armour&heart

Here's my design brief. It's a bit cheesy, but hey, who doesn't like a gouda piece of writing every now and then?
(cheese pun)

With the rise of fashion inspired sport such as roller derby and sport inspired fashion from designers like Jeremy Scott, a growing demand has emerged for a stylish look in any playing arena. One that can translate from court to catwalk, from feild to street, from sports club to club chair at your favourite cocktail bar.

Soft excercise wear has been inspiring designers since the 70’s. The glamour tracksuit has already been done, wearing trainers everywhere has been acceptable for decades and it would be hard not to find leggings in any (i really hate to use this word but...) fashionista’s wardrobe.

It’s time to take it up a notch and protect yourself.

Protective sportswear originally inspired by armour has been a relatively untouched inspiration resource when it comes to fashion. With the world being a tougher place now, a girl’s got to protect herself. What better way than to wear an armoured suit, right? This theory isn’t as simply practiced when you consider the cost of either a traditional suit of armour or a full bullet proof outfit - it’s completely ridiculous to think that such garments would be facilitated in everyday life and in a full suit of armour you would look like an idiot. Armour’s not just about protection; it’s also about giving the allusion of a more defined, stronger body shape, with the purpose of warding off any potential threats or enemies.

The brief is to design a collection that consists of six outfits that give the allusion of protective armour as well as being fully functional garments that can be broken down and worn as sporting wear or stylish statement pieces. This means using a variety of materials. Soft, stretchy knits that will allow the wearer to move freely and unrestricted for times of fast action and thick, hard non-fabrics to protect and emphasise the parts that need it most. Padding will also be used as we all know that even the toughest of the tough still fall down sometimes.

What also needs to be taken into consideration is that although the aim is to create a modern day suit of armour, the wearer still is a human being with feelings and emotions, not a passionless robot with a shielded heart. So each outfit needs to expose the wearer somehow without being exposing. It needs to show what lies beneath the surface, the body's own natural armour, bones, and what they're protecting, your heart. Without compromising any protection to it or putting it under any threat of being torn out or broken.

(That was just me getting a little carried away. Ofcourse I don't think that a cocktail dress is going to protect somone from getting their heart torn out. Idiana Jones in the temple of doom will help you with that one)