FOUNDATION FASHION PERSONAL STATEMENTS UCAS 2012 - 13 DOS

Keep it PERSONAL: why do YOU love Fashion? Where does your drive to pursue it come from? Sound motivated, active, passionate, hard working and excited Discuss your work, where you get your inspiration from: books, gallery visits, contemporary artists and designers Talk about some successful projects that will be in your interview portfolio Talk about any relevant work experience, courses or training Do you have a blog or website? What designers or practitioners inspire admiration in you? Why? Be specific and detailed, giving examples Talk about your future aspirations Intellectualise your work and research Talk about how you have learnt and improved and what you would like to build upon

DONT
WAFFLE! No longer than ONE A4 page: keep it concise Dont write like youve swallowed a dictionary, try and sound like yourself Generalise or make sweeping statements Write about or to a specific degree course: remember this statement will be read by lecturers at all four of your choices Use clichs such as passion for fashion or making fairy princess dresses for my dolls as a child Sound too big headed. Be confident in your talents but not an ego-maniac! Duplicate the information about your educational history or the fact that you are on a Foundation course at Kingston University, this is already listed in your application details

FASHION DESIGN MENSWEAR

Fashion, in particular menswear has gained such an important role in society thanks to itshistoric roots, British tradition and recent accessibility. It is such an exciting subjectarea in which I have become more and more interested during my Foundation.Through the 20th century fabric became increasingly commercially produced and thereforecheaper. After World War Two people across the world gained more income, allowing them to spend money on personal pleasure and not just basic survival. This boom in industrialism andwealth allowed fashion to become an interest of the wider public; suddenly everyone wascopying Hollywood stars and following trends, meaning even the highest fashion could berecreated and worn by the man on the street. Of course men in recent centuries have beenattracted to the art of tailoring and its creations. Indeed no man feels better than whendressed perfectly in his best suit. It is these two points of accessibility and admirationwhich, when combined, I believe to have created a brilliant point in the timeline of menswear.Men are now able to wear worldwide fabrics on their backs; from Chinese silks to Egyptian cottons. However, Harris Tweeds have kept their status, quality and desirability for manyyears, something I find an inspiration within tailoring and menswear. I like that as well asforward thinking in menswear there is still very much a connection with heritage andtradition. Menswear to me means detail. As men are creatures of much reserve, unlike women's fashionwhere the catwalk can present any extravagance, the extravagant nature of menswear, I believe,is in the detail. A man who, in recent years, has truly driven this idea is Oswald Boateng,being the first tailor to exhibit at Paris fashion week. His twists on classic Britishtailoring were my first real insight into the depth of menswear after entering his Savile Rowshop. His choice of fabric and colour were so contrasting to other tailors I had visited onthe street, yet his designs remain sophisticated and classic. What I find so clever about hispieces are the subtle manipulation and interpretation of detailing. In particular I have beendrawn to one of the simplest changes to a classic detail; the collar. Oswald's chisel collars,with the points seemingly cut away to give no direct point either side of the top button of ashirt, are perfect. I like this change of detail so much as it truly shows innovation whilstnot running too far away from the classic. This collar is innovative as it created a shirtstyle that allowed for a thinner tie or a thinner knot to be worn whilst maintaining atraditionally recognisable look. This is something which I truly admire.Another designer that I have great admiration for is Kean Etro because of his eye for detailin fabric. I love how he maintains the heritage of his family fabric business with wildkaleidoscopic fabrics whilst incorporating them into the tradition of menswear, usingextremely subtle, almost hidden details such as linings and the under collar. This allows men to quietly express themselves whilst maintaining a reserved appearance, their personalitysometimes being revealed with a flash of colour or unexpected eccentricity. Both of these designers have influenced my passion and obsession for menswear, as I hadstudied them both before a reconstruction project in which I used old suit jackets to create ajumpsuit, using their examples in detail as inspiration for my own. I am driven to use patterncutting and fabric selection in clever ways to contribute to the luxury menswear

industry andcreate unique touches and exciting details of my own. I believe that this course would be a natural progression in my design career as it wouldallow me to gain the skills and knowledge necessary for me to fill my creative potential andbecome a forward thinking menswear designer with an understanding of the history and detailsof the industry.

