Melda Auditia’s graduation collection “Bloom” was influenced by her experience growing up in a society where it is a customary to suppress our feminine sides. With this collection, she invites you to find that feminine side inside you, embrace it and let it bloom. Using flowers as a symbol for femininity, this collection encapsulates the natural form of flowers and what it is made up of. With a love for intricate craftsmanship, she explored techniques found in different forms of art and incorporate them in the form of textile manipulation & pattern-making. .
Coming up with the collection, Melda experimented with different draping techniques to recreate the shapes of flowers. She later transformed them into a digital pattern, using 3D CAD software to visualise the entire structure and make the final adjustments. To create the little wild flowers in her designs, laser-cut recycled sequins are folded and stacked between Swarovski crystal beads. While some of the embellishments are combined with an eclectic mix of fringes to create natural movement as the model walks, the rest are attached to a customised robot, resulting into spinning motion as seen on the opening of her collection’s virtual runway.
After the design part, The pale colour palette of the first few looks in the collection was only a teaser for the explosion of colours that comes in the final looks. In these final pieces, Melda incorporated a range of different materials, from sturdy High Pressure Laminate (HPL) to soft organdy, recreating the textures of flowers. With a combination of hand-painting and silk screen on these materials, they were then hand-cut into colourful petal that were sewn and attached together, creating a full bloom of human-sized flowers.
A look at Melda’s final collection lineup. The rest of the designs brought to life with a range of soft silk as well as textured knits and pleats. The collection opens with little flower embellishments and delicate silhouettes, transitioning to bigger structured pieces, bringing you on the journey of discovery and growth like the blooming of a flower. View all of the final pieces on her Instagram @m_auditia.