Stone Island- Hellbound

In this project I was asked to design a collection for the global fashion brand Stone Island. Extensive research and development was carried out to create a capsule collection of 6 looks for Autumn/Winter with a focus on outerwear. The initial design ideas in this project was sparked by the history and design philosophy of the brand, ie; functionality, garment intelligence, technical fabrics, fabric durability and treatments. The starting point for my design research was Global Warming. In the west part of Africa there is a season called Harmattan, from December through to February the harmattan is the north-easterly Sahara trade winds that rush in desert-like sandstorms, leaving skin dry, lips cracked and everything covered in sand. This project was about creating a collection that is suitable for the challenges of extreme weather conditions - but first I needed to define in detail what kind of adverse conditions the garment designs will combat. The garment silhouettes in this collection was inspired by the tribe Berbers that inhabit North Africa. They are always exposed to extreme whether conditions allowing them to adapt and develop designs in order to survive. The fabric, Nylon, was dyed with Chaney root for 24hrs in a dye VAT. What's Chaney root? Chaney root originates from the Jamaica, known as a herbal blood tonic. This herb creates a brown earthy colour which was desired for this collection.