La Bricoleuse (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
labricoleuse) wrote2009-05-07 10:23 am
labricoleuse) wrote2009-05-07 10:23 am
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Artisan Focus: Amanda Phillips' Creative Draping thesis
I think i've mentioned the creative draping portion of our students' graduate thesis, but i haven't featured photographs and a description before. This year, i'm hoping to showcase some of our graduates' work, to give an overview of exactly what the projects entail. MFA 2009 Amanda Phillips presented hers yesterday and i was able to take my own photos, so i'll start with her!
Essentially, the students propose a project to our program director in their 3rd year of study; the nature of the project can be fluidly defined, depending on a student's particular area of focus. For example, in a previous class, a graduate who was interested in a career as a crafts artisan chose a design for a stiltwalker costumed as a flamingo, so she could make stilts, an animal headdress, and address some structural challenges like the "bird tail" support; another graduate chose an Erte ballet design, to incorporate historical research and practical dancewear considerations.
Amanda's focus was in draping, and she has typically been drawn to unusual creative structural challenges and couture-style design elements in her project choices throughout her study. She came to the program with a diverse background ranging from theme-park walkaround maintenance and children's theatre to professional opera and ballet. While in graduate school, she spent her summers working at Tricorne in NYC on shows such as Wicked, Young Frankenstein, and The Little Mermaid.
For her creative draping thesis project, she chose an origami-inspired design from John Galliano's Fall 2007 collection for Dior.
Here is the ensemble as shown on the runway.
Amanda's proposal was to make all elements depicted, including accessories.
(If i knew the photo credit, i'd cite it. If you do, please let me know.)
The dress was also featured on the cover of Surface magazine.
Amanda put a lot of research into fabric choice--she needed something that could be made to take these crisp folded shapes, and which wouldn't fray along raw cut edges. She sourced a lot of new nonwovens for industrial and athletic applications, ultimately deciding to go with an Ultrasuede.
Some discussion came up with respect to the two-tone nature of Ultrasuede back-to-front, as it's clear that in the original Galliano design, he deliberately chose a fabric with the same finish on both sides. However, I think the dual-surface adds an interesting element of depth which serves as a nice visual complement to the strong warmth of the burgundy color choice; the starkness of the grey in the original works with the single texture, while Amanda's ensemble looks like a hotblooded sister to Galliano's. (Amanda went with burgundy in order to remain within a given budget; the burgundy Ultrasuede was available at a discount compared to other shades.)
Here's the finished "look," all pieces created and modeled by Amanda Phillips.
Detail of dress front and gloves.
Detail of hat and front of bodice.
The hat is made from wired 1/4" industrial felt covered in heavy satin.
It is mounted on a band hidden under the hair.
This picture illustrates the hair/hat headdress from the back.
Amanda made the hair "bow" as an add-on hairpiece.
Amanda enlisted woodworker Neil Willamson to create the soles for her,
and constructed the upper and straps of the shoes herself.
She also rubberized the bottoms of the geta teeth for safety.
Side view of the shoes.
I think this is a particularly successful creative draping project, in terms of its comprehensive coverage of the many areas of Amanda's study--not only did it pose a draping challenge, but it also showcases her range of skill development in millinery and other areas of craftwork (gloves, shoes). In choosing this ensemble, she really gave herself a number of areas in which to shine, and she does exactly that with her work. I look forward to seeing how she develops as an artist as her career progresses from here on out!
Essentially, the students propose a project to our program director in their 3rd year of study; the nature of the project can be fluidly defined, depending on a student's particular area of focus. For example, in a previous class, a graduate who was interested in a career as a crafts artisan chose a design for a stiltwalker costumed as a flamingo, so she could make stilts, an animal headdress, and address some structural challenges like the "bird tail" support; another graduate chose an Erte ballet design, to incorporate historical research and practical dancewear considerations.
Amanda's focus was in draping, and she has typically been drawn to unusual creative structural challenges and couture-style design elements in her project choices throughout her study. She came to the program with a diverse background ranging from theme-park walkaround maintenance and children's theatre to professional opera and ballet. While in graduate school, she spent her summers working at Tricorne in NYC on shows such as Wicked, Young Frankenstein, and The Little Mermaid.
For her creative draping thesis project, she chose an origami-inspired design from John Galliano's Fall 2007 collection for Dior.
Here is the ensemble as shown on the runway.
Amanda's proposal was to make all elements depicted, including accessories.
(If i knew the photo credit, i'd cite it. If you do, please let me know.)
The dress was also featured on the cover of Surface magazine.
Amanda put a lot of research into fabric choice--she needed something that could be made to take these crisp folded shapes, and which wouldn't fray along raw cut edges. She sourced a lot of new nonwovens for industrial and athletic applications, ultimately deciding to go with an Ultrasuede.
Some discussion came up with respect to the two-tone nature of Ultrasuede back-to-front, as it's clear that in the original Galliano design, he deliberately chose a fabric with the same finish on both sides. However, I think the dual-surface adds an interesting element of depth which serves as a nice visual complement to the strong warmth of the burgundy color choice; the starkness of the grey in the original works with the single texture, while Amanda's ensemble looks like a hotblooded sister to Galliano's. (Amanda went with burgundy in order to remain within a given budget; the burgundy Ultrasuede was available at a discount compared to other shades.)
Here's the finished "look," all pieces created and modeled by Amanda Phillips.
Detail of dress front and gloves.
Detail of hat and front of bodice.
The hat is made from wired 1/4" industrial felt covered in heavy satin.
It is mounted on a band hidden under the hair.
This picture illustrates the hair/hat headdress from the back.
Amanda made the hair "bow" as an add-on hairpiece.
Amanda enlisted woodworker Neil Willamson to create the soles for her,
and constructed the upper and straps of the shoes herself.
She also rubberized the bottoms of the geta teeth for safety.
Side view of the shoes.
I think this is a particularly successful creative draping project, in terms of its comprehensive coverage of the many areas of Amanda's study--not only did it pose a draping challenge, but it also showcases her range of skill development in millinery and other areas of craftwork (gloves, shoes). In choosing this ensemble, she really gave herself a number of areas in which to shine, and she does exactly that with her work. I look forward to seeing how she develops as an artist as her career progresses from here on out!
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