Fashion trends spring/summer 2012

In this year's spring and summer fashion trends, vivid color, soft neutrals and pastels are the new "in" colour-especially mint green. Spring has lots of red, and tons of lace, not to mention flowing floral prints hanging on the racks. While black and white had always been fashion that defied time, still most commonly used on runway this 2012. More vivid prints, stripes, and geometric prints. The main theme this spring is somewhat tailored, and classic, but with a touch of bold, and edgy.

1. Trending colour: mint green, bright blues, yellows, greens, oranges, and hot pinks.
2. It's the time that designers love using fabric as light as a cloud on feminine dresses, and blouses. Making you feel like a bit of an angel.
3. Lace is trending this spring and summer.
4. Floral designs are always top on the spring and summer collection.
5. High waisted pants
6. Anything crochet
7. Forever on the top ten: The little black dress. A simple classy dress, it's length can vary.
8. Popping colours and prints
9. Flowing dresses
10. Mini flare outs
11. Shorts

Researching on trends helps me to know what's in or out. I really like the spring/summer fashion trends because they are pleasing to look at and the colours captures me. I am think of doing an evening dress with the theme human anatomy using pastel/nude colours.


Source
http://www.squidoo.com/sharsspringsummerfashion
http://www.elle.com/Fashion/Trend-Reports/In-Season-the-Spring-2012-Trend-Guide
http://www.efashiontrend.net/prom-dresses-spring-summer-2012.html/prom-dresses-spring-summer-2012-1

Yiqing Yin

Yiqing Yin is the new rising star of Paris Couture. Her concept of human anatomy gave her the inspiration and motivation to create intriguing garments that enhance a woman’s figure. She manipulates jersey and sheer chiffon with such grace that all the pleating, ruching, and draping in her spring 2012 collection has given birth to breathtaking show stoppers. "Yiqing Yin studied at the Ecole Nationale des Arts Décoratifs, Immigrating from China at age 4, tossed between countries, her clothes have often provided her with a point of reference: "Returning to my clothes, was like living once more within my body and my emotions; I was at home." Her aim has been to create a garment that protects and reinforces, being at the same time a second skin and a supple armour. Examining the dynamic potential of pleats, she imagines structures which are never fixed, shapes that are always in mutation. She sculpts the emptiness around the body with, as a common thread, the search for balance and points of rupture between the flowing zones and the sculpted zones. The modernisation of smocking and the elimination of any order of construction, allows her great room for experimentation. She models loose shapes with a staggering structure, whilst at the same time remaining within the limits of patterned designs, confessing her attraction for a method of creation which is intuitive, a sensory wandering, and the search for voluntary accidents.

Yiqin Yin is such an inspiring designer as she is from Asia, she gives me hope that Asians are equality capable to design such hauntingly beautiful pieces of garment. Yin also used the human anatomy as inspiration for her designs. Among the three designers i have researched, even though she is the least well-known and still a rising star, i think her designs are the most sophisticated and speaks to me the most. I can the feel emotions that were felt when she created it. This is such mind-blowing garments. As my A01 is human ingenuity, i would love to create something like this. She is one of my favourite designers.  I want people to feel how i felt when creating apparels. I want my garments be able to speak to them. Without questioning to finding out what is it about they are able to know it.



Source
http://blog.contentmode.com/2012/04/yiqing-yin-new-paris-couture-star.html
http://www.yiqingyin.com/about/

Hubert deGivenchy

History and Autobiography 
Hubert deGivenchy was born at No 24, rue Saint-Louis in Beauvais (France). Givenchy had a passion for fashion ever since he was 10. He had a mindset: he will be a fashion designer. On February 2nd 1952, Hubert de Givenchy opens his own Maison de Couture at No8. Givency was known for modern, ladylike styles. The most famous ambassador of the brand was Audrey Hepburn in films such as Sabrina, for which Edith Head claimed the Academy Award, How to Steal a Million and Breakfast at Tiffany's. His other famous patrons include the Guinness, Grimaldi and Kennedy families, who famously wore Givenchy clothes to the funeral of John F. Kennedy. Hubert de Givenchy retired in 1995.

