Studio Consultations
Approaching through the Project Brief
In-Depth Interviews with Target Audience
While doing each of the interviews, I realized that by asking general questions for the first section really helps me to put my shoes on my persona. For questions that is fashion related, I wanted to ask them in more leisure manner which is providing several questions about their everyday lives. For example: the type of lipstick shade and plants that they prefer. By asking these questions, I then realized more that they love to have something that does not look real and create some emphasis effect on their everyday outfit.
These are the insights that I currently have after having long interviews with my target audiences. After concluding them, I then got the opportunity to have consultation with our design thinking lecturer and realized that my finding, insight, and problem statement is still unclear. That is why, I go back again to research more on my target audiences.
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This whole processes are being held by asking girls student around NAFA. The first question is "Do you throw away your clothes, throw them away, and buy new ones afterwards?" and all of the answered were yes. I then asked them several straightforward question and did not have the chance to push the questions forward because all of them were rushing.
*I only choose several of their answer*
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Question 2: Why do you buy more clothes and throw away the rest?
As I dig deeper in this case on how teenage girls always throw their clothes away after getting “bored” of it, I also got curious on their awareness about the waste that they made. And the result is, they do aware of it and was trying to approach and tackle more on this matter by trying to join several community regarding sustainability. Several of them do got the chance to join the group, but some are not. Here are their response of those who are not, and the reason...
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Question 2: What is your approach towards sustainability?
Persona Template
From their responses, I concluded that they are being under represented on tackling the issue of sustainability. Knowing all these, then I also got curious on whether or not they give up and not trying to join another community or still fighting to approach sustainability
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Question 3: Being aware that you are being underrepresented, do you still try to join another sustainable, youth community?
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all of them: YES.
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From this answer, I realized that teenage girls are very rebellious. Connecting it to the previous interview's insights, they also love to express themselves through what they wear. They see fashion as a way to communicate and huge impression of identity and personality.
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(new) Problem Statement
Finding:
Teenage girls tend to throw away their clothes and buy another ones that reflect more to their identity to be worn for different occasion, increasing the after consumer textile waste.
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Insight:
Teenage girls tend to throw away their clothes and buy another ones because they need to wear another design of garment for different occasion to reflect their identity, and there are not a lot of fabric used that make them feel comfortable.
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Problem statement:
Teenage girls might need a way to access a greater variety of clothing that have greater value so that it does not require them to throw away after being worn at one occasion
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How might we....
How might we create a garment that allows teenager to have greater value in clothing that can be used for different occasion?
I then research more and connect on the art movement and realize that my persona's mission and behavior is similar to the concept of Expressionism
Vision Cone
Design Sketches and Development
Final Sketches + Some to propose to Textile Studies:
Work-in-Progress Showcase
Here are the details for my garment that I showed to my target audiences during WIP:
While having this showcase, we must have several questions for us to asked for the user.
During the WIP session, I always remembered that the one that I'm testing is my product and not my user. That is why, during this period I really asked them on how they felt about my product, how I can improve better, what they see in my product.
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Along of this process, I observe my user's reaction, their expression and their gesture while listening to my presentation. Some of them are confused, some of them are impressed, and some of them are also curious more on the application of this project (the result). From this testing, I then understand that constructing convertible garment may not be 100% of solution for reducing textile waste. However, for the interest of my user, they are curious enough and wanted to buy and wore the garment as they approach to sustainability in fashion.
Storyboard and Final Illustration
Plissé- A garment that have details on detachable sleeves and collar with buttons. Designed with distorted collar silhouette, Plissé is inspired by expressionism movement and a representation of teenage girl’s voices for proving to society that even though they are being underrepresented, they still are a part of the community. Constructed with convertible features, it is a way for teenage girls to reduce textile waste as they can easily alter their overall look and wear it for different occasions.
Some Consideration Development for Modification in the Future
Co-Creation Partner
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I realized that it is still unclear about the mutual benefits that will gain for the partnership between me and the community.
I then research more and dig deeper on what my co-creation partner's mission is
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They are community among youth in Singapore who is concern about the current environmental problem. Understanding more on how they create awareness for the young generatioins to be apart of the solution, And it is to relate every action into our lives, moving and create something by heart
Relating SYCA (Singapore Youth Climate Action) to my vision and mission
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Here's my vision and mission for my project:
Relating their mission and mine, here are some possible activities that we can conduct together to fulfill our mission:
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Conducting zoom meeting to Raise awareness among youth about textile waste and its impact on our environment
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Selling and promoting my garment on one of their event to engage the voice of youth, those who are being under represented to be motivated to still join and combat sustainability through fashion
Silhouette/ Design of my Garment
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After experimenting and developing more, I reatlized that the silhouette of my garment does not really reflect to the concept of Expressionism. Therefore, I want to focus more on the area of the second garment (the vest)'s collar, also the sleeve's hem with fabric manipulation to propose on this project. Here are my experiments:
I ought to create a standed collar, to emphasize how stubborn and straightforward my persona is for combatting sustainability. But, I'm afraid that it will disturb the practicality of when they are actually wearing it. That's why I lowered them and experiment more on layering, inspired by the ruff collar during The Elizabethan Era
Ruffle collar
Pleated collar, overlapping more
Here, I was trying to take the advantage of the stiff fabric material; gabardine (which is the fabric that I'm going to use for my outer) and creating more silhouette by making it as ruffles and also pleats, while some part of it is crossing over the front neck and making it symmetrical
As I was exploring on the pleated collar, I realized that doing irregular pleats are also interesting and could be a new way to adding more elements on the garment. Here, I was trying to create more and more pleats by pinning them with no order or repeated way, as if I was about to create shapes on the fabric and trying to place them on the end of the sleeve. However, I noticed that I did not really make them as "irregular" as it should be because some parts are still too in order.
This time, I was trying to be more "bold" and not letting myself being caught in a box, I learned that I was thinking too much about the placement and also the overlapping part of the folding, which really restrict me to make it irregular. I tried to overlap several parts even more so that it will create more angles and shapes at the end of fabric and putting them in a context of a collar and cuffed sleeve.
For the starting point of the cuffs, I intent to not cut them in straight to add more silhouette and also shapes.
After exploring more in irregular pleats, I tried to drape more pleats on the mannequin to try more on how it may look like when it is becoming a collar. This time, I tried to drape the pleats from one shoulder to another by crossing the back
I was also trying to drape another type of fabric, which is organza and play for the placement of it on the collar. I thought that as it is a transparent fabric, it may also best to place them in the collar, especially for the inner garment. That's why I also try to draped them on top of my actual garment to get more visual on how it may turns out.
These are how the pleats may look like when is sewn on top of the actual garment. I realized that the black organza pleats may also have potential to be layered on top of the layered cuffed that I already intentionally sewn together. By adding more layers on top of it, I feel like it will suit my theme really well as the concept of being expressionist is distorting and even exaggerating some parts of the garment or elements.
After trying different types of layering, playing with the placement of the pleats, and exploring on the material and characteristic of the fabric together, I then just explore more on by combining several drape that I had done before. To be honest, I feel like this one design may have potential to be developed more for my future consideration on fabric manipulation for my actual garment. The combination of different fabric (gabardine and organza) highlight the differentiate between my persona, teenage girls and the society who belittles them for combating sustainability. The overlapping and layering parts of the pleats, are both there together to highlight the exaggeration and also distorting the actual collar to be bigger size.