D&G Fall/Winter 2016-17 Collection Illustration

Folded Contours

My final garment is inspired by my research into the brief 'Folded contours'. It consisted of draping fabric on objects and recording interesting folds and shapes produced as well as exploring ways of folding pages in a book. This garment is the final outcome of my research, the minimal vest has modern buckles which is contrasted by the soft curves and folds in the skirt. My garments were photographed in a photoshoot which was a great opportunity for me to be a part of.  

Avant-garde your Icon

The first visual studies brief I worked on was 'Avant-garde your Icon' which was very different in the sense that if felt more creative and editorial. As the brief title was Avant-garde your Icon, I decided to use a blogger/fashion designer/youtuber Dina Torkia, better known as Dina Tokio (Website: http://www.daysofdoll.com), as my muse because although I do not have an 'Icon' I do find her inspiring, especially her bubbly personality. I also really wanted to create a maternity collection and it just so happened that she was pregnant at that time which was perfect! The fact that I wanted to produce a maternity collection helped me focus on the idea of having Life and Death as a theme to guide my research and design development because when women give birth, they are essentially bringing life to this world. I wanted to really portray this theme in a different light so it creates more of a 'dark romantic' mood to this collection.

This brief allowed me to really experiment with silhouettes and the placement of key details. Although, the brief asked that the collection produced had tailoring it did not specify if it had to be a full tailored collection or have some tailored features and thus as I am focusing on maternity I only wanted to include tailoring elements within my collection and this certainly impacted on fabric choice- the fabrics I employed were a mixture of knitted and woven fabrics to accommodate for both the tailored features and the maternity aspect. Below are some of the work produced which will hopefully give you an idea of the outcome of this brief.

'True Islam'

After months of planning and going to many meetings, we (the committee members from Hudds Isoc) had the Interfaith dinner along with an exhibition and Q&A panel. Although it was stressful at times and quite chaotic (my lack of organisational skills), I feel as though it all worked out in the end Alhamdulillah (praise be to God). Being part of something bigger than myself has really broadened my understanding of how much planning and hard work is involved when organising events as well as helping strengthen my faith. 

I wholeheartedly can say that this event would not have been possible without the volunteers, who gave up their free time to help, the University and more importantly the awesome committee members who are some of the most AMAZING people I've had the pleasure of meeting when I became the Education Officer. Being around them has taught me so much about myself, my faith and what it is like to be part of the 'Isoc family' and for that I am eternally grateful! It is so rewarding knowing what a small group of students can achieve when we work together- 'Individually we are one drop but together we are an ocean'. This was my first time helping to organise an event but I hope this won't be my last. 

Here's some of the photos from the evening (photo credit: committee members from Isoc)

ARTfashion//CONCEPT board

One of my recent projects in the Visual studies module is 'Artfashion' and for this brief I have researched artists/illustrators that inspired me and create 4 illustrations in their style. The idea was to select one of the four words from the brief, 'Hybridity, Identity or Technology' and explore the word in further detail to produce a theme for the illustrations, that are going to be created in the style of the artist/illustrator I explore. I decided to explore the idea of my identity and as I am from Algeria, I quickly narrowed it down to my cultural background in particular the tribes that used to live in Algeria (some still live in certain regions), focusing on the Berber people or 'Kabyle' women of Algeria. Also, I am focusing on the elaborate jewellery, headwear and the meanings behind the tattoos that they have, which I will hopefully combine with a contemporary twist by using fluorescent colours, which the artists I am being inspired by employ in their work- they are Niki Pilkington, Website: http://www.nikipilkington.com and Louise McNaught Website: https://louisemcnaught.wordpress.com please do check out their beautiful and awesome work! 

Just wanted to share this concept board I created on Photoshop which will hopefully help get across the idea behind my Artfashion project.