FASHION DESIGN
Fashion is constantly changing art form and challenges the mind by its very nature. I believethe only limit to being a Fashion Designer is a stifled imagination. Since I started studying fashion at foundation level, it has developed my knowledgeenormously; I have been intrigued by how my view of fashion has changed and evolved. I havebecome inspired by seemingly insignificant ideas, think in a more dynamic way and see myselfworking in the fashion Industry. The skills I have developed and explored during the foundation course in areas such as communication, film and of course fashion design are thefirst steps in realizing this goal. Viktor and Rolf have been central in inspiring me to explore my own creativity and havestimulated me to break through my limitations as an aspiring yet naive designer. I amfascinated by the way they mould fabric around the body whilst incorporating structure, colourand texture in a controlled way. There is character portrayed through their clothing, which issomething I wish to create in my work as well as reflecting the energetic nature of mysurroundings. This is also something seen in Issy Miyakes' work, who is another designer Iadmire. I strive to develop a personal and recognizable working style. Within fashion, the process of design is the area I enjoy the most. Working on the mannequinand observing the different ways the fabric drapes through pleats seams and darts, all addingtexture and movement to the body inspires me the most. Silhouette is key to my thought processand is always the first area I look at when starting to design a new garment. In a recentproject we were given the task of creating a garment made from paper. I immediately wanted tostart working on the mannequin to see how I could manipulate different papers in order tocreate an interesting silhouette. For my final piece I added wire to pattern cutting paper,which I cut into strips in order to sculpt a shape around the mannequin to obscure the shapeof the body. In 2009 I was fortunate to do work experience at Anya Hindmarch Ltd. I was taught how thecompany operated; from product placement to public relations. This really inspired me tocommit to working in the creative field, despite its competitive nature I really enjoyed theatmosphere of the workplace. I completed another placement with interior design company, United Designers. I was set tasks using Auto CAD, designing corridors for 'The MandarinOriental Hotel, Moscow' project and designing a living room in a residential area. During thistime I feel I became much more independent as I was under pressure to learn entirely newtechniques very quickly. Since in my design work I have become more efficient and have a moreprofessional outlook on how my work should be presented.

The Foundation course at Kingston has been challenging as well as extremely rewarding. I havehad to meet deadlines and produce a variety of samples from a diverse range of media. It hasencouraged me to not only be resourceful, but also to keep a tight focus on the task in hand.I am really keen to pursue a degree in fashion so that I can explore my creative and designingskills further.

FASHION PROMOTION
The impact and influence of fashion on modern society has always fascinated me. I am drawn tothe various aspects of communication in fashion; in store, advertising and both print andonline reporting. The possibility of using my creativity to advance fashion in new ways and explore stories of style excites me. Foundation has allowed me to build my understanding of communicating ideas in fashion and finda better sense of who I am and how I work. I enjoy the process of research and exploration, tome, the starting point of a project is the most important part of the process. Working withlike-minded people has given me the opportunity to have in-depth discussions about design,materials and new styles enabling me to form my own opinions and voice them in a constructiveenvironment. I am highly self-motivated and have a positive approach to teamwork, enjoying thebuzz of a busy, creative atmosphere. I have been lucky enough to work with FIVE33, a creative communications agency with offices inLondon and Los Angeles. Though they are primarily involved in the film and entertainmentindustry, this work placement gave me the opportunity to develop my understanding of art anddesign in a commercial sense. I was thrilled to be asked to stay a week longer than initiallyplanned, allowing me to work in more depth on a film project, sourcing key imagery fundamentalto the film's final print campaign. Working within this fast paced environment to findsolutions to a client brief has taught me to explore concepts to their furthest limits toreach the most exciting conclusion. The fashion pathway has allowed me to really focus on taking my initial ideas and turn theminto garments and silhouettes, which I then style for photo shoots. It is the finalpresentation of concepts that interests me the most as I enjoy telling stories andcommunicating my fashion ideas visually. The perfectionist in me ensures that this isdemonstrated in the most suitable way possible in relation to the brief. I use sketchbooks to explore what I am researching - to explain and document my thought process and to experimentwith concepts aesthetics. Setting up my own blog has enabled me to share with others my interests and inspirations infashion and explore the way in which designers and brands influence the way we dress.SHOWstudio is a website that inspires me greatly. Not only has it made me aware of up andcoming fashion film directors like Ruth Hogben, but also of new leading fashion ideas, and innovative visuals from Nick Knight. I wish to learn about fashion promotion as it is thecomponent of fashion that I find most powerful, especially as it is crucial to the success ofa brand or a designer. My ambition is to work creatively in a communications and promotionsrole in the fashion industry - I am committed and motivated to this goal and cannot wait tobegin my degree.

