A fashion manifesto

Recently I started studying fashion design. It is a really interesting course, very technical - we are studying how to sew, machine knit, pattern-make and draw, and eventually I hope to be able to make garments from my own designs, such as the paper dress above! It is all very fun, and interesting, but as I think about what part I'd like to play in the industry I start to have niggling doubts.

This is one industry I find that has major issues... for one, the wastage of clothing. Did you know that the most energy consumed by garments is not in their production (growing the fibres, production, dyeing, spinning, weaving, cutting, sewing, finishing) or even in their transport (from low-cost countries to high cost countries... and then sometimes back again)? The most energy is consumed in the disposal of garments. So next time you are thinking about buying a $10 t-shirt, or a $5 t-shirt, or whatever ridiculously low sum they cost these days, think about how many times you'll wear it, and then where it will go after you have disposed of it. Is it going to last for decades, like a great vintage garment, being passed from loving owner to loving owner? Or will it stretch out of shape after five washes and have to be discarded right then and there?

I dream of creating clothing that no one ever wants to throw out.

A second concern I have is the emphasis on particular body shapes. We are all shaped differently, and one thing I think is really important is to be able to design for all body shapes, not create a design based on an industry-determined size 10 of a particular height, and then adjust it. Maybe we could create beautiful and amazing things if we started to think about it differently...

Tell me, what interests you about the fashion industry? And what would you like to see change? No doubt I will continue to blog on this as the course goes on...

White Nights and Inspirations

 Flinders Street Station

I've had a lot going on lately... family illnesses and so on. After such an intense time, it is nice to get back to the blog and a little bit of creative normality.

Melbourne had a White Night a few months ago, mid February it was, a hot night with music, art and street performance from dusk till dawn. White Nights have been happening in other places around the world - including Saint Petersburg, Paris and Tel Aviv - but this was the first time we had experienced one in Australia.

I was impressed! The city was packed, so it made it difficult sometimes to see all the things there were to see, and find all the things that there were to find, but the volume of people added to the buzz. And it was a good sign for art in Melbourne - I have never seen so many people going into the National Gallery before.

I've been inspired by the colour, the lights and the fun to create a new jewellery range based on White Night. I might even include some textile and fashion designs in the mix! Watch this space for more news to come...

Buildings along Flinders Street 

 Busker in Hosier Lane

Flinders Lane

Money for the busker, Swanston Street

Princes Bridge

Foam artwork installation, National Gallery of Victoria (photo from NGV website)

Melbourne Flower and Garden Show 2012

Recently I had the opportunity to help my mum set up the Floral Art Society stand for the Flower and Garden Show (above), which won a silver medal. The flower and garden show is interesting - the part outside is dedicated to gardens, which as I see it is mostly suggested designs for your outdoor area, and tips for how to look after your roses, camellias etc. Inside the building is the flower section, but it's not just flowers, it is living sculpture.

It is so interesting to see florists at work. The demands of the medium - flowers and plant material - dictate the kinds of things that can be done. They must have access to water. Delicate petals and stems can't take too much pressure. They might only come in a limited range of colours. And yet so many amazing things can be created.

Working with living flowers and delicate plant material means that structure is really important. Florists will spend much time developing and sculpting the structure that goes underneath the arrangement - or living sculpture - before the flowers and plant material are inserted.

One stand by Michael Strownix took a deconstructed approach to the flowers, setting thousands of carnations in bands in a surreal display inspired by Hong Kong.

This ikebana arrangement (below) by Emily Karanikolopoulos had white branches cradling bowls of lilies, seemingly suspended in space.

RMIT fashion students also had an opportunity to create fashion pieces for the flower show. As a contrast, many of them treated the flowers and plant material as types of fabric, or beads, buttons and sequins. In one, the fine skins of garlic were glued to a fabric train extending behind the mannequin, while the bulbs of garlic were attached to the front. In another, seeds and other materials were glued in intricate patterns to make a fitted garment.

I find that the limitations of materials pushes us in new directions and makes us more creative. I only hope us textiles students will get a chance to do a project as fun and challenging as this in the future!