Fashion and Jewellery Collaboration: Ideas and designing

The design and ideas process was definitely one of the toughest and most difficult aspects for us. It was great that everyone had so many opinions and ways of thinking but on the other hand it also created a lot of conflict and tension amongst the group.  It wasn’t like we were all working for one fashion house/label that had one particular aesthetic; we were all different individuals with different visions and tastes.

At this point, our project was starting to overwhelm everyone as fashion felt the need to design the jewellery and jewellery also wanted to have a say in the design of the garment. 

The more and more we launched and fired ideas at each other, the more intense, energy-consuming and chaotic it became. Luckily though, our next project review was due...(I feel like they always came at just about the right time!)

The tutors wisely suggested that we make a list of the key points we were investigating in our project and wanted to convey through our pieces. We then would have to stop going round and round in circles and just take action. (We only had one week left)

We divided our list of interests and research into three main areas...Ideally, this was what we all wanted to incorporate into our final designs: 

1. Mark-making

• to document the movement through a process that is instinctive and physical  

(above: a collage made by me)

2. Movement and ritual

• to refer back to the photograph of an Iranian ritual performed by a group of men in white fluid shirts - frenetic movement, focus is placed on the head and shaking long hair back and forth

Through this we came to the idea of a head piece for our jewellery which, through movement makes marks on the garment

(above: page out of my sketchbook)

• to refer back to rituals involving mark making or pigment 
• to explore daily rituals such as getting dressed and laundry, which would influence the silhouette and film we were going to make

(above: ideas/illustrations made by our fashion group)

3. Weight

• Implicate Druid story of valuables placed in pocket and emptied as a cleansing process
• Remember that this superstition made us consider incorporating weights into the design as a way of making marks
• Consider weight in the drapes of the fabric – influencing the silhouette and shape of the garment
• Richard Deacon's sculptures – aesthetic of jewellery piece

(above: collage made by me)

(above: design idea collage by Elizabeth)

May, (the voice of reason) as well as the tutors then advised us to split off into fashion and jewellery for the afternoon and come back together the next day to discuss what we had come up with. I felt like that grouping off into our own disciplines was a really idea as it helped us to be way more productive - it was exactly what we needed.

However, despite this, by the time I got home that evening I found myself feeling anxious and unconfident. I wanted to push the boundaries with our designs. I didn’t really feel satisfied with what we had come up (even despite having made a lot of progress.) It's just so easy to play it safe…Plus, I was hoping for that one finished, spectacular idea…One which could leave me feeling certain, but we had a huge range of ideas that everyone was umm-ing and err-ing about. And when some of us are confused or unsure, I've learnt that it certainly effects the mood of the rest of the group. Then you just find yourself spending a lot of the time worrying about everyone else and checking whether they are happy or not, on top of your own feelings! 

Ah - my oh my! It's like a never-ending cycle...

That night I couldn’t sleep, which always happens when you are a little bit of a perfectionist like me. I just hoped that everyone would be confident on our final design or want it to be even better than how we were envisaging it now. Plus, not knowing how the rest of the group were getting on (or feeling) had me on edge...

(to be continued...)