do the shoot for me, so I now just need to decide on the location, a model and date.

http://sophiecpayne.blogspot.com/ - Sophie will be photographing my shoot.

Final Collection

My final collection is now coming to a finish! I have nearly made all my outfits now, just small things like fastenings and pieces to finish now. This is really exciting and quite a relief that it has all gone well and is nearly done! I am so happy with my collection and the fact that every piece looks just how I wanted it to- how I drew it - which I never imagined would happen so well.
There was a few things that I changed along the way, but nothing major. I didn't like the cuffs on one of my jackets as the frills looked a bit twee, and the collar also didn't work. I changed these to more simple leather binding which looks much better. I also had some problems with the hems of pleathing on one dress. The seams and undergraments were showing on each layer where the pleating had been sewn on the bottom. I had to do a lot fo un-picking, pinning, cutting and re-stitching to get this right, but it now looks great! There was also the hem of a jacket I had to unpick, cut and re-sew as it had dropped on one side. A few of the dresses in the silk satin did drop after cutting, so I had to leave them on the mannequin over-night then pin and cut the hems straight before hemming, These are small details that you don't think about or realise until you make in the right fabrics, and I have learnt a lot of things like this. It shows how important it is to plan and be organised because there are always things that come up that you didn't plan for that take time.

I have learnt so much through making my final collection, and I am so happy that it has all now come together well.

Matches

I started my internship at Matches today with Danielle. I think this is going to be a really great experience for me and I am going to learn so much from it. The Freda design team is very small, so I can get really involved, seeing how everything is done. At the moment Danielle is putting together the spring/ summer 2011 collection, which she now has a line up for. I looked through all her inspirations and found out lots about how she gets things done and the process of bringing together a collection. It is very classic, but with some interesting fabrics and prints which are still being designed.

Today I helped sort out some colours and fabric swatches to be sent to Hong Kong to be sourced, did some photocopying and tidying. I got to look around the Matches building including the amazing mail/internet warehouse! It is full of all of the clothes for the website sales, all beautiful designer pieces- Chole, Diane Von Furstenburg etc etc! Like a treasure chest of clothes- amazing!

I think I am going to get on well at Matches and look forward to getting more involved and learning more. Next week I might be able to help out on the Freda photoshoot, which will be really exciting!

Presentation

Today I did a 10 minute presentation to some of my peers and tutors about my final major project and my future career plans. I felt that it went quite well, and I covered what I wanted to in the time. I tried to be enthusiastic and passionate while talking about my work, but I'm not sure if it came across as much as I wanted it too. I always find it hard to be really confident and outgoing in presentations, but I did do my best and I think I get better every time. I think it was good that I was showing some of my work as well as the powerpoint slides as it made it feel more involved. I felt that I spoke quite fast and missed a few bits of out I wanted to say. However, overall it did go well, and I think I put across well what my porject is about and that I am passionate about it and my future plans.

Artsthread pages

I have been working on my final pages for artsthread today. I decided to have my four pages all of my final project as I feel this best reflects what I can do. I have an illustration page, design page, print page and mood page. I am happy that the pages show my work well, and any employer looking at my portfolio online will be able to see the range of skills that I have.

www.artsthread.co.uk/p/carlyminshull

David Lam Photograph

We got back our photo's from David Lam, from the photoshoot last week. I was really pleased with my photo, as it looks really elegant and shows off the outfit well. Yesterday we saw the brouchure layout , which will be using this photo for my page. It looks really good, and I am excited to see it finished. This will also be the image used on my postcard, so it is what will be promoting me, so I am really glad I love it.

I went for an interview today for an internship at Matches. Matches is a pretigious name in fashion, who have stores in London, stocking designer luxury fashion. They also have thier own label called Freda, which is a classic, luxury label. The internship is to work with the head designer, Danielle for 1 day a week. The interview went really well, and i got offered the place to start next week.

I am really excited to begin working at Matches. I love the elegant designs and luxurious fabrics they use. I think it will be a great experience working with Danielle, and I hope to learn lots about the industry and the brand.

