Models / Production / Quality
This week I’ve started to plan the photo shoot. The excellent photographer Ina Hoff Damli will be taking the photos; you can check out her website here: http://www.inadamli.com. I’ve spent most of my time trying to gather models who have the kind of expression and look that I’m after. As I wrote in an earlier post, I’d originally decided to have an all Asian shoot as I’m inspired by Japan. I figured it would’ve been a great way to extend that fact. Now I’ve realized that it could limit my potential market, that it could decrease the interest of non-Asian buyers. I’m aware that this is just a bachelor degree, and that it has little to do with reality, but I think it’s important to keep a realistic approach. So when the time comes that this is for real, I’ve already done it in school.
And so, I had to reconsider and ask myself who I’m making these clothes for. The answer is everyone. So instead of going all Asian, I’m doing an Angelina and gathering models from all over the world. I’m not looking for the perfect Benetton editorial, but I always think it’s nice to mix different skin tones, hair types and bone structures, and use this as a contrast to create a balance not only with the garments, but wih models wearing them as well.
A big part of this bachelor is to forward the thought of quality before quantity. To get people used to the fact that it’s better to pay a bit more; to get longer lasting garments that are produced under controlled environments, where the workers are paid properly and where there’s a guarantee that every material being used is as ecologic and earth friendly as possible. For me, as a designer, this statement is the most important thing to consider while making a collection.
This is especially important if you’re approaching the commercial market. I feel that it’s time for the industry to mange a serious change. The “ecologic cotton” t-shirts from H&M – with ten percent ecologic cotton? That’s not enough.
In addition to the search for models, which I need to keep under wraps as of now, I’ve also started with the written part of my bachelor. These are my main topics:
- Japanese kimono clothing tradition
- The british sartorial tradition
- What happened with the japanese clothes when the west crossed the Japanese border?
- The meaning of clothes, identity and quality
- Production: How to make the best of it?
An important part of the bachelor is to imagine the production process for the collection, so we have to make production sheets with technical drawings, flat drawings, measurements and specifications, which is something that takes a lot of time. Luckily I have some experience from the internship I had at Henrik Vibskov last year.
This weekend we’ll be shooting the pictures at Universitetsplassen. I’ll fill you in on that next week, with on-set pictures and gossip.
XX, J
Jone Nielsen is currently finishing a BA in Art and Design at Oslo University College with a major in Fashion and Textiles. Updating weekly until his graduating show in June, he will be sharing details of the design process, juicy tidbits on the challenges he faces along with his expectations for the finished result.
