I am a womenswear designer and my style is feminine with influences of historical fashion and fabric manipulation. I enjoy designing statement pieces with bold silhouettes and volume with gathering and pleats. I like my designs to express femininity however I have recently be combining this style with a slightly more edgy style. My final collection is inspired by the work of Richard Quinn and his use of exaggerated shapes, exploration of volume and bold patterns. I was also inspired by the punks of the 1980s as I wanted to challenge myself for this collection and explore concepts that are vastly different from my design style. I combined the 80s punk concept with 18th century silhouettes and fabric manipulation as I usually draw inspiration from historical fashion in my collections. The combination of these two very different time periods and styles created a challenge as I sort to find a way these two concepts could merge harmoniously while also staying true to their styles. The message behind my final collection is about individualism and self-expression, which is conveyed in punk culture and in myself through my choice of using historical fashion.
My chosen fabrics include velvet, leather, polyviscose tartan, duchess satin and tulle which reflect both Richard Quinn’s style and my concepts. I used a purple tartan print throughout my collection to symbolise punk fashion while also making it my own by using purple inspired by punk hair colours instead of the usual red tartan evident throughout my research. I used duchess satin and other tartan fabrics to create pintuck pleats inspired by the 18th century fabric manipulation research and experimented with wavy pintuck pleats as well to make my designs richer. From this I began researching further into fabric manipulation and experimented with shirring to create different textures and shapes. Following on from my research of 18th century techniques and concept of combining ideas, I combined gathered ruffles with quilting to create wadded ruffle samples which I then experimented with on a mannequin to replicate 18th century wide hipped silhouettes. I also embellished both of my final garments with pearls instead of studs to make my garments more luxurious.
Lauren Venus | Fashion
