waiting for kairos | Jan Geiger Dedio

Waiting for Kairos is a more classical approach in creating a collection.
The foundation is the remix of the turtleneck sweater and its socio-cultural context.

Firstly worn by fishermen from the English Channel Islands, it became the symbol of the existentialism, the Bohemian world and the avantgarde of the nineteen forties later on.

Circulating around the atmosphere of thinking –

being focused with full concentration, observing and reflecting. Waiting for Kairos, the favorable moment of putting things into action.

CONTEXT

Semester project

MY ROLE

End to end design:

Design research

Conception

Colletion development

Pattern making

Sampling

Final production

Visual documentation

DURATION

Five month

TECHNIQUES

Tailoring

Machine / handknitting

RESEARCH

The ,Guernsey jumper', originated from the British channel islands ( Jersey and Guernsey) in the 17th century as the garment of fisherman and seafarer. The garment was entierly made and sourced on the islands, handknitted in its distinctive way from wool of island sheeps. The knitting patterns are symbols of seafaring itself representing ladders, ropes, waves,

stones and sand. The pattern was also used as a family crest, making it possible to identify fisherman that got lost on the sea.

The material itself was perfectly suitable for the weather conditions on the sea and the islands which made the jumper popular among all coastal regions of Britian, even the Queen owned Guernsey knitwork.

REFERENCE GARMENT

To kick off the collection development I examined a classic turtleneck sweater as we know it today. This includes measuring, copying the garment's pattern, documenting the manufacturing and knitting techniques. The next step was to create samples

of the pattern. I did use three different weights of knit

( very fine lightweight to chunky knitwork ) that will be used throughout the collection. Adjustments were made to the pattern accordingly.

DEVELOPING LOOKS

The collection itself evolves around the history of the turtleneck sweater. The materiality will capture the rough wool and color palette of the Guernsey jumper and the coats of the existentialits of the the 19th century. Remixing volumes and garment references from the beatnik culture of

the 1950th ( that also choose the turtleneck as one of their symbols ) creates layered looks, playing with different lengths, featuring jacket like coats and coat like vests. The trutleneck appears in different materials and length variations, from fragment like collar to ankle-length dress.