About Me
Conceptual Fashion Designer and Illustrator
Intrigued by her own tendency for vivid dreams, Aisling’s graduate collection focuses on the physical realisation of dreams and the subconscious. Through the research of scientific phenomena and artistic portrayal of dreams, Aisling used surrealist experimentation techniques to create a collection that brings the abstract and ethereal concept to life.
Creating visually striking concepts and collections, Aisling’s practice experiments with colour, line and silhouette to inform the design process. Whether inspiration originates from artistic, historic or theoretical references, Aisling enjoys the challenge in creating collections that bring abstract concepts to life in the form of wearable art. Embracing and combining experimental development with meticulous and clear research means Aisling’s designs fully embrace their initial concepts, whilst offering new perspectives and highlighting key details.
INSPIRATION
For creatives looking for authenticity; what can be more personal than your own subconscious?
‘DREAMSCAPE’ is a collection that explores the visual representation of the stages within the human sleep cycle. Through research into the Surrealist technique of ‘Automatic’ drawing and the early 20th century art movements of Symbolism and Expressionism, this collection combines the intriguing neuroscience of dreams and the sleep cycle with its transient depictions within art. The collection explores haunting silhouettes enhanced with vivid prints, drapery and an explosively contrasting colour palette.
The colour palette and fabric choices create an ominous atmosphere within the collection; a contrast to the typical pastel, light-hearted rhetoric associated with dreams. This collection rejects the peaceful and dismissive opinion of dreams, aiming to portray the deeper, darker and highly subliminal nature of dreams and the relentlessness of our own subconscious. For authentic design we are encouraged to explore personal concepts; what is more introspective than our own dreams and subconscious?
MY WORK
PORTFOLIOS
Outfit 'REM' - Photographed by Izzie Koyander
Initial Concept Board for 'Dreamscape'
Exploring expressionism through colour.
Haunting silhouettes and vintage sleepwear.
Development for Outfit 'N2'
Experimentation and Development through Collage
Generating Designs for Outfit 'DELTA'
Development and Toile for Outfit 'REM'
Illustrated Lineup of 'DREAMSCAPE'
Excerpt from Technical Packet for outfit 'REM'
Complete Range Plan of Graduate Collection
Creative Pattern Cutting- 'DIMENSION'
Creative Pattern Cutting - Wearable Art
Rural Luxury Streetwear - GRITSTONE Concept
GRITSTONE Technical Flats and Illustration
Clothsurgeon Live Brief- 'SPEEDWAY'
Vintage Motorbike Apparel Collaging
Coat and Jacket Development
Final Chosen Outfit for Clothsurgeon
DETAIL
Creating a statement print for the collection
The ‘DREAMSCAPE’ print that runs through the collection is a combination of physical sampling and digital refinement. The print comprises layered sketching, painting and multimedia samples that explore the concept of Automatism; a technique said to have been used by dream analysts of the early 20th century, then adopted by the Surrealists. The technique was defined by Andre Breton as “the dictation of thought in the absence of all control exercised by reason and outside all moral or aesthetic concerns”. When digitally layered and enhanced, the print evokes a haunting edge to the collection. This print was then heat transferred onto lightweight, draping chiffon, introducing a vibrantly patterned and extremely malleable element to the range of outfits . ‘REM’ consists of over ten metres of the printed chiffon, all printed manually ‘in house’ by the designer, supported by a tight vintage inspired corset. This allows the chiffon panels to be caught in motion when worn, changing imagery within the dress.
"I shut my eyes in order to see." - Paul Gauguin
Graduate Fashion Week in partnership with:
