I found Tuesday tutorials very helpful in understanding what exactly I should be doing. The group tutorials allowed me to understand where and what I should be researching within my free time to help with my project. The information provided by the lectures was also very useful in terms of researching and what should be included in our sketchbooks.

Sustainable lecture fashion future, emerging movements

What do you and how you know when you are out of balance? 

• Overthinking 
• Sleepless nights 
• Uneven eating habits 
• Not having a routine or a schedule  

How can you set 3 intentions that create balance and healthy habits during the final year? 

• Working out or playing tennis to break up the week 
• Cups of tea 
• Walk in the nature 
• Painting 

What do you think is currently missing in fashion? 

• Different traditions being combined together. All different cultures, religions and cultures are all very separate.Talking about fashion, it should be an inclusive industry rather than different brands of ‘fashion’ or ‘culture’. Ghana where all the waste goes! We don’t know what happens with it. Ghana does not need all the waste being sent to the country, this leads to the country being hit with extreme climate change. 
• Educational and constructive experience for those who are trying to get into the industry 
• Fashion industry is not accessible for those who come from a higher class 
• Equality in sizing, looks, models. Fashion is very closed and gatekeeping their ideas and concepts.
• Lack of voices 
• Fashion industry is not inclusive 

Samples of fashion archives from our first afternoon lecture.

Walking into my first lecture I was nervous and anxious from the ‘third year’ pressure and doing well. However, after settling in and getting to speak to everyone I felt a lot better. Speaking to students who came from placement was very useful as I got to learn about their experiences and what kind of  work they did within the fashion industry.

Researching into IKIGAI and coming up with my own map was an interesting research to get into before starting the course. It took me out of my comfort zone and made me think how things I love can be connected/ what I can be paid for etc. My hobby of making my own skincare masks is also an aspect I could perhaps explore when it comes to my project. Taking these ideas and my IKIGAI graph into perspective, I came up with a moodboard which would help organise my visual ideas onto paper. I started thinking about where I have been working for the past year, what I have learnt and how I could relate that into my project? Which then lead me to think about plastic and sustainability.

Looking at the archives in the afternoon was also a useful lecture to consider different concepts. Looking at work from different artists allowed me to see the depth they go into when it comes to research and creativity. Looking at their physical work: denims, magazines, posters etc was interesting: how artists develop and implement their ideas into their work.

I really enjoyed my item this summer travelling, working at a university job and keeping my self active. I went on a Europe tour with my grandparents which is really enjoyed and had so much fun! My grandparents do not live with us unfortunately but they had come to visit us from India for 5 months. Being really close with them I am going to be very sad when they leave as I love spending time with them and always learn a lot from them. I loved going to Switzerland, it is absolutely unreal and would definitely want to go back when I get a chance to do so. Apart from that, the rest of my time I was living in my university accommodation just working full time and trying to save money to pay my bills haha. The end of my summer was extremely stressful and made me feel really out of place going into my first lesson at uni from a situation I was dealing with my accommodation. I also started reading, a hobby I have never been ain’t and always disliked reading books. I want to spend less time on my phone before bed and try to spend at least an hour reading helping me unwind and de-stress.

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Walking into the first lecture for this project, I found it extremely difficult to understand the brief and was left at the extremely confused state of mind. I could not get my head around what was expected from us and what the end goal for this module would be. I felt as though the term ‘fashion space’ was a broad term and extremely vague. I struggled generating ideas as I was not aware which direction I was taking this project in. a few lectures had passed and I was still struggling and pretty much had no idea what I wanted to do and what my fashion space was going to be. Therefore, I started of by making mind maps of what I though a ‘fashion space’ was and then go onto making mood boards. This almost helped me visualize different types of fashion spaces available around us. After doing this, I branched onto the idea of producing a fashion show which would be a physically experience produced through projection of films I have captured myself. After working and experimenting this idea for quite a few days I almost felt as though it was not going anywhere and was not making progress. I felt I was not being creative enough and could not elaborate on the ideas I already formed. I have a projector in my room which I used to experiment how this idea would work in real life and its visuals planning. Going forward with this idea also meant I would have to rely on 10-15 people who I had asked to attend the show for me to execute it well and document the whole process. Having a few dropouts and arranging a date and time that works for everyone made this whole process difficult. I almost felt like I was wasting more time figuring it all out than improving and working on the project. As a result, I decided to leave this idea and move forward with another idea which I had almost as a back up plan. I wanted to use my creative skills which I have not previous used much for my new concept; textiles and sewing. I am no expert at this however, its something that grabs my interest. I had a lot of old garments this includes old bedsheets, clothes and napkins which were damaged with spillage etc. and were going to be discarded. I decided to base my new concept around those old garments and to make something out of waste. I also wanted to explore the idea of social media taking a negative toll on young people and produce something which almost takes you away from reality. I decided to make a coffee table book which was an easy ready and 90% filled with illustration. I wanted to take the consumer through my ‘perfect night in’ steps and what my cosy night in would look like. I have included different activities in my book which help me unwind, relax and create a Zen and cosy atmosphere in my room which makes me feel safe. As for the book, I decided to bring my culture into it by using natural fabric dye to dye my garments of the book. Finally, after the book was complete, I also produced a mini film which includes all the cosy little thing I love. However, stitching the book together was extremely hard as the fabrics combined were thick.