Lauren Levin

‹UN› DEVELOPING

What started out as a theme inspired solely by Ecuadorian shapes, volumes, and colors evolved (or devolved) into something also minimal and contemporary, something more of a global collage of aesthetics derived from a personal formula.

‹UN› DEVELOPING is a spring/summer collection that started out as a collection juxtaposing the two themes of traditional Ecuadorian dress and contemporary minimalist designs in women’s wear. This collection, contrary to the name, had done much developing from its genesis; originally portraying the unraveling of silhouette and texture from extreme to the other, as well as the transition of one color with the effect of consecutive dip dyeing.

As my process went on I found myself designing more with a global perspective of foreign aesthetics i.e. Indian headdresses, western shapes, Mexican embroidery etc. I then began melding and editing these elements together to create a theme that happened to reflect my personal formula of dress/styling, as well as my ‘mystery ethnicity’ (I have a lot fun getting the wide range of guesses from strangers about my ethnicity, and I like to use that to my advantage at times to get away with themes in my wardrobe).

That same idea of ambiguity carries through the global collage of my collection, filled with the romance of voluminous, transparent, luxury fabrics, paired with tight, rounded, and textured shapes for contrast. It has a European palette of color with the final touches of hand appliquéd lace, keeping the consecutive dip dye effect consistent.

Materials

Silk Organza, Silk Crinkle Chiffon, Silk/Wool Twill, Pleated Silk, Silk de Chine, Silk Charmeuse, and a Polyester Bouclé

Process

My process started out by creating a sketchbook filled with the kind of aesthetics, elements of details, silhouettes, and textures that supported my theme. I found most of my images from a compilation of blogs, magazines, business cards, photos I had developed, wallpaper, textile samples, self-portraits of my outfits, etc. I included form studies of appliqués, stitches, knits, and prototypes in order to find the best solutions for my theme. The collection itself went through a number of stages that lead up to where it is now, sifting through the right amount of x and y to create the global collage I had envisioned.