Illustrations

I have been working on my illustraions this week for my portfolio. I wanted to have them quite lively but showing all the details in each outfit well. I did the drawings by hand, then painted the figure with watercolours. After this, I scanned the drawings into the computer, and filled the outfits with the prints I designed using Pohotshop. I think this works really well, showing a combination of hand-drawn and CAD techniques.

Artsthread

I have been putting together my portfolio pages for Artsthread, which is an online place for graduates to show their work and for the industry to look for employees.
Each student has thier own page, which you can upload 4 images to for your portfolio and a CV. It is a really good way to get your work seen by the industry, and it also promotes our college.

I have decided to use all my final project to put on my portfolio, as this is what best shows what I can do. I have put on pages of my illustrations, development, flats and prints.

www.artsthread.co.uk/p/carlyminshull

FMP progression

This week I have been carrying on with the making of my collection. I have now made 4 outfits, with 2 more to make, so I should be finished for when I want to to do my photoshoot of the whole collection. I have started thinking about where to do the shoot- maybe a manor house or something similar. However, I do need to do more research into where I can do it, who is going to photograph it and model the collection, which I will hopefully sort out this week.


I have also been working on my portfolio pages this week. Above is my development board for the project, which I have made quite busy with lots of different ideas to make it interesting to look at. I want it to show a range of my work to show how I have developed from initail ideas. This week I will be working on my illustration boards for the portfolio.

Hand and Lock

Last week I did a work placement at hand and lock embroidery studios. It was a really good week and I learnt a lot about the industry and what they do there. I entered the prize for embroidery which hand and lock do last year and got to the finalists. I love the details in hand embroidery and beading, and how it always looks so special.

I did many different jobs while on the work placement including beading shorts for n'dubz with swarovski crystals, which was cool. I prepared artwork for embroidery and learnt how a drawing is used to create a hand embroidered piece. I also did a lot of errands to collect or deliver items or buy ribbon/fabric. This was useful because I got to know where places were in London that I hadn't been before. I also helped with monogramming onto aprons for the national cafe, then got a free coffee and muffin when delivering them, which was nice!

They do lots at hand and lock, and seeing all their beautiful samples was really inspiring. The royal badges are delicately made with gold work, which has an amazing finish. They have a designer, Claire who designs some things in house for the client or sometimes the client will provide the design for them. I have learnt a lot about how a studio like this works and what they do, and feel a lot more confident when I do start work in the industry. I would enjoy working in a studio like this, but I would like to design myself still rather than just making.

Photoshoot!

I had my photoshoot today for my final collection. It went great and I am really happy with how the pictures look, David Lam, the photographer was amazing. I decided to shoot my 3rd dress, which I have just finished. I was originally going to do my first black dress with the golden/green jacket. However, this one is definately my favourite with the adorned beading on the neck and delicate shape... I decided to go for quite a dark edgy look for the make-up to give a contrast to the feminine, pretty dress. I love the make-up look, which is really strong on my dark model. Her eyes look beautiful. The hair looks quite boy-ish in the up-do, but makes a great contrast to the dress, giving an edgy look. I love it!

We went for an elegant sitting down pose to give a sophisticed, modern look. It shows off the dress really well and has a soft feel, which works great. The dress fit Hannah perfectly, so I was really happy. The sheer side panels look great on her tiny waist.

FMP Progression

I feel like the project is really progressing well now, as I have my final line up of 6 decided with prints and have started making this week. I got my digital printed fabric back on Tuesday, so I was able to start making. I was pleased with all the prints; they were mostly the correct scale I wanted apart from one which was slightly larger, but still works well. I also have my pleating, which looks really effective alongside the print. I am really excited to see the final pieces being made and brought to life.

