V&A

The Victoria and Albert Museum presents one of the most influential and enigmatic fashion designers of the last forty years, Yohji Yamamoto. Yamamoto is a visionary designer who has made a vital contribution to fashion, challenging traditional norms of clothing with his avant-garde style. This is his first major solo show in the UK and is an installation-based retrospective showcasing over 80 women's and menswear garments, which are most representative of his work.




When i went to london to buy my fabric i thought i may as well make the most of being there so i went to the Yohji Yamamoto exhebiton. Yamamoto is internationally renowned for challenging traditional notions of fashion by designing garments that seem oversized and unfinished, that played with ideas of gender or with fabris not normally used in fashion such as felt or neoprene and it was really interesting to see his garments up close. Other works revealed Yamamoto's unusual pattern cutting, knowledge of fashion history and sense of humore. His work is characterised by a frequent and skilful use of black, a colour that he describes as 'modest and arrogant at the same time'.

SOS - Save Our Skills

When i recieved this weeks Drapers i was drawn to it straight away just because of the front cover which said 'Uk manufacturing special - Save Our Sillks'. This is a topic within the fashion industry that im really interested in because im hopeing to go into the manufacturing side of the industry, particularly pattern cutting. Save our skills and bring manufacturing back to the UK.

The first event launched on the 26 February and continued until the beginning of April and was an innovative exhibition and limited edition book of the same title; ‘Carnaby Street: 1960 – 2010’. The event was held at 38 Carnaby Street and puts into context the history of Carnaby from its earliest origins in the 16th Century to the present day with a focus on the 1960s.

The central feature of the show was a unique 3D timeline which illustrates key people, events and happenings in the area. The show started right from the beginning, 500 years ago, when Carnaby Street was a green field site with a well and a scarecrow.

It covered the iconic characters associated with Carnaby’s music heritage such as The Rolling Stones, Sex Pistols and Jimi Hendrix. The limited edition book features images from 60s photographer Philip Townshend and exclusive interviews with people who have lived and worked in Carnaby including The Who’s Pete Townsend.

This was perfect for me because it relates to my project perfectly showing the revolutionary moments in fashion and music over the past 50 years.

PRAGUE

We took a little break and headed to Prague. It was amazing and i think coming back and trying to get back in 'uni mode' was a struggle for everyone!!




It was a beautiful place, a lot of the buildings were very dark and gothic which relates to my project perfectly so i was happy about that.
We also visited one of the fashion university courses to compare and see the difference. To be honest it wasnt really that different apart from the fact that they had about 3 students for one year compared to our 30+.


Hand help sewing machine, pretty cool and may be handy incase of an emergancy but i think ill stick to a normal sewing machine.