MIX-MEDIA CONCEPTS

I combined my photographs from the studio shoot with my illustrations on photoshop, to compare the original designs with the garment outcomes. I think the wire visor / mask makes these particularly strong. I think the mix-media aspect shows off the concept well, as both a fashion piece as well as an art piece.

STUDIO PHOTOSHOOT: FABRIC OVER FRAME

I stretched a large piece of red stretch-chiffon over a frame and got a model to pose behind it. The studio was lit from the ground to the height of the frame. Megan posed behind the frame and put her hands through the fabric creating shade and texture. I wanted the hands to symbolise destress, like many images I have seen through my research into protest movements. 

I tried different methods of creating a single image using the several I took - But the most successful method was by layering the images, and using the clone tool to blur out Megan except for her hands. I think the number of hands indicate a group protest, and could represent varying scales of conflict - From a literal number, 10-12 people, to mass unrest. The feedback I got from my tutor was that the layering could suggest not only the number of participants but also the passage of time. 

I like that this links back to my original stance on the project, where as my textiles and menswear work focuses on the military side of unrest, this links back to the opposing, protest side.

STUDIO PHOTOSHOOT: GARMENTS

I booked out the photography studio to shoot my garments. I think these photographs work well as an initial set of photographs, they show off the detail and overall style of the garments, I would however, like to do a second set of more stylized photographs out of the studio - where more thought goes into the setting and positions / poses of the models, which I hadn't properly planned for this first shoot.

I had help from of a couple of photographers to set up the lighting in the studio and frame the images. The main focus of this first set with Ibby, was the woven bullet-proof vest inspired piece. The trousers were sort of lost behind the prominent vest. For a next shoot, I would like to show the trousers more, if styled with military-type boots, they would become a more noticeable piece, also if the camera angle was lowered or adjusted looking up.

The second set with Joe, showed off the jumpsuit / overalls over the dyed-muslin top, we tried different angles to present the garments and the wire, riot-mask-inspired visor. The lighting was also adjusted part-way through to back-light the model. 

The third set were taken to capture the potential for the motion of woven vest. The camera was set to a lower shutter speed, and Ibby turned on the spot to move the tied tassels on the vest. I like the blurry, surreal effect of this last set of images.

RICHARD KILROY INSPIRED ILLUSTRATIONS

These are some illustrations of my designs. I took inspiration from the Richard Kilroy's style of illustration. I loved his photorealistic style, contrasting to bold colours and shapes. For my own illustrations I drew out and shaded images of models I found from Vogue. Then drew my own designs over the top, in a more abstract style, to propose early designs. My illustrations were in pencil crayon, rather than Kilroy's graphite. I chose to use red pencil crayon, because the colour scheme in all my designs were dark blues, and black, so I wanted something brighter to stand out against the garments. Also I had used red in my early protest signs, and fabric testing.