This week I have started to put together my magazine, and when focusing on the ‘Stories Behind Things’ Swap Shop feature, I wanted to create a illustration to accompany the interview. Due to bad lighting during the event I wasn’t fully satisfied with the photographs that I took there, however was supplied this professional photo of the founders. Having focused on geometric collage in project 1 I decided to recreate this technique while layering with a line illustration. I am happy with this development as the final illustration is more suited to my magazine aesthetic than the original photograph.

I decided to erase the sofa out of the illustration as it is not the object of focus and I would like to direct the attention to the materials and collage used to form the women. In substitute I experimented and with other ways in which I can lay out my illustration and have decided to create a wide band of block colour to act as placing for them to sit. I also chose to experiment with using contrasting colours of blue and pink, mirroring those in their clothes. However have decided to use the colour yellow and white within the spread so that there is a connection to the following page where the man in my photograph collage is wearing the same shade jumper. I believe this is a better colour choice as it is important that the feature flows coherently.

Having decided to not include any text on the first spread of the feature, I then began to experiment with how I will layout the interview. After researching on Pinterest, I came across this pull quote, used on a student hotel website.

From this I was inspired to continue the yellow band from the first spread into the second, as another method of connecting the pages. Making sure the thickness of the bands are equal and in the same position within the page, I have placed a pull out quote from the interview.

Ben Fashion Design Interview

G: What materials is your final design made from?

B: So my trousers are looking at a variety of up-cycled polyesters from suit trousers which were all from charity shops and then the jacket is made from upcycled neoprene from a combination of different wetsuits. I have woven the storm flap at the back of the jacket out of about 40/50 green plastic bottles. I have also used a combination of rubbers from the inner tubes of bicycles to act as fusing for my seams.

G: What techniques did you use to put it all together?

B: So it was quite difficult because I was working with atypical materials. The trousers I just sewed as standard, but it was quite a lot of panelling which was a bit of a struggle to make sure there was no warping in the way that they fall. With the jacket, I glued the majority of it with this strong e6000 glue which is really versatile. I stitched where I could but it was just too thick to do the whole thing.

G: How did you make the storm flap?

B: So I firstly I made a device to make all of the plastic bottles into string, it was effectively a peeler. I then knotted the string together to create a thread and then weaved it through a huge loom.

G: And how long did that take?

B: Probably 45-50 hours, maybe more. On just that little section. It was kind of to prove and proscribe value to something to means other than the actual materials, like the craftsmanship involved has given the bottles value that they didn’t have in the first place.

G:  What was the hardest part when creating it?

B: Twirling it was really difficult, getting the shape correct. It taught me a lot as it was really emotionally strenuous when the deadline was looming and I wasn’t seeming to get anywhere. But I found some really weird ways of getting stuff to glue together, like pinning two sides into a board. It felt quite rewarding when that worked out.

G: If you could create more designs to create a collection, what would you create?

B: So I like to poke fun at stuff, touching on functional fashion but in a much more conceptual way. For example, because I have used quite a lot of hard wear in the jacket it doesn’t really feel like a garment but more like a costume. So I would say more garments like that, and more garments exploring sustainability. Whether that be using techniques such as weaving, beading, printing or the fusing of plastic.

G: What was your inspiration when creating your design?

B: It took me months of thinking to develop the concept behind the piece but it developed just quickly enough that it was all fulfilled within the design. Essentially I was looking at, capitalism, underground culture and sustainability. I used the men’s suit trousers as a metaphor for capitalism, mocking the constriction of it by subverting, inverting and superimposing on them. For example, I have massively enlarged the back pocket and then layered it over another pocket. Those who wear suits as a group of people, would be the kind of group of people who could be scornful of more liberal cultures, like punk which defy a convention. So I am mocking that contrast again by using materials which really fitted into the aesthetic of punk, such as neoprenes and plastics. I have referenced Carol Christian Poell alot, Maison Margiela and also rave photographer Molly Macindoe. A lot has gone into it. I think it’s important in fashion to have something behind what you’re doing, and it has made the project much more interesting because at every point that I had a question about the design..because I had thought about the concept so much it had direction. Every question I had, I could answer.  

G: What is your opinion on sustainable fashion?

B: I think it’s interesting because there’s so many different routes into sustainability. I think sustainability can create divides especially if you look at high-end designers who are marketing to a specific kind of consumer and making a ‘thing’ out of being sustainable. That is their business strategy not an actual motive to make change . We should be encouraging people to shop more at charity shops or fixing and recreating their own clothes. That would be a true initiative.

Interview – Styling by Madi Mcinnes
G: How would you describe your style and what is your inspiration?

