WINTER WATER

My class was given the assignment of creating a collection within a specific market niche that we could choose. We could choose bridal, plus-size, lingerie, sleepwear, athleticwear, maternity, or swimwear, which is what I chose. The greatest challenge of the assignment was realizing the differences between each market and what you would have to think about as being different from a regular womenswear market. So say plus-size for example; how would those proportions change and still look flattering and desirable? Or with bridal, how would your flats change to become more elaborate and detailed with all of the added accouterments? My challenge, in particular, was understanding the differences in material usage. I knew everything that I chose would have to make sense conceptually as well as performance-wise.
The concept for my swimwear was inspired by this one swimsuit that I thrifted while I was looking for swim fabrics to use in my fabric swatches. It was this waterproof nylon fabric, but it had the appearance of a cable knit sweater. It actually had this imitation cable knitting going along the whole suit. I thought it was so beautiful and comedic that this waterproof garment meant for wear in the summer would have a stereotypical winter fabric on it. I decided to run with the idea of winter fabrics being used on summer swimwear. So I used that same cable knitting from that other swimsuit as the main fabric in the collection, as well as a faux denim for my waterproof cycling shorts, and a terrycloth animal fur for my towel coverups. I loved the idea of denim in this collection because whenever I get any of my jeans wet, they stay wet for at least three days and it is one of the most uncomfortable fabrics when wet. My favorite concept was using the idea of a fur wrap to be a towel made completely out of terrycloth. And it would be dyed with the same ombre that an actual animal fur pelt would have...but it is a towel. There was just something so quirky about that to me. The color scheme was meant to be reminiscent of a vintage school rowing team at a preppy university.
For the styling, my girls have fishing lures caught in their hair, ears, and hats. This was around the time when hats with piercings were a really popular fad, and this was my variation on that trend.