FASHION DESIGN
Fashion is a part of my identity. From about the age of twelve I started discovering fashion;I remember the thrill it gave me as I began observing styles and putting together looks. Ilove the transformative power of fashion. It is the powerful visual command which sparks myinterest in garment design. Alexander McQueen once said "I think there is beauty in everything. What 'normal' people wouldperceive as ugly, I can usually see something of beauty in." McQueen had vision. His abilityto delve deeper, beyond the constraints of what 'normal' people saw, lead to his genius as adesigner. I admire him greatly not only for his visually outstanding designs but his intellectual concepts, the thinking and ideas behind his work, in particular his SS01collection, whereby he questioned society's perception on mental illness. McQueen addressedsubjects of significance and importance. Similarly to McQueen it is the conceptual element offashion design which I find so fascinating, the ability to take an idea and transform it intoa garment without losing its meaning or purpose whilst creating a visual statement issomething that excites me. McQueen taught me how to be an emotive, responsive designer. I takemuch of my inspiration from the world around me, using the media, films, books, articles andmagazines such as Love and i-D to formulate opinions, thoughts and stimulate my ideas. I am driven to explore and approach sensitive subjects, such as terrorism, addiction and the lossof identity. Already I feel my foundation year has opened my eyes, changing the way I work, allowing me tobe more experimental and free. I recently worked on a silhouette project, using paper tocreate a garment; my inspiration came from looking at addiction. I looked at how it consumesits victim and the repetitive need to feed the addiction. The paper gave me a new freedom enabling me to work in a different style to that of fabric. I created folds, volume, shape andweight and learnt the different capabilities of paper. I enjoy the challenge of how I can takea conceptual idea and translate it into a garment. I folded repetitively, creating weight,reflecting the compulsive need, repetition and desperation that is so evident in the nature ofaddiction and the emotional weight that is inflicted. I believe that setting high personal goals is imperative in achieving success. I want to makemy mark, I want to have my own fashion house, I want to be an influential designer, but mostimportantly I want to make a difference. I believe that fashion is a powerful mechanism for communicating ideas. It is accessible to everyone. Fashion is a tool for expressing mythoughts, feelings and views about the world in an explosive visual way. I am an extremelyinstinctive individual with a highly developed sense of purpose. I want to push myself and theboundaries of conventional fashion. I am extremely hard working, embrace challenges and Ithrive under pressure, as it enables me to work in a fast and effective manner, producing someof my strongest, most creative and innovative work. I believe that obtaining a place on afashion degree course will push me as a designer enabling me to realize my full potential,whilst providing me with essential skills that are so imperative in achieving success in the extremely competitive, fast paced industry that is fashion. I believe I am capable of beingthat person.

TEXTILE DESIGN
My Grandmother and Mother have had a great influence on my interest and passion for textilesand making. My mother used to make clothes, scarves and accessories for me and my Grandmotherwould use embroidery and batik. I like the idea of transferring skills from mother to child. Ikeep these experiences in mind when creating meaning and connecting emotion and nostalgia tomy work. I feel a sense of closeness to textiles as I studied classical ballet for 15 years. Theconstruction of costume for ballet uses a lot of textile manipulation techniques, therefore,the costumes textiles are extremely delicate and fascinating to study. I am interested inacquiring a variety of textile skills. I have experienced wearing many costumes, and enjoy the tactile nature of the textiles, I would like to continue to study and create these textiles,putting my experience and passion to good use. I recently completed a project which consisted of creating a garment made completely frompaper. My first inspiration came from a hand-copy of sutras (prayers) that was made by mygrandmother. I became homesick when I started the project so I remembered my family andfriends, then the hand-copy of sutras was like a lucky charm for my happiness. I got the ideafor the pattern from the hand drawn markings on the sutras. First, I wrote my negativefeelings on pieces of toilet tissue. 'sad', 'lonely', 'anxious' in Japanese characters, mynegative feelings gradually changed to positive feelings; 'enjoying', 'exciting', 'love'... Iwas surprised by my new frame of mind. Finally, I roughly braided these strips of paper into a comfort cape, I wrapped the garment around me and I began to feel its warmth and meaning. Ienjoy creating positive emotion in my work. I also enjoy experimenting with texture in my fashion illustrations. In one project I wasinterested in the texture of bark and moss on a tree. I drew a life sized figure, using acombination of different textural techniques; a sewing machine, stitch, embroidery, collageand felt tips. Through the project, I realized that my interests lie in working with my hands. I have learned many important things about textile design and development during my foundationprojects. It is the process between research and final piece, in sketchbooks in particularthat I find important and exciting. I have also enjoyed learning how to develop my ideas,images and experiments into possible techniques and outcomes. I always put up my antenna, Ihave grown each time I work on a project. I have always wanted to study art and design in theUK for a long time, and although at first I found the change of cultures quite difficult, Ihave now adapted to new customs and lifestyles and have become strong and active. Having studied on the foundation course, I feel that my worries have turned to expectation. Inthe future, I would like to design textiles using many traditional techniques and be able towork with my hands. I am inspired by the work of young textile artist Naomi Ryder who usedstitch to create beautiful and detailed textile images.I absorb all kinds of new knowledge andnew techniques, then cultivate my mind by communicating with students and tutors, I work veryhard and try to learn as much as possible. I am excited to start working on my degree.

