Inspirations

For my design, it is called rippling. This is a dress that is inspired by the gills of oyster mushrooms because their shape and texture give the impression of gleaming ripples cuts the lakes surface, and also waves breaking as seen from underwater. As one of my favorite fungus, evetime when I was looking at the oyster mushroom, I will turn them over and viewed from its lower surface it becomes a fabulous combination of shapes and colors, gills and swirls. I want to use the fabric that I purchased in China which has a very similar texture as oyster mushroom’s grills and also uses it to recreate the layered effect as my 3D element. 

During the researching process, I looked at lots of photos of oyster mushrooms to see the texture of its gills, its superimposed shape, and the way it looks like petals. Their interesting texture has also become the inspiration for lots of pottery, interior design, and fashion. I was inspired by how designers and artiest recreate the shape and texture of oyster mushroom and turn 2D effect into 3D effect through different materials. 

For the choice of material, I used a pleated fabric that looks similar to the fabric Issey Miyake uses for his Yes Pleats line. When I know we can decide our inspirations for this 3D design element project, I am really excited. Because during this summer when I was in China, I purchased some fabric samples that look like what Issey Miyake used for his Yes pleats line. These samples have beautiful texture and color so this kind of start to giving me inspirations about the 3D element for my project. This pleated fabric is different from the one-way pleat on the market, its folds are fine and regular. Because of the exceptionally delicate pleats of this fabric, I was inspired by the grills of oyster mushrooms. Moreover, it is very fitting which looks amazing on the dress form and It can perfectly show the hourglass figure of the dress forms. What’s interesting is that my friend actually gives me a scarf from Issey Miyake’s Yes pleats collection for my birthday. And I got to feel the actual pleated that is created by Issey Miyake. The pleats on the scarf are even more and more detailed. They are sheer and feels very soft. I have to say this is an interesting comparison and I am very happy about my choice of fabric because all these characteristics of this pleated fabric give me lots of freedom for creativity. 

    With the help of fabric, my design process also went well, although I made lots of changes. At the very beginning, I came up with a dress with two puff sleeves and a large bottom in the shape of oyster mushrooms. And I came up with the idea of making a neckpiece to go with the whole design. However, when I was making this dress, I have to drape with this fabric on the form directly because of these pleats and its stretchiness, and this is causing some limitations to using this fabric. But I think those limitations pushed me to make something even more different better than my prior design. When I was working on the placement of the left sleeve, I put that piece of large ruffles around the chest and it looks has a flow. Also, with the neckpiece with the smaller ruffles, the dress looks from dense to lose. I really like the feeling of this as a start to make the pleats on the chest look fluffy and irregular. The large pleated fabric of the chest also extends to the back, giving the dress a different 3D element at each Angle. Then I chose to leave the room at the waist to separate the chest and legs, and the skirt was irregularity inspired by the shape of oyster mushroom slices. There is also a feeling of oyster mushrooms being peeled off one by one. The folds of the skirt below the waist have been fixed by my hands, and the directions and shapes of each fold are different and irregular. This fabric allows me to make full use of its weight and texture, which perfectly reflects the 3D design in all the directions.