I can see a clear visual connection to Mondrian's work and Eric Lyon's architecture. Here, YSL puts this work in a fashion context which i what i am trying to translate through my final piece. Like in Lyon's architecture, Mondrian doesn't use any curved edges, only straight lines. I feel like Eric Lyons was probably influenced by Mondrian's geometric abstract paintings. This dress was designed in 1965, and is a classic example of 60's fashion. I really like the A-line form of the dress and how it creates a geometric form on the body concealing curves and a more "feminine" figure. YSL's dress becomes the canvas for Mondrian's artwork. 

This book by Tomoko Nakamichi is a fantastic example of how you can create 3-D structures on the body. I think this could be great when if i decide to pursue the origami tiles skirt. These cube shapes would be great especially as my house is made up of geometric shapes. 

I think Jamiee Mckenna's garments are really stunning. I love the variety of different structures made me the pleating techniques. I find it interesting how she chooses to produce pieces of clothing only in this blue colour. I wonder what it would look like if the fabric was patterned, and how it would work with the pleats. It defiantly reminds me of Issey Miyake's pleated designs. I'm intrigued by the weight of the retrial and how the pleats are held. It look like very heavy and thick fabric.

'Modernist Estates' is written and photographed by Stefi Oritzi. This book is all about modern architecture snd homes around the UK. I found looking at this book really helpful with my research about span and my home itself. Stefi wrote about the Span estate i live in, The Hall. 

Stefi writes, "Housing after World War Two had mainly followed layouts and designs that did not reflect the mood of post-war Britons"..."Modern Architecture was reserved for either council estates or for the wealthy"...(Eric Lyons and Geoffrey Townsend) "...saw a market for well designed, affordable, modern family houses built on a larger scale."..."Internally the houses felt open and light with large glazing in the living rooms. Landscaping was a key element to Span estates. They rejected the more standard pattern of estate layouts and its relationship to roads."..."Span did succeed in launching a modern way of living for the 20th C and similar housing was replicated across the country." 

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2007/may/26/property.lifeandhealth

Pierre Cardin is an Italian fashion designer. I first discovered his work when i visited the CSM library and found a book of his work by chance. I love how futuristic and his designs are and his amazing use of geometric shapes and bold colours. He completely dismisses the human figure thinking more about shape and colour. I really like the simplicity yet exadurated aesthetic of his garments. I particularly like this piece, a circular cape. It completely camouflages the models body in a very unsubtle way. I like the vinyl-like material as it gives the piece structure and looks more sculpture like. The garment feels very futuristic too - it is not very wearable either which is why it makes me interested. It would be interesting to see someone wearing it on a bus or down the street and the kind of reaction it would get. Its put in a different context when it's placed in an editorial or photograph. During the 60s, times were changing for women, as more women were entering the workplace and women's fashion was reflecting this shift in women's roles. The 60's style was a-line and not figure hugging or feature excentuating like the 1950s large circle skirts and fitted shirts. The change in style reflected the change in women's attitudes towards themselves and the world. 

I recently visited the Christian Dior exhibition at the V&A in July 2019. I really loved going to this exhibition and seeing the change in clothing over the period of time in which Dior has been running. The designers through the years have all given their own twist to the Dior name, with the likes of John Galliano and Raf Simons making their mark. I think out of all the designers, Galliano's work has been the most experimental with his contribution to Dior. His Dior SS/2007 runway show was mainly inspired by Japanese culture and the art of folding, origami. I am extremely fascinated with Japan and its extraordinary culture. My grandparents lived in Kobi when my grandma was pregnant with my mum, so have always had an interest in the place. I love looking through their old photos of what Japan was like during the late 60s. I have also been very fortunate to visit myself and completely  loved it. I have always really enjoyed making origami since i was little. I find folding extremely satisfying and think you can make some amazing sculptures from a single piece of paper. I think this origami dress which i saw in the exhibition is amazing and so elegant. I really like the geometric shapes which are created from the folds in the fabric. I am interested in using origami to replicate the shapes of the tiles on the front of my house.

Hussien Chalayan is Turkish fashion designer, known for his innovative and technological-based pieces. His 'table skirt', 2000, was part of the furniture set for his 'furniture show'. The model transforms the coffee table into a wearable skirt when she lifts up the handles attached and secures it to her waist. Chalayan said shortly after the show, "I feared things going wrong, but the risk was so worth taking,". Chalayan takes everyday objects which surround us and gives them a new life on the body. The a-line skirt is reminiscent of the 'New Look' in the 1950s which made women feel confident and beautiful. Even though it is a large and complex wooden structure, he turns it into a surprising and extremely elegant piece. I was interested in this as it uses unconventional materials, more suited to construction and building rather than fashion. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsNLsnnAY8Q

https://www.anothermag.com/fashion-beauty/8248/when-hussein-chalayan-turned-furnishings-into-fashion

I love this piece by Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garcons. I love the combination of blue and pink. The contrast of the two really defines their individual shapes and separates them when on the body. This piece is extremely oversized and engulfs the body. It looks like it restricts the body when moving. The texture of the material is interesting because it looks very dense, stiff and rigid. This is what creates this interesting and structured shape on the body. 