Spring/ summer collection 2012

Fall Haute Couture fall 2010

I've researched about Givenchy and his recent collection. The Spring/ summer collection 2012 were filled with simple nude and pastel colours and design. Even though i did not really enjoy the designs however, the colours caught my eyes. What's trending in the fashion spring collections is pastel colours. While the Fall Haute Couture fall 2010 was breath taking in my opinion. I really liked how extravagant they were with feathers, sequins and the play of fabric. The above Fall Haute Couture fall 2010 dress is one of my favourite. It spells perfectly elegant to me portraying the image of a human skeleton in my mind. Reading the article i realised it was inspired by human skeleton "The collection was largely inspired by the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, and if you look closely at the some of the dresses, you’ll note that the human skeleton is a recurring theme. Intertwined within the lace motifs are skull-adorned zippers and hints of a human spine. It might seem little eerie and dark to some, but in-your-face beauty of this collection is too decadent to be ignored."As my A0I human ingenuity, the play of fabric and different colours and style interest me and it drives me to ask more questions on how he did Fall Haute Couture fall 2010. Words can never enough to describe my appreciation of the amazing collection.

Reference
^ "BBC News – Oscars 2012: Stars arrive". BBC. 27 February 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2012.

1. ^ 7 May 2010 (7 May 2010). "Tisci's Trans Europe Express... Fashionair Paused". Wwd.com. Retrieved 26 April 2012.

Source

http://www.fragrancex.com/products/_bid_Givenchy-am-cid_perfume-am-lid_G__brand_history.html
http://www.socialbeautify.co.uk/index.php/2012/01/springsummer-fashion-trends-2012/
http://dailymischief.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/givenchy.jpg
http://weddingbellsblog.com/bridal-gown/designers-couturier/givenchy-fall-2010-haute-couture-collection/

Issey Miyake Japanese fashion designer

After talking about my research to my teacher, Ms Selena. She suggested a designer to me. His name is Issey Miyake. A Japanese fashion designer born in Hiroshima, Japan in April 1938. Miyake had an aspiration of being a fashion designer .

 In 1959 he enrolled in a graphic arts course at Tokyo’s famous Tama Art University.
In 1965 – he moved to Paris to fulfil his dream. Issey Miyake portrait Miyake’s first fashion show in Paris in 1973 was a hit and by ’79, he had set up an arm of his design house in France. Following his graduation he worked for Guy Laroche and then Givenchy. Miyake opened the Miyake Design Studio (MDS) in 1970 and the following year he opened Miyake International Inc. and showed his first collection both in Tokyo and New York. By the end of the decade he had a design company in France and the early eighties saw him do the same in the United States. The major influence on Miyake’s early collections it is said was traditional Japanese folkwear and his use of pleats. A Miyake trademark is the innovative use of both traditional and synthetic fabrics.

Sketches from Miyake

Reflection
Miyake's designs and fashion styles interest me because it reminds me of anatomy. On the second picture above: Bones is what i thought of with it's edgy stiff look, it reminds me of how bones decompose and it's still beautiful. The third and forth picture: I really like the cutting and outline of it. How flowly and graceful it is. And the last one, he used pleats for a tradition japanese wear. It reminds me of the human skin with it's nude pastel pink colour and how it's oversized. As AOI is human  ingenuity, i want to help people to express how they feel through fashion. After studying each collection, I noticed how there is a constant flow and that is something i like about his style. By using the same concept with simply too many styles. Now, i am inspired and i want to find out and study other designers design how they design and why did they design the way they did.


