Week 15
26,27/01/09
This week We had another tutorial with our design tutor Azleen, she helped me chose a final design for the sports project and told me to develop the idea.
We also got our results back from the work completed in pattern cutting, construction and design from the first term, i was pleased with my results and passed with 59 for PCCP and 61 for Design.
This week we started the topic of Buying and Merchandising which we are being taught by Joe Everett, I really enjoyed the presentation as this is the area I am most interested in and I am eager to learn more.

¡ 3 million people in the UK are involved in retail
¡ Over £600m per week is spent on clothing and footwear in the Uk
¡ Ladieswear is the biggest market, followed by Menswear, then Kidswear

Critical Path- is the tool that makes sure the stock comes in on time.

Merchandiser - Buyer Accountant

It is not where you start from that is important, it is where you end up!!!

‘Any era-defining cultural event, style or catchphrase will always reappear in some sartorial form or another. As well, when it does reappear whatever the form, the point is almost always different.’ - March 5th, 2008 Milan Fashion Week

It’s how you make use of what you have that will enhance your fashion statement.

Week 14

19,20.21,22,23

During this week we had another tutorial, the tutorials are extremely beneficial and help me a lot with my project, I am really enjoying the Sport Vs Fashion project, I have decided to collaborate with K-Swiss as they have a very small collection of women’s attire and I feel my designs will bring a new style to there collection. I have decided to design and make a jumpsuit getting inspiration from the sport tennis and the Yves Saint Laurent collection.

We had the Presentations of the Fashion Capitals which I found very useful as I learnt a lot of new things about each country, we chose Paris and i researched the designers.

We started Lectra computer Pattern cutting Last week and I am enjoying learning the techniques and skills it involves, it can be confusing but I’m sure after time I will get the hang of it.

Presentation:

-Here is some of the information from the presention on paris:

French Designers

Yves Saint Laurent...”The King of Fashion”

•Yves Saint Laurent was a French fashion designer who was considered one of the greatest figures in French fashion in the 20th century..
•"The most consistently celebrated and influential designer of the past twenty-five years, Yves Saint Laurent can be credited with both spurring the couture's rise from its sixties ashes and with finally rendering ready-to-wear reputable".
•Yves Saint Laurent, who retired in 2002, changed the way women dressed when he launched his label in 1962. He put them in mannish pant-suits with square shoulders, smoking jackets, safari jackets, and tuxedos, but softened the androgyny with billowy peasant blouses and fitted, flouncy couture gowns in dramatic colours.
•New designer Stefano Pilati is bringing it all back home, returning to those YSL classics and making.
•The Past and the PresentIn 1954, Saint Laurent went immediately to work for Christian Dior. Saint Laurent became Haute Couture designer when Dior died in 1957.

Chanel

• "Coco" Chanel has signed new designs and revolutionized the fashion industry by going "back to basics", incorporating elegance, class, and originality.
• Under her tight reign from 1909-1971, Coco Chanel held the title as ‘Chief Designer’ until her death on January 10.
• In 1983, Lagerfeld took over as chief designer for Chanel.
• He changed Chanel's fashion lines from the old lines to shorter cuts and eye capturing designs.
• During the 1980s, more than 40 Chanel boutiques were opened up worldwide.
• Coco Chanel revolutionized haute couture fashion by replacing the traditional corseted silhouette with the comfort of simple suits and long, lean dresses.
• The years of the 1920s and 1930s will best be remembered as the era of Coco whose simpler lines of women's couture led to the popular "flat-chested" look of the 1920s.
• Her clothing was relaxed and changed the way women dressed for outdoor leisure.
• Coco omitted corsets, liberating women and creating more comfort. Contemporary Fashion states, "She dressed the modern woman in clothes for a lifestyle.“
• Coco is credited for making jersey (a soft elasticated knit used for undergarments) a new fashion fabric. Her jersey dresses in navy and gray were cut to flatter the figure rather than to emphasize and distort the natural body shape.

Louis Vuitton

• Is sometimes shortened to LV, it is a luxury fashion and leather goods brand and company.
• Known especially for bags and trunks, the company collaborates with prominent figures for marketing and design (most notably supermodel Gisele Bündchen and fashion designer Marc Jacobs).
• Internationally renowned and highly regarded for name recognition in the fashion world, as a result LV has become one of the most counterfeited contemporary luxury brands.

I really enjoyed researching into french fashion designers and feel i have gained a lot of knowledge from it.

week 13
12,13,14,15/01/09

During this week we had our deadline on Monday for all of our design work from the first term, which I had managed to complete and hand in on time which I was very pleased about!
On Tuesday we completed some work on the Paris presentation, Lucy and I researched into French designers, I like this presentation as it is increasing my knowledge on fashion in Paris. We also modelled the second year jackets which I found really useful as we got to see the work they have to do, and it gives me a chance to see what I will be doing next year.
Today our course leader talked to us about the importance of c.v's and letters when applying for a job, this was really helpful.

‘You never get a second chance to make a first impression’

Curriculum vitae comes from the Latin meaning ‘the course of your life’

week 12
4 , 5/01/09

The First week back feels strange returning after adjusting to life at home, although it’s nice to see friends.
On the first day back we had tutorials with our new tutor Azleen for the final project Fashion Vs Sport, we were in groups of 5 and I found it really helpful to share ideas and be pointed in the right direction, I have decided to look into sportswear for women’s tennis and research into appropriate fabrics.
On Tuesday we had PPRD, we were put into groups and were asked to complete a PowerPoint presentation either on New York, Paris, London, or Milan or any other fashion capitals of our choice. We chose Paris; I am going research French fashion designers.

French fashion sets the trends with icons such as Chanel, Christian Dior, Hermes, Jean-Paul Gautier, Louis Vuitton and Yves Saint Laurent.



PPRD

Clothes create a wordless means of communication that we all understand.

Function Form Fantasy Subliminal Comfort Identity Religion Self Expression


Popular fashion trends are close to impossible to trace


Does what we wear define us????

It does to a point. Although clothes can say a lot about a person, they don’t tell the whole story of who you are.
The choice in dressing up is as complicated as the person you are, I don’t think dressing up has to be only for special occasions.
I think it is typical for people to judge somebody by their appearance, however appearances can be deceiving.
I do think what you wear is both consciously and subconsciously a way of trying to express yourself, it tells us how you feel about yourself, if you are revealing a lot of your body then you feel comfortable with yourself if you cover up with a unflattering baggy jumper you clearly don’t like your body.
If you saw a person walking down the street in a bright pink jumpsuit then you would look twice, this would mean the person wants attention and wants to be noticed.
If you wear all black this portrays depression and an element of gloom.
Today people are labelled and categorised by the clothes they wear, such as Goth, Emo, Townie, chav and Trendy.

Experiment with clothes and use your imagination!