Laser Cutting

This week I have been finalising my laser cut patterns and getting them ready to be sent off. I am having some patterns cut in leather from drawings I have done. Below is an example of leather laser-cut from one of the laser websites I have been looking up, and it seems to cut really well...
I was really inspired by Loewe's S/S 2010 collection, where a whole dress was delicately laser cut creating a lacey effect in the leather. It had a really interesting, detailed effect which I love, and aim to create in my leather pieces...

I found it has been a lot more difficult than I thought to get my images ready for cutting. They have to be in vector format to send off to the laser cutters, which means doing it in illustrator. I had my drawn patterns that I wanted cutting, but they needed to be copied and changed in illustrator to the correct sizes and formatting, etc which took quite a lot of time...

These are the drawings that I am going to get cut, and have prepared in the correct format. I wasn't able to do the third pattern I wanted for my jacket, because the pattern was too close together and complicated, so wouldn't work. I could draw a similar pattern again straight into illustrator, but this would take a lot of time, so I may consider doing something different for the panels I was going to have cut...

I am really pleased that I got the patterns done, because I have learnt a lot of new skills using illustrator. I had never used it before, but now I know some of the basics of how to draw and format etc, which will always be useful to me.

Toiling

This week I have been concentrating on the toiling of my designs for the final line up. Having now sent off my print designs to be digitally printed, I am hoping to start making when they come back this week, so my designs need to be perfected. I had done initial toile’s of most of my designs, but felt that most of them could be better and needed altering. Some things, I found, I have made more complicated then they needed to be. I have realised it is the more simple design shapes sometimes that can work better and are more effective. The flared dress below was one of my originals, which has panelling all the way round for a design feature, adding fullness and movement. However, I decided this was unnecessary, especially with the prints that will be going on the dress, and it would work the same without the panelling. It is small but important things like this that are found out when toiling, which highlights how much of an important part of the design process it is.


I have also been finalising and developing patterns for the leather to be laser cut in for some of my designs. These will be small details, such as a collar or hem, but I think should make a statement with the contrast to the fluid lines and soft fabrics and prints.

Balenciaga, Fall 2010

This is a really interesting dress by Balenciaga, with the lace effect hem detailing. The shaoe is very sinilar to some of the shapes I have been designing with the layers and volume in the skirt. I love the delicate felling of the outfit, and the lacey pattern is the effect I want to create with my laser cut leather details. I am inspired by the way the pattern at the bottom filters up the dress, and is repeated on both layers


I also find this an inspiring dress, with the interesting placement print against the pleated effect hem and neck and the contrasting sheer sleeves. there is lots of details in the feminine dress which makes it unique and special.

Zac Posen, Fall 2010

I love the bright, exciting prints in this recent collection by Zac Posen. The fuchia pink flowers on the black background really makes a statement and makes an effective all over print. This is a similar look to some of my prints.

I love the print on the light sheer dress, as it has a soft, feminine feeling and has a completely different look on the second outfit. The all-over print is effective on a consrtucted outfit, as you don't loose any of the print with it all over and bold.

Digital Printing

I have had back my digital print samples which I sent to the silk bureau last week. I am really pleased with them, and they are really effective on the silk satin and silk goergette fabrics that I chose. The colours have come out perfectly, and I now have a really good idea of what the collection might look like. The patterns I created are hand drawn and then manipulated on Photoshop, and I was concerned that the hand drawn quality might not be so good when blown up or printed. However, I was pleased that they all looked really clear and effective.

After getting back my prints, I have now chosen my final line up of designs with the print details for each outfit. I decided to choose mostly simple shapes for my garments as there is a lot of detail in the print and embellishment details, but was inspired by the 1920s and Chanel, so did include some interesting constructed and pleated detailing. The shapes and fabric are quite feminine, with light-weight goergette and satin for movement and a delicate summer mood.
On Friday I took a trip to London and went to Shepards Bush Market for my other fabrics. There will be pleating and some panels with no print, so I needed to buy some silk goergette and silk satin fabrics for this. I want to use silks, to make the collection feel really special and luxurious. There was some really good shops at Sheperds Bush, and I was able to get all the colours I needed in the right fabrics, so came away really happy.

