Alice’s collection is a focused on the urban environment, designing materials which express individuality using the cities identity as inspiration, investigating architectural and industrial properties to define structural and fluid silhouettes. These strong silhouettes will express a contrast through fluidity and structure, empathised through explored knitted structures which will illustrate the overall contrasting surface qualities within the layers within the city. New York’s fast paced lifestyle and culture has truly inspired me and I envisage my project being based on the city’s grand architecture, with the influence of workers driving silhouettes and fabric qualities. I hope to respond to the ‘culture’ of New York through my material properties, as I will depict the layers of condensed chaos. By playing with the contrasts of volume and surface qualities which will inform my knits textural and graphical structures. This also relates back to the quote above, as my fabrics will “translate a dream” through interpreting the fast-past culture this city has, revealing the constructed surroundings everyone lives and works in. Yet, New York is still everyone’s ‘dream’ city to be apart off or involved in.

‘Urban Jungle’ a menswear collection responds to a range of primary imagery depicting and linking to New York’s architecture. Through illustrating the range of geometric shapes through knitting structures and a careful selection of yarn to explore the range of 3D to 2D, focusing on the overall silhouettes and drape techniques. Geometric drape methods will respond and outline the shapes and marks Alice has represented from primary imagery showing architectural infrastructures, detailing the overall urban environment. Each mark, layers and industrial tone symbolises another contrasting characteristic.

Through utilising unconventional materials into woven structures then combining this method within my knitted fabrics. Illustrating an urban environment in a sustainable way, by upcycling elements of woven garments or fabrics into an innovative combination of knitted garments and fabrics. Industrial materials such as rubber and plastic cording not only depict the matt, shiny and waterproof surface qualities within the concept, but also upcycle a new fabric purpose, either for garments or accessories. The contrast is not only found within the overall surface quality but also through a play on silhouettes combining fluidity and structure together, giving the collection a focus on structural drape and fabrics.

Through using similar weight toile fabrics to the knitted panels constructed allowed the development into the final garment silhouettes, through exploring the structure and fluidity within the overall fabrics aesthetic and handle. By working directly onto the human form, as well as on the stand allowed there to be a method of drape and structure as well as utilising different weights giving variety to the designs. The collection played on contrasts, exploring surface qualities, weights in response to the urban landscape, creating contrasting garments which combined all this information in a structural and fluid aesthetic.