Issues Miyake is a Japanese fashion designer, well known for his inventive and technological pleated garments. He began to experiment with pleating fabric methods during the 1980s, thinking about the relationship between movement of the fabric and the human body. The pleated garments are made from single pieces of polyester fabrics, three times larger than the finished outcome. The pleating process allows Miyake to create texture, movement, structure and depth around the body. I love the loud colours combined with the structural shapes and bounce created by the body moving. I think its amazing how due to the pleating, the fabric becomes very structural and strong and holds its shapes. His pieces are very playful and fun. His 1994 'flying saucer dress' is extremely exciting. He uses colour to define shapes and sections in the garment. It reminds me of a astronaught's suit and helmet. It feels very futuristic, like Pierre Cardin's 60s creations. 

https://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/22104/1/the-tech-we-were-wearing-before-wearable-tech

I found this documentary extremely sad, yet inspiring. This documentary looks into the life of Alexander McQueen and his work. I found out a lot out about his inspirations for his runways. Although he was born and raised in London, he was very inspired by nature and natural beauty. 

https://www.tate.org.uk/tate-etc/issue-8-autumn-2006/revelation-erasure

‘Erasure is merely a matter of making things disappear: there is always some detritus strewn about in the aftermath…some reminder of the violence done to make the world look new again.’

I think Stezaker's work is really interesting. He sees a relationship between humans and our surroundings. He collages and combines found photographs to create a new image, changing its context. He erases the original image and transforms it into a new image. It seems he mainly workings with black and white images, and the compositions are always different according to how the images fit together. 

During our presentation we were shown this image of Stalin,  Voroshilov, Molotov with and without Nikolai Yezhov. Stalin ordered Yezhov to be murdered, and was completely erased from history. This was before photoshop was even created. 

Eley Kishimoto are best known for their bright, bold and graphic prints. The company was founded in 1992 by Mark Eley and Wakako Kishimoto. I really like their use of colour and shape and how they combine these elements on garments, as well as in a public space. This image is of some crossings in Brixton which Eley Kishimoto designed - I think they add an element of joy and excitement into something so simple, like crossing the road.

Norma Bar's illustrations are really clever. His illustrations are very graphic and bold. He thinks about shape and how he can use a figure to create multiple images/narratives in one illustration. The illustration on the left shows a dog, a cat and a mouse in order of size.

https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/zmx3jy/is-it-a-fashion-ad-if-it-doesnt-show-any-clothing

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/gallery/2011/nov/17/benettons-most-controversial-adverts

https://www.vogue.co.uk/gallery/benettons-best-advertising-campaigns

Sarah lucas is a multi media British artist, mainly working with sculpture, photography and video. She was part of the YBA movement in the 90s. Lucas deals with ideas such as feminism, gender and stereotypes. Her work feels humorous and fun, whilst dealing with serious and current issues which affect many people. I particularly like her soft sculptures. Lucas uses everyday items such as tights and stuffing to create human features. Her sculpture 'Titti Doris' has legs which are thin and stick-like in contrast to the boobs which engulf her upper body, creating an uncomfortable and strange female dynamic. 

For our library induction session, we were set a task to find 3 books and 1 journal responding to a material, word(s) or colour. 

Reflecting on yesterday's fashion communication workshop, i decided i wanted to research more about distortion of the human figure through clothing and material. 

I really enjoyed this task and loved looking through the library. 

The books i found :

'Pierre Cardin' -

I found this book by accident. I had never heard of this designer before, however, i think his work is extremely interesting - especially when it comes to manipulation of the figure. He began his career in the 1950s. During the 60s his work began to become more abstract, straying away from the traditional female figure, which was excentuated in the 50s. I love his use of shape and pattern to transform a garment. 

'Late 60s Fashion style' - 

The 1960s was a turning point for women in fashion and in society. The miniskirt, (introduced by designers such as Mary Quant and André Courrèges), liberated women during times of oppression and the patriarchal dominance (which is still very current in today's society). The a-Iine shape conceals the female body.

'Rapture' -

This book was a visual link between art and fashion. The image(s) i picked was of Chloe Savigny (model and actress) dressed by Mark Borthwick in Martin Margiela's size 74 collection - a collection which everyone and no one can wear.

'Rei Kawakubo' -

Rei Kawakubo is the founder of 'Comme Des Garcons' and Japanese fashion designer. Her use of material to create structure and exaggerating form is extremely interesting. Her work is a prime example of distorting form and figure. 

