Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Sketches that has been approved

Here are a few sketches that has been approved by my client. These sketches needs to be worked on further. From the feedback i received, it was evident that my client wants a few dominant characteristics for the garments...
- The garments should be feminine which means more frills, pleats, gathers etc.
- Use of more than one fabric.
- Use of textures.
- Emphasis on necklines.
- Layering

The images below are just the silhouettes ..

Thursday, July 22, 2010

New Moodboards

Few features of Art Deco :
- sweeping curves
- strong sense of lines
- long horizontal lines
- geometric shapes
- Chevron Patterns
- Sunburst Motifs
- Bands of colors





Art Deco 1930's fashion









Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Updates

Sketches of the silhouettes for the garments are ready. I had called Mrs.Bina Rao. I will be meeting her on Saturday to show her the sketches and collect the fabric....
For the time being, i will be looking for more inspirational images for the theme BEAUTIFUL OLD and rework on the moodboard.

While brainstorming more on the theme, I came across Fashion history in my mind map.
I revisited the notes of the course we had on Fashion History.The 1930's fashion seemed appealing to me. The Art Deco Movement during the period influenced every sphere including fashion.
Please visit the Links and Research page for more updates.



What i intend to do now is make a fresh set of silhouettes, drawing inspiration from the 1930's fashion and the Art deco Pattern.


26-07-2010

I haven't got an opportunity to get my designs approved by my client, but have managed to get hold of some fabric (around 15 end bits).

Here are some possible fabric combination's:



Thursday, July 15, 2010

Things to be done in the next couple of days

Here are a few themes i have chosen :

I have chosen the themes keeping in mind the variety of textures i can create during the iterating stage of my project.

- Rickshaw art in India
- Flea market in India
- Fish Market in India
- Indian Spice Box
- Traditional dance attire
- Indian Gods and Goddess
- Old Buildings, creepers etc.
- Caves
- Architecture - historical buildings, jaali etc
- Gajra - a traditional accessory of India - This can inspire a 'White on White' collection for the middle age,older generation.
- Minimalism - this can also inspire a collection for the middle age, older generation.

The next steps are:
- Research for images
- Create moodboards
- Choose 2-3 themes which I am most drawn to.
- Initial sketches of what the fabric will look like with detailing as to what techniques will be used.
- Initial sketches for the silhouettes.
- Meet Mrs.Bina Rao to show her the work for her approval.
- Rework on the themes depending on her feedback.
- Collect the waste from Creative Bee.
- Start iterating with fabric.


Initial Mood boards

1. Mood board for the theme Rickshaw Art




2. Beautiful Old






3. Fish Market



4. Gajra - traditional indian accessory,white on white, shapes, pattern, highlights



5. Flea Market style - colours, vibrant, mix and match, beads, mirrors, patchwork.



6. Indian Spice Box - Colours, Textures



I am going forward with the theme of BEAUTIFUL OLD. The attempt here is to keep the designs of the garments simple and nothing flashy which is what i had observed the trend in the studio. The garments are simple yet the textures, feel of the fabric are unique...

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

This was yesterday..its a different story today

12-07-2010 Monday
It was the first day of work in Creative Bee. I reached the studio, completely exhausted, battling my way through the thick traffic of Hyderabad. Added to that, I am a complete stranger to the roads. Every street looked similar, every turn gave a feeling that I was going through the place over and over again. I was lost in the roads of Hyderabad and it took me an extra 45 minutes to figure out the correct road, even if I have been to the studio once before.
After I reached the place, I had a discussion with Mrs. Bina Rao about some of the queries that I had.
Here I have listed down the main points discussed.
- The collection will be a one time product since it will be made out of end bits of cloth.
- The age group that Creative Bee caters to is between 30 to 50 years. But I can make a collection for the younger generation (20 to 30 years).
- She had advised me to get acquainted to the standard measurements of the garments.
- She would like to see the sketches of the garments soon.
- She briefed me a little about the archival work. It seemed to be great lot of work.
- As of now, I won’t be given a stipend.
Later I took a look at the end bits of fabric. There are a wide variety of fabric in terms of material, weave, print and color.
The dominant materials used for fabric are:
Cotton, cotton silk, raw silk, filature silk, uppada silk, tussar silk, chiffon.
Different types of weaves are used to create textures and then printed with natural dyes.
Kalamkari is used for a major section of the products.
Some observations (referring to the IDEO research methods – A fly on the wall)
- Few customers came in. There were 3 in fact. None of them bought anything, mainly because of the price.
- People were not aware why the price range was high. One of them didn’t understand why using everything natural made products expensive.
- The older generation (around 50) preferred mainly whites and lighter tones. They looked for textured fabric and cotton. They preferred lighter material yet not transparent.
- The younger generation (20 to 25 years) preferred deeper colors like maroon, dark blue with gold khari prints. But they were skeptical about the longevity of the gold prints. They liked transparent, light weight material.

