Fashion Design - Seedling

SEEDLING

2013 - 2014

CROSSFUNCTIONAL COLLABORATION

TEAM: Amy Stoltzfus (Concept, design, CAD, dyeing, assembly, finishing) | Ken Yanoviak (Photography) | Local Boy Scouts (remnant parachute material)

The SEEDLING fashion collection is inspired by the stories shared from my previous work with the village of Ureca in Equatorial Guinea. Discussions with town elders sharing a knowledge inheritance by passing down traditional craft, like ceramic pottery, palm fiber weaving, and staining, to a generation wanting to build their own path and new traditions, created a dissonance in lifestyles and personal value criteria. This stick collection one local shared helps to visual the act of embracing the character of the entity as individuals and as a whole, while leaving the open-ended question of what to do with them in their future existence.

NAME: THE POTTER'S DAUGHTER

Hand-crocheted network of fragmented yarn pots (yellow), appliquéd to neoprene remnant patterns assembled using male pattern slopers. The yarn pots are similar to the shattered clay pots along hiking trails leading to villages and worn by use and weather as they return to the ground.

NAME: WATER BUTTER

Patterned using men and women slopers, the garment emphasizes the waterproof "splashguard" center front, pointing to the daily ritual of hiking to collect freshwater each morning in plastic containers washed up from the ocean, trapped in the trees, and providing a sustainable carrier for distance in a climate which quickly degrades material forms. Individuals share responsibility when the items is a necessity.

NAME: WATER BUTTER

A continued physical dialogue on the menswear suit. The weaverbird type military grade bungee cord satchel provides materials which can be used and reused as the need arises.

NAME: CLOUD TUMBLER I

Recycled parachute was shibori dyed with original features maintained in closures, and hood patterned as a cavity carrier for ones most precious items, which can be kept close to the traveler.

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NAME: CLOUD TUMBLER II (Top)

Recycled parachute was shibori dyed with original features maintained in closures, and hood patterned as a cavity carrier for ones most precious items, which can be kept close to the traveler. Excess material in couture does not exist in Rainforests where degradation is accelerated, except for the materials which reject environmental elements, providing counterpoints to sustainable materials being natural or synthetic in extreme persistent conditions.

NAME: THE OTHER SISTER (Middle)

The design plays on both sides of younger and older generations in their dialogue about past and future traditions and how they are expressed. Methods of pattern development unify custom drape and CAD for laser-etching, while material stiffness varies between rubber composite neoprene (fleshy tone) and high density silk organza (white). Sleeves are enclosed, but access panels/holes exist for the human to explore outside the garment, in their access to a broader range of experiences.

NAME: FAMILY ARMOR (Bottom)

Recycled parachute was shibori dyed with original features maintained in closures, and hood patterned as a cavity carrier for ones most precious items, which can be kept close to the traveler. Excess material in couture does not exist in Rainforests where degradation is accelerated, except for the materials which reject environmental elements, providing counterpoints to sustainable materials being natural or synthetic in extreme persistent conditions.