Fabric Sourcing in Soho

So I took a trip to London to visit some friends and soak up the atmosphere and do some fabric sourcing.

I decided Soho would be the best place to explore as I wanted some really heavily textured fabrics aswell as to have a look at the types of fur available, real and faux. I have been fabric sourcing before but in the hackney area and I knew this wasn't the right area to start searching in. 

Here's a collection of some of the textures and colours I found that I feel would work well in the concepts I have in my head. 

Im still unsure about the real/faux fur and I don't know which one to go for. Im going to have a think about it and maybe do a post on it soon.

I think that these textures would work well on a small scale maybe worked in with some leather or plainer materials? I'm definitely going to use the scaly material in some of my designs as I love the way it catches the light and how it moves. It reminds me of Prada's collection.

Im not sure about the feathers, I think they look at bit cheap so I don't think they would work so well. 

It was a really inspiring trip and I was amazed at the difference in quantity and quality of the fabrics available compared to Cardiff and the surrounding places in Wales! It makes me want to move to London right now so all of that would be in my door step. 

Joanna Hynes & Helen Steele

My favourite discovery of the summer was this collaboration between Joanna Hynes and Helen Steele.

Joanne Hynes is a fashion designer and Helen Steele is an artist and they are working together to redefine the established ways of combining the art and fashion worlds. Their work is focused on "the present, the gesture and spontaneity of creating," which they to capture in the designs. Their aim is to produce living works of art and fashion. By experimenting with these two art practices with such crazyness and fun the pair challenge trends of minimalism and tailoring, and resemble the warrior queens who inspire them. This is raw creativity and very exciting to see.

http://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/autumn-winter-2011/ready-to-wear/joanne-hynes-helen-steele

http://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/autumn-winter-2011/ready-to-wear/joanne-hynes-helen-steele

The clothes are truly beautiful. The contrast of colours is eye popping. Theses two coats remind me of a mature technicolor dream coat or a creativity cape! I imagine when you put it on it transforms your personality and mood. You could never be unhappy when wearing one of these coats!

People would look at you and most likely instantly like you as they are so colourful and the fur is such a soft, tactile fabric.

I really like the mix in the pile of furs and how the colour is placed. The pops of colour bring out the colour even more than if it was an entire pink or orange jacket as its contrasted against the natural fur.

http://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/autumn-winter-2011/ready-to-wear/joanne-hynes-helen-steele

I was really drawn to this cardigan, I don't think it is as wearable as the coats but it would be a huge statement piece to try and carry off! Im not sure I could carry it off. I love the colours in this again, the contrasts really draw you in.

Im not sure where you can buy these but if anyone finds out let me know I need one of those coats in my life!

Designers

I have discovered a few new inspiring designers and collaborations over the summer from browsing on other blogs and through the fashion websites but they have been mostly in womenswear. I tried to find some menswear designers that reflected where I wanted to go with my concepts but there wasn't much I could find apart from Chanel's fur jumpsuits.

Chanel fur Yeti suits!
coolspotters.com/photos/378103/chanel-fall-2010

I think some aspects of this could work on a smaller scale maybe with different textures and lengths of the piles. I think its a bit over the top and its not quite cold enough in Britain for anything like this!
I do like the different colours of fur though especially the greys.

Joanna Hynes and Helen Steele
http://www.joannehynes.com/

The next inspirtation I found was Joanna Hynes and Helen Steele. I love this collaboration and will talk about Hynes and Steele in a seperate post but in this garment I love the colour and textures. It just screams out British Regency, its like a cross between a fox hunt and a glamorous dinner party!

Maison Martin Margiela
http://eboutique.maisonmartinmargiela.com/

This modern twist on a classic is very clever by the genius of Martin Margiela. Im not sure if I like it or not I think. I really like the jacket and I think it would be more effective if it was just the jacket with some different garments. It's just a bit too much grey for one image the way it is here!

Prada
http://www.prada.com/en

Well what can I say about this! This is amazing and it rounds up most of my research from the summer. I love the way the light reflects off the scales and the contrast there is between the smooth scales and the rough fur. It makes you want to go and touch it. I love it as its so unusual and you would get second looks walking down the street in this but this isn't always a bad thing! I would love this jacket for the winter it would be such a statement and I can imagine it's one of those garments that everyone would be jealous off.

WGSN Trend Research

I have done alot of research on WGSN in the last few weeks, I avoided it at the start of the summer as I wanted to get a theme and story in my head before looking at trends as I feel that this can stunt progress in the design process and influence you into unoriginal research. 

WGSN.com

This was one particular piece of trend forecasting that I did find beneficial as I wasn't aware of the tweed and fur cross overs and also that velvet can be used as a faux fur.

WGSN quotes that "Wild fur inspires a new, savage outerwear aesthetic. Grizzled and coated effects add a rugged appeal to luxury velvets, while napped and needle-punched tweed

emulates manipulated and shorn fleeces."

I would like to use these materials mixed in with knit to create the mishmash concept I can picture in my head! I just need to translate these onto paper and into designs!