As Runway Ready Weekend begins, seniors are not only required to have their entire collections completed and ready to walk, but they must also have their outwear garment and Jubilee pieces finished. Fortunately Laura has planned her time well this semester and she has had her jacket made in fabric for weeks. The jacket's 1940's flair coincide with her collection's elegant vintage inspiration. Lucky for Laura, her jacket fits her as well as her model !
Friday, April 29, 2011
Working with Muslin: Eva Pieces Together her Dress
Eva's sophomore design project is based around the usage of fair trade fabric. Her design for her garment consists of a trapezoid silhouette, combined with her Moving Through Water inspiration. Eva is going to hand-dye the cotton sateen fabric she has ordered to illustrate her inspiration in her garment.
The fabrics that are available for the sophomores to use are shown here. Eva's out-of-the-box approach regarding this project portrays her unique sense of design and style.
As Eva works towards completing the garment in its final fabric, she must first construct the garment in muslin, fit it to her model, and adjust the seaming and patterns accordingly. Below is a video clip where Eva describes how she is making preparations to create her final dress in fabric by first working with the muslin.
Through the use of an asymmetrical neckline and a 3D-like drop hole in the left side of the bodice, the sophomore designer is applying what she is learning in her apparel classes to create movement and detail in the construction of the garment.
The fabrics that are available for the sophomores to use are shown here. Eva's out-of-the-box approach regarding this project portrays her unique sense of design and style.
As Eva works towards completing the garment in its final fabric, she must first construct the garment in muslin, fit it to her model, and adjust the seaming and patterns accordingly. Below is a video clip where Eva describes how she is making preparations to create her final dress in fabric by first working with the muslin.
Friday, April 1, 2011
A Model Fitting and An Impromptu Photo Shoot
Photos shot by friend, classmate, model and incredibly talented photographer, Katie Warren, as she waits for her designer to finish altering a top. Effortlessly making multi-tasking fashionable.
Designer: Eva Block
Model: Laura Furlong
Teaching Assistant: Grace Buckley
Eva is fitting a dress in muslin and making corrections before beginning it in the fair trade fabric she has chosen. The shoulder seams on the dress were not aligning properly and was causing the back seam to be off as well. Most of Eva's garments have drop holes or pockets, making it incredibly important for her to fit everything perfectly before cutting into fabric to create these holes.
Eva has chosen to use a white cotton sateen fabric for her dress. The sateen fabric has a lustrous sheen yet is soft and light weight enough to allow the body of the garment to move as her model moves down the runway.
Grace assists Eva adjust the shoulder seam of her dress. As two of our featured designers work together to perfect this garment, the extreme attention to detail and painstaking precision that is required as part of the creative apparel design process could not be more apparent.
“Right Before a Model Walks, I’m the One That Says, GO!”
By Sara Shea
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY - Sitting on a couch in the Fashionology alcove, Kim Warren patiently plays with her Ipad, as she waits to discuss Seaming A[wear]ness, her senior honors capping project. At a glance, Kim looks like an average Marist senior - slightly frazzled, with a coffee in one hand and a Blackberry in the other. However, unlike most seniors, Kim is the co-director of the 25th Annual Silver Needle Fashion Show, graduating with honors and the co-founder of Seaming A[wear]ness, an organization created by five Marist students focused on promoting Fair Trade in the fashion industry.
“Its funny,” Kim said, “Seaming Awearness actually started as a completely different project for me.”
Last summer, 10 honors seniors with different majors began planning a Fair Trade based capstone project.
“We originally wanted to take a trip to Ethiopia and actually went as far as discussing it with Dennis Murray,” Kim said. “Unfortunately there was not enough funding for all 10 of us to go so we decided to explore other options."
The group of 10 eventually became a group of five – Kim Warren and Alana Lansenbigler, who are fashion merchandising majors, Maddie Sasso and Brenna Lahif, who are fashion design majors, and Kelly Hall, a biology major at Marist. These five individuals have worked tirelessly for almost a year to create and promote Seaming A[wear]ness and A[wear]ness Day, an event aimed at publicizing Fair Trade by bringing Fair Trade designers and vendors to campus on April 27, 2011.
