Pattern in fashion, is a very important aspect, it could
make or break a collection. For my final collection I want to use a lot of
pattern and texture, while the silhouette being inspired by historical costume.
Two designers who are very good at this are Vivienne Westwood and Yinka Shonibare.
Vivienne Westwood has always been inspired by historical
fashion and replicates 18th century corsets in her collections along
with her “mini crini” [her reinvention of the crinoline], emphasized waists and
her innovative draping. If you take away the fabric that she uses it would all
look very historical, but because of the modern and unusual way she uses
fabrics it makes the garments. For example if we look at the way she uses
tartan: the way she drapes it and styles it, the traditional Scottish-ness is
forgotten because you are drawn to the “je ne se qua” of her pieces. Vivienne
westwood just has a flair to innovate she is a living legend, and has her
individual style, you can look at one of her pieces and automatically know that
it is hers because of the impeccable drapery and folds, or her use of fabric.
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| Vivienne Westwood "Mini Crini" |
Yinka Shonbare is another designer who often uses English
colonialism to inspire his collections but the fabric he uses are traditional African
fabrics. Which automatically juxtapose the garment’s. You can see where it was
inspired from but the use of fabric modernises it and your eye is drawn to it
for this reason as it is unexpected.
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| Yinka Shonbare use of Caribbean print |
This is what I would like to achieve through my collection I
want it to be inspired 19th Century riding wear but I want to juxtapose
that silhouette by using modern weaves and fluorescent threads/ribbons to achieve
that shock factor and make you wonder why has she done that? By doing this I would
hope that it makes you think of the safety restriction that were often
forgotten about in the 19th century, but now a days is very important
through the sport.
Ashley J