Books
Books East Meets West, edited by Kazuko Koide and Ikko Tanaka, Tokyo,1978. Bodyworks, edited by Shozo Tsurumoto, Tokyo, 1983. Issey Miyake and Miyake Design Studio 1970-1985, Tokyo, 1985. Pleats Please, Tokyo, 1990. Inspired Flower Arrangements, with Toshiro Kawase, Tokyo, 1990. Madeleine Vionnet, with Betty Kirke, San Francisco, 1998. Making Things, Paris, 1999. Phoenix Art Museum, A New Wave in Fashion: Three Japanese Designers [exhibition catalogue], Phoenix, 1983. Koren, Leonard, New Fashion Japan, Tokyo and New York, 1984. Milbank, Caroline Rennolds, Couture: The Great Designers, NewYork, 1985. Sparke, Penny, Japanese Design, London, 1987. Calloway, Nicholas, ed., Issey Miyake: Photographs by Irving Penn, Boston, 1988. Coleridge, Nicholas, The Fashion Conspiracy, London, 1988. Howell, Georgina, Sultans of Style: Thirty Years of Fashion and Passion 1960-1990, London, 1990. Miyake Design Studio, eds., Ten Sen Men, Tokyo, 1990. Miyake Design Studio, eds., Issey Miyake by Irving Penn 1991-1992, Tokyo, 1992. Miyake Design Studio, eds., Issey Miyake by Irving Penn 1993-1995, Tokyo, 1995. Hiesinger, Kathryn B., and Felice Fischer, Japanese Design: A Survey Since 1950, New York, 1995. Jouve, Marie-Andrée, Issey Miyake, New York, 1997. Holborn, Mark, introduction, Irving Penn Regards the Work of Issey Miyake: Photographs 1975-1998, Boston, 1999. Watson, Linda, Vogue Twentieth Century Fashion: 100 Years of Style by Decade and Designer, London, 1999. Articles Lewis, J., "The Man Who Put Show in Fashion Shows," in the Far East Economic Review (Hong Kong), 22 January 1979. Bancou, M., "Issey Miyake Revisited," in American Fabrics & Fashions (Columbia, SC), Spring 1979. "Issey Miyake," in the New Yorker, 8 and 15 November 1982. "Issey Miyake," in Art and Design (London), March 1985. Popham, Peter, "The Emperor's New Clothes," in Blueprint (London), March 1985. "Issey Miyake's Bodyworks, " in Domus (Milan), May 1985. White, Lesley, "Miyake's Marvelous But Issey Art," in Cosmopolitan (London), August 1985. "Issey Miyake: Dateless Fashion," in Art and Design (London),October 1986. Angel, Sally, "Zen and the Art of Fashion," in Blueprint, October 1987. Knafo, Robert, "Issey Miyake is Changing the Way Men View Clothes," in Connoisseur (New York), March 1988. "Eye of the Artists: Issey Miyake," in Vogue, October 1988. Brampton, Sally, "Modern Master," in Elle (London), June 1989. Martin, Richard, "The Cubism of Issey Miyake," in Textile & Text (New York), 12/4, 1990. Penn, Irving, and Ingrid Sischy, "Pleats Please," in Interview, September 1990. Tilton, Mary, "Issey Miyake: Designer for the Millennium," in Threads (Newtown, CT), June/July 1991. Gross, Michael, "Issey Does It," in New York, 22 July 1991. Bucks, Suzy, "Clothes That Grow on You," in the Independent on Sunday (London), 3 July 1994. Spindler, Amy M., "Art or Vanity? Fashion's Ambiguity," in the New York Times, 13 December 1994. Schiro, Anne-Marie, "Photogenic, But Out of Focus," in the New York Times, 20 March 1995. Menkes, Suzy, "Show, Not Clothes, Becomes the Message," in the International Herald Tribune, 20 March 1995. Wood, Dana, "Miyake's Lust for Life," in WWD, 18 December 1996. Edelson, Sharon, "Miyake Rides SoHo Wave," in WWD, 27 August 1997. Simon, Joan, "Miyake Modern," in Art in America (New York), 2February 1999. Dam, Julie, "Issey Miyake," in Time International, 23 August 1999. Edelson, Sharon, "Miyake Moves Downtown: New Store, NewConcept," in WWD, 19 July 2000. Read more: Issey Miyake - Fashion Designer Encyclopedia - clothing, century, men, dress, style, new, body, history, collection, designs, world http://www.fashionencyclopedia.com/Ma-Mu/Miyake-Issey.html#b#ixzz1y7HEwHUp Read more: Issey Miyake - Fashion Designer Encyclopedia - clothing, century, men, dress, style, new, body, history, collection, designs, world http://www.fashionencyclopedia.com/Ma-Mu/Miyake-Issey.html#b#ixzz1y7H0cYTa

