Tuesday 8 March 2011

Architectural Inspirations


Journey of the Lil White Corset Dress

Inspirations:      The London Metropolitan  University, 
                          The Guggenheim Museum, New York
Architecture:    Daniel Libenskind and Frank Lloyd Wright




 Holloway Road, North London



New York

































Monday 28 February 2011

Back to Basics


Vintage Sewing Machines.

I guess vintage is just my second nature. I love anything that is old with character and history, such as a teaspoon, furniture, cars, buildings; the list is endless.

Talking about sewing machines, it is obvious that before civilisation, makind sew or rather, put together pieces of fabric to make a garment by hand up until the industrial revolution in the 1800's. With this movement, machines were invented in order to help decrease the manual work load in factories as the demand for clothes increased.
It is known that during the rise of industrial revolution, dress became more complex due to the invention of sewing machines, and production of pattern books that encouraged the booming business for sewing machines.

Elias Howe is regarded to be the one who successfully managed to build the sewing machine after many other earlier attempts.






A shop in London that
tells a visual story of  vintage sewing machines.


How's this for a window display? Quite cool, I think. A shop in London's All Saints Road , Notting Hill.



Different Makes of Sewing Machines after the Industrial Revolution.


The Willcox & GibbsSewing Machine Company was started in 1857 as the answer ...
moah.org


Steampunk sewing machine











I love the " detailing" on this vintage machine.




This is what I remember growing up with and seeing in almost every house hold.



Source:

Saturday 26 February 2011

Friday 18 February 2011

From Yarns & Textiles to fashion apparel (1)


              Yarns and textiles are the basis for most fashion clothes.

Sheep for wool



 The bride wearing her wedding dress, made from her own sheep, how awesome is that!!






Carding machine. Unlocks and aligns lumps of fibers before being passed on to other processes to produce different yarns, be it wool, felt, etc. 

When you mention silk, it denotes luxury.  I love silk, love the feel of it, and also it is just pleasing to look at as a fabric or a garment. This fabric is used by a lot of top designers.   
Silkworms eating mulberry leaves

Silk comes from moth caterpillars and also produced by different kind of insects. It is said that the best silk comes from a worm called mulberry. 
A worker is processing silk 
skillfully






Images from my favourite yarn shop in London.







 You are looking at some of the silk yarns, that can be woven into textiles.


 Fabric & Print samples





As a believer in sustainable fashion, I made my own yarns for my new spring/summer 2011 collection, "Jungle Paradise".  I used the traditional Indian technique by twisting these yarn into ropes.

A model wearing a neck accessory I made using  cotton/silk yarn.
Print Samples

Puff binder


Screen Printing on silk shifon 


Waiting for my sample to dry

 Image inspired from the anemone.


Woven Fabric
Woven dress. Mixture of silk, cotton and raffia yarns.

Woven handbag
Model wearing a woven headpiece.


































Source:  























































Sunday 13 February 2011

Beauty, Masks, & Mystic


My Funny Valentine

Beautiful to look at, often one wonders, who exactly is the person beneath mask. I thought, I'd also share one of my favourite video clip featuring, Peter White that I love so much.  Peter White is a  smooth jazz musician, and a jazz fusion guitarist.  This track is called,  Midnight In Manhattan.  
















It's me!! 


"The carnival has ancient origins, a celebration that greets the passing of winter into spring, a period in which everything is apparently connected, including the illusion of the more humble classes becoming similar to the powerful, since everyone is disguised behind a mask". 













































My way of saying to you; Happy Valentine n stay close!!

xxx