I would say my style is very eccentric but very monotone because I don’t wear any colour but  materials like leather, fur and PVC. My inspiration I would say is Robbie Spencer, who is a Dazed and Confused stylist, he uses a lot of layering and is quite gothic. I also like Charlotte Knowles who is a up and coming designer, she is very deconstructive in terms of layering again and she makes lingerie but in a everyday outerwear piece.

G: If you could offer three styling tips what would they be?

1. Never throw away an item because you think it is out of fashion, always try to wear it in combination with different things to give it a refresh.
2. Don’t be afraid to wear things which are out of your comfort zone, if people are looking at you it normally means you look good so don’t take offence!
3. Accessories are key, they can always jazz up your outfit

G: How would you re style an item of clothing for dressing up and dressing down?

The way you style an outfit can literally create a completely different vibe! So say you have a nice slip dress, in the day you could wear that with a pair of boots or trainers, and then with a hoodie or shirt. But then in the evening you could wear the same dress but accessorised with wearing a belt and evening bag.

G: What is your favourite type of accessory and why?

Oh I love a pair of diamond earrings I do have to say! Anything that is tacky, anything that is diamante, or pearls! I am really into styling with those at the moment, it just immediately makes an outfit looks more glam and also vintage in a way.

G: How else would you suggest that people can you contribute to consuming clothing sustainably?

Get the scissors out! Cutting an item of clothing is a costless, quick and effective way of creating something new. For example, I loved wearing this men’s suit but once I got bored of it and wanted to look more feminine I have cut the blazer into a shorter length so that it is more of a cropped and box fit.

… 

When I found this font illustration in the book, ‘New Illustration with Type’ by Martin Dawber, I was inspired to experiment with the clipping mask tool on Photoshop, to create my own typography out the scanned images of my denim jeans.

An aim of my magazine is to inform, therefore am presenting the statistic that ‘1 pair of denim jeans equals to 7,000 litres of water’.

I have experimented with the layout of the typography in many ways but found it most effective when the letters and numbers on each page were sized to fit into equal boxes. This creates balance and reflection. I felt with just the typography and two images the pages still looked quite sparse, so decided to layer them over lined paper and incorporate masking tape to give a more scrap book and raw aesthetic.

To develop this, I am going to refine the shape of the water drop slightly and also try incorporate ‘denim jeans’ into the first page, as both these alterations will make the reference of the statistic clearer. I also plan to make a couple more pages of similar purpose throughout the magazine, perhaps for cotton or workers rights recognition.

 On Tuesday I went to the Magazine Shop in Brighton for inspiration for my magazine typography layout, as I would soon like to make templates and a flat plan. After researching, I experimented with placing my Swap Shop interview into Indesign, using different guidelines on each page.

Having also played with fonts, I have found to like ‘Avenir Book’ for my main text and ‘Avenir Black Oblique’ for headers. This is a modern san serif typeface which is easy to read and suitable for my teenage target audience.

Through my experimentation I have decided that throughout my magazine I would like there to be a two column template. I believe this is less daunting and appealing to read. It also leaves more room and flexibility to insert images.

Creating collages in a surrealism style, using my own photographs. I am happy with the collages because they are playful yet clearly portray the message that there is a overconsumption of clothing which society and the world can’t keep up with. I would like to develop these further by scanning in smaller accessories and details which will bring the material world to life. This Instagram post by @themayfairgroup, has also inspired me to incorporate typography and other textures into my collages.

I am also inspired by this post by fashion brand @sugrcoatd to experiment using a double outline colour block around images to create emphasis and a ‘pop – art’ like aesthetic.

Industry Talks and Inspiration:

John Holt, Founder of LAW Magazine
https://www.carhartt-wip.com/journal/news/2017/11/2117-video

I really love the urban look to this short video. The contrasting colours and retro check print is a style which I would like to achieve within magazine as I believe that when applied to the topic of slow fashion, it will create a ‘cool’ edge which the topic needs to be interesting to the young demographic.

LAW magazine is raw and honest. It is easy for the reader to relate to the content.

John McFaul:

Story, NY
A shop curated as a magazine, that changes theme as if it were a different issue.
This got me asking myself, how can I present my magazine in other virtual ways? The launch could have aspects related to each feature..

On 16th February, I went to a clothes swap in London ran by sustainable fashion proposers Stories Behind Things. After purchasing a ticket of £12 for entry free, I brought along 5 items and traded them in for 5 tokens. Once handed in the clothes were steamed and organised into colour and product type.

I believe a clothes swap feature would be well placed in my magazine, as it is a cheap and fun alternative to buying new clothes. I interviewed one of the founders, Jemma for a insight into the company.

Stories Behind Things – Interview Jemma 16/02/19

G: When was Stories Behind Things found and what made you start it up?

