Past

I think it is important to follow a personal journey, having worked my way up from being a studio intern for fashion designers, going onto theatre's, fashion films, photography and feature films.

MARY KATRANTZOU

Mary Katrantzou studio assistant and model dress for London Fashion Week 2009.

Shoe decorator also for the LFW 2009 show.

Back again as a studio assistant at Mary Katrantzou's in 2010. This was more of an experimental position looking into fabric techniques and sampling for the collection.

ADA ZANDITON 2010

Shortly after Mary I went to work with Ada Zanditon, a very different experience.

This was a much harsher working environment (despite being an ethical designer).

There wasn't, from what I saw, much at all ethical. Aside from this, she is certainly an abstract minded and incredibly talented and creative artist.

I helped out with a few pieces which went on to be sold in Belgium. This jacket being one of them.

The Receptionist

So we have just finished filming the trailer for the upcoming feature film The Receptionist. The story portrays the inner workings of an illegal massage parlour through the eyes of an innocent receptionist. Set in present day London it is an accurate account of what happens on (and off) the streets...

It was a great concept to work with and as it is an oriental film it had quite a different approach to costume design and styling. Produced and directed by film-maker Jenny Lu for Uncanny Films Ltd with myself as the costume designer, sourcer and stylist for this production.

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Receptionist-%E6%8E%A5%E7%B7%9A%E5%93%A1/289510961099563?sk=info

Yerma- The Gate Theatre

The production of Yerma has now been performed in Hull, at the Hull Truck Theatre and is now soon to start at The Gate theatre in Notting Hill.



Costume Supervisor - Lydia Hardiman
Costume Assistant - Emma Manning

This production involved more sourcing and breaking down of garments, rather than making. I was shown a lot more techniques into making the costumes look worn and very lived in, learned some great ideas and methods  from Lydia.

Kathryn Ferguson/Charlie Le Mindu collaboration

I just recently helped work on a commission piece of a short film collaboration between new MA graduate Kathryn Ferguson and fashion designer Charlie Le Mindu. I was the wardrobe and styling assistant working alongside Janine Eveson, a fantastic costume supervisor and stylist.

We used pieces from Le Mindu's previous collections, from different seasons. The video has 3 dancers as the actors all of which wore all in one body suits. This made it all very statue-esqe, totally stunning.
Stylist- Janine Eveson
Stylist Assistan- Emma Manning

The film is to be shown in the Pompidou in Paris.

Link to the film can be found here http://www.kathrynferguson.co.uk/films/hymn_/

...

This is what's next...going to be exciting!

Wittenberg

"I do hope we will be seeing Hamlet's sensational tennis outfit, complete with ruff, on the Wimbledon courts next summer."

Sarah Hemming, Financial Times 2011

Finally the professional photos are out...

In this photo I was responsible for the making of the tennis outfit, pretty happy with the outcome :)

Rest of the shots are here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gatetheatre/sets/72157627398637139/

This project was great fun, very intense and hectic but I certainly learnt a hell of a lot about theatre and how it's all done. I was a costume assistant for this production of which I worked very closely with the costume supervisor Sukie Kirk. She was fantastic and idyllic to work for and provided me with so much support and encouragement, I can't thank her enough.

Wittenberg

Go see this.

Photographs are perfect to show off 'nice' things.

Summertime

African horizon? Try High Wycombe...
Everywhere can be beautiful.

Silly Billy

I looked at slogans as a concept for a self written brief and came across this...

Half true, half maybe not so much...

Show Me The Manning

Final Degree Show. 20/5/2011. Noose's.

Promote

Having completed all garments now, I have been working on promotion and photography. The idea behind the photographic images is to create a screaming affect and stressed effect. Kind of spooky and tainted to fit with the torture concept.

Finals

Final image of 1/3 shirts.

Photography by a lovely lady from Vogue.

Current stuff

I am working on one piece based on the saw method. (This is where the victim was turned upside-down and hung from a post whilst having a saw placed between their legs...delightful). So it only made sense to make this shirt totally different on each half. One side representing the smooth skin still in tact, and the other side showing the tearing and hanging of the flesh.

 The half representing flesh is out of a fine knit. I experiment with knitwear and knitwear manipulation last year, and I came up with some effective techniques. This one is quite simple but very time consuming as it is all hand made, but it really created the effect I wanted to portray the look of stretching flesh.

"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. "

~ Jack Kerouac

Manning Up

So as it's getting closer to the deadline I am gradually feeling more and more sorry for myself.
But thankfully luck was on my side, kicked me back into shape and I have managed to get somewhere. Sleep might actually be on the cards.
I finally decided on a layout for the shirt based on the judas cradle. It has been very stressful and caused a lot of trouble for me, BUT using repetition and reflecting I have come up with quite a sleek and neat design covering the front of the garment. The print will be involved here by being used in sections of pyramids (which make up the front) but slightly disjointed so not to fit perfectly together.
Pictures will follow, but it's looking promising.

Lets get on with this then.
I am currently studying menswear, in particular shirts of formal and casual design. I like to include a lot of textile pieces as well in my work, such as print, knit and embroidery. I am using all of these for my final products.
My work is based on the concept of old torture methods; what the equipment was and what the effect on the body these tools had.
Below is one of the prints I have worked on, it is based on the stringy appearance of muscles. I wanted to focus on the tearing, pulling and distressing of muscles when going through extreme distortion. Each method has a different effect on a different part on the body. For example, The Judas Cradle. The subject is placed on top of a pyramid shaped chair ( of which there is a sharp point) and, well, the point goes into the most inconvenient place...

During the research for each method I was certainly put off my food...

Show Me The Manning

So being a new' blogger' and all that this first post will be a bit pointless.
Over the next few weeks I will be working 24/7 to finish my fashion degree. I can see now red bull and wine will be my best friends (not mixed, that would be dangerous) in a desperate attempt to keep me sane.

So, enjoy.