2012 book titled ‘Mining Couture: A Manifesto for Common Wear’ explores the relationship between coal mining and fashion. This unique study pushed me to try and re-imagine the use of fabrics most commonly associated with workwear, such as denim and jersey knit, and interlace them with sportswear silhouettes and details.
The idea came from the term ‘coal seams’ loosely explored in the book, which are essentially banded deposits of coal, which led to the sportswear-like panelling that’s common amongst my final garments, juxtaposed with the upcycled, dyed or bleached textiles I have utilized.
A lot of the details were inspired by functionality and the desire to create a sense of freedom for the wearer, getting rid of traditional gussets and instead creating neatly finished slashes on the back and elbows to reveal skin and encourage movement. Different types of pockets, some hidden in seams or panels, provide added functionality for the wearer, whilst almost every garment or accessory features some sort of cord or drawstring to adjust the fit.
As already mentioned, most of the fabrics were treated in some manner, be it dyeing it a specific shade or bleaching the denim to achieve lighter shades, or even laser etching cable-knit patterns onto some of the smaller details to echo the gritty workwear aspect of the collection.
Last but not least, the patterns for each garment and accessory were made and developed using CLO3D software, which I utilized a sort of zero-waste toiling tool. Not only did this allow me to experiment a lot with the patterns due to my knowledge of the program, it proved to be rather efficient as after having the garments visualized on a 3D avatar, all that was needed was a few minor tweaks to the paper patterns to get the fit just right, saving me toiling time and money on fabrics.
Misty Turnbull | Fashion
