During summer 2015, I had the opportunity to intern with Ralph Lauren for the Summer Creative Internship Program. One of the program’s highlights is to create and present a project at the end of the internship.
For my project, I created a line that speaks to the Polo Ralph Lauren brand and is inspired by Block Island, Rhode Island. My Grandmother lives on Block Island, and the island is my second home. I think this inspiration speaks well to the Polo Ralph Lauren brand because the island has nautical, nature, and tribal influences. I created a rig board to present my idea which includes a mood-board of photographs, final illustrations of the five looks I designed, swatches correlating to each fabric represented, and trims. To accompany the rig board, I recreated two of the looks to exhibit the theme and feeling of my collection. The look shown on the dress form is a yellow raincoat worn over a fishing net draped around the form to represent the fishing net-inspired dress. The other look shown on the hanger incorporates a vest I sewed from recycled sailcloth worn over a piece of draped cotton material to mimic the proportion and top under the cropped jacket.
Process:
My process started with the initial inspiration from my grandmother living as an artist on Block Island and the many different aspects of the island that compose its culture as a whole. I took a piece of the oean from one of my grandmother’s paintings and created a repeat print which is apparent in the collection. I then translated this print into fabric by representing it with fabric paint. As I broke down concept photographs and created my croquis and illustrations, the collection came to life to represent the different parts of the island that have a personal meaning to me. Because each illustration and look represents the different parts of the island so specifically, I was able to create detail around each garment to really identify the different fabrics I would use to create the looks. I dyed, painted, and waxed fabric, bleached netting, and sewed sailcloth in order to visualize the looks. I then spent a large portion of time on the project creating the technical flats in illustrator. Each look has many details including the zig-zag stitching on the sailcloth, or the rope toggles and netting in the open-knit “fisherman net” dress. This process was very natural because the inspirations were so clear, and I think that because I was able draw from a personal theme, I was interested in conveying my feelings through the detail.
Rig board finished details:
Final Book:
I created a book to accompany my rig board in order to break down each look and visualize the details up close. The beginning pages tell the story of the inspiration and collection and the color story. The sequence follows: two pages of inspiration with the illustration of a full look, a page of technical flats with swatches and notions, and a process page for each look.