From my initial research of the royal collection and the queens jewellery, I was really inspired by the diamonds and jewels. Along with my prints I will be having areas of beading on my outfits, inspired by this, to make the outfits really special.

This is a sample I did with swarovski crystals, which is really effective, giving a glamourous, sprakling effect. I love the swarovski crystals, because they are special and have an exquisite diamonte effect. While I was in London on Friday I went to the creative bead shop near carnaby street, where they have lots of different kinds of beautiful swarovski crystals to choose from, and brought a collection of them to decorate my outfits with.

FMP progression

My final project is progressing well, especially with my print designs. I have come up with many that I really like, and feel that it is changing the vision of my collection slightly as I go along. I was going to have lots of embellishment and embroidery detailing with the prints to compliment. However, as I am loving so many of the prints, and how they all go together I am wanting to use more of them, and maybe less or no embroidery, but still some embellishment for detail. It is very much going to be a bright and exciting collection with lots of detail, and I am happy with where this is going.
(all images subject to copyright)

Anna Sui

Anna Sui's latest fall 2010 collection is fabulous. I admire Sui for the detail and research that is put into her collections. She always achieves an exciting combination of prints, embellishment and craftmanship, creating eclectic mixes to admire. The symbolic meaning and values in her clothes really shines through which makes it very special, and is inspiring to me.

I paticulary like the bright colours and soft floral prints in this recent collection, which have a very feminine, ethernal feel.

The floral print on a sheer fabric is really effective, and has a soft, delicate feel. This collection has an almost vintage feeling, with the colours and mixture of art deco and floral prints, which I like. This is the mood I am going for with my current collection.

I love the embellished dress, which has 1920s references with the dropped waist and shaped hem. I admire the way delicate embelllishment and bright, exciting prints are combined in one collection, and it is this mix that I aim to create, but brought together in one outfit for more of a statement.

Mary Katrantzou Fall 2010

I have discovered Mary's new collection for fall 2010, which I can relate a lot to my collection. I love the way she has used jewellery in her prints, which is what I have been doing, but she has also successfuly made them come to life with embellishments. I like they way she has used metal and crystals to enhance the jewellery prints, and also combined them with abstract print backgrounds. The vibrant colours and detail in the garments as well as the construction details all make it a really successful collection...

I love the beaded and embellished jewellery created on the sheer neckline of the garment above, and the way she has created the illusion of surface textures with the print below.




www.style.com

FMP progression

This is my inspiration wall, which now has a more refined direction. Erdems s/s '10 collection has become a large influence for print and floral ideas. I love the bold colours and the way the florals are filtered out and combined with lace detailing. I adore the bejewelled decoration of Mui Mui's collection, with crystals and delicate colours, which has an expensive, glamourous feel. Loewe's s/s 10 collection has also inspired me, as I want to do some laser cutting in leather, which has been delicately achieved in his collection...


I now have a final colour story, which was taken from a painting I saw at the Royal Collection, and also links with the pallette from the trends boards of s/s 2011. I decided to use quite soft, warm tones, with accents of tomatoe red/pink and kahaki and contrasting black as a base colour for boldness. My fabrics have also been choosen, which include indulgent laces which I brought in Paris, satin silk, silk chiffon, silk goergette and soft leather. I got some pleated samples from Cement pleaters to see which type of pleats I want to use in my collection. They sent me a really good range, but the ones I particulary liked are on my wall, which include the accordian pleat and folded pleat in small sizes...

Copyright
I feel like I am really getting somewhere with my print designs now, and that the collection is starting to come together well. This is one of the prints that I have been working on, and is one of my favourites, because it is bold but still feminine and delicate. The hand drawn flowers work really well once they have been filled in with colour on photoshop, and in repeat of different scales is quite effective...



These are the lace fabrics which I brought in Paris, which are beautifully embellished into to create detail and pattern. This effect is what I love, as it looks really special and feminine. I love the rich, warm colours and edge detailing, which I think would look great as a sleeve or hem.