Project Ma
For the ‘Brown Envelope’ project, I was tasked with a theme that had been specifically selected for me by my college tutor and presented inside a brown envelope. The theme was set to deliberately challenge and to make me think differently and outside of the box.
The concept within my brown envelope was ‘Ma’, the Japanese concept of negative space. I carried out detailed research into Ma and developed ideas from several investigated sources. My intention was to use Ma as inspiration to produce a selection of garments with a dramatic yet structured composition.
My research looked into Ma in fashion and into Japanese fashion and design. I linked this research to origami and started to develop the idea of intricate fashionwear that could be folded or expanded for added effect. I produced sketches to further experiment with my ideas. I later developed my favourite ideas into larger sketches and the plans for my final outcomes.
I produced several outcomes using papers and cotton fabric. I feel the pieces demonstrate the traditional expressive features of Japanese fashionwear, while also exhibiting influences from lotus flowers, cherry blossoms and Japanese fans alongside the Ma influences I had researched at the start of the project. I would love the opportunity to develop these scaled-down pieces into full-scale garments in the future.
Initial research into Ma and early experiments with traditional Japanese 'Shibori' techniques.
Mood boards exploring Japanese culture and the designers Kenzo, Watanabe and Yamamoto.
Further research into Japanese designers, this time focused on Rei Kawakubo.
Early design concepts taking inspiration from the Japanese designers I'd researched.
Design development. Inspiration taken from my mood board and the designers I researched at the start of the project.
More design development. I later developed some of these designs into scaled-down garment samples.
