When did we start to understand time as something restrictive? When did faster become the answer to every question?
Time is the key ingredient of process. It can create flavour, color, scent, it transforms things by creating unique qualities that we can experience with all our senses.
These things become something more, they are infused by time.
The project IF YOU LOOK INTO YOURSELF YOU SEE PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE is about the liberating aspect of time. Maybe it‘s just a memento for myself to value time. Time is all we had, it‘s all we have now and all that we will have.
CONTEXT
Semester project
MY ROLE
End to end design:
Design research
Conception
Colletion development
Print design
Print production
Pattern making
Sampling
Final production
Visual documentation
DURATION
Six month
TECHNIQUES
Screen printing
Plant based dyeing techniques
Draping
FRAMEWORK
Using time as the crucial part in the process of creation, the focus shifts from the simple result to the process itself – how a thing takes shape. It can become more than the total of its ingredients.
To work with time I restrict myself in all other aspects. I only use circles and rectangles to drape the garments. The material is limited to a plain, unprocessed cotton fabric and one fineknit jersey made from viscose.
Using a specific combination of screenprinting and solar dyeing, time puts out the quality of color.
RESEARCH
Researching garments and clothing habits in the context of ,taking time for sth.' made me look into leisure wear and resort fashion. Although these garments are as diverse as the activities people do during their freetime there are certain things that caught my attention. Especially resort fashion references a variety of non western garments like caftans, kimonos or draping of fabric in a sari like manner, featuring colorful fabrics and playful prints with a strong connection to the ethnical heritage of the relative culture.
This seems to be rather apparent as a resort or cruise mostly happens in the context of traveling to foreign places. The second theme is a nautical one, ever since people loved spending their free time or holidays close to the ocean. Garmentwise we can find swimwear and beachwear from different epochs as well as classical leisure wear made from linen or cotton, having light colors or stripes and a more relaxed fit than their comparable garments of the professional work wear context.
DRAPING
Drawing inspiration from leisure wear and resort fashion I decided to create patterns by draping. Referencing ,uncut clothing' like caftans and kimonos I primarily created looks by draping squares and cirles on the
dress form, resulting in generous volumes. To contrast these areas I use references of swimwear allowing me to use small, detailed and body fit pieces, also making the garments more contemporary and readable.
SAMPLING LOOKS
DYEING
Experimenting with variations of the solar dyeing technique led me to dye every garment in a seperate jar using different combinations of plant dyes. The timespan of the dyeing process varies between three days to one month. During this time the sunlight
warms up the jar's dyeing liquid, allowing the cloth to absorb the dye. Time and temperature influence the intensity of the color. Experimenting with screen printing at the same time resulted in combining both techniques, allowing me to dye two colors at once.
