Applied Fashion Design- Briefing

We were fully briefed at the beginning of 2nd year.
The brief consisted of a brand evaluation on a chosen contemporary brand.
Creating a trend book (for designers) inspired by our summer research and relevant WGSN information.
We were then to design from our trend book for our chosen brand and produce a final collection of six outfits (including 6 tailored or denim pieces.)
6 stylised fashion illustrations were to be produced to illustrate each outfit, technical flats of garments to accompany the illustrations.
Finally we were to give a presentation to the 'head of design' at our chosen brand using PowerPoint, informing them about our trend and collection and why it should go in store.

I chose French Connection to produce my Brand Evaluation on and produced a very thorough evaluation including:
Brand History, Customer Profile, Shop layout, Trends and colours, Key silhouettes and fabrics, Pricing and labelling and finally, Marketing and Advertisement. This helped enormously when designing for their brand as I achieved a huge amount of knowledge and understanding of their brand.

I am very proud of my trend book and the majority of imagery used was my own; this stemmed from the thorough research I produced. The majority of my trend book was hand crafted and overall it looked professional, however I would like to improve the quality of professionalism in future projects (further use of CAD.)

Designing from my trend book came easier than I predicted, After producing my trend book I had a clear vision of the collection I wanted to produce. I do find designing quite taxing, as its easy to loose focus and go off on a tangent. However producing a 'collection action plan' beforehand was most helpful.

I was daunted at the idea of producing 6 fashion illustrations, as drawing is not a strong area of mine. However I researched into this and adopted a child-like style (Rodarte) to reinforce my trend. I am pleased with my illustrations and the way in which they are presented simplistically. Improvements on the rendering of my fabrics is something I should be working on in future modules.

Finally, my presentation went smoothly, i was nervous beforehand but had a clear vision of my trend and confidence in my collection. I merely shared this information with my audience and answered any criticisms I thought they would have (for example the light cotton fabrics for winter use were justified with the use of layering.)

A few of my research pages...

Applied Fashion Design- Summer Task

During the summer 2010, we were set a pre-module task to be completed during summer and before the beginning of 2nd year.

The tasks consisted of: 6 or more A3 research pages on a chosen word and including 'cool hunting.' A fabric swatch file with swatches relevant to my research, detailing fabric suppliers and prices and details of all swatches. The final task was to illustrate a dynamic 'cool hunting' image taken from the research in 3 different styles.

I chose the word 'Modern-rural' and thoroughly enjoyed the research stage. Because I had the summer and the luxury of time to complete my research I was able to collate ample imagery and sift through to pick which was relevant. I explored farmyard living and scenery, the modern farmers wife, afternoon tea and today's brands which are inspired by these; mainly Cath Kidston and Jack Wills.

I am very proud of my research and produced 9 pages, I have struggled with research in the past, however I steered the term 'Modern rural' to incorporate a theme I am very passionate about (the world of cake baking and afternoon tea!)

I found the 'cool hunting' a struggle, as it is extremely time consuming looking for people dressed in a certain trend and not always possible to take their picture. However I used my initiative and styled a friend using the new autumn/winter stock available.

Sum-up of being a 3rd year's design assistant!

I really enjoyed working with my 3rd year and feel I have picked up some useful techniques from her with regards to time management, presentation and page layout skills. Most importantly I realise it's essential to focus on a concept you are strongly passionate about and the amount of work will not be noticed as much!

3rd year's design assistant - 19th May

Completed Tasks...

AM: I went into Leeds city centre with a big shopping list my 3rd year had produced for me, I managed to source everything and in the budget she gave me!

Shopping list included:

• Straws - Silver, black or gold (for her model shop.)
• Metallic Silver paper (for her model shop.)
• Small brown card gift box with lid (for her event invitations.)
• Transfer printer paper (for transferring her logo onto fabrics.)
• Notice board pins.
• 3 metres of thin black ribbon

PM: I cut down the black straws to make 'curtain poles' for her model shop. I threaded them through the jersey 'curtains' she had made and fitted them into the 'fitting rooms' of the model shop. I then cut down the metallic paper to make a 'mirror' for each 'fitting room' in the model shop.

What I had learnt: Admiring her shop I realised just how much time and effort it must have taken to plan and produce such a detailed model shop.

3rd year's design assistant - 12th May

Alexander Wang and Sonia Rykiel also created urban/sports inspired garments.

Completed Tasks...

AM: I sourced Internet images relating to her collection (urban/sporty) for my 3rd years mood boards. She was to design extra items (underwear and accessories) to accompany her collection within her shop.

PM: Prepared brown paper A4 sheets to print my 3rd year's final swing tags on. Produced variations of swing ties; plaited string, loops, slip-knot etc. Together we decided on the plait as this looked the best and corresponded with her other bags and boxes she had made.

What I had learnt: It is essential to try out variations, otherwise you have not experimented and there may be a more suitable option than the one you first decided on.

3rd year design assistant - 5th May

Tower Works. The wall on the right provided the run-down urban look my 3rd year wanted to reflect her collection.

Completed Tasks...





AM: I pressed all garments and trimmed all threads in preparation for the photo shoot. My 3rd year had an idea of the location for her photo shoot, we researched the location together on the Internet and decided it was a place called Tower Works, Holbeck near Leeds train station.


PM: Founded the photo shoot location and transported all the garments and props (lace masks and shoes) down.
The photo shoot took place and I had an input with ideas and possible poses to reflect her collection.


What I had learnt: How to improvise- to achieve the best possible photos (dynamic poses against a powerful background) without damaging the garments.