Project Outcome Task.

For the project in Better Lives unit I chose to do ‘’In and outside of fashion: Sportswear Fashion language and sub-cultures’’ which is part of Styling course. I had always had a great interest for the practice of styling and I think it is one of the most interesting disciplines within fashion, as it allows one of the most tactile experiences and certainly the most hands on when it comes to working with the clothes. 

The project was carried out by the Head of the Styling course, professor Karen Savage, who did a great job at explaining the job of a stylist and all the research and referencing it takes. She explained its role as an examiner of influences and cultural/historical references in order to convey a message though the clothing. We were given lecture on the history of styling as well as some insight into some subcultures and the evolution the image fashion has had through out the 20th century into the 21th century.

This part of the project also consisted In two Masterclasses, in which we would take into practice the knowledge we had acquired in styling and subcultures and had to come up with our own looks. The first Masterclass was done at the Lime Grove facility, and we played around, choosing models within the class and putting an outfit together. I found it a very fun little project to do, as we all had different ideas and inspirations, and came to sportswear as a common ground to play around with. The second Masterclass, due to the Covid-19 pandemic we are experiencing, was delivered through online classes. I chose to do mine inspired on the Mod subculture and the swinging fashion era, and I translated it via the medium of a collage with pictures screenshots of Frank Sinatra music and a sporty colour blocked outfit in Chelsea boots. This is what I wrote about it.

‘’My style has always been extremely influenced by the clean lines and colour blocking of 

the 50’s and 60’s. I thought this could be an opportunity to honour that inspiration and take sources from 60’s mod fashion from the swinging London period.

With little access to material or pieces, I took the opportunity to reach my mother’s closet and mix up her pieces and mine to give it a more relaxed and modern take to the creative foundation. I tried doing some layering and giving the look some more texture by overlaying materials. I took use of a collared top belonging to my mum, a pair of black and white Chelsea boots and mixed it up with more casual pieces to allow the outfit to have a more athletic approach.

I think re-using, re-purposing and re-imaginaning pieces that we might find in our house, our grandma’s place or just some charity shop is a great way to aim towards sustainability. If we are able to give all this pieces in our hands a longer, more complex life we’ll reduce significantly the waste of materials and be able to add value to the pieces in our hand.’’