FASHION DESIGN
I crave the energy that Fashion gives me, the excitement, the buzz, the endless list ofpossibilities ahead. What excites me the most is the opportunity to be conceptual or abstractin the thought process, yet with the end result being in the relatable and certain form of agarment. Taking inspiration from the world outside of fashion, for example from psychology and thehuman brain, makes communicating my ideas all the more challenging, and invigorating. Afterfinding a beautiful yet chilling photo book 'Asylum: Inside the closed world of state mentalhospitals', I have obsessed over how deep one can go into another world, and the perception ofwhen it is deemed appropriate to stop looking. For a recent Fashion design project, I began with thirty primary photographs of texture basedstimulus from my surroundings, looking at intricate patterns formed both naturally and by man.I was drawn back to the Asylum book, this time finding links between my own favourite photographs of unusual brickwork and those of damaged brains in the book. I made my finalgarment using straightjackets as inspiration and the connotations that lie with them:restraint, fear, control, isolation and rejection. Hot glue formed the garment; a simplejacket with the five words hidden among patterns taken from the scans of damaged brains. I have benefited hugely from the collaborative fashion studio environment; having my work ondisplay has allowed me to listen to the advice of my peers and draw inspiration from theirobservations. I believe the creative process should never be a lonely one, and is best whendone as part of a team. Whilst I am comfortable in my own abilities to accept constructive criticism, I am also confident enough to offer my peers advice. Fashion really comes alive for me when you can speak to the people behind the ideas. As partof my work experience with independent handbag designer Carmen Woods I was sent to theexhibition at London Fashion Week which gave me the opportunity to speak with the designers, discovering their motives and inspiration, whilst also receiving invaluable advice. A recentvisit to the Cockpit Arts open studios also gave me a further understanding of the creativeindustry, where I met and interviewed designer-makers with a craft basis to their work. AnnaLubach, a ceramic artist, was particularly interesting with her source of inspiration comingentirely from the making process and experimentation. My favourite part of Fashion design is the research process, which leads to the experimentalstage where further inspiration is waiting to be found. The feeling of seeing a whole projectevolve in your mind simply by finding or experiencing something that inspires you, is trulyindescribable. Constantly researching to find new information is what drives me, taking in andlearning from the world around me and listening to others experiences. I want my work toreflect the excitement I feel during projects, with the aim of drawing in and surprising theobserver.

