About Me
My name is Emanuela, and I'm a Raversbourne fashion accessory graduate
I am originally Ghanaian however, I grew up in Italy. I studied fashion accessories. I enjoyed the craftsmanship of fashion, something that I have always appreciated.
I've always been intrigued by structural pieces and wanted to incorporate them into my own work. I also enjoyed the process of breaking down the structural pieces and putting them back together in different ways. The sort of style that I like within my work is both simple and clean but sometimes also completely brave with colour, patterns and voluminous shapes.
INSPIRATION
Legacy symbolism
My inspiration for this collection is to demonstrate the importance of the ancient Ghanian symbol through sculptural forms that incorporate specific symbols that are significant to our community and myself. These were the symbols of unity, security and diversity. Other sources of inspiration for my sculpture bags included furniture and architecture. I want to create exciting surfaces using traditional techniques in conventual ways.
This collection illustrates expressive oversized statements pieces of handbags. The handbags feature strong structural lines, combined with adinkra symbols giving you an earthy and natural aesthetic. The result of this collection is a collection of vegetan leather cut out with textured knit, cut out plywood and antique hardware. I wanted my collection to look different from different perspectives. The surface of the vegetan leather decoration illustrates layers of vegetan leather to give more texture.
MY WORK
PORTFOLIOS
Concept board
Customer board
Colour board
material board
Knit experiment
Research
Research
Collage
Development
Development
Development
Development
Development
Final line up
photoshoot
Design sheet 1
Design sheet 2
Design sheet 3
DETAIL
Digital knit
The knit design for the interior leather bags were inspired by engraving on the drums from Ghana. I chose digital knit because it was the most effective way to show off my designs in a three-dimensional format. It was also utilised to give the impression that it was handcrafted.
" We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided."- J.K. Rowling
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