Dr. Mark Joseph O’Connell

The 2023 International Textile and Apparel Association (ITAA) Conference Exhibition was a remarkable showcase of creativity and innovation in the world of fashion. Among the submissions, Seneca Polytechnic’s Fashion Arts Advanced Diploma (FAA) graduates made an impressive impact with their distinctive designs, highlighting the college’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of fashion.

This year, over 100 works were submitted from institutions across the globe, with only about 30 making the cut for the prestigious exhibition. Of those, five out of six of Seneca’s FAA submissions were selected—a testament to the strength of Seneca’s fashion program and the talent of our graduates.

Two standout designs from the exhibition were “Enchanted Moor Dress and Upcycled Belt Caged Crinoline” by Beibhinn Parisi and “Picasso’s Garden” by Vee Rudder. Both graduates drew on their creativity and technical skill to produce pieces that captured the attention of the fashion world.

Enchanted Moor Dress and Upcycled Belt Caged Crinoline

Beibhinn Parisi, 2023 Fashion Arts Advanced Diploma Graduate

Statement of Purpose

The designer aimed to create a unique look for women who want to project their confidence and power to the world around them. The designer wanted to create a silhouette that allows women to occupy more space within their environment as a visual reminder that women are present and no longer defer personal space to others. The shoulder pads and the external cage build upon the physicality of women. The designer drew inspiration from Ireland’s rich history and rugged landscape. The designer’s family comes from rural Ireland, where they supported themselves for generations through subsistence farming. The designer was able to spend time on the farm, walking the green fields with stone walls that divide the land and support the growth of white lichen and other native moss. The natural patterns of moss and stone create a unique camouflage. One of five for the designer’s graduating collection, this look consists of an ultra-suede body con dress and an upcycled leather cage. During an exploratory textile rework project, the designer drew inspiration from tree branches’ protective nature and historical crinolines to create an upcycled leather-caged crinoline.

Aesthetic Properties and Visual Impact

*Figure 1.* Stone Wall. Ireland. Taken by designer

The designer was looking to create a garment with a strong connection to the organic creations in nature that can often be manipulated to reflect the culture, environment, and native landscape (Figure 1). Stone walls demarcating fields and farms are as recognizable in the Irish landscape as the green fields they divide. Historians have stated, “A Dry Stone Wall is

one that has been built using ONLY stone, without the use of any mortar or concrete. Aesthetically pleasing, they enhance the beauty of the Irish landscape” (Pillow). The ultra- suede’s print was reminiscent of camouflage that incorporated the colours of moss and soil, and foliage. The leather cage embraces Ireland’s old-growth trees, left untouched and majestically alone or entwined together to create a protective barrier to communities or households—the shape and scale of the leather cage balance and work with the dress’s shoulders proportion.

Process, Technique, and Execution

Patterns were created after completing the dress and cage’s fashion sketches and flat technical drawings. Several muslin prototypes were built with multiple fittings to achieve the desired silhouette, aesthetic and the most accurate fit. The shoulder pads in the dress were constructed by creating bespoke shoulder pads that completed the scale needed for the design. The shoulder pads were made by attaching and shaping several pairs of raglan and standard shoulder pads to create the desired enhanced shoulder shape. By accessing The Met’s vast online collection of historical garments, the designer pulled references for the cage from The Costume Institute’s American crinolines from the late 1800s (Figure 2). With the new shape and materials used in the crinoline, “the expanse that could be achieved with this understructure was even greater than that provided by eighteenth-century panniers” (Met Museum). The cage was created from upcycled leather belts from waste and recycling sites and thrift stores. The leather belts were reinforced with Rigilene boning to strengthen the leather and create the desired structure. The belts were woven in the desired pattern and sewn together. The buckle and closure were part of the original belt and were a natural choice for the fastening of the cage.

Figure 2. 1860 Crinoline. Met Museum.

Cohesion

Through the design process, the designer’s goal was to create a look that reflected the organic properties of her inspiration while embracing the modern sensibilities of beauty, fashion, art, culture, and body positivity. The muted colour palette of the dress matched seamlessly with the dark colour palette of the cage, as both palettes were kept with colours naturally found in nature. The designer could rely on her skills built through instruction, hands-on practice and past creative projects to design and create useable and accurate patterns and construction. The garment is the culmination of a strong concept nurtured to the finished project through skill, adaptability, resilience and a strong collaborative relationship between the designer and her mentor.

Originality and Innovation

The garment reflects the designer’s desire to create original and unique looks that appeal to customers who enjoy unique, quirky, and distinctive fashion. The designer produced an original design as the end product of her research to allow women to showcase their power, which is often suppressed or restricted by societal and cultural expectations and roles. The designer is passionate about creating unique designs that embrace individual expression, inclusivity, sustainability and environmental responsibility. The dress and cage reflect the designer’s growth from ready-to-wear commercial designs to avant-garde designs that push her design concepts and construction skills, creating innovative new work.

Cohesion

Originality and Innovation

Picasso’s Garden

Vee Rudder, 2023 Fashion Arts Advanced Diploma Graduate

Statement of purpose

Figure 4. Lace balaclava Worn with printed knit Textile bra top and

The purpose of this look was to create an innovative streetwear design, one of five for the designer’s graduating collection. The collection was inspired by the natural and raw state of all things, mainly nature, textures, skin types, flaws, traumas, and this informed textiles sourcing and development. Picasso’s Garden, the digital textile print knit created for the collection, was developed from a photo taken by the designer sourced rare luxury, novelty abstract floral lace textile with placed and free-form acrylic paint overlay details (Figure 1). The digitally printed knit textile was part of the exploratory process work required for the collection. In pursuit of innovative streetwear design, digital textile printing was utilized to allow a signature print on various textiles.

