Alternate Fabric and Design Sketches

Here are a few examples of alternate fabric and design sketches that I have been working on. I like the idea of turning the jacket and jeans into a matching set using the same fabric and adding similar alterations to each garment.

From left to right: The jeans with no pockets or stitch detailing, the jacket with no collar, and the jacket with no sleeves



From left to right: The jeans in alternate fabrics, and the jacket in alternate fabrics

Milly Resort 2015 - Zip Detailing

The Milly Resort 2015 collection used some really interesting zip detailing on their jackets. The zips are primarily decorative rather than functional, but the gold of the zip works really well as a feature against the monochrome fabrics of the jackets. The rest of the collection can be seen here.

Deconstruction Of The Jeans and The Jacket

I decided to create two videos showcasing the deconstruction of the jeans and the jacket. They show the garments laid out in pieces after being completely taken apart. I found it so interesting seeing how many pieces go into each garment after laying them out over the table. Considering each garment was only small originally, each one almost covered a four metre table. You can see as well all the 'hidden' parts that went into each garment, for example the lining of the pockets and interfacing around the edges of the jacket.

Preview Of Alternate Fabric Ideas

I visited my local John Lewis store to get some inspiration for alternate fabrics for my garments. I came across the following five, some with the jacket in mind, some with the jeans in mind and some with both.

I'm intending on making a number of sketches of my garments in these fabrics and exploring the results.

Garment Research - Part Two

I went to Cambridge city centre to do some primary research on jackets and jeans similar to those I am basing my project around. I looked at brand, price, fabric and target market.

From left to right: River Island, Ted Baker, Topshop #1



From left to right: Topshop #2, Whistles

River Island jacket - £60.00
100% Polyester

Ted Baker jacket - £229.00
76% Cotton, 21% Polyamide, 3% Elastane

Topshop jacket #1 - £58.00
100% Cotton

Topshop jacket #2 - £58.00
80% Cotton, 13% Polyester, 7% Viscose

Whistles jacket - £325.00
100% Lamb Leather

High street jackets all appear to be priced around £55-60 this season, as shown throughout this blog so far in Topshop, River Island and ASOS, despite their style, fabric or detailing. The price of higher end jackets will vary due to these factors, as shown in the examples above. Ted Baker is considered to be a designer brand, whereas Whistles still caters for the high street, yet the jackets have almost a £100 price difference because of the Lamb Leather used by Whistles. The target market is also different for high street versus higher end brands. Ted Baker and Whistles are both found in John Lewis, a store not frequented by those on a budget, whereas Topshop and River Island are very much in competition with each other as their target market is larger and their styles not dissimilar.

River Island Molly Jeans in multiple colours



From left to right: Ted Baker, Whistles

River Island jeans - £45.00
65% Cotton, 31% Polyester, 4% Elastane

River Island jeans - £40.00
92% Cotton, 6% Polyester, 2% Elastane

Ted Baker jeans - £89.00
90% Cotton, 8% Polyester, 2% Elastane

Whistles jeans - £95.00
94% Cotton, 4% Polyester, 2% Elastane

As seen in my previous post 'Garment Research - Part One', the pricing of jeans seems to mostly depend upon the brand name. The fabric quality between the River Island jeans and Whistles jeans differs very little - only 2% between the cotton and polyester counts. It is possible that Whistles take other factors into account such as production quality and cost which causes their jeans to be priced higher, however the seams, fastenings and pockets seem almost identical. I also took note of the fabrics and colours being used in jeans this season. Jeans are in the usual neutral shades but waxy and imitation leather finishes are also popular in black.