During my last semester as a student at University of Hawaii at Manoa, I had the opportunity to design for the Spring 2018 fashion show themed “En Route” as a Junior Designer. Our class’ criteria was to create a minimum total of 2 looks for our group collection titled “Vogue Androgyny” and an individual collection with a theme of our choice. I ended up creating a total of 4, two looks for each collection.
My individual collection was titled “Composed in Color”, inspired by the composed mood that is brought on by minimalist sense of style from a modern interior design book. I transformed my inspiration into functioning garments with the use of primary colors, asymmetry, pleats, and color blocking. These designs were created by me from idea, to sketch, to pattern drafting, and construction. Each design took multiple fittings which required me to construct multiple samples of each garment.
“Vogue Androgyny”
My palette of choosing for this collection are dark greens and blues. The texture of the fabrics gave a jewel-toned character to my palette. Listed is a brief description of each outfit.
Men’s look
- Sleeveless cowl neck top with an asymmetrical hem in a medium-weight, dark green satin front and a cotton/polyester blend in a lime green abstract floral print back. The back is embellished with careful placement of gold, silver, and pink sequins.
- Harem pants in a light-weight dark blue satin, using the “wrong” side of the fabric as the face side for its matte quality. The waist band and ankle cuffs are made of the same lime green cotton/poly fabric as the top’s back.
Women’s look
- Long, cowl sleeve button up with a mandarin collar in a dark blue rayon crepe fabric. Styled with only the front tucked into the bottoms.
- High-waisted trousers, tapering into a ruched hem in turquoise green velvet. Along the side seams are evenly spaced floral beads with clusters of beading on the ruched hem.
“Composed in Color”
My color palette is focused on primary colors, emulating Piet Mondrian’s Trafalgar Square. I used each garment component as a block of color with a form fitting silhouette. I incorporated pleats to mimic the character of a spiral staircase that I saw in the interior design book. Listed is a brief description of each look.
Look 1 (has the pants)
- Red pleated satin as a one shoulder to a ivory prince-line top. It is fastened by an open-ended exposed zipper on the center back.
- Fitted, light blue trousers with a red satin waist band with a contrasting hem of a thin layer of red on a thicker band of yellow.
Look 2 (has the skirt)
- Red satin, one shoulder top with ivory pleats. It is tied at the shoulder and fastened on the side with matching red fabric button and loops. Layered under is a simple, yellow tube top.
- The skirt is in a turquoise broadcloth with asymmetry on the front hem. Stripes of red satin accenting the design lines.
All in all, it has been quite a wild and stressful ride. This was my first fashion show I designed for and I am feeling accomplished for the work I’ve done. If you are interested in learning more about my university’s fashion show program, you can visit this link !
Thanks for looking!
Love, Styleleaf
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