‘Blind Spot’ A/W 21
The inspiration for this collection comes from the vice through which visually impaired people perceive the world around them, aiming to make you rethink the way we can challenge societal and environmental issues. This collection encourages you to use touch to gather tactile information about the garment to build your own vision in your mind. Aiming to highlight the importance of touch to visually impaired people, this collection features embossed braille and hand painted techniques throughout. ‘Blind Spot’ features minimal, clean-cut silhouettes achieved using modern, contemporary pattern cutting techniques. The use of off-white and tonal ice greys gives this collection a modern, sophisticated aesthetic whilst maintaining its edgy feel. The materials used are comprised of beautiful wool crepe, soft wool, crisp silk organza and starch organic cotton canvas. The use of these textiles ensures that this collection is 100% sustainable without compromising its modern design aesthetic.
This image represents an art form illustration I created to represent and introduce the collection within my portfolio. It features various editing techniques created on photoshop of a photo I took of the garment during the fitting process.
This quote is by John Bramblitt and it is something I stumbled across when I began the initial research for this collection. He is an artist who became blind in his late twenties and used art to overcome the difficulties he was facing when coming to terms with his loss of vision. This was a huge inspiration for the collection, and I incorporated this into the embossed braille on outfit 1.
This image is the mood board for this collection and showcases the fabrics used throughout. I wanted to represent the overall theme and set the tone for the minimal/contemporary designs that I had envisioned for ‘Blind Spot’.
This image captures the main source of inspiration behind the shapes/texture and print featured in this collection. It is a derelict building located on Cork Street, Dublin 8 that I walked past every day on my way to college. I felt incredibly connected to this building because although it was completely derelict and had lost its main purpose, it was still so incredibly beautiful and intricate.
This is a photoshoot image of outfit 3 taken on the roof of my apartment block during the pandemic. Originally, these garments were meant to be photographed by a professional photographer, in a location in the city, with a makeup artist and 3 models. When the pandemic hit, all this went out the window and I had to rethink how I was going to pull this off. These photos resulted in a bit of resourcefulness and creative thinking with the help of my sister, a camera, and my apartment block.
This image is a close-up of outfit 1, taken on the roof of my apartment.
This image is outfit 4 and was taken in the basement carpark of my apartment.
This image is outfit 5 and was taken in the basement carpark of my apartment.