Proposal

Beginning FAD, I was able to experience different pathways and ways of working. This allowed me to work with students from varied disciplines and art backgrounds. Acquiring new skills, my work is continually developing, using media that I have never had the opportunity to use before.

This year I was able to make my first collection of garments, I believe them to be very successful. I have worked hard throughout the year so far and this dedication has paid off meaning I have been selected for a place at University. During this process I developed ideas for a future project working with the idea of derelict buildings, with the final project I intend to incorporate this theme exploring its full potential.

 After searching blogs and websites for buildings of interest, I found an ‘urban explorer` based in Preston. A brewery in Lancaster was particularly appealing to me; after initial contact and portfolio artwork submission, I was eventually told of the location and given the opportunity of a guided tour. Expecting it to be fairly derelict, since its closure around 1997, the brewery was surprisingly still intact. I now have many primary photographs to work from, using typography and beer memorabilia, but also the found objects. My photographs form the initial basis of my designs, from surface design to construction; they will be what I work from and heavily influence my work. I have already conducted artist research; some are more fine art based, some textiles and some fashion designers. Artists such as Jeff Keen and Elizabeth Couzins-Scott, fashion designers and houses such as KTZ and Aitor Thorpe; will all influence the work I produce.

In my outcomes for the exhibition I intend to create a minimum of one complete garment that focuses around the idea of androgynous fashion and construction techniques.  The sampling and development will use structured masculine features, with aspects of suit style like that of KTZ. The garment will be  worn by either a male or female and will be fitted to neither. I feel that this is a modern outlook on the world of fashion, that clothing can be shapeless but stylish at the same time.

Constant evaluation is essential to improve and work with new ideas which will be present in the blog and occasionally my sketchbook. I will be looking for ways to improve my samples throughout the development of ideas and investigate the potential in the techniques I use. By critically evaluating designs and samples I can work to the best of my ability. Peer evaluation can alter and adapt designs, as they suggest new artists and designers to look at. Tutorials are a useful way of gaining feedback and discovering new ideas for sampling and design, they often suggest artist and designers to further improve work and support my final outcomes and exhibition of fashion.