Hello and welcome to Fashion & Textiles at Reigate College.
My name is Clairiscia Callanan and I’m the course leader for Fashion & Textiles A Level. I’m looking forward to welcoming you to the Art & Design Department in person at the beginning of the academic year, but in the meantime I’d like you to complete a series of tasks and activities in preparation for the course.
These tasks have all been designed for you to complete independently from home over the coming weeks and months. When we start the course in September, there’ll be the chance to share your work with other Fashion & Textiles students and discuss what you’ve learnt.
The tasks will be released here, in three phases (see table below) and should be completed by Choices Day on 1 September 2021. Please throw yourself into them and above all enjoy them!
Please note, some Course Leaders (for example for Music) may release their tasks earlier, as they may form part of the College’s audition process. If this applies to you, you’ll be notified separately.
New Starters Course Tasks and Activities
| Release date | To be completed by | |
| Explore your Subject | 1 June | 1 July |
| Get Going | 1 July | 1 Aug |
| Aim High | 1 Aug | 1 Sep |
Explore your Subject
As a fashion student, it’s important that you keep up to date with current events and have an awareness of what’s happening in the fashion industry today. This year we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day under some of the most unusual circumstances the world has ever seen. Sustainability is the buzzword in the fashion world today, with lockdown encouraging individuals to consider adopting more eco-friendly practices. Some designers are going one step further by using existing materials or garments and repurposing them to create new clothing. This is something I would like you to consider, not only as a student of fashion but also as a consumer of fashion products.
Remember that fashion is about culture, not celebrity!
“If you’re in fashion then it doesn’t really matter what you do. You’re in it because you love change, you’re in it because you’re curious, you’re in it because you’re looking at things to be different’’ – Zowie Broach
The tasks outlined below will take you through the design development process that most designers undertake when creating a new collection. You will need to understand this for when you’re working through projects on the Fashion & Textiles A Level course.
TASK ONE (Stage One of the Design Development Process)
RESEARCH: I’d like you to research three current fashion designers who are engaging in eco-friendly, sustainable practices, such as using and recycling old materials and fabrics or upcycling existing garments. Here are just a few I found that may be of interest:
Viktor & Rolf
Dutch fashion house Viktor & Rolf used fabrics left over from past seasons to create the haute-couture garments in its Autumn Winter 2016 collection, Vagabonds.
Christopher Raeburn
Christopher Raeburn is a British fashion designer, known for reworking surplus fabrics (such as old army parachutes) and garments to create menswear, womenswear and accessories.
Isa Beniston
LA-based Isa Beniston, founder of Gentle Thrills, is a brand that makes and sells ‘wearable drawings’ or artistic garments made from upcycled cashmere, wool sweaters and scraps. Some of the one-off neon, airbrushed pieces are made from vintage Levi’s jeans.
Vinti Tan and Paul Andrews
For their Autumn Winter 2020 collection, the London-based brand featured a padded neon yellow Hi-Viz jacket, upcycled from used Met police coats. Other pieces in the collection were made from vintage sportswear and outerwear that had been deconstructed, sampled and recreated as ‘new’ garments.
E. Tautz
With a focus on longevity and clothes that last, this brands does not encourage buying new fashion each season. Their ethos is ‘wear them until they wear out and when they do, fix them’. Once an item can no longer be fixed, it should be recycled.
The 2020 collection at London Fashion Week featured pieces that had been ‘fixed’ by being darned, patched and mended. Pieces were made using textiles recovered from unwanted clothes from clothing recycling banks across the UK.
Alexandra Hartmann
Founder of Hôtel, this Danish-French brand transforms discarded sheets, curtains and bedspreads from Parisian hotels into clothes and accessories. Being able to wear old-school Parisian glamour is the peak of chic and glamour.
VIN +OMI
With a focus on recycling, their Autumn/Winter 2020 collection featured dresses and coats made from repurposed large vinyl film posters.
Natasha Anio
Roop become Instagram famous for their handmade bags that are a blend of ‘Furoshiki bags meets scrunchie’! Their designs show what can come from giving dead stock and vintage fabric a second chance.
Before you undertake Task 2, I would like you to look around your home for any unwanted items of clothing or fabrics. Once you have found them, gather them together and put them in a safe place as these will be used to inspired your designs and create your final outcome.
Task Two (Stage Two of the Design Development Process)
INITIAL DESIGNS
For this task I’d like you to develop your own eco-conscious collection inspired by the designers above or ones you’ve researched yourself. You may want to look back through the unwanted garments/fabrics you collected for inspiration or take some of the ideas used by the designers. For example, you may want to make a scrunchie bag, or repair an old pair of jeans with fabric patches; you may consider painting, drawing or using embroidery to create an image personal to you on an old T-shirt or bag, or you may have found some old uniform you wish to redesign through padding. Whatever inspires you, you need to be able to communicate this visually for others to see and understand.
Using figure templates found on the internet (see examples below), I’d like you to design six repurposed or recycled garments inspired by the items you found in your home and designer research.
I hope you enjoyed moving through the first two stages of the Design Development Process and are looking forward to continuing on to the next stages.
Get Going
Hello and welcome back.
I hope you enjoyed working through the first two tasks. Hopefully you were able to use the findings from your research to help inspire your designs. By completing these tasks you have progressed through the initial stages of the design development process.
Before we start on task three, it’s helpful to review what we have already done:
- Task one – you were asked to research eco-conscious fashion designers and collect old unwanted fabric/garments from home.