Friday, July 09, 2010

Diploma Project Proposal

Diploma Project Proposal – Client Project
Moumita Deb
Textile Design 2010

 To develop Textile surfaces for a Collection of Garments keeping in mind the clientele of CREATIVE BEE, HYDERABAD using Textile Waste(end bits of fabric) in combination with other fabric – up cycling.


About Creative Bee
Creative Bee the Design Studio is a self-sustained commercial organization with an in-house facility for Designing, Production and Marketing. It is the firm’s mission, here at Creative Bee to conserve and promote the rich heritage of India.

Creative Bee Foundation
The Creative Bee Foundation is a Trust dedicated to helping artisans develop good quality and highly finished Craft products, which can be marketed in “Life Style” stores. It also focuses at imparting training to upgrade skill so as to extend support to improve their Livelihood, Health and Education.


Context

Production of any sort is always associated with some form of pollution. Perspective of age old days: the population was less, needs were few and resources were abundant. Consumerism which can be taken as a major cause for any kind of environmental issue, was less. The generation of waste was such that it got naturally recycled, being mostly biodegradable. Conversely, after the advent of industrial revolution different types of wastes came into existence which are often both non-biodegradable and highly hazardous. The Textile industry is no different. It is also one of the largest contributors to the industrial waste as well as in the production of waste at an individual level. Commercially, textile waste generation is influenced by the production of textile goods. Higher the production, the greater the amount of waste. This is in turn a function of consumer demand, which is influenced by the state of the economy. While this may have a limited impact on the waste production in the manufacturing sector, it can have a much greater influence on the production of household textile waste. People tend to discard their clothes and keep themselves well in-fashion by adopting the present trend in the market.

What can be done to reduce Textile waste?
What can be done to increase the life span of the clothes we designers make for our clients?

• One solution is to use the waste as raw materials- upcycling

• Changing the relationship that the consumer has with the Textile product. This will increase the life-span of the Textile product. This can be done by making the product unique and valuable.

How does the product become unique?
- By using a technique which is exquisite and unique. People tend to posses products which are a symbl of uniqueness. This serves their emotional need of high esteem in the society.
- the Textile product is still trendy and smart.



Key topics and questions
  • Understanding the clientele of Creative Bee.
  • How to use the end bits effectively which will eventually reduce the cost of production.
  • How to make the products cost-competitive in the market?

The Target Segment

The brief from the client is to create a line of garments for the age group of 20-30 years.


The Collection

While trying to understand the generation and designing for them, some key words which will define the aesthetics of the collection are:
- Unique, Individual
- Fun, Trendy, Vibrant
- Beauty.

- Up Cycling
- Quality




Process and Methods
- I will be designing a collection of garments for Mrs. Bina Rao of Creative Bee. She will lend me access to the to the end bits and other fabric.
- Collection of the end bits.
- Collect other materials which are complimentary with the end bits.
- Combine the end bits to create the surface for the products. Textiles Techniques like weaving, patch work, off-loom techniques can be used. Iterate for different possible surfaces.
- Iterations for the products.
- Prototyping



Resources

• Internet
Sites for e.g.
http://www.ecouterre.com/
http://www.iittala.com/
http://www.greenfashion.eu/
http://www.treehugger.com/
http://www.kalamkariart.org/
• Books : Recycling in textiles - Edited by Y Wang, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~yw6/Fiberrecycling/Recycling%20in%20Textiles%20YWang%20Ch1.pdf
• Interviews with representatives of the target segment.
• All the material resources and production process will be provided by Creative Bee.