About Me
Hi! I'm Louise. I am a Fashion Design Graduate from NTU.
Louise Wise is a London-based creative and womenswear designer specialising in pattern cutting and manufacturing processes. The incorporation of illustration and intricate textile techniques alongside sculptural silhouettes creates timeless and romantic pieces.
Studying BA (Hons) Fashion Design, I fell in love with pattern cutting, illustration, and the process of handcrafting building blocks that bring a 2D idea to life. I strive to tell stories inspired by my upbringing and the feelings of it in my designs. The narratives I construct are personal – rooted in both fantasy and reality by crossing paths of past and present, to re-imagine nostalgia. I believe it is imperative to consider the past to construct the future, provide sanctuary and prioritise comfort, as fashion is at its core, meant to be lived in.
INSPIRATION
My inspirations are rooted in the conscious and unconscious mind.
“…being taken out of my innocent childhood bubble and shoved before the judging eyes of the outside world.” Growing up in an increasingly bleak world, I have been inspired to re-think and dissect nostalgia - a term usually used with fondness, but with age, wistfulness. The desire for childhood certainty fascinated me and made me wonder and reflect on how I used to envision my future self when I was a little girl. A child's view of the world and its future is a sanctuary we cannot really return to.
Surrealism and escapism are fundamental themes. My FMP is a yearning for the blissful naivety and wide-eyed curiosity of childhood imagination and a melancholy portrayal of the dreamy and whimsical - essentially a love letter to imagined hypotheticals and fairy tales. It is a reflection on childhood innocence and girlhood through a retrospective lens by crossing modernity with tradition, consciousness and unconsciousness, transporting the wearer outside of this reality to a bygone fantasy.
MY WORK
PORTFOLIOS
Concept Imagery - Once Upon a Time
Concept Imagery - Surrealism and Escapism
Colour Exploration and Fabrics
Textile Processes
Jacket Silhouette Development
dress Development
Outfit Two Development
Collection Line Up
Outfit One Breakdown
Outfit Two Breakdown
Outfit Three and Four Breakdown
Outfit Five and Six Breakdown
Range Plan
Final Outcome
Final Outcome, Dress
Final Outcome, Girlhood Utopia
DETAIL
Capturing the Essence of a Girlhood Utopia
Materials used in "Dreamscapes in Retrospect" are all handcrafted and hand finished. The fabrics were chosen intentionally and very carefully to ensure maximum comfort and luxury feel while maintaining a natural edge. I used little colour, and embraced irregularities and variations from natural dye processes to represent a melancholy haze of a bygone memory. Asymmetrical shapes are balanced with modest femininity, shown through delicate pleats and cascading ribbons that fasten, adjust and tie together, allowing an element of transformability and customisation. Varying tactile textiles is highlighted on billowing silhouettes to provide a sensory, dreamy feel to the collection. The organic texture of the princess pleating and crinkled silk organza alongside the buttery silk-satin quilt emulate feelings of soft duvets and walking barefoot in a meadow - triggering a reminiscence for rustic, fantasised garden tea parties. The wearer is transported to a girlhood utopia of floating gardens in the clouds.
"Beauty is the balance between simplicity and detail, both in nature and in the manmade." - Cecilie Bahnsen.
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