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Festival & Folklore

Around the world people celebrate a myriad of festivals rooted in their culture’s folklore. In this collection I aimed to capture that feeling of celebration mingled with the traditions and folklore that surrounds them. Be it a daruma doll that holds your wishes until you achieve them or a mask that transforms the wearer into a terrifying animal to ‘scare away the winter’, the festivals that people celebrate are both diverse and in many ways similar. Researching this theme has been fascinating and I have been inspired by amazing objects and costumes all relating to mankind’s love of festivals and folklore.

 

The aim of this project was to take this eclectic and vibrant subject matter and turn it into an equally exciting collection of fashion fabrics. My main aim in making the fabrics (other than to interpret my theme) was to showcase my design style. Producing fabric that really played to my strength of hand drawing and my love of hand printing techniques. With this as my aim my collection is entirely screen-printed. Often my fabric was hand dyed or printed before printing my patterns on top. I find the errors and faults that appear through screen print can add to the charm of a fabric. For example, leaving spots of white in an otherwise dyed fabric allows the over printed colour to shine through. Everything I exposed onto screen was hand drawn on drafting film and the fabrics used – linen, cotton and silk – all help to create the naturalistic, handmade, aesthetic I desired.

 

The collection could easily slip between fashion and interiors but through my use of pretty, pastel colours I feel that the collection sits comfortably in the fashion women’s wear market. The bold prints of marimekko and the Japanese designer Makumo were a strong influence on my work. I enjoy print designers who play with scale and colour and I have tried to incorporate this playfulness into my work. I hope that this collection of fabrics will both imbue the wearer with the same sense of fun and celebration I felt designing these prints and will also make them wonder about the traditions and folklore that inspired them.

© Cara Morris 2017

© Cara Morris 2017

© Cara Morris 2017

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