Aikido Hakama

Pretty interesting ha? Here are images of the entire costume, the samurai armour which was one of my other inspirations just to add a little shimmer to my outfits and a few shots I was able to find of my final collection.

During my years of HND, the collection I did for my final show was inspired by the Samurai's traditional costume which was a combination of a pleated pant named the 'Hakama' and the top, the 'Kataginu vest'. The 'Hakama' was known to have seven pleats (five in the front and two in the back) and these were known to represent the seven virtues of budo (martial arts);
Jin: benevolence
Gi: honor or justice
Rei: courtesy and etiquette
Chi: wisdom, intellligence
Shin: sincerity
Chu: loyalty
Koh: pietya 

Costumes from all over the world

Beautiful aren't they?

China

Japan

Burma

India

Scotland

Kazan (Russia)

Vietnam

Culture to Style

I love transforming whatever traditional garments I come across when I’m researching, in to every day wearable clothes without having the need to follow a complicated procedure that is beyond the ability of many young women who usually have to ask their mothers to help them to dress up. I’ve been thinking of ways to make it look less complicated, comfortable yet fashionable by applying contemporary details and structural elements in to them without straying too much away from traditions because, I find it very interesting how different costumes have these interesting silhouettes, details, trims and colour combinations they have used to bring out their nationality through their clothes. It’s amazing! So I think I prefer preserving the traditional feel to it but at the same time add a modern twist to them.

Going ethnic

Well, speaking of my interest in fashion first of all let me tell you about one of the areas I am really interested in, as a designer I love to research on new things mostly about different countries and learn about their culture, traditions, languages, what they wear, what they eat, their lifestyle etc. basically every teeny little detail I think that’s interesting is likely to be a part of one of my collections.

Gucci-fall 08

Roberto Cavalli Spring/Summer 2011

 So basically I am most likely to be inspired by traditional clothing of different countries which always carry a special meaning. Though this may sound a bit boring at first once you really start observing the beautiful details of these garments you can do miracles with them. Just like how these designers have ended up with fantastic collections.

Etro

Design and self satisfaction :)

What I mostly enjoy about designing is that apart from the fact that you don’t have to pay anyone else to get a dress made, it feels great to get in to one of your own designs and also the fact that it’s DESIGNING!!! It’s where you can express yourself as a designer and most importantly when you see people wearing your designs you know you’re being appreciated for your work. So the feeling is inexpressible. It’s actually a lot fun too. :)

Toiles!

Designing actually fulfills my creative interests and is something that I love to be a part of which is why I’m here blogging about my entire experiences and achievements I’ve gained along the way. The most interesting part about it is when you have to research, analyze and evaluate data and ideas, whenever you have to update yourself and look up for a theme for a certain collection. Especially on areas that you’re not quite familiar with, which would help you to expand and broaden your mind on new things. The biggest challenges I have had to face in my work were to sew the toiles to match with my illustrations whenever it didn’t turn out the way I expected it to. However, sometimes expecting the unexpected helps if it turns out better than what you have imagined. It can be defined as the development stage where we work on our designs to develop them in to a much better standard. Of course with practice anything is achievable besides it’s impossible to carry on without having to face certain pitfalls and problems in the middle of your work but it’s also fun to tackle these problems with calm logic and a sense of humour of course, because ultimately once you’re completed with your designs and you look at it, you know all the hard work has definitely paid off.

Sketches and more sketches!

                                                                   Colour me wild

                                                              Alexander Wang Fall '09