J: So we started two years ago now, me and my best friend Ella started it as a passion project. We went to uni together in Leeds, I studied Fashion, she studied Journalism and we just felt really disconnected to what we were consuming. We loved going thrifting together, loved going into vintage stores and we thought wouldn’t it be nice to have a safe space for both of us to literally share the story behind pieces that we already had. So whether it was a item that we got on holiday or something that we got from a market, we would hang it up, take a nice image of it, and just say ‘I got this from a market in Ibiza etc’. From there we grew our first lot of our community in the first six months or so, just of people connecting with what the stories were, tagging their friends saying ‘remember when we went on holiday’ and triggering them to to talk about their memories, which was really nice for us. If we had something that didn’t have a story and it was vintage, we would hang it up and take an image and then make one up. So this could’ve been worn in the forties by a librarian or something, and it’s just really fun to imagine the life that that piece of clothing had. From there we got approached by small fashion brands asking us to share their story, and that’s when we started to consider the sustainability aspect of everything.

G:What is the best part of working at stories behind things?

J: So I think for me, it’s being a founder I was able to imagine something and then bring it to life. It’s really amazing we had this community of like minded people, for example the clothes switch.. switching clothes is a really common concept that’s not been done anywhere in London so we thought let’s try and do it. It’s worked and now we do one most months, so it’s really magic to believe something, to put it out there in real life and for people to turn up and engage with it.

G: Have you seen a sudden boost in people being more aware of sustainability?

J: Yes, definitely i’d say in the last year or so. It’s just one of those things, because climate change is in the news all the time, fast-fashion, all of these factories being exposed for not treating their workers fairly, there has been this uprise in brands who want to do things in the right way. This is because all consumers are now demanding traceability of where their clothing is made. Even to the extent of what is the name of the factory? When did someone last visit it? All of these brands are having to deliver on these answers and if they don’t they will lose customers, so obviously it’s in the brands interest as well to be able to provide that information.

G: When was your first clothes swap?

J: Our first was two years ago, Ella and I rented a warehouse in Hackney and about fifteen rails and we had no idea if anyone would turn up, but we had over two hundred people come. For us it was a definite light bulb moment to understand that everyone has a wardrobe, and clothes that they don’t wear. There is this fast-fashion, fast consumption world that we live in where people want new stuff, and we wanted to shine light on the fact that you can have new stuff in your life and it doesn’t have to be new from a shop, it can just be new into your life. For us doing these events we see people and their faces, how happy they are when they find something that they love, you get the same dopamine hit as buying something from a shop. That’s why we try to steam all of our clothes and make it look curated and beautiful and have the quality slightly higher so yeah, you can find really good stuff.

G: What happens to the clothes that don’t get picked today?

J: For the clothes that are left at the end of the day, we will keep all the good stuff for the next switch. We have a big archive of second hand and vintage that we store for the next event. If we have a large amount of t-shirts or jeans we will take them to trade, which is a second hand store that takes clothing in bulk, because not all charity shops have the capacity to take a large amount of clothes but trade do. We have a good relationship with them where we can drop off clothes. But because we say five items per person, the number of clothing that we have over is sort of perfect, so we tend to just take all of it and then just use it for the next.

G: Do you work with any other brands? Do you ever select clothes to bring here?

J: No, it’s just all other peoples. To be honest a lot of it is Ella and I clearing out our wardrobes. And also friends, we will contact friends and say if you are getting rid or if you are having a hoard out just give us some stuff, because all of our friends now know that this is what we do, so we often have them give us a bag every now and then which helps.

G: What are the goals for the future of stories behind things?

J: Our goals are to reach more people and scale up our events. We are planning Clothes Switches all across Europe which is super exciting for us!

I am really happy with the emotions and suggestions made through the way in which I directed the model to pose during my shoot. I will now collage them with my own photographs of clothing flat lays. I also took photos of clothes in different positions, and will experiment how I can manipulate them on Photoshop to create letters and numbers which could be used to present landfill statistics along side my collaged images.

I have researched the following statistics which I could include in my magazine. Sourced from fashionrevolution.co.uk

Fashion Revolution FanZine 03- Fashion Environment Change

• 15% of unwanted clothes are being recycled or donated
• In one season, a Briton  throws out seven items of clothing into the trash on average
• Polyester takes up to 200 years to biodegrade
• 140 million pounds worth of clothing the UK sends to landfill each year.

This week I have experimented with collage, focusing on flat clothing and proportions. I have been inspired by series of photographs ‘7 days of garbage’ by Greg Segal and Steve Madden commercials in the 1990’s. I plan to develop this by taking my own photographs of my clothing and model in different emotive positions, to which I will be able to continue collaging with. I hope to use these collages within my magazine in a feature creating awareness about clothing consumption and landfill.