- Task two – you were asked to complete six designs inspired by your research and the unwanted fabrics/garments you collected together.
We’re now ready to progress to stage three of the Design Development Process – Experimentation and Investigation.
Experimentation and investigation is such an important part of the creative process for all practitioners. This stage of the design development process should be undertaken in order to explore the potential uses of different media, materials and techniques when constructing a final piece.
- For task three, I would like you to start thinking about how you are going to make one of your designs and how you are going to use and adapt the unwanted clothes/fabrics in your final piece.
- As the focus is on upcycling and giving old garments/fabrics a new life, I would like you to consider what other creative elements you could add to transform your unwanted items into something new and exciting. For example, you might want to dye the fabric a different colour, or print patterns and images onto it. You might want to go a step further and add an element of embroidery or applique. Whatever you decide to do is up to you; it’s your design, your experiments and your creative freedom.
During this stage I would like you to focus on the journey; reflecting on what you have learnt, rather than worrying too much about the outcomes.
Below are some examples of experiments you could investigate when transforming your clothes/fabrics ready for the construction of your final piece. It would be helpful to take photos of what you do and record your thoughts and findings as you go.
- Basic Colour Dyeing
Dyeing fabrics using natural ingredients found in your home
Dyeing is a great way to change and give new life to old, unwanted fabrics. You may want to consider doing this to some of your collected items before you use them as part of your final piece.
Natural dyes may work better on some fabrics than others, but experiment and see what happens. The dyes can be made from natural items found in your home like spices and vegetables.
Click here for guidance on how to dye at home.
- Experimental Dyeing
Once you have mastered basic colour dyeing, you could explore alternative methods such as tie-dye or dip-dye. This could add further interest to your items and create beautiful patterns and shapes.
For ideas on different tie-dyeing techniques visit:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ac/c6/0e/acc60ebaffb693d435681f77be91a2ea.jpg
- Marbling
This is a great way to add colour instantly to fabrics and old clothing. You can create a variety of patterns, shapes and colours with the dye. Again, this method may work better on some fabrics than others and will probably be more effective with lighter materials and those that are more absorbent.
Instructions
You will need:
- Shaving foam (not cream)
- Liquid watercolor paint, food colouring
- Stir stick
- Scraper, such as a square piece of cardboard
- Shallow baking dish
- Fabric
- Cover the bottom of your baking dish with a layer of shaving foam.
- Drop colours into the foam and drag your stir stick through to create alternative shapes and patterns.
- Gently press your fabric into the foam.
- Lift out and scrape off the shaving foam with your scraper.
- You should now see your pattern.
- Potato Printing
You may want to consider printing onto your fabric to create repeat patterns or singular images.
Printing can be done at home using a simple potato and paints.
For further guidance visit:
- Experimental Printing
Once you have developed basic skills in printing, explore other objects you find around your house to print with. For example the end of a toilet roll can be used to make a repeat circle print or can be squashed, folded, or cut, to create other shapes. Old sponges can be cut into shapes for stamps, or simply used as they are for textured prints.
I hope you enjoy exploring, experimenting and investigating in this phase of the design development process.
Aim High
Hello and welcome back
I hope you enjoyed working through the third task set for the Fashion and Textiles course. Hopefully you have learnt a lot from the experimentation and investigation you have undertaken and developed some new skills or even enhanced existing ones. Before we start on task four and five, let’s review what we have already done:
- Task 1 – involved researching eco-conscious fashion designers and collecting old unwanted fabric/garments from home.
- Task 2 – completing six designs inspired by your research and the unwanted fabrics/garments you collected.
- Task 3 – exploring how you were going to make one of your designs and how to use and adapt the unwanted clothes/fabrics in your final piece. This involved experimenting and investigating potential techniques, recording what you did through photographs and descriptive annotation.
Now we’re ready to start the final tasks.
- Task 4 (Stage 4 of the Design Development Process) Construction
It is at this point of the Design Development Process that you gather together all of the work and research you have undertaken in your previous tasks and use it to create a final piece.
With reference to your initial designs (Task 2) and your experimentation (Task 3), I would now like you to make your final piece. You may want to start with a final design drawing if your ideas have changed or a step by step plan of how you think you are going to make it, with details of what you require at each stage. Once you have started construction I would like you to photograph the making process, recording the successes and challenges you face.
Your final piece should be made to a good standard and reflect the research carried out in (Task 1), highlighting the theme of Eco Conscious Fashion.
- Task 5 (Stage 5 of the Design Development Process) Realisation
Congratulations, you have now reached the final stage of the Design Development Process and it is time to present your final outcome.
For this stage you are going to assume the role of a stylist and fashion photographer. Before you do, I would like you to research the work of famous fashion photographers and consider how they have used the location, models, props, accessories, alongside hair and make-up, to communicate their ideas and showcase their designs.
Below are four photographers you may want to include in your research. Once this is completed, it is time for you to create your own stylised photoshoot for your final piece. Be creative, take inspiration from the photographers you have researched and use what you have available to you. Your images should showcase your final piece and reflect your theme through the choice of location, model and styling. Print off and present the images in a sketchbook along with all the work you have produced for the previous tasks.
I hope you have enjoyed moving through the final stage of the Design Development Process and seeing all your hard work come to life through construction and photography.
Thank you so much for taking part in the Fashion and Textiles tasks, I look forward to meeting you all and reviewing all your amazing work.
Clairiscia
Course Leader – Fashion & Textiles
