Joy

This project was based on the psychology behind the feeling of joy. Based on Ingrid Fetell Lee's book titled 'Joyful: The surprising power of ordinary things to create extraordinary happiness', this project focused on the 'Aesthetics of Joy' such as abundance, colour, boldness, nature, playfulness, harmony, celebration, as well as many others, which inherently produce a joyful response within us. I wanted to take these elements and translate them into a fashion textile context through embroidery and embellishment, as well as digital print. My main aim for this project was to create a bold, playful, and most importantly, joyful collection with a focus on material innovation in order to use the established arts of embroidery and embellishments in a new and modern way. I experimented with different surface textures such as leatherette, faux sheepskin and printed jerseys, as well as interesting embellishment materials such as PVC tubes, pom-poms, googly eyes, laser cut Perspex embellishments, foiled plastic embellishments made out of sport field marker cones, digitally printed cords, latex yarns, and mirrored PVCs. This collection physically demonstrated some of the physical aesthetics said to have a psychological impact on us upon viewing something joyful, and fulfilled its aim to bring brightness and playfulness into our everyday lives.