My theme is animal skin and I associated it with identity because I
believe the use of animal print is a good example of how we communicate our
personality via borrowed image and its associations. I started with researching
into artist who worked with the concept of identity. I discovered that it is a
huge and complex subject, which could be approached from different angles
(psychological approach by Lois Bourgeois, sociological approach by Grayson
Perry, personal and gendered approach by Cindy Sherman etc.) I realized that
for me to tackle the subject I need to approach it in simpler terms. I also
researched the use of animal skin in fashion. I really liked Alexander McQueen
designs, how he used multiple patterns and colors to enhance the shape of the garments.
My strategy to simplify has two elements:
- Narrow down the visual source (to reptile skin -iguana)
- Note down the words/adjectives which are associated with animal skin and identity then come up with visual representation for them: Animal skin: wild, daring, sophisticated, glamorous, edgy… Identity: constructed, fragmented, vulnerable, robust ever-changing, layered…
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| Saadet Payne |
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| Saadet Payne |
I started sketching reptile skin particularly iguana. I chose one
image and worked on it, with different media, water-colour, collage, charcoal,
ink, etc. Soon I realised the cellular structure of the skin and its multiple
geometric shapes. It is like a grid. I decided to work with this and produced
some close up drawings.
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| Saadet Payne - Close up Drawing |
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| Saadet Payne - Close up |
Then I decided to have a go at printing, machine
embroidering and smocking. Hence fabric manipulation via smocking produces very
cellular, repetitive, raised surface structure, which I thought would represent
reptile skin nicely. And the whole process of construction a surface bit by bit,
I thought, would sit nicely with construction of identity. I haven’t tried smocking before. Resources
from following websites were useful with instructions and stitch patterns:
At this point I am thinking to combine machine embroidery and
smocking together, planning of making a clutch bag.
I stared to make some surface designs for it. I experimented with
different fabrics (cotton, cotton voile, organza, and silk). I began with
colors loyal to my visual source (blues, yellows, greens). I dyed the organza
and the interfacing two different colors and sandwiched them. I bondaweb-ed
cotton with organza.
After couple of failed attempts with machine embroidery and printing
I felt a little disappointed and lost. The machine embroidery over smocking
samples were not good enough and prints were not that exciting. I didn’t want
re-produce the same animal prints that can be found in mainstream fashion. I
also realized that reptile skin is almost always used in accessories as bags, and
belts. So this route is becoming to be unappealing. I am not sure about colours either.
After a little break from the project, I tried to look with fresh
approach and decided to make a snood,
wrap. I felt this was a little risky because making a surface for a clutch bag would have given me the opportunity to really add on the surface more layers and
textures and colors. Now it is a wearable, I felt that it needs to be subtler.
From there on the object of design dictated the decisions: fabric
(silk), colors, shape. Back to researching again trying to understand how designers
used fabric manipulations (and smoking) in recent catwalk. Traditionally
smocking is employed in children’s dresses and cushons. Surprisingly smocking is not widely
used in mainstream now. I guess because hand sewing is not suitable for mass
production and the amount of material used for smocking doesn’t make the cost of the garment competitive in a fast paced inexpensive fashion turnaround. I think
smocking can be perfect for haute couture or costume applications. Here is a
costume example from TV drama series Games of Thrones.
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| Costume from TV Drama - Games of Thrones |
There are however interesting designers who used various
fabric manipulation techniques to produce very cutting edge, sculpted and
adventurous garments. I liked the work of following designers:
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| Iris Van Herpen Design |
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| Iris Van Herpen Design |
Iris Van Herpen: working with laser cutting, 3D printing, she
produces very sharp yet feminine designs. Some of her garments look very
Alexander McQueen-esque!
Some of her other garments reminds me of computer graphics; curtsey
of 3D printing. Her innovative techniques explore new production possibilities
which I am sure, will soon feed into high street fashion soon.
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| Alexander Wang - Vouge February 2015 |
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| Alexander Wang - Collection for Balenciaga |
Alexander Wang: His latest collection for Balenciaga has crisp
geometric lines (with cording, fold/pleating, cutting out, some smocking). Yet
fluid and feminine; sporty glamour look.
Liu Fang: Her knitted garments are very sculpted, strong and
unusual. We associate knitwear with loose form yet her fabric manipulation
creates very definitive shapes. She creates a contrast by using soft cashmere
to achieve a strong definitive form. I only uses natural color of cashmere.
Looking at all works of all these designers; I can see one some
common grounds: when designers use fabric manipulation it is the main design
element muting other elements like color and pattern. The form achieved via
fabric manipulation is there to take the center stage.
I think I have spent most of my time researching but I guess it is
an essential part of the learning process. After some consideration, I finalised my colour palate, dyed my
fabrics and started constructing my piece. It was slow steady work. I decided
that smocking produces very geometric structure and I wanted to introduce some
organic element to it.
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| Saadet Payne - Outline design |
I am planning 3 pieces put together with some beading at the very
end. I am using two colours (grey and yellow). I am using silk. It is an
expensive choice but I bought Chinese silk, which is much cheaper. Smocking with
cotton can produce a hard surface; this would be ideal for clutch bag but not
so much with wrap. It still needs to be soft. I experimented with cotton voile,
much softer, but didn’t have the shine. I must have the light reflecting shine
referencing to my beloved iguana skin.
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| Saadet Payne - Cording, pleating, cutting experiments |
I sketched the outlines of the design of 3-piece fabric put
together. The piece will have two faces. The back will be the same as the
front. 2 pieces will be smocked with 2 plain colours. I am not quite sure
about the middle bit. I tried cording and cutting/slashing with not much
success. To introduce some chaos and organic nature to my geometric smocked
pieces, I decided to play with uneven pleating.
At the beginning I was thinking to use printing and embroidery but I
ended up with all fabric-manipulated cloth. Here is the final result.
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| Saadet Payne -Final Piece |
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| Saadet Payne - Detail from Final Piece |
The whole design process had twists and turns, joys and disappointments,
trials and fails. I tried my best to use this as a learning opportunity having a
go at techniques. I was much slower then I liked partly because at this stage
my visual predictions of ‘how a certain technique will turn out’ are still
premature. Same can be said about my ability to master the techniques. I am
happy with the result but I fear it may be too simple. But keeping it simple
was a conscious decision. I wanted to produce something that could be sold in a
shop and be worn by someone. Something that can be used multiple ways, wrap,
snood, scarf… I wanted to make the user feel glamorous, adventurous, and cozy, with
a touch of luxury. I wanted to make her comfortable in her own skin.
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| Saadet Payne - Final Piece |
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| Saadet Payne - Final Piece |
I probably travelled further away from my starting point. I tried not to be too representative yet hopefully managed to incorporate some elements of the original concept. I could have used my prints as well. If I were to do this again I would try printing route again with maybe different printing techniques (wax resist, screen printing or maybe working on the piece as if an artwork and then photo printing it onto silk etc..). As I mentioned this is a huge subject open to many approaches.
I really hope I have done enough to pass. I'd like to call the final piece "The Armour".
Now I am looking forward to
my next course already.
