Inspirational tailoring

Paul Smith is probably the most interesting when it comes to tailoring, his crazy twist on classic tailoring makes his clothes so much more fun and young and fresh. Similar to Aquascutum, the details make his garments so much more perfect and changing them all the time, keeps his designs fresh. 

Colour...

...Print....

.....Details....

I love those details that Paul Smith uses, the randomly placed, numerous button holes on the lapels, the different sizes and shapes of the lapels, the linings etc. They make Paul Smith's clothes unique and they add a signature touch.

Stella McCartney
I adore Stella McCartney's take on tailoring, its minimal, clean, oversized, masculine, everything this project is about! So its really inspiring. I mostly like the bold, large silhouettes and simple details, all focus is on the shape. The jackets are made of stunning fabrics, prints and colours, with a masculine vs feminine take on tailoring.

Extremely low break points, simple colours, luxorious fabrics, bold prints and bold shapes may be quite minimal, but they create something that stands out.

Hackett
Hackett alongside Aquascutum is quintessentially British, creating classic and timeless menswear. It has retained this traditional look, with a whole range of collections, for summer wear, formalwear, informal wear etc.

I like the simple, fitted silhouette, its very British. The fabrics are also stunning, the tweeds and checks add a truly British touch and a bit of colour and fun.

Ozwald Boateng
Ozwald Boateng is not as old as some of the previous companies, however he has really created his signature style and has made an impact on the tailoring world. His extremely sharp suits combined with his dramatic choice of bold colours creates something so classic, but new.

A perfectly simple, sharp, tailored look that Ozwald Boateng creates is really inspiring. He focusses on shape, colour, fabric, and details such as lapels and pockets, all of which are really important to a tailored jacket.

Aquascutum

The company I am designing for is Aquascutum, with its extremely long and rich British heritage, it is an amazing company which initially did amazing things for fashion, in particular tailoring. It was one of the first company's to develop the trench coat, and then went on to create suits for men, and eventually for women. It is still an extremely successful and international fashion brand today, with a classic, timeless approach to soft tailoring, however they have updated their look to keep up with the times.

Details.....

The details were the most inspirational for me, they're simple but they add a really nice touch and finish to the tailored jackets. I like the flap pockets, trimming and paneling details.

Back to Basics

I was a little clueless about a tailored jacket and its components, so I looked at magazines for help, the mens mags were most helpful with suit jackets on most of the pages....

The simplicity of Stella McCartney, with the extremely clean and simple tailored jacket. I love the perfect rounded edges, and narrow, straight look. Also the top stitching is a nice detail.

This editorial from Bon magazine shows some stunning jackets, the way they are cut away really caught my eye, they're very sexy, but I guess it would be interesting to apply this to some more oversized jackets too.

 Dries Van Noten has done an amazing job with this jacket, doing what he's best at, he's combined and contrasted different colours and prints, and included a double lapel, but no collar, really interesting! 

The jackets above are so unusual, they are very minimal, but the details make them so different and fresh.

This jacket looked really unusual to me, its very sleek and fitted, but it has patch pockets which don't usually look formal. Its also double breasted with a fairly high breakpoint, but it all works really well.

All of these images from Bon, Arena Homme + and Indie magazine, and loads more really helped to point out the different details and components of a jacket, especially the more simple ones. I'm learning to appreciate a beautifully tailored jacket!

Concepts II

MINIMAL

The lifestyles of the Amish are very simplistic, they have no contact with the outside world and they only have possessions that they need, and nothing more. They have no luxuries and nothing for pleasure, they live with the bare minimum. So the designs I do, I would like to keep simple, and I want to focus on the detail rather than the overall design and silhouette, keep them minimal, with no fuss.

Clavin Klein 2011 Pre-fall

Stella McCartney Fall 2010




Phillip Lim 3.1 Fall 2011

Dries Van Noten Fall 2011

Stella McCartney Pre fall 2011

All of these minimal looks are really simple in shape and silhouette, and that is what makes them stand out to me. They make a statement in their simplicity. The details are very minimal, but I like Dries Van Noten's collection, where he has taken traditional tailored jacket details and altered them on one side, so the jackets are not symmetrical. So whilst keeping it simple, the jackets are also fun and interesting. The Phillip Lim collection has lots of concealed jackets which match well with Amish clothes, as they have concealed jackets, and long, straight silhouettes. The Stella McCartney pre fall collection is amazing, with huge, completely oversized jackets, but they are very simple, so the focus is on the overall shape of the jacket. The smaller details are key here, with pockets and collars making up the detail.

MASCULINE

I found the Amish menswear really inspirational, however, as I mentioned before, it was really difficult to find imagery of the Amish, so I didn't manage to find any detailed images of the garments, I have only got their written descriptions, such as straight cut coats with hooks and eyes and broadfall trousers. I also looked to the catwalk and editorials for inspiration.....

Proenza Schouler Pre-fall 2011

Alexander Wang

The Row

Paul Smith editorial, French Vogue

Bon Fall 2010

For me, masculine is all about a silhouette that covers up the curves of the female figure. So most of the images here show looks that are oversized or straight and slouchy. I guess its all about the attitude aswell, I love the Paul Smith shoot, the clothes, the pose, the slouch...it completes a very masculine look. The editorial above possesses similar qualitites, but this one has a really oversized look with simple colours and a bold silhouette which really stands out. The Proenza Schouler pre-fall collection is stunning. Its simple clothes are brought to life by colour and print, and the silhouette is refreshing after a phase of figure hugging, body con clothes.

Concepts I

Following on from the initial Amish inspiration, I have picked out some key words and concepts to inspire my designs further:

UNIFORM

The Amish have a very uniform lifestyle, as well as the way they dress, so I thought I would look at other uniforms, simple ones, such as cleaners, nurses etc....

There are a range of uniforms here, which are all slightly similar, they are not very form fitting, especially the first two or three, and are all fairly simple in shape and colour, so I guess its the minor details that count, such as the different coloured hems and collars. Also the pleats, hidden pockets, hem lengths etc, are really important when creating simple designs, these can be altered easily to create something new.

PROPORTION PLAY
The reason why I have chosen this is to represent dwarfism which is a common genetic disorder in the Amish communities. It is one of the first things that came to mind when I initially saw the word Amish in the list of topics at the start of the project.

Coincidentally, this concept also relates to the Amish theme because Amish menswear is oversized and very loose fitting, so the clothes are bigger than they should be. I will be incorporating this into my designs by lengthening hems and loosening the fit.