“We are asking for $3 donations, with all profits going directly to MEND,” Kim said. “MEND is a division of Invisible Children run by women child soldiers in Uganda trying to make a life for themselves. They create handbags and sew their name into each one. They are a bit pricey, (approximately $80 per bag) but the feeling behind it is incredible.”
The Seaming A[wear]ness team is in the process of securing guest speakers to discuss the importance of Fair Trade in our society. A representative from MEND will be flying in from Uganda and Fair Trade designer, Eileen Fisher, will be coming to speak to Marist students on A[wear]ness Day. In addition to informational lectures, there will be a Fair Trade Bazaar set up in the Student Center that will include food, jewelry and beauty products.
“I’m most excited to hear [Eileen Fisher] speak,” Kim said. “Fair Trade has always been a passion of mine. I would love to work for her because I feel like it’s so important to love what you do. I never want to work for a company that ships stuff in from somewhere and you have no clue who made it or where it came from.”
Kim and the other four founders of Seaming A[wear]ness further demonstrated their commitment to Fair Trade by creating a special project for the sophomore design majors to complete for the 25th Annual Silver Needle Fashion Show. Each year the Fashion Program faculty work to create a unique assignment for the sophomore designers to undertake during the semester. In years past the fashion show has featured the Red Dress Project as well as the Pink Dress Project, in which sophomores designed dresses to raise money for heart disease and breast cancer. This year, Seaming A[wear]ness proposed that the sophomore collection should focus on Fair Trade textiles and incorporate MEND bags into runway looks.
“I believe this is the first time students have designed a project concept for the sophomores,” Kim said. “I can’t wait to be like ‘That’s what we’ve been working on all year, there it is!’”
In addition to creating Seaming A[wear]ness, A[wear]ness Day, and the sophomore design project, Kim is also co-directing the 25th Annual Silver Needle Fashion Show – a daunting task in and of itself. As co-director, Kim is typically “running around with a headset on” making sure everything is perfect for the big day. With so many ambitions and so much creative energy, Kim Warren and Seaming A[wear]ness are two powerful forces to watch for in the future.
Kim and the other four founders of Seaming A[wear]ness further demonstrated their commitment to Fair Trade by creating a special project for the sophomore design majors to complete for the 25th Annual Silver Needle Fashion Show. Each year the Fashion Program faculty work to create a unique assignment for the sophomore designers to undertake during the semester. In years past the fashion show has featured the Red Dress Project as well as the Pink Dress Project, in which sophomores designed dresses to raise money for heart disease and breast cancer. This year, Seaming A[wear]ness proposed that the sophomore collection should focus on Fair Trade textiles and incorporate MEND bags into runway looks.
“I believe this is the first time students have designed a project concept for the sophomores,” Kim said. “I can’t wait to be like ‘That’s what we’ve been working on all year, there it is!’”
In addition to creating Seaming A[wear]ness, A[wear]ness Day, and the sophomore design project, Kim is also co-directing the 25th Annual Silver Needle Fashion Show – a daunting task in and of itself. As co-director, Kim is typically “running around with a headset on” making sure everything is perfect for the big day. With so many ambitions and so much creative energy, Kim Warren and Seaming A[wear]ness are two powerful forces to watch for in the future.
Moving through Water: Eva's Inspiration
Eva's collection is inspired by relaxing days spent on the beach and the free flowing beauty of water. The color and movement of the fabric she has selected is crucial in executing the collection as Eva envisions.
To mimic the unpredictability of water Eva has chosen a light weight cotton fabric that will move well on the runway.
Random cut outs, drop holes, and pockets exemplify Eva's outside the box design style.
As a sophomore, Eva's garments are being made in Fair Trade fabrics from India, Tanzania, China and Guatemala. Eva has hand died her fabric to accentuate her free flowing garments.
design.tools
All garments are first sketched on paper, then on Adobe Illustrator, then on pattern paper, and finally begin to be created in muslin. Eva's collection features loose fitting dresses with intricate drop holes and pockets.
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