A Little Red….
Soooo, looks like I’ve gone a little quiet here again…but that’s good…actually life’s very good. Indeed I’m at my best when I am busy and busy I have been! Creating accessories based on concealment and the unexpected. This has taken me on a fabulous journey of slashing, burning, melting and shoe-making! Here’s some of my not-quite finished shoes….
Can you guess my inspiration?!
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Zebra Flowers
A recent final design for Fashion Textiles and how this would looked mocked up on an outfit from Zara.
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Pretty Petals
Another recent final design for fashion textiles and how I envisage this could be used on a top designed for a high street retailer.
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Obsessed
So, it’s the Easter Holidays and I’m *meant* to be having two weeks off from designing whilst the kids are off school, but so far the obsessive in me hasn’t quite managed it and I have totally got carried away with a new brief. In one week, I’ve nearly filled a whole new sketchbook (and brought a sewing machine and read a design book!) Eeeek!! So bad, but I can’t help myself and I’m pretty sure there are far worse things I could be doing!
This week (apart from eating lots of chocolates!) I was excited to share a peek into one of my sketchbooks with the lovely Sue Bulmer, you can check out the feature by clicking here.
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Designing for Fashion Textiles
Just a little over seven months ago, I started a BA Hons in Design (Surface).
In that small amount of time, my life has changed dramatically and I have grown so much as a designer. I have found new mediums to work with and experimented with new techniques as well as spending my days hanging out with some awesome people.
Although I am still a Photoshop and Illustrator geek… and I will ALWAYS be ‘MAC’ till I die… I have found a new love for drawing and filling sketchbooks….a new love for research and trends. But one of the biggest new loves I have found is that for Fashion Textiles.
I had always embarked on this journey to use my designs as pretty papers, wallpapers, accessories, cushions and homeware, but now I see them on hangers in Topshop, River Island and All Saints.
With that in the back of my mind and the persuasion of others, I have chosen to specialise my degree in ‘Fashion Textiles’ as oppose to ‘Surface Design’.
Been at Uni has really opened my eyes and Surface is so much more than my vision of ‘Print’, it is all about ceramics, 3D, Plaster, Metal…intergrating all manners of surface to play an important part in the final design.
Whilst Fashion Textiles is all about the manipulation of fabric from print through to its cut and hang….i love it!
I am so excited by this little turn in direction and can’t wait to show you some of my work for the previous two modules.
 I’ve been so busy creating and having fun, there is plenty to come!
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London Fashion Week
Jeez isn’t today going far too quickly already…it’s gone 2pm and I’ve just realised so far today, I’ve only had a cup of tea! It’s totally my own fault as after the school run and Roxie’s dance lesson, I have been immersed in the trends emerging from London Fashion Week. Atleast I can say, this is all in the name of work as this research is all part and parcel of the new brief I am creating for…I am so lucky that the whole design process is so fun!!!
So far, I absolutely love the show from Orla Kiely…what a show she put on, she really thought of covering every element  to create a unique stage show. If you haven’t seen the numerous videos and pictures flying around the internet, check out this link here from the website of London Fashion Week. It’s only 1min 28secs long and I gotta admit it was probably the best minute of my day so far! (Even better than my overly sugary tea!) I must get a shifty on, so I will leave you with a new pattern I have been playing around with…
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Inspiration Board
Busy, busy, busy here but thought I’d just show you a peek of the inspiration board behind my current Fashion Textiles project…
A little ‘darker’ than my usual design projects, but so much fun!
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A productive weekend….
So whilst the rest of the UK was sleeping peacefully…. getting ready for our first proper week of the New Year…..the week when everything goes back to ‘normal’ and children/parents return back to school and work (well all except mine, who seem to have blagged an inset day)….insomnia and the ‘annual’ winter cold hit all at once. So today…the day I have been waiting for, for the last three weeks with a list of things to do as loooonnnggg as my arm…. I’m feeling a tad under the weather.
But never the less, I am really really excited about my new collection and how it is coming together. Through my sketchbook, I am beginning to develop a really  firm ground for this project and have some strong ideas that I can’t wait to push the boundaries with. So much so, that last night I took it a step further and started to look at my designs in a more 3D way as fashion garments. My ideal would be to create these designs out of fabric using my surface designs which I would create specifically for the garment.
This is just a couple of pictures showing some of the variations I was working on. I really enjoyed the idea of using a piece of fabric and constructing a garment without any cutting and just pins…if only the rest of the construction would be that simple!
Aside from this, I had a productive weekend re-creating my website (http://www.clairesmillie.com). It has gone from been full of bright colours to a more minimilistic background, which I think provides a stronger showcase of my work and is more in keeping with my current style. There are still a couple further developments I would like to make to my website but I couldn’t wait for it to go live so go and check it out…you know you want to!
Claire Smillie - Creativity Rocks 