The Dior Exhibition at Harrods

Today I visited the Dior exhibition on at Harrod's and took as many pictures as I could, as usual. I had been meaning to see the exhibition for a while, however due to it being reserved for so many events and private parties it was hard to find a time when it actually became available to the public. It was certainly worth the wait though, even if it did mean me getting lost in Harrod's a repeated amount of times.

 As soon as I entered the showroom I was greeted by dollhouse like windows, some closed, some with silhouetted figures and some with individual miniature rooms, displaying the perfume in an unusual yet artistic format. I then went from room to room fascinated by every single garment on display, taking me on a journey from the start of Dior's glamourous and historic career to current day. This included the well known perfumes, costumes used for the advertisements, the iconic handbag and miniature replicas of his Haute Couture pieces, alongside bigger ones worn by stars as big as Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn and more. My favourite piece by far however was the Audrey Hepburn evening dress in white, embroidered with silver sequins, pictured on the bottom image to the left, which she wore for Harper's Bazaar in 1959, if only it were mine! 

I really didn't want to leave this exhibition and I recommend visiting if you're down in London anytime soon as it won't be here forever, just make sure if you've never been to Harrod's before to not get lost like me!

Yohji Yammamoto Design Project

In the next few weeks I will begin to blog more about my work and  start to give an inside into what I'm up to, including my time at University and my year out working in the Fashion Industry, so hopefully you'll be seeing more of me!

This project was to design a ten outfit collection for the fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto. To grasp a feel for the Yamamoto's style and customers, I visited the flagship store in London and interviewed some of his customers asking them questions about their personal interests, their age (personal I know but had to be done!) and why they liked the brand. From this it gave me a rough basis to work on for my mood and customer board. I then researched trends for A/W 13/14 and came across one called 'Sculptural' which instantly inspired me into what I wanted my collection to achieve and look like. I looked at architectural sculptures from unconventional buildings to contemporay interiors. I found that minimalistic styles such as repetition were used heavily in the images I looked at; changing the proportions and dimensions of the building/interior, while forming a pattern simultaneously and often intentionally. I wanted to incorporate these aspects into my designs, portraying this through my silhouette, structure and detailing - juxtaposing sharp shapes and lines against smooth curves.

 In this project I found it hard to find fabrics to achieve the structures I wanted but after long searches I luckily managed to find a store in London selling stiffened cotton, wool and satin, still having a designer feel and texture to them. My favourite part was creating my own illustrations, although without a figure template was very tricky! Overall I feel my final outcomes fit the brand and still keep in mind Yamamoto's design focus of minimalism with an unconventional twist. This was one of my favourite project's and I would be happy to design for a designer brand again. Would love to know what you guys think of my work and flat drawings.