Creative Technical Studio: The Dress

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Kenna

For our final project, our teacher challenged us to be more conceptual, and to stop thinking so much about the form of the body. For this, I was inspired by clouds. I thought about how when people are looking up at them, they see different shapes. One may look like a cat or a baby, or a cake. Really, the clouds are just big blobs, not looking like anything, but people see what they want in them. I wanted to make a dress that people could see in it what they wanted to, and transform it to wear how they wanted to. I did this by incorporation drawstrings, two in the front and one in the back, so that the dress can be worn in at least ten different ways.

Creative Technical Studio: The Shirt

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Kenna

We started our shirt project by deconstructing a men’s button down shirt. From this, I took my initial inspiration, which was a cape-like back made up of two layers.

From there, I thought more about shirts, and started researching the traditional Hawaiian shirt. Through this research, I learned about the amazing things Hawaiians have made through traditional feather working, such as leis and this cape, which belonged to a king:

In the end, this was my finished product:

Creative Technical Studio: The Skirt

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Kenna

For my skirt, I was inspired by marble and all of its qualities; the colors, the way it is created in nature, its texture and malleability. I considered all of these as I draped, chose fabric, and produced the final piece.

LBD + Immaculate Conception

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Kenna

For our final project in Design Studio, “Fashion Anthropology and Directive Spontaneity,” we were randomly assigned a historical garment to research. I was assigned the little black dress, which surprisingly for me, was not so straight forward. Through my studies, I realized than any dress that is black can be considered an LBD. So when we had to make a mock-up of some sort of our garment’s most characteristic part, I was a little stumped. In the end, I decided to recreate the front bodice of Audrey Hepburn’s classic Givenchy dress in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, because to me, that is the little black dress.

To go along with our historical garment, we were also assigned a random action word. With this word, combined with our garment, were were supposed to design a collection. My word was birth. Yes, birth. So after some thought, I started focusing on Immaculate Conception and the birth of the Virgin Mary, which seemed like a fitting contradiction to the mischievous LBD.

For my fabric manipulations, I used motifs from the depictions of Immaculate Conception. The Virgin Mary often has a halo of stars or is standing above thorns, so I laser cut both from fabric. I also used bleach to take the color out of black fabric.

To me, it was like bad vs. good. Born free from original sin vs. the sin that the color black represents. This idea remained strong as I designed my collection, and I incorporated the idea of that struggle as well as my fabric manipulations into each of the looks.

Visual Communications 1: Final

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Kenna

Our final was very free, just six looks with corresponding front and back flats, plus fabric swatches. Instead of focusing on my designs, I put all of my efforts into the drawing and rendering. For the looks, I just created ones that have a close resemblance to clothing I had when I was young that I would now love to have in my closet.

Visual Communications: Progression

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Kenna

For our third project for Visual Communications 1, we had to create our own striped, plaid, and patterned fabrics using Illustrator or Photoshop. We then had to incorporate them into 4 different looks with corresponding front and back flats.

Inescapable Fate

Posted on November 2, 2014 by Kenna

After starting by deconstructing two secondhand button downs and piecing them back together and draping them in different ways, I realized that all of my drapes made me think of fairy tales. Not the princesses though, the villains. Maleficent in particular came to mind. So for inspiration, I researched the history of fairy tales as well as Maleficent’s role throughout the different versions of Sleeping Beauty. Some themes that I came across were male supremacy, the countless restrictions that were put on women and the clear expectations and characteristics they were meant to live up to and embody, the sexualization of women, and female empowerment. I tried to incorporate all of these themes into my designs, while still keeping with a dramatic fairytale vibe. While the pieces at first just seem to be beautiful and enchanting, not all of them are simply just that. Many designs lack one or both armholes and reasonable hem lengths, so the wearer is restricted. Other designs are overtly sexy and revealing. Others feature jutting components on the backside or hip so sitting, or movement in general is more limited. It is with these elements that the dark nature of my inspiration is embodied.

Tropical Nostalgia

Posted on October 4, 2014 by Kenna

When I interviewed my partner, Gabby, I was really inspired by her love for both Miami, and winter and sweaters, so I focused on that contradiction as I started this project. She also likes icy colors, which led me to look into the Art Deco District in Miami, which is full of rich pastels. Looking into that, one thing led to another and eventually I had a lot of 80s and Miami Vice references. With all of these things as my main inspiration, it lined up well with one of my core values: nostalgia. Because essentially, I was looking back on a time and place that I’ve never been. So I created a winter collection that emulates the fun, carefree vibes of Miami as well as how I perceive the 80s.

Munchkin Costume?

Posted on August 13, 2014 by Kenna

We were challenged to create a garment using a stiff/hard material and only the shape of a triangle. Only after we came up with the design and pattern for the garment were we to then decide what musical character it could become a costume for. I decided to transform my top into a costume for a Lullaby League Munchkin in The Wizard of Oz.