Source: http://toffsworld.com/fashion/issey-miyake/
http://www.fashionencyclopedia.com/Ma-Mu/Miyake-Issey.html#b
http://mds.isseymiyake.com/im/en/work/
http://www.hairstyle2011.co.cc/2011/03/issey-miyake-fashion.html
http://jessicamichault.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/MIYA_AW11_0075.jpg
http://www.elle.com/var/legacy_images/image/2007/W40/100220071532287177_runway.jpg

Fashion figure terminology

I followed the book "Figure Poses For Fashion Illustrators". Instead of tracing now, I drew free handed with the guide of the book. I did the fashion figure terminology. When i did grid lines i noticed i gained more knowledge about drawing figures instead of just tracing them. A sense of accomplishment filled me as i finished the figure drawing on my own. Thinking that i'm just another step closer to my goal, being a fashion designer.



/////////// SCAN FASHION FIGURE TERMINOLOGY

Wardrobe sketch

I did a sketch of my wardrobe to practice my drawing and pen sketching skills and i did it within 20 minutes. I used a Uniball Signo DX 0.38 black pen.

///////////////SCAN THE DRAWING

Steps to designing clothes

Confused and lost were to begin, i went to google on "Steps to designing clothes". I was brought to this website that tells me what to do and i found it really helpful. I guess i am going to follow closely to these set of rules.

Drawing and Sketching

• Fashion sketching and technical drawing play a vital role in designing clothes.Drawing is the first step to committing your vision to reality. First of all, if you don't already know how to draw, you need to learn. Take a drawing or art class, read books teaching how to draw fashion, and most of all, practice!

Here are the basic steps involved in sketching your designs:

1. Use a pencil for beginning sketches so you can fix and refine as you sketch. Later you can do final sketches in pen and in color, if you desire.
2. Draw a rough sketch of the human form. The body can be in any pose you like, but when a beginner, you may want to draw the arms akimbo.2 If you're not comfortable with your drawing ability, you can use a template of the body.3 That way you just have to worry about sketching your designs. Simply place semi-transparent paper(tracing paper) over a body template, trace the body and then sketch your designs.4You can buy or make your own templates.5
3. Decide what type of garment you are going to sketch (e.g., blouse, skirt, pants, etc.).
4. Draw the garment the way the model would wear it in real life. Think about how the fabric would drape and fall.6
5. Fine tune your sketch, darkening the lines. Give your model hair, shoes and/or accessories. Make sure he or she has personality!7
6. Now you can bring your sketch to life with details and even color. To color in your sketch:
   1. Choose your color palette and select your colored pencils.
   2. Outline the garment, making sure to trace the seam lines.8
   3. Carefully color in the garment.
   4. Add shading to provide depth.9
   5. Add any pattern details. Feel free to include notes about color, style, technique, structure, fabric, etc.1011

• For a more detailed look at learning how to draw, check out Mahalo's How to Drawpage. If you just don't have drawing skills no matter how hard you try, don't give up on designing clothes. Instead apply your ideas directly to the dress form and takePolaroids.12

