Walk as One 2013

       

Spirit of the Black Dress Opening Gala

Here are some images from the Spirit of the Black Dress going ons...

Media Launch

The Opening Gala Runway show

click here to see more from the runway show thanks to MELBOURNE REVIEW

It was a pretty amazing experience; fantastic to see my designs come to life on the runway and supporting such a fantastic organisation. Thank you to the Spirit of the Black Dress team for all the incredible work and commitment!

Additional Photos From:

http://www.stylezilla.com.au/article/the-spirit-of-the-black-dress-media-launch-479

http://iolanthegabrie.com/2013/03/08/ruby-slipper-the-spirit-of-the-black-dress-media-launch-2/

2013 Collection; "Walk as One"

As one of the very lucky winners of The Spirit of the Black Dress competition, I was invited to show some of my designs in the runway show. As I am a student, however, many of my previous ‘collections’ and garments are very specific to certain concepts and learning outcomes associated with the university. Therefore, I designed and created a new collection which I entitled ‘walk as one’.

This collection is a continuation of the concept used in my Black Dress submission as I was interested in pushing the ideas further. The collection, like my black dress, is created by the recycling of men's pants into contemporary styles. The new styles link strongly to their origins and utilise the components of the trousers such as pockets, clasps, belt loops and facings to show the journey of the material and therefore celebrate the sustainability of the designs.

Look One: "Easy Fit Dress": Pant panels draped from belt loop straps

Look two: ‘Drop Back Tank’: Strips of pant material, facing and waistband detail in loose tank design  and ‘Patch Pants’: 3/4 pants wrapping shapes of original pant panels around the legs, 3D Pattening.

Look three: ‘Pocket Bag Singlet’:White cotton singlet made from the pocket bags with a raw edge finish and ‘About Slouch Shorts’: Reorientated panels draped and tucked, pockets, fly front zip.

Spirit of the Black Dress 2013 Submission

“Everything has value, no matter how old or broken up, everything has a soul, an identity, behind everything there is a story, a story with a continuation”

-Sustainable Designer Naomi Maaravi

I feel it is important to up-cycle in a way that celebrates the origins of the garment, promoting the story of sustainability. My dress is made up of two components; a slim fitting dress and an open front skirt which together create a classic silhouette with contemporary detail. The outfit shows the design journey by continuing the language of the original garment, utilising the original finishings and showing the construction.   

The dress was created using components from two men’s trousers. By draping the pre-shaped panels, my design was created by how these shapes fitted in to each other as well as how they could be used around the body. This process is made evident in the skirt where the seams are turned out as a feature. The panels which had pockets on the original trousers have been reoriented to be just as usable on the new design. Lastly, the waistband and fly front zip have been utilised as a practical element, further adding to the ‘story’ of up-cycling.

My garment has a number of sustainable elements as outlined below:

Sutainable practice: By using pre-shaped panels and draping them onto the body, I have considerably reduced the use of resources including paper for patterning and fabric for toiling. Furthermore I was able to reduce energy consumed in sewing, by pinning seams to the outside and sewing them in one sitting.

Lifecycle: The dress is made up of two components; a fitted dress and an open front skirt which are able to be worn individually. Furthermore, the skirt can be rotated on the body to create attractive silhouettes as well as being reversible as the seams are designed to turn to the outside as a feature.

Sustainable Materials: My garment is made out of almost all of two pre-worn men’s trousers, using the separate panel pieces as they were and re orientating them to fit in to each other and around the body. I have utilised the panels with pockets so they are just as usable and one of the waistbands and zip as a practical fastening on the open front skirt.