Manchester Fashion Institute L4
The White Project:
For my first project at MFI I had to design a white shirt. I chose to look at traditional kimono garments for my inspiration, I loved the shapes and the history; the kimono was designed to be handed down through the generations, it wold be altered to fit the women of the family, and worn to ceremonial occasions. Then the kimono would be made into futons and the scraps would be burnt down to feed the crops. I wanted to focus on the stage where the daughter of the family comes to wear the kimono, I wanted to design a kimono shirt that would be worn by a younger girl in her 20's, the design is cropped with an exaggerated cuff-like waistband that cinches in the waist. The sleeves are oversized and the necktie can be altered to make the shirt lay closed or more open.
Subculture Project:
For the second project of level 4 we had to choose two opposing subcultures and merge them together to form a new subculture all together. I decided to chose the Burlesque subculture of the 1920's and merge it with a lesser known subculture called the Furry Fandom, this subculture is based around people that like to dress up as their spirit animal, and wear fluffy animal costumes. I wanted to take the textures from the Furry Fandom suits, and combine it with Burlesque inspired embroidery. The clothing silhouettes are be influenced by teenage streetwear.
This project explores how both subcultures use costume as a form of escapism. I also wanted to explore how young people use their clothing as forms of costume to make a statement about how they want the world to perceive them.
