Contextual Review

Since joining the fashion and textiles specialism program, I feel like I've learned a lot about how a project is briefed and created and what goes into it to ensure its success.

Reading earlier briefs, talking about research, mood, sample generation (both 2d and 3d), creating an outcome etc, has been quite beneficial in this regard.

During this academic journey I’ve learned how research is essential to convey a message and how is in fact the bases of a brand's projection journey.

By getting this insight, I've gained a more in-depth grasp of what goes into the research development, which I feel has helped me generate more relevant outcomes and will be extremely useful in the future.

An example is my function and performance project, where I was able to conduct research about circus, which led me to study the more macabre side of this performance. After research, in my opinion, it was downhill from there as it all came together. In fact, this findings settled the mood of my project. Consequently the material research led to the choice of fabric, and the historical awareness led to a more constructed and grounded design.

My most significant project, in my opinion, was that of function and purpose because I was able to demonstrate in the clearest way possible how I started with a concept, how this turned into colour and mood and a textile, and how it finishes up as an output. In this endeavor, I was able to do all I had previously specified, however the visual representation of my thinking was not always as straightforward and smooth for the viewer as I would have hoped to. As a result, in the third phase of my foundation journey, I will undoubtedly need to pay more attention to visually connecting my concepts, as I discussed with my tutor. Despite this all, I believe this project was the most successful until now because the final product had great depth and was entrenched with a lot of research and consideration which definitely showed.

As a result, this work is especially significant to me since it has generated a new way of thinking in me, one that is less concerned with the finished product and more concerned with the process and awareness behind it.

Looking back on part two, I realized that I was able to draw inspiration from a wide range of sources.

Beginning with the Decoded project, I was inspired by a material: econyl carpets samples that I discovered in my house. After conducting extensive research, I discovered the huge environmental impact that the disposing of carpets had on the environment, as well as how the econyl material was conscious of the impact and wanted to express their thoughtfulness in their product.

Consequently, for Project U I started focusing on a book I was reading namely “One, No one and One Hundred Thousand” by Luigi Pirandello. For the author, the masks represent the fragmentation of the ego into multiple identities and an adaptation of the individual based on the context and social situation in which he finds himself. Pirandello made the distinction between the being and the appearance of each man, which I believe leads us to ask ourselves what our true self is and this is exactly what I wanted to address in my work.

Finally, for the Function and Performance project I took inspiration from space and how the space suit has been a fundamental element in the design of futuristic aesthetics in the fashion world.

Everything I talked about earlier inspired me to change my way of working today.

In the third part of this course I would like to make research the basis of my work, even more than I did in the past, and build on this because I believe that only thanks to knowledge we can we make well-founded and considered choices, especially when talking about sensitive topics as I plan to do in the future.

An artist to whom I aspire a lot, although it may seem banal, is Iris Van Harper as I find it fascinating how in her works she looks at nature on a deeper level, delving into the fine details of how nature looks and how it behaves. Her research and knowledge of the subject, I believe, takes her work to another level and is therefore a great inspiration to me.

Finally, due to my ambitious and curious personality, I have always tried to go beyond the knowledge that was provided to me and I hope to be able to do this in the future too.

One, None and a Hundred Thousand, by Luigi Pirandello (2017 Reprint of 1933 Edition) (Accessed: December 8, 2022).

Lang, P.by L. (2021) How fashion took us to the Moon: The history of the spacesuit, ThePowerHouse. Available at: https://thepowerhouse.group/history-of-the-spacesuit/ (Accessed: February 8, 2023).

Jana, R. (2019) To the Moon and back: The most dramatic space-inspired fashion through the years, British Vogue. Available at: https://www.vogue.co.uk/gallery/best-space-inspired-fashion (Accessed: February 8, 2023).

CONTEXTUAL REVIEW

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