Source : http://www.mahalo.com/how-to-design-clothes/

Inspirations

After flipping through the book "Atlas of Fashion Designers", every designer were interviewed and asked the same question, "What inspires you".
These are a few examples:

"Inspiration usually doesn't stray too far from home. It's my friends, the streets and music. I try not to push too hard to find inspiration because it is usually right under my nose" 
- Alexander Wang

"I find everything inspires me, mainly music, people and photography. I don't think it's hard to get inspired!"
- Kim Jones

"All kinds of art form, volume, playing with proportion and ambiguity. i am searching for an emotional response to a garment, an overall impression to like or dislike through a detail invisible to a novice eye and which distinguishes one piece form another. Colours and fabric inspires me, as well, as hey have that amazing power to reinforce and magnify to go with an idea or to tone it down"
- Katarzyna Szczotarska 

That really got me thinking what actually inspires me. Hence, i went to do a mind map in my recently bought sketch book.

I guess what really inspires me is my everyday life. Just like every other mainstream designers answers, i would say indie music, art forms and my past struggles would inspire me too. However sadness, pain, any negative emotions are the best time that allows me to create good piece of art. It feels like i have a place to escape reality into a place where i can control things. Example my brush strokes, the tonal value, where i wanna move my pen. Hence i want to deviate to a different direction. I want to narrow my thoughts.

Recently, i was taught the human body during Biology lesson and instantly i found anatomy interesting.   Thinking of more ideas and i thought about chemistry. And i remembered Ms Selena (my chemistry teacher) lessons. The vivid ones were about chemical bonding, about diffusing both elements together. I decided to go with my first idea. I want to relate my apparel to some characteristic of the human body. I haven't figure out what am i exactly going to do but i will figure out on my way there.

Sketch book

Sketch books are a great way of keeping track of ideas. This visual journals are used for reminding, recording and developing fresh ideas. It is also use perfectly for practicing drawing skills and to experiment mediums. Some of the most successful artists in history have kept sketchbooks diligently. For example Picasso and DaVinci. Therefore i think i should invest in a sketch book. Even though i am left with 9 more days to the due date i will record thoughts and ideas i have in it.


I bought my sketch book from Muji later on today.

Library visit

Headed down to the library at Nex on 12/June/2012 evening to research more about fashion designing. After rummaging shelves of books for 45 minutes, i borrowed 4 books that hopefully will be useful to me.


1. Figure Poses For Fashion Illustrators

I borrowed this book because i had difficulty with the fashion figures and this book allows me to trace the figure templates. Life is then made simpler for me as time is not on my side. 9 days to submission and i'm starting to panic.


2. Fashion Design Essentials

This book is helpful to me because it teaches me the fundamentals to fashion designing. Such as the five primary areas of investigation and how it cultivates creativity. The primary areas are thought, inventory, technique,artistry and navigation.


3. The Poetry of Fashion Design

4. Atlas of Fashion Designers

 Lastly, i borrowed both books with similar content. It shows pictures of designed apparels by designers. Hopefully i will be able to draw out some inspiration from it.

For the next few days, i will be studying these few books trying to gain knowledge and inspiration through these pages.

(All pictures were taken from my iphone app: Instagram)

Prom dress by Mom

////////////
SCAN MOMMY'S SKETCH OF MY PROM DRESS

//////// TAKE PHOTO OF PROM DRESS




This was drawn and designed by my mom. This dress was for my Secondary Four prom in 2010. Thoughts and  ideas were discussed. I told my mom I wanted an elegant yet conservative dress and she sketched the dress within 5 mins in the car. I went well with the design, we then source for a seamstress to sew it for us.

Research for Fashion figures

To me, fashion figure sketch are important to show that the clothes i draw would be proportionate. Therefore i went on to source for images on google for fashion figures however it is hard to follow the measuring.

Next,  i went onto youtube to search for videos for fashion figures. It was much clearer but it was still pretty brief and confusing for a beginner like me.

