…and so my collection was created: An International Bazaar!
By Carrie Coyle
* Information gathered from Fashion Snoops and Style.com
Unlike the way in which many designers develop their collections, by creating a product line around a theme or concept, the concept for my collection was created around the items that I found on my shopping trips to Goodwill. An organic convergence of ideas, I began my hunt by selecting items that I was magnetized to- the southwestern, African, and South American prints, the subtle beauty of aged ivory lace blinds. I love how all the patterns play together to create a dynamic aesthetic, similar to some of the ethnic and folkloric prints and patterns that I’ve fallen in love with from the Mara Hoffman, Valentino, and Stella Jean runways. Over several trips to Goodwill, I continued shopping in the same manner- adding, taking away, altering and embellishing- until the theme quickly shaped into something artisanal and worldly, something of a celebration of cultures created from these goods found and collected at our local Triad Goodwill stores. My collection represents the beauty of many cultures’ cloth and style of dress, altered and designed to mimic modern trends, all while proving that “old” can be made anew in a way that’s marketable and alluring…and so my collection was created: An International Bazaar!
Below, you’ll see some of the items that I found on my “hunts”, the theme boards that I compiled and designed to help bring organization to the mini themes and how I’ve grouped the items into outfits based on an individual color and pattern scheme, and you’ll also catch a glimpse of some of the work that I’ve been busy with!
Above, center: mood board showcasing the two designs and their individual inspirations.
Below, left: Men’s button-up shirt; JCrew gold metallic cardigan; printed rayon pants; straw hat; straw bag; gold and silver metallic woven sandals
Below, right: women’s all-in-one romper; wayfarer sunglasses; destination print tote; black wooden bead necklace.
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Stephanie Debailleul modeling one of the looks for the show
And then there are the softer, more overtly feminine items that I found, such as the beautiful floral print cotton dress that was made in India, and the ivory jacquard lace curtains that are aged from having hung in the window over the years. I’ve used lace curtains before to make handmade lace cards, so I’m very excited to be using this media to make something on a larger scale!
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Top Center, counter-clockwise: mood board; hand-sketching the design for one of the looks; antique curtains being hand-cut to use as lace embellishment; floral print dress being re-designed and altered to fit model.
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Top Center: lace curtains, sheer polyester curtains, and lace home pieces to be used as fabric for several of the outfits; cotton lace trim being stained in diluted coffee and then draped to dry.
