Quilted Hot Air Balloon Conceptional Design

The assignment was to create a capsule conceptional design collection, which was interesting because prior to this project I had never considered myself a conceptional designer in the slightest...but after a little thought I realized how many ideas I had within the category.

My professor told us to be really creative with the assignment and not think as the clothes as 'clothes'--to think of them more as art, which really helped me not limit myself. I went a little crazy...but it seems like the times I just go for it are the times I create my best work.

I first did a lot of library research on basket making, macrame knotting, and many forms of weaving. My goal was to create human-esq/fashion-forward/sculptural-art hot air balloons.

I looked at the structure of large baskets and thought about how those techniques would react to a human form.

These two photos, that I found in an old 1970s macrame knotting book, were on my mood board (along with a bunch of quilting pics...but for some reason I never scanned that board).

A couple different techniques that I would use if I were creating the designs in real life.

Balloon #1

I was going for a body cast/weaved basket look.

In my presentation I said how hypothetically these wouldn't be on a runway because they don't allow movement, but simply would be sculptural fashion art hanging from the ceiling in a gallery. The weaving material would be a really sturdy cord, and would hold a human shape, with obviously no one inside.

Balloon #2.

If you can't tell theres a lot of detail in each of the body baskets...during my class presentation everyone was sitting too far away and couldn't see any of the weaving stitches which I tirelessly drew for hours, I guess this is the one exception of something looking better on a screen oppose to a mounted board.

Balloon #3.

Balloon #4

Balloon #5.

#6.

All the balloons and stitching I drew by hand/on a tablet computer, and all the fabrics in the balloons I scanned from vintage fabric books. I also photographed Sea Zeda, my lovely model. Thank you Sea for doing backbends for me :)