Arts Thread

Second Year University portfolio. The initial concept of my second-year menswear project began with the selection of the following designers, Matthew Miller, a sportswear brand, and contemporary designer, JordanLuca. After choosing these brands, I researched the design DNA, heritage, and ethos of both designers’ brands and started to brainstorm the direction I wanted to head in, with a focus on sportswear. From both brands, I wanted to take inspiration from their colour palettes, details, shape, and silhouettes, for my own take on their collaboration. I selected the key market of Asia Pacific, specifically Tokyo, and explored the culture, lifestyle, and current trends. After my research into current trends in Japan, I came across the men's contemporary fashion and streetwear brand, Poliquant, which has played a big part in the inspiration for my project. I found that this brand was a perfect combination of Matthew Miller’s and JordanLuca’s designs, with the same customer market focus. Leading on from this, I began to research climbing harnesses and how I could use these in my work, as both brands have used these within their work. During my research into mountain climbing, I came across images of the first men to the top of Mount Everest. These images particularly stood out to me due to the colour palettes of their clothing. As my research developed, I looked into the famous Andes Mountain plane crash in 1972. This had a heavy influence on my design narrative, as I followed the survivors’ tale of events and took inspiration from photographs of the crash site. I paid particular attention to the survivors’ use of layered clothing for warmth and therefore I have decided to experiment with this concept in my final collection. Their use of survival skills and making the most of what they had, will play a big part in my collection, including the use of items that would have been in the debris of the crash site, such as emergency blankets. It follows the survivor’s tale of events and features upcycled objects that would typically be found in the debris of the crash site, in order to keep the survival element of the collection alive.