Aesthetic Properties and Visual Impact

The digital textile knit print’s development from the luxury floral lace textile elevated this look and the collection. The digitally printed knit fabric was used for various designs, including a knit sports bra and boxer brief set, an oversized t-shirt dress, a long sleeve crop top and a high-waisted underwear set (Figure 2). The designer made an oversized balaclava and thong from the actual lace fabric to be layered with the printed garments within the look, creating dimension. The Picasso’s Garden knit print was used for every look in the collection, alongside the actual lace fabric, to show the transformation of the textiles.

Process, Technique, and Execution

During the design development process, the lace was photographed in various sections as the scale of the lace print design was large and provided an opportunity for many print design options. Once the final print design was selected the digital textile test printing phase began by sampling on silk habotai, silk satin, neoprene and jersey. The various printed textile samples were used to develop ideation sketches including linings puffer coasts, an extremely long du-rag and jersey knit separates. However, the knit jersey allowed the designer to create staple streetwear items at accessible price points, like the sports bra, the oversized t-shirt dress and, and still utilize the actual lace for avant-garde luxury streetwear statement pieces such as the balaclava and the thong.

Figure 5. Lace balaclava Worn with printed knit Textile bra top and high-waist brief.

Cohesion

The collection’s raw and natural inspiration led to sourcing textiles with a visible texture, a polyester textile woven with metal fibres was the perfect base cloth for the collection. For a cohesive colour palette, the metal woven fabric was selected in two natural shades, ‘Penny’ & ‘Champagne.’ that is also in the Picasso’s Garden textile. Shirring was utilized on the metal woven textiles to add texture and emphasize the reflective qualities found in the lace textile. All of the garments within this look can be worn with other looks from the collection. This look from Picasso’s Garden merges two different looks presented on the runway for the year-end fashion show. The pants, thong and balaclava are from one look, and the bra and bomber jacket are from another. They also stand alone on their own. The Picasso’s Garden textile added a pop of colour to the design whilst tying the colour story for a cohesiveness look.

Originality and Innovation

This textile is entirely original and designed by me; depending on how you photograph the lace and how it is placed while printing will make the print vary. These pieces were also created for my future luxury streetwear brand. “Original streetwear brands are characterized by an accessible price point, comfortable clothing and authenticity. Luxury streetwear brands reflect the most recent emergence of brands that blur the lines between original streetwear and luxury fashion. These brands are also driven by authenticity but operate at a higher price point and diverge from the standard streetwear uniform.” (Strategy & Hypebeast, 2019). Staple streetwear pieces such as the bomber jacket, sports bra, and balaclava, to name a few, have elevated, high- end innovations and details, including combining oversizing and shirring, original digital printing, and using textiles and fabrications that are not traditional to streetwear fashion.

ITAA

The International Textile and Apparel Association (ITAA) is a professional, educational organization that promotes excellence in teaching, scholarship, and innovation within the textiles, apparel, and fashion industries. Founded in 1944, ITAA connects academics, designers, researchers, and industry professionals from around the world, fostering collaboration and the exchange of ideas across the fields of textile science, fashion design, and apparel technology.

The annual ITAA Conference serves as a hub for these exchanges, featuring a range of scholarly presentations, workshops, and exhibitions. The ITAA Design Exhibition is one of the most highly anticipated events at the conference, showcasing cutting-edge designs from students, faculty, and professionals. This event highlights groundbreaking work in fashion, textile innovation, sustainability, and technology, offering a platform for emerging and established designers to share their vision on an international stage.

Being selected for the ITAA exhibition is a prestigious honour, as the competition is fierce and the standards are very high. The final designs chosen reflect the future direction of fashion, blending creativity, technical excellence, and forward-thinking concepts.

A Bright Future for Seneca’s Fashion Arts Graduates and Seneca’s Strong Presence at ITAA

As mentioned, of the six submissions sent by Seneca Polytechnic to the ITAA 2023 Conference Exhibition, five were selected for the final showcase—an impressive achievement that speaks to the calibre of talent nurtured at Seneca. Seneca Fashions’s focus on blending technical skills with creative exploration clearly prepares its graduates to excel in the competitive and ever-evolving fashion industry. By pushing boundaries in sustainability, historical reference, and artistic inspiration, Seneca’s FAA graduates continue to elevate the standards of modern fashion. This year’s ITAA exhibition highlighted not only the students’ dedication to their design practice but also the global relevance of their work.As the fashion world embraces innovation, sustainability, and artistic freedom, Seneca Polytechnic’s FAA graduates are well-positioned to lead the charge. Their success at the 2023 ITAA Conference Exhibition is a shining example of the creativity and expertise that is fostered within the program. We eagerly anticipate seeing what the future holds for these talented designers and look forward to their continued contributions to the fashion industry.

References

ITAA. (n.d.). International Textile and Apparel Association. Retrieved Oct. 2, 2024, from https://itaaonline.org/

Pillow, Vicki. (n.d.). The dry stone walls of Ireland. House of Lor.

https://houseoflor.com/the-dry-stone-walls-of-ireland-the-oreon-collection-inspiration/

Strategy & Hypebeast. (2019). Defining Streetwear: Streetwear impact report- 001 https://strategyand.hypebeast.com/streetwear-report-history-definition

The Met. (n.d.). Crinoline, American 1860. Met Museum. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/82072