ALEXANDRA HEATH
In my collection each piece has its own identity making each one unique from the rest. The first outfit is entitled ‘Romantic,’ shown by the wispy ballet skirt. ‘Muscular,’ is given a strong presence through the leather shoulder panels. ‘Powerful,’ is portrayed in a dominating solid black, silk velvet dress. ‘Structured,’ is defined by the leather honeycomb waist panel. ‘Dynamic,’ is characterised by the movement of the fabric.
When designing the collection from the creative brief ‘Fragments of the Imagination,’ the concept I came up with was a ‘gradual realisation of something truly enchanting, to create a mystical atmosphere that captures and ignites the imagination of the audience.’
My inspiration came from a woman called Isadora Duncan; she headed a dance movement in the early 1900’s. Duncan wanted to move away from the rigid ballet practice and make dance a high art form: her aim was “to convert the body into a luminous fluidity, surrendering it to the inspiration of the soul.” From this idea I wanted to portray freedom of expression, through the use of fabric that moves with the body’s natural curves, contrasting with the rigid construction of leather laser-cut panels that force the body to conform to a distorted shape. My aim was to capture the curves of the feminine body, echoing a graceful elegance from the past, whilst showing the precise control and definition which can be achieved from modern technology, all of which are elements that are featured in Alfa Romeo designs.
MATTHEW O'BRIEN
My design aesthetic is all about retrieving shape and construction techniques along with colour and silhouette from the history of fashion and architecture then amalgamating these aspects with new innovative fabrics that have their own structural integrity to come up with new and creative garment ideas.
In this collection I will be bringing my other passions and interests into my design which is electronics. I believe that fashion is all about capturing the attention and imagination of the audience. I have spent a long perfecting ways to integrate electronics into garments tastefully! to either alter the shape, form or silhouette of a garment.
The collection throughout the five pieces will have electronics embedded, to highlight certain aspects of the design or they will alter in shape and form through the use of motors and pulleys tastefully hidden beneath the structures of the garments.
The collection and the elements involved are all heavily inspired by today’s ever changing and evolving world and how electronics is such a large part of everybody’s lives. The garments will be walking onto the catwalk and will start to alter or changes in some way which will be fascinating to watch. The garments will give nothing away as to what they have beneath their skins and reveal all on the night!
The Alfa Romeo Young Designer Award functions as a platform for new and emerging young designers. Here is a sneak peak at the progress of the 2013 finalists.
COURTNEY BLADES
When we were given the theme ‘Fragments of the imagination’ for the collection I thought about my childhood and how children have the biggest imaginations of all. When I was younger I loved fairy tales and adventure stories so I thought this would be a good place to start.
I decided to take inspiration from five classis stories; Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Jungle Book, Peter Pan, Pinocchio and Sleeping Beauty. The heritages of the stories come from Scotland, England, Italy and France which links with either St Andrews or Alfa Romeo. I also thought about how the human mind works and how we perceive things so I looked more closely at ink blot tests as people often see different things when they look at them. With this in mind I incorporated the stories into some ink blot tests to create unique fairy tale prints. At a first glance the prints look like very colourful ink blots, the colours chosen from the Alfa Romeo badge, but look closely and you will see each story come to life. The collection aims to re-discover your imagination and take you back to your childhood to remind you of the fun and adventure of these stories.