A fashion photo shoot

I just did a photo shoot with my designs from the past year or so, some pieces much older. I wanted to get some really cool and professional pictures of my work for a portfolio. 

I am so lucky that my brother Kaare Smith is a photographer and wanted to help me with it. (Check out his website here)

I then asked my good friend Marit if she wanted to model in my clothes - I am honored to say that she felt honored. (Read her blog here) 

I had never done something like this before. Kaare also never tried to shoot for fashion, he's a journalist photographer - captures the moment in its truth. Marit had tried modelling once before some years ago, but that is not something she does either.

So all of us being pretty unexperienced we didn't really know what to expect with this shoot. I thought that would make it even more interesting, a real low-key photoshoot out in nature and in an abondoned industrial building with only rookies.

It was awesome! Everything just worked. I was kinda on the side line while Kaare and Marit worked magic.

Here's some shots from the day.

 

The quick reader might notice that the last picture is the dress I made in my bachelor project.

IVANAhelsinki

IVANAhelsinki has this summer a sailor theme going, very well put together collection. I found these two pieces the coolest. The black one has embroidered loose chains sewed onto it, and this white one abve is made entirely of rope, I'd assume it's more a show piece than something to wear since it's very heavy.
I also love the logo, though I don't think it matches so well with this collection as the logo represents something closer to nature than red/white and blue/white stripes sailor style.

reflections and light

Exhibit at Urban Outfitters, Copenhagen. (designer and photographer unknown)

The fashion photography translates the fragileness and transparency of the feather-light garments in a delicate unique way and pictures and clothes reflect and complete eachother perfectly.

Screen print project

This is my last project from school. We learned some new techniques in textile printing, wich I completely feel in love with. Both were very popular in the 90's and have since been forgotten. Now, though, it seems they are making a come back along with velvet.

I will start by saying that these fabrics were ice white to begin with.  

 With this piece of fabric I plan on creating a jacket.

And this may become a pillow some day, nothing is yet decided...

Using certain chemicals that only destroy the vegetable fiber, you can make the ornament you print on the fabric transparent. This is especially suitable for velvet, but you can also use it on lighter fabrics such as voile or satin when the right fibers are mixed.

The other technique is preferably used with the previous mentioned technique. With that one you can see the top of the fabric wich is a vegetable fiber and where the chemicals have destroyed this fiber, you can see the base of the fabric fx silk. Now, with this technique you can color the vegetable fiber in one color and the animal fiber another. It's all chemicals that bind one color to one fiber. Didn't know I liked playing with chemicals before being able to create beautiful fabrics with it.

Screen printing with - yes another chemical - not a new technique for us, though. This one withdraws the color from the fiber so it almost becomes white, depending on wich kind of colors you ahve used for the fabric.

These fabrics are all velvet so you can see the pink colored silk fiber under the viscose fiber.

And the (quick) design process. 

When just seeing the ornament it could be anything, depending on who you are. Guess it's like looking at the clouds and seeing different animals...

I looked through some books and magazines and just knowing that I wanted to use feathers in some way. I ended up also being inspired by a gas mask though. 

Exercises in fashion illustrations

I've been drawing since I could hold a pencil in my hand and I took drawing and art classes when I was a kid. Back then I drew and painted almost anything - what ever was on my mind; objects, architecture, animals, nude drawing and portraits, but later the theme of my drawings changed to being more fashion illustrations and that's mainly what I still do. 

Last year I took a class in fashion illustration and actually learned techniques behind it. I found it difficult to follow the teacher's advice because I was more comfortable with my self-taught techniques. But I stopped resisting the instructions and learned a lot from it. 

These are some of the drawings made in that class. 

These drawings all represent very different techniques. The first was a dress just hangning there. The second was drawing a live model (one of the other girls in the class) which was done without lifting the pencil from the paper. The third one was different pieces of clothes draped on a mannequin and we really had to make it realistic. The last one was started by spashing watercolour on the paper and seeing how it could grow to be a fashion illustration. 

I found that I really like being very meticulous and taking my time - it's almost like meditaion for me, which I never realised before because I'm also very impatient. 

I don't feel that secure using colors and the result is always either very good or very bad, but those that come out very good like this last one, I really love.