I really like this image. The clothes are both made and styled by Gareth Wrighton. I love the combination of colours and fabrics. I think it'd feel very different without the mask which i think really ties the image together along with the baseball bat. The beautiful garments juxtapose with the aggressive props and the mask. It feels like a combination of Marie Antoinette and American Horror Story. This look against the white background really helps the outfit to come forward. 

https://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/45126/1/gareth-wrighton-greenwich-peninsula-ibrahim-kamara-kristin-lee-moolman

I love the combination of the diamonds and safety pins. There is something very edgy and punk about safety pins and juxtapose the delicate beautiful diamonds. I like the use of layering - it feels very bold and chunky. i also like the pearl detail. Pearls remind me of something old and sophisticated, which this piece contradicts. It feels very cool and rebels against this look.

I recently visited The Wallace Collection's Manolo Blahnik exhibition. The shoes were curated amoungst their collection of amazing artworks and furniture, which Blahnik was inspired by when designing his shoes. From medieval amour to Rembrandt paintings. I find it a really inspiring place, and you can see where Blahnik took ideas for pattens, shape, colour and details. I think there is something so beautiful about his shoes. they are so elegant and are full of narrative and excitement. He wants to make women feel beautiful and confident when wearing his creations.

Marina Abramović is a Serbian performance artist. I recently went to see her work at the Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park. This particular experience was interactive, as the viewer was given a headset which allowed you to see a hologram of her performing. it was interesting as she wasn't actually physically there, yet it felt so real. I love her work, as it is all very different yet she uses her body in multiple ways to communicate her ideas. In her piece 'A living door at the museum' performed with former partner and frequent collaborator, Ulay, they force viewers to pass through both their naked bodies to go into a room, forcing the viewer to have physical contact with the performers. 350 people passed through their door before police stopped it. 

“If there were no artists, there would be no museums, so we are living doors.”

https://channel.louisiana.dk/video/marina-abramović-ulay-living-door-museum

https://www.widewalls.ch/marina-abramovic-art/

https://www.widewalls.ch/marina-abramovic-serpentine-galleries/

Charles Jencks (born 1939) is a landscape designer. 'The Garden of Cosmic Speculation' in Scotland explores natural forms in a natural landscape.

Zaha Hadid (1950 - 2016) was an architect known for her large scale, detailed buildings and her use of shape, form and space. She designed buildings all around the world including the London Aquatics centre and the Phaeno Science Centre in Germany. Her design for the Bach Concert Hall is an extremely interesting use of space and perspective. It is formally very sculptural and has an interesting use of light and shape.

Fraser Muggeridge is a graphic designer based in London. 

His work for the 'Spectres of Modernism: Artists Against Overdevelopment' is a series of banners which fit on the flats in the Golden Lane Estate in East London. Here, he uses text and a public space as an act of protest and message. He has used a bold typeface and bright juxtaposing colours which catches the attention of people passing by. I really like this form of protest and it is simple, yet effective and positive. 

Ron Herron (1930 - 1994) was an architect part of the architect collective 'Archigram' (1961-1974). They explored how they could apply technology to our world and future. Many projects were unrealistic / hypothetical but i think extremely interesting, inventive and utopian. Herron described himself as an architect who "attempts to make architecture by fusing building, technology, and art to make something 'special' for the user." I like his way of thinking when imagining our ever-changing and complex future/world. His idea of a 'Walking City' explores this future-forward thinking.

https://www.moma.org/collection/works/814

1969 -

Jun Takahashi is a Japanese fashion designer. His brand 'UNDERCOVER' is a constant cycle of beauty and craziness. 

He explores humour, chaos and fragility through his creations.

He uses a wide range of imagery, which introduces emotion and context into his clothes, from renaissance painting to punk, via popular culture.

1967 - 

Eliasson is a sculptor and artist who mainly works with large scale interactive installations. His large sculptures and installations are both stimulating and disorientating. I think some of his work alludes to a human connection with nature, for example, his use of moss, light and fog. Eliasson is striving for people to interact with his art, provoking and becoming more aware of your senses. Each person beings their own experience, making the experience different for each person. In some of his more interactive installations, your senses are tightened and you become more aware of your surroundings and the people around you. i recently visited his exhibition at the Tate Modern, where i was able to experience these ideas. i found that i defiantly interacted with the people around me, especially in the fog room, which was extremely disorientating, and kind of distressing, as you were unable to make out where the walls and ceiling were. 

Whilst a person is being asked a series of questions, a polygraph records : blood pressure, respiration and pulse. They are not always 100%, and is not a completely accurate way of recording lying. The polygraph produces lines / a graph which translates wether a person is not answering honestly. 

A 'seismometer' is a machine which responds and reacts to movements and motions in the ground. The machine produces a visual representation of the earths movements.