Focussing on patterns and prints.

Inspiring designer Mary Katrantzou takes patterns and prints to a whole new level creating quirky out there contrasting patterns and prints with the use of the latest technology such as screen printing. However in her more recent collection she has put a hold on the color and prints and focussed more on silhouette and drapes of fabric, using other inspiring photographers as her black and white incorporated bold prints. Both silhouette and pattern are my main focus which is why she is a muse to my collection.

Her 2012 Fall ready to wear collection creates bright dramatic prints with an exaggerated silhouette as well as incorporating a flowing finish to many of her pieces. Here she focusses on embroidery and embellishments, something she designed her silhouette to help compliment. Her prints and use of silhouette is inspiring to my collection for 2014 Winter fall collection.
Mary Katrantzou Fall 2012 ready to wear season collection

On the other hand her 2013 Fall collection turned the page and stepped away from Katrantzou's specialty of prints and patterns with thick fabrics and focusses on silhouette with long drapes of fabrics folded in directional ways exaggerating the silhouette. The silhouette has been made just as, if not more, exciting and creatively than her prints in previous collections. Katrantzou has also stepped away from color and has focussed on black and white, like black and white photographs. Her silhouette and use of color will help guide me with my collection focussing on the building in Cathedral square and the damage done to them, as Mary's collection seen here is almost violently saying something, I would like my 2014 fall collection to strongly communicate something new and fresh.
Mary Katranzou Fall 2013 ready to wear season collection.

While Katranzou is a huge inspiration to my collection which will focus on prints and silhouette, I need to take into consideration the different market levels we are in. This is high end couture or in her case even costuming at times, where as my target market is a high end diffusion market. I am designing for every day wear so practicality is key as is affordability for daily wear! I will need to design to a lower level of extravagantness and realize what price range I am aiming for as techniques such as intense embellishment and technical printing like Katranzou uses are simply out of the question as I will need to produce items in a mass production fro a diffusion line as well as focussing on affordability with the garments. The retail price needs to be marked up by 60%. So an embellished top that costs possibly $300 to produce (once resources, labour, manufacturing, transport etc have all been included) cannot be sold for $480 as the market is not willing to pay this much for one item and the business cannot afford to mass produce such a technical item. I will need to think tactically about what fabrics and techniques I use in order to achieve a strong and different silhouette with prints that appeal to my target market at affordable prices.

Date: 18/05/2013