Monday, July 21, 2014

The Australian Wool Fashion Awards 2014



The Australian Wool awards were held in Tamworth, last Friday the 18th of July. I entered the awards two weeks earlier and was honoured to be a part of the dinner/runway show. What was even more amazing was coming first place in the Young Designer Category and being awarded the Supreme Award for 2014.
 
After extending my Bachelor of Arts (fashion) degree for an extra year, I feel I have been working on my graduate collection 'A Life in Wool' (from which these pieces come) for years. In fact, I began thinking about this collection at the start of 2012 when we were asked to research wool in fashion for one of our units.  I have put years of energy into ideas, research, planning, development and production for my graduate collection and considering that my ideas come from my background growing up on a sheep stud and visiting and working on different farms around the Wheat Belt, it's even more. Being apart of The Australian Wool Fashion Awards and having people appreciate the ideas, time and passion behind my work makes the blood, sweat and tears all with it. The support is incredibly humbling and is a huge motivation to continue with the hard work. 
 
There will be more photos and articles to come!

Backstage photo thanks to Australian Wool Fashion Awards of collection
Runway image photo thanks to AWFA  

 Runway image quick snap I took as the models strutted my stuff
After presentation snap of me with the models.
Photo thanks to Lachlan Gray
 
Judge Akira Isogawa Presenting the award.
Photo thanks to AWFA
 Photo thanks to AWFA


Wool Shawl for Elder's Supreme Clip of Sale

 

I was asked to design and create a wool item for friend Libby Stickland to accompany her outfit for the Elder's Supreme Clip of Sale presentation dinner.
 
The reversible light blue and cream shawl from wool suiting worn by Libby was featured in the Farm Weekly and the Countryman at the start of July, shown below.
 

 
The item two of many way it can be worn on the body.

The item laid flat showing the construction, reversibility and details
 
 






Innovo: Conventions Undone

 INNOVO Conventions Undone. An exhibition of Fashion and Textiles. June 10 - 15 at Nyisztor Studio, Melville, Western Australia.

The premise for the development of 'Innovo: Conventions Undone' is to showcase fashion as more than garment and challenge preconceived illusions through an investigation into the source of innovation; to examine the unique stimulus fuelling the design process which is brought to life through garment.

We aim to do this by presenting conceptually driven fashion forms that capture the viewer with not only material and technique, but an imperative need to understand the inspiration behind each design. This exhibition will focus on the presentation of works that explore the relationship between form, body and concept ultimately encouraging a deeper dialogue between viewer and installation.





 
Photos by Cordelia Gibbs

See more at the fashion catalyst and the INNOVO Facebook page

Fairly Fashionable?

 
 
“Good designers don't just consider the aesthetics of an object, but how that object comes to be - right down to the growth and manufacture of it.”
 
The Event: Fairly Fashionable
Fairly Fashionable? challenge commenced on Fashion Revolution Day, April 24th, the first anniversary of the Rana Plaza factory disaster in Dhaka Bangladesh, where 1133 lives were lost (with many hundreds more injured) -- with devastating long-lasting effects on families and friends.

Designers were challenged to create a garment or fashion accessory (jewellery, head piece, bag etc.), in 14 days by incorporating in their design a piece of original Fair Trade fabric (supplied) originating from countries including India, Peru, Cambodia, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

Fairly Fashionable? culminated with a public fashion show on the eve of World Fair Trade Day on May 9th at MANY 6160, Fremantle’s premier new fashion quarter in the old Myer building.

A public exhibition of designed work was display at MANY 6160 from World Fair Trade Day, May 10th-May 18th, 2014.

 
 
 
The Experience:

The Fashion Degree at Curtin places a value on sustainability, teaching us about the environmental and humanitarian impacts which the fashion industry has on the world. Because of this and through my personal enthusiasm in the area, I was keen to become involved.
The Fairly Fashionable? Design Challenge firstly asked for an expression of interest where designers explained their brand or personal values. On Fashion Revolution Day (24th of April), we were all invited to MANY 6160 to come together and debrief on the project. While we were there, each designer chose a hessian bag that contained a piece of fair trade fabric from different origins, varying types of material and of different sizes, shapes, colour and textures. It was our challenge to create an outfit, accessory or fashion component within 14 days incorporating the fabric we had received. 
One of the objectives of the challenge was to show that fair trade and eco design can be contemporary and interesting so it was important for the designers to demonstrate new ideas and innovative fashion design within their pieces. Even though we were able to use additional elements for our design, we were asked to think sustainably with what we used and how we used it.
My Outfit:
For my project, I received a piece of fair trade fabric from Anjel Ms which was a contrasting black and red Cotton tie dye fabric, much of which still supported ties used in the dying process. With this fabric I was I was inspired to create a menswear design featuring the unfinished, as well as the finished, fabric as a way of conveying the story behind the material. My outfit includes pants which contain no inner or outer leg seam to provide added comfort for the wearer. I also recycled leather off cuts and upcycled cotton for my design as well as investigating the idea of ‘zero waste pattern making’ by using one piece of cloth which was tucked and cut and the pieces reoriented to form a shape for the body.
          
It was a great idea to put a short, 2 week time frame on the challenge to make the designers, as well as the audience, consider the idea of ‘fast fashion’ and the pressure which some people are put under to produce products for an extremely quick turn over. The whole experience was fantastic, it was great to see updates on how the other designers were going and seeing the ideas they came up with at the end of it all. It was also fantastic to see so many people attend the runway event to support the designers and the cause and create a wider understanding of the importance of fair trade in the fashion industry.
 
 Cordelia




Thanks to Trilby Temperley for images

'A Life in Wool' at the Wagin Woolorama Fashion Parade

 


 
 
 
 


10 Parades, 2 days. What an experience.

Photos by Anita Jean Photography

Beyond the Bale feature



Beyond the Bale issue 58, March 2014. Check out the online version HERE

Monday, March 3, 2014

Inspiration Photos: Summer Work in the Country

Like many country kids, my summer is spent back in the country in a bid to earn some money to fund my studies (and life) for the rest of the year.

Usually I spend my time in the town in which my parents live so I have the opportunity to work as well as spending time with them. Being so removed from the city/study/fashion life which consumes the majority of my year, working in the country also seems to give me an interesting perspective on the world. It also acts as a fantastic inspiration for my conceptual and design work.

Since I left school in 2009 I have worked in a factory making farm equipment, in an office and also in a delivery job driving a truck all over the country side. This year I traveled further away from the city to a different town to work on a Merino Sheep Stud, something which acted as a fantastic reflection to my graduate collection 'A Life in Wool'.

Over the holidays I experienced the annual harvest, Chaser Bin driving for the Harvester as well as having a go at the Harvester my self. I also had the task of tending to sheep, feeding out grain and minerals as well as needling and drenching while in the yards. On the flip side, I lent my hand to catering for 12 workers and shearers over sheering, which lasted 6 days. Furthermore I spent a lot of time mustering sheep with a few dogs and a motorbike.

All of these experiences, and simply being out on the land, not only provided further perspective to life on the land but also a huge amount of inspiration. This I tried to capture moments whenever I could...












For more images and to catch up what I'm up to with fashion, Check out my Instagram at INK361 or follow @I_CordeliaGibbs

Cordy xx