For example this video needed a figure rule to draw the proportions of the figure and i didn't have one this made it hard and impossible to do. 

Others like this were not done professionally.

It was hard to find something in between. Then, i decided to make a trip down to the library within the week. And maybe  i can find some useful and helpful books besides "How to draw a fashion figure".

Haute-Couture or Pret-a-Porter

Dior Haute-Couture 2012 in Paris, France

Chanel 2009 Haute Couture Collection

Chanel 2012 Spring Haute Couture Collection

Givenchy Haute Couture Fall/Winter collection 2011-2012

Left: Chanel Pret-a-Porter Spring/Summer 2012. 

Right Alexander Macqueen Pret-a-Porter Spring/Summer 2012

Elie Saab Pret-a-Porter Spring/Summer 2012 

Sources:
http://topicpls.com/newfashion-take-a-look-at-chanels-spring-2012-couture-line-pictures/ http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/aTO9Rihydvt/Dior+Runway+Paris+Fashion+Week+Haute+Couture/khn8WUBlbC- http://www.whatevereurotrash.com/wp/2012/04/23/eurotrash-people-the-givenchy-lady/givenchy-haute-couture-fall-winter-2011-2012/
http://www.junejoonjaxx.com


After researching if i should do haute couture or pret a porter, i watched youtube fashion show videos and googled imagers and could not tell the difference between the two. Only then, i realised i did not have to choose between either one. I further went to research the difference and found out that Haute Couture is "The clothes may be specifically designed for the client, such as a one-of-a-kind wedding dress or a one-of-a-kind red carpet ensemble, or they may be part of a designer's couture collection, which are the pieces the designer shows that are available for custom fit." While Pret-a-Porter is "the pieces that you'll find in their boutiques or in department stores come the new fashion season"


Well at least from my mistake, i really understand the difference between  Haute-Couture or Pret-a-Porter.

What is fashion designing?

While researching more about fashion designing, i stumbled upon a blog where Pooja talks about fashion designing. I've learn many insights while reading this short post.

http://chekurstyle.blogspot.sg/2011/06/what-exactly-is-fashion-designing.html


Fashion designing:
Fashion designing is an art of creating apparels and related accessories to set a lifestyle statement.

What fashion design means?
Modern fashion design comprises of 2 basic categories viz. Haute-Couture, and Pret-a-porter. The former is a custom-made form of fashion designing catering to exclusive customers and haute couture is showcased through fashion shows for all Creativity knows no bounds in fashion designing. If one has the correct knowledge of textile, patterns, color coding, texture etc. there is no limit to the permutations one can think of in terms of designs.

Summary definition of Haute-Couture: The designing and making of high-quality fashionable clothes by leading fashion houses, esp. to order.

Summary definition of Pret-a-porter: Ready-to-wear clothing 


The importance for fashion designing

"It is also important that one plans the entire attire, draws the blueprint and visualizes the final outcome of the design. The success of the design will of course depend on the finish, thus its crucial to have a superb and glamorous."

After reading this blog post i note down the things i had to do and questions that crossed my mind

1. What kind of apparel am I  going to create? Haute- couture or a Pret-a-porter?
2. The things i've got to do, to draw the fashion figure before i design the apparel. Then, it would be proportionate. 

Thexlabel

On march 20th 2012, i launched my very first blog shop collection on thexlabel It was my mom's idea to open a blog shop, it was an experimental blog shop. I did the everything from scratch, we used livejournal to operate the blog shop. My mom handled the fiances, my dad photoshop the pictures. Pictures were taken by my friend, Hannah while i modeled as we didn't think it was a good idea to hire a proper model yet. Every apparel were carefully thought about when we hand-picked them from overseas. There were 12 different designs.

I wanted to try out managing a blog shop because i wanted to know would fashion mechanising suit me and i actually like it. However due to my busy schedule and the upcoming o levels i decided to put my blog shop on a hiatus till all these are over.