TAILORING
In a world where modernity is taking over, I find it inspiring and reassuring that thetailoring industry can still be thriving; it excites me that there is an industry within thefashion world that holds on to its traditional values. Some tailors embrace the modern aspectsof our culture such as Ozwald Boateng, who was one of the first tailors to stage fashion showsand tries to associate himself as much with the ever changing fashion world as he does withthe traditional aspects of the tailoring world. I admire the efforts of Kathryn Sargent, thefirst female head cutter on Saville Row, at Gieves and Hawkes, and hope to one-day make such amark on an industry as she has. I admire her for her determination as she worked for fourteenyears to get to where she is today. Fashion and style have always been areas that have gained my full attention from a young age.Not only am I fascinated by the way fabric can be cut and put together to make amazing shapesand silhouettes on the body, but also the way garments are worn by certain individuals, andthe personality that they give to that particular item of clothing. I am constantly inspiredby the style of others around me: I obsessively collect, organise and record images of men andwomen that I regard as having great style. I am always referring back to these images whetherit is posting them on my tumblr page (www.onabicyclemadefortwo.tumblr.com) or using themwithin the design work I do. The Bauhaus movement has greatly influenced my work over the past few years. Architects andfurniture designers such as Otto Haesler and Marcel Breuer have featured in my research aswell as the artists Josef Albers, Paul Klee and Osker Schlemmer. It is the aesthetic ofBauhaus design that I enjoy so much. The clean, crisp lines and geometric shapes thatarchitects were able to create allow contrasts to be drawn between oblique shapes and smoothplaster surfaces. I took this idea when constructing a dress from tracing paper. My garmentwas very structural and was able to stand on its own just like a building whilst still beingrecognised as a dress. The way the tracing paper overlayed and created different areas oflight and dark patches reminded me of the works of Otto Haesler. In the past I have been able to link these artists with modern fashion designers and theircollections, such as Nicholas Ghesquiere's womenswear fall 2010 collection for Balenciaga.Ghesquiere used collaged geometry composed of contrasting textures and surfaces such as matte textures, shiny textures, synthetic foams and plywood. I recently made a garment out of latexwith different textures within it such as ink, wool, card and glue. In all my work I like to include elements of a tailored garment, whether through using patterncutting to create a refined and clean-cut shape, or making something that is very structuraland has an almost architectural quality to it. I find myself becoming evermore enticed by theworkmanship behind tailored suits. I would love nothing more than to fully learn the technicalskills to produce the garments that inspire me.

FASHION COMMUNICATION / PROMOTION

Fashion. It is a person's identity. It is a way of expressing yourself like nothing else. Itis a photograph. A colour. It can be beautiful and breath taking. Eye opening and shocking. Itcan offend people and make you think. It is a multi billion pound industry that affectseveryone and the world would be nothing without it. And I want to be apart of it. I have always been encouraged to be creative and influenced by my surroundings, so I love todraw the things around me, getting inspiration from the people I meet and things I see. Whenyou flick through a fashion magazine, or see a billboard on the side of a building, the powerthey have to catch your attention and intrigue you to want to know more, is something that hasalways excited me. I want to be part of creating imagery that draws people in and has alasting effect on them. I recently went to the "20 years of Dazed and Confused" exhibition at Somerset house, which Iabsolutely adored. It was so exciting to see the amazing fashion photographs blown up to ahuge scale and filling the exhibition rooms. I loved the layout that Jefferson Hack and EmmaReeves used to curate the exhibition, putting photos along side each other in huge metal andmirror shapes, showing them at different angles and in unusual ways. Currently I am really fascinated by the German portrait photographer Anna Bauer. She has spentthe last four years taking photographs of everyone who is anyone backstage at catwalk showsfrom models to make-up artists and even investors. She uses a large format camera, which meansthe person has to stand still and focus on the camera while it takes up to four minutes totake a single picture. Because they have to concentrate so hard on the camera whilst standingin the middle of the busy backstage, the photos produced are beautifully intimate and personalbetween the photographer and the subject. I took inspiration from Bauer when shooting somepictures for a fashion project recently. I experimented by putting my camera onto longerexposure times while the model stared into the lens. It was interesting to take photos in thisway, as it is a much slower process but produces some really beautiful and edgy images. During the summer of 2010 I did a work placement at Marks and Spencer's Head Office, where Iworked with the formal womenswear designers, buying team and project manager. I worked bothindependently and in a team, researching trends and investigating what competing companies were doing, styling for an M&S TV makeover show and going to meetings and fitting sessions. Itwas a real opportunity to see how a large fashion business operates and I loved being a partof the creative and challenging projects faced by the company. As a person who is happy in my own company I find I work well on independent projects but alsocan contribute efficiently in group situations. From being Head Girl of my secondary schooland naturally a very organised person, I am comfortable taking charge of a situation. I liketo have control over what I am doing, but am able to adjust when something doesn't go to planand am open to trying new ideas and taking risks. I have found over the last few years I have matured creatively and am always

having new ideasthat change and grow as I work on them. I want to be able to develop further as I work towardsa career where I can combine both my creativity and my love of being organised and logical ina job role. By studying the promotion and business side of Fashion, I look forward to findingmy place in the Fashion industry.