Toiles

The following are the images of the first and second looks in progress.

Korean Rhapsody

Suh Do-ho "Uni-form/s:Self Portrait/s:My 39 Years," 2006.
169 x 56 x 254 ㎝, fabric, fiberglass resin, stainless steel, casters.
sourced from http://e-flux.com/shows/view/9443
Korean Rhapsody sheds lights on these experiences through the visual narratives of the artists and visionaries of the age. The works displayed range from visual archives, painting, photography and video—together assembling a "montage of history and memory" by exploring themes of identity, war, trauma and nature.

It was by pure chance that I came across this article in E-flux as it really seems to tie in with my theoretical approach to my collection. Looking back at my first process journal which I had slowly started over the summer break before uni commenced, I had written about why I began to look into the historical aspect of Korea as a point of reference;

Lost times= lost fashion of South Korea

I have always wondered and questioned myself ; what is Korean design? what is Korean fashion? what makes a design Korean?

In the present, the majority of Koreans wear garments influenced by the West. After the Korean War (1950-1953), the gate to Western culture and social behaviours were promoted to modernise the country.

However, due to the rapid absorption of Western influences, the customary, centuries-old, traditional way of dressing was quickly forgotten and disappeared.

If the absorption rate had been slower, and if the change from traditional to Western garments had developed gradually over a longer period of time what would have been the outcomes of Korean fashion today in the 21st Century?

Embellishments

Iron-on embellishments ordered by a friend in Korea, these embellishments, crystals and lace pieces can be designed by myself and emailed to the company in Korea who would then produce the customised designs and post it back to me in Australia.

 (2000won = less than AU$2)

Martin and Savage

More fabric swatches and colour palette research from Martin and Savage samples.

Textile Repeat Pattern

My first attempt at the repeat pattern using the method shown in Renato's tutorial. I did have a little trouble using the new method because the directions and shortcuts given by Renato didn't coincide with my home PC. So ultimately, there are some errors and holes but they will be fixed at a later date.

Using elements from a Hangul (Korean alphabet) script, I played around with shape, size and direction to create this effect. I do believe that because these elements were full sounds and not the separate letters of the alphabet, the whole repeat gives off a too asian feel, which I was not aiming for.

For my next attempt I would be using the Hangul letters as geometric lines and shapes to create a modern and subfusion effect of the East and West.

Textile Process II

Experimenting textile designs using floral doors and with kisaeng.

Fabric Swatch

A selection of cotton, silk and polyester fabric swatches and samples from Tessuti and The Fabric Store. These fabrics may assist in finalising the colour palette to my designs.

Sketch Exercise Part II

This post is a follow up of the previous. The second week of drawing exercises with Armando involved further explorations of drawing draped material on the mannequin.

Sketch Exercise Part I

The following images were sketching exercises from Armando's Design tutorials.
A minute each for front side and back views. The point of this exercise was to experience how fast coming up with designs in the real fashion industry would be. As well as being a new approach in incorporating drape forms from the earlier post into designs that would further strengthen skills in imagining and drawing from two dimensional compositions.

Illustrations

This post is an explorative 7 pages of illustrations that utilises sections of drapes and Korean-inspired textile prints with fabric swatches.
These are not my final designs but an example of how I will incorporate small details structured within my drape exercises into my initial design drawings later on.

Textile Process

Initial fumblings of repeat pattern of a Minhwa Korean traditional painting.

Draping Part II

Draping Part I

The following 2 posts will be images of the collection of drapes I did in class and further explorations on the mannequin at home executed with discarded clothing and shirts bought from the Salvation Army.

Textile Dyeing Part II

The second session that we had to dye fabrics resulted in more intense and deep colours suitable to be used within my colout range. This week I was able to dye a variety of neutral organic colours as well as vibrant popping tones to contrast.

Turgquoise 2 minutes
Green + Khaki 10 minutes

Khaki 2 minutes 

Turquoise 10 minutes

Burgandy + Red 5 minutes 

Burgandy + Red 10 minutes

Cinnamon + Coral + Gold 2 minutes 

Cinnamon + Coral + Brown 10 minutes

Gold Yellow 2 minutes

Neutral and Brown extras



Textile Dyeing Part I

In order to experiment with hand dyeing our own colour palette we had two sessions at uni to dye pieces of white natural fabrics in Star Dye.

Most of the dyeing of the first session consisted more of tints than actual dyes due to the short period of time I intervalled my pieces of cotton, silk and silk/cotton in the dye.

Oranges and Reds approximately 2 minutes each:



Fuschia 2minutes and then 6 minutes

Fuschia and Burgandy 2 minutes and then 6 minutes plus scraps of navy and brown tints



The Invisible Women of Chosun

Any respectable woman in the Chosun Period of Ancient Korea had to cover themselves from head to toe once they stepped out of the security of their home.

Hanbok in Paris



Copyright to Lee Young Hee from her book
Paris ro gan Hanbok jengi
'It is not a "Korean Kimono" it is Hanbok'



This book that I ordered online is an autobiography of the first South Korean designer, Lee Young Hee, to introduce the Korean national dress into the European Fashion stage. She was the first Korean fashion designer to be invited to do a show at the Paris pret-a-porter in 1993 and in the following year, again as the first Korean designer in history, opened her own boutique.