My Brief

In my dissertation I investigated Y2K fashion, which is a fashion era combining styles from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. Being a fan of this fashion trend enthused me to use this aesthetic in my collection but interpret it in my own way. Typical Y2K fashion is made up of innovative, shiny and bright materials, hot saturated colours and interesting embellishments on unique garment designs. I will focus on the 2000’s side as it was more about feminine sensual glamour and girly appeal, which links in better with my second point of inspiration. 

 

This summer, I visited Le Chateau de Versailles. I was mesmerized by the baroque architecture and the rich, luxurious textiles I saw in the interior furnishing and historical paintings. I was particularly inspired by the impressively extravagant gold detailing decorating the interior and exterior of the castle. This carries through to the gardens surrounding the Chateau; the rich variety of florals and luscious grasses integrated in the formal gardens were also an inspiration point for my textile collection. 

 

Using my visit to Versailles as my visual inspiration but integrating the Y2K aesthetic to illustrate the gardens and architecture, I am inspired to create a fusion of opposite eras to modernise Versailles with a dominating fashion trend from recent years, to create a synergy of the past and present. 

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My textile designs will be applied to a womenswear fashion collection featuring corsets, tops and skirts, accompanied by a collection of matching bags. I have chosen these product applications because womenswear aligns with both points of inspiration. Corsets are very popular in today’s fashion, due to the bring back of Y2K; however, they were also worn in Versailles splendour’s past, paired with ball gowns and accessories, being a symbol and wealth and luxury. I will be designing for a mid to high end market level, so Versailles is an appropriate inspiration for product application; as well as items of fashion fitting into today’s trends. The idea of matching bags accompanying the womenswear collection comes from trend research I have done on Y2K; the style was to have a cohesive outfit through colour or print matching. 

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My visual research will be based on the architecture, which impressed me most during my visit to Versailles, specifically the gold decoration and stone carving. My style of drawing will be a combination of detailed sketches, continuous line and paint studies illustrating this.

For the Versailles gardens, I will draw flowers such as the Iris, which are the symbol of French royalty, as well as other striking florals to keep my designs eyecatching. 

Butterflies are motifs abundantly present in Y2K fashion, I will be incorporating some into drawings of architecture, and floral clusters into my visual research. 

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For contextual, I will widen my knowledge on trends, iconic garments, motifs and influences from the late 90s and 2000s to bring into my practice to make this point of inspiration more apparent in my samples. I will also be taking inspiration from haute couture designer such as Dolce and Gabbana, Blumarine and Versace, so my technical execution matches my market level. I will investigate high end vintage French embroidery which would have been worn by royals in Versailles, to have traditional techniques in my collection. My sustainability goals include having an entirely compostable print collection and meeting goals on ethical material sourcing. I have also designed a sustainability tag which would accompany the garments manufactured from my textile collection. 

 

This collection will include a combination of embroidery using the multihead, pleating and beading. I will also experiment with printing techniques, such as devore, flock and foil, as well as creating a digital print collection which I will further embellish.