ASOS
has given the University of Westminster’s second year fashion students a chance
to produce ten new capsule collections to sell on their Marketplace website for
this High Summer 2012 season.
But it hasn’t been handed to them on a
plate. These students didn’t just have to design and create the collections,
but were also responsible for the fashion shoots, look books, business plans,
market research and all business and commercial decision making.
A daunting task but when students from the
Fashion Design course join forces with the Fashion Buying Management course you
have the makings of a successful brand house. Ten groups were formed to each
create their own brand and collection for the project.
Designer students Georgina Atkinson, Emma
Charles, Rachel Raheja and Anjini Maxwell formed the brand ‘HAUS’ with fashion
buyer students Karen Hanratty, Andra Vilmane, Clarissa Rawlings and Alex
Stavreva.
The HAUS Brand
Their key inspiration was taken from the Bauhaus
Movement, especially Bauhaus architecture. This Modernist style broke away from
the ornamentation of buildings in the 1920s and concentrated their designs more
on the functionality of the building with the demands of urban living and new
technologies available.
Like the Bauhaus buildings, the pieces in
the collection are minimalistic:
Buttons are concealed on the shirt and coat
whilst the collars on both are almost nonexistent in their narrowness.
Straight
and curved lines juxtapose in the cut of the garments: Simple rectangular shaped garments with
rounded shoulders created by drop shoulder seams, cap and the sporty raglan sleeves.
Blocks of oblong layers add depth whilst
curved outlines are created with colour blocking.
The inclusion of modern colour blocking using a bright blue accent brings a pop of bold colour to an otherwise neutral palette, managing to keep the starkness at bay whilst the purity of the styles remain. Fabrics used: wool crepes, cotton twills, wool suiting and shirting fabrics.
The students said of
their collection –“The brand and collection is ‘HAUS’; an 8 piece collection of
womenswear inspired by the Bauhaus movement, where, similarly with architecture
of the 20th century, we have used creative techniques for exciting
pattern cutting, developing a wearable and well constructed collection. The
Collection pioneers structure and innovation whilst combining both modern and
traditional tailoring”
The ASOS Marketplace is an ideal platform
for the students to gain experience of the fashion industry in the real world
and a great opportunity for a wide exposure of their collection.
Model: Amy McDonald
Photography: Daniel Fraser
www.marketplace.asos.com
By Karen Grace
Personal Shopper & Image Consultant for Frumpy to Funky http://www.frumpytofunky.com
