Kaleidoscope
The team was a late entry and only met once before the show. As there was no formal division of labor, the members pitched in as needed. A couple of members were in charge of sewing while the rest cut, glued and fine tuned the design. The team leader was responsible for the overall vision and the final arbiter of ideas.
Though the initial concept was based on a butterfly, the large botanical print and faux snake skin upholstery fabric drove the design direction.
Since Eve, the team model, has experience designing her children’s costumes, she started creating the outfit based on a photo brought by one of the members, and fashioned the bodice out of the pleated shade and wooden blind.
Ultimately it was the members’ creative synergy that shaped the garment, and the serendipitous assortment of accessories from different members that completed the look. The Venetian Swarovski butterfly mask reinforced the theme and coordinated perfectly with the lace parasol.
Additionally fabric trimmings of gold mesh and wooden beads with cording were transformed into jewelry (choker & bracelet), while the team members’ gloves, boots, earrings, and belt provided the finishing touches.
What started as a veritable kaleidoscope of opinions – classical look vs fantasy inspirations, improvised creativity vs total preparedness – the members opened up to different design approaches and learnt to trust spontaneity as part of the process. At the end of the evening, the team saw their original vision of a butterfly evolve into a striking Venetian courtesan. In design as in life, the metamorphosis was complete.
Project Funway
Project Funway only had time to meet once, and decided to draw its inspiration from the Baroque 18th century fashion of the French courtiers. The team luckily received fabrics that supported its proposed theme – damask was used for the bustle, velvet for the bodice, and gauzy linens for the scarf/shrug – an artful mélange that helped create a rich, layered look.
A lemon-to-lemonade moment: when the bodice was too tight to close in the front, the blue linen scarf was cleverly added to keep the dress G-rated. This new “feature” was eventually the basis of a more elegant neckline!
To maintain a balanced design, equal effort was spent on the back of the dress to create details, add interest, and hide seams.
A variety of industry products helped to pull the design together – the honeycomb shade was perfect as a short skirt, glass tiles were added as jewelry accents for the gloves, and hand painted full spectrum wall paper was used in the back of the dress to accentuate the color of the tassels.
For the team, having a shared vision for the design beforehand was crucial – once the competition got underway, instead of worrying about “what” to make, they were able to concentrate on “how” to make it, and keep the evening FUN!