Meet GFF International Talent, Michelle Huang, from Shih Chien University in Taipei. Michelle’s final collection is inspired by fairytales and the balance between good and evil that presents itself through these stories. These stories can be analysed through a psychological lens to unveil recurring themes, which Michelle has transformed into the basis of her collection. Read on below to learn more!
Contact details:
Email: rabbitfish0430@gmail.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crystaliscamel/
Tell us about you, where are you from, what lead you to fashion and choosing that course?
My name is Michelle Huang and I’m from Taiwan and study in Shih Chien University in Taipei. I’ve loved painting since I was a kid. When I was in high school, I majored in interior design. It cultivated my aesthetic and opened the vision of design at the same time. For me, design is another way to tell the emotions and states that words can’t describe. After that I decided to put my heart and soul into design, but in a more soft and connected to the human way. Although I'm not studying interior design, it affects all my works after. For me fashion design is kind a way to expound the message I’d like to deliver.
Describe the inspiration and concept behind your work. Talk us through your final project and your research process. How did that come about?
I like to do art and design to express the emotion that words can not describe, I have done several works on love, memories and accompanying feelings. Among these works are a common point: no emotion is only fabulous, the opposite is broken or fleeting. Always thinking around this question, why good is always accompanied by these disturbing emotions? It's like all fairy tale princesses will meet bad queens, so I started studying fairy tale analysis. Fairy tale analysis is developed from C.G. Jung's theory of psychological types. Of the various types of mythological literature, fairy tales are the simplest and purest expressions of the collective unconscious and thus offer the clearest understanding of the basic patterns of the human psyche. Every people or nation has its own way of experiencing this psychic reality, and so a study of the world's fairy tales yields a wealth of insights into the archetypal experiences of humankind.
Tell us about your design process. How do you work? How do you take your research and develop your own designs?
The atmosphere that I want to present in this concept is “when dawn was breaking on the horizon.” Which is clear and chaotic, transparent, dispersion and misty. Symbiosis that resonates with the consciousness and the unconscious and found a prototype that touched me in a fairy tale. First, the fall is necessary, the opportunity for life to flip is to have the treasure of the spiritual world. Second, the need for patience to distinguish between, in order to achieve full awareness, repeated and cumbersome behaviour. Third, wait for the coming period, find the source of the pain, and give time and space.
Finally, the ego and the shadow: the opposite nature of things are relative, in order to complement each other's existence, the shadow of life created a three-dimensional pattern. Surrounding these four core concepts to embody the "necessity of evil", each existence of the fall and wound has its own meaning. I developed this series in different ways, trying to capture the moments when every mysterious image came into daily life. The symbol behind the fairy tale touches our inner archetype, the characters and plot of the story start the emotion, thus producing the image, and stay in the world enough time to delicately identify the corresponding human spiritual world in a unique cut. The space created by fantasy and projection takes place in a flash, and the story is complete only when you are touched.
Tell us about your Collection Development. How do you toile, how do you like to pattern cut, do you like to drape?
Before I went to the steps of designing my costume, I looked back at my mood board, which perfectly interpreted the concept , but didn't really get deep into the core. So I remade the idea and analysed the four concepts individually. I folded bumpy surface out of the paper, or cut the paper into the base to make it looks different from the front and sides, which gave me a good inspiration to develop the pattern. Based on the concept of complexity and detail, I chose to make experimental costume, so that I can freely develop the outline and detail.
Several of these are interesting developments that design the front and back opposite but look relatively harmonious.Wearing this top will produce different folds due to the movement of the human body, symbolising that every human life is a unique shape. You can see the image of the circle in this collection, I like the meaning of the circle, the circle represents "with the corresponding things, complement each other's deficiencies, so as to create a holistic image." 」So I also put the circle into the pattern, when wearing it on the body will produce a different looks.Because the concept emphasises the existence of shadows,I present the shadows on it, so there are a lot of designs left on the side.However, the common between these pattern is that they all exist both false and true.
Talk us through your final collection and each outfit. Why where these the final designs?
The most important part in this collection is the concept of the co-existence of consciousness and the unconscious, so there must be yarn and fabric in each costume.
The first costume of coats is inspired from the twisting of the body lines, I rotate the shape of the suit jacket to the side of the shoulder, while the other side of the shoulder uses the noir window structure, in the movement of different angles will appear different surfaces and colours.
The second costume wants to present a burst of energy from the inside out, from the energy of the spiritual world to the language of the real world, and the upper body and the contours of the lower body together present a cycle.
The third costume with the concept of a circle there are four circle on this dress pattern. “4” is a sacred number that stands for "totality", and "3" reacts to the dynamic state before reaching the “totality” state. The entire surface is covered with a yarn material, and the sleeves are stacked with many folds.
The fourth costume is the largest one, a costume of sleeves. In addition to the pattern, there is an internal stand that I discussed and manufacture with my friends in the architecture department, and completed a huge work. Sleeve-filled costume symbolises the need to try again and again to fully understand.
The fifth costume is that waiting for the coming period, the process of waiting is long like sleeping, paving symbolises the sleeping tower. After sleeping, we have to go back to find the source of wound.
The sixth costume is the outer consciousness of the bundle under the rich and attached the unconscious, the material continues to grow, want to achieve the resonance of the best state of coexistence.
What materials have you used within the collection and how did you source them? Why were this the right material for your collection?
In this collection used a lot of of yarn, which is a very small fabric unit, the texture is very thin, but as long as it is scattered and recombined can look thick and dense afterWhen I was designing, I have a lot of penetrating texture, I think yarn is very good development materials.I cut the yarn into a piece of fabric that then wrinkled and re-composed the fabric.Another yarn application is to randomly overlap different colours of yarn and then gathering together, producing unexpected colours effect. So I didn't know what it looked like until I was wrinkled.
Tell us about your illustration technics. Explain your final line up and what art materials and technics you use to showcase it.
I tried my best to do the fairy tale analysis on the costumes, and the illustration technics present the part of the fairy tale. My illustration show a harmonious colour scheme and fairy tale drawing. If you only look at the clothing painting will feel the strong fairy tale meaning, when you see the costumes, will enter the spiritual world with my works to feel the unprecedented illusion, and the story is complete only when you are touched.
What part of your final project have you enjoyed most and why? ie, the research and concept or maybe the manufacturing of the collection.
I think I enjoyed and felt pain in every process, but I always love about being able to make all the works with my own hands. In this collection, the most enjoyed part is the research and concept. Every time I've made an emotional work in the past, I've felt nihilistic. Thanks to the fairy-tale analysis, I integrated the concept of works made by the whole university, which is not a single concept, but a series of the relationship with me and each of my work. The purpose of this work is not to make everyone fully understand the psychology of fairy tales after watching this work, but to have the idea of understanding more about yourselves. It is most appropriate to present in the way of fashion design, people dress up to presents the external condition of personal characteristics.”What it would look like to wear such a private thought of your spiritual world on yourself?” I asked myself and decided to do it as my graduation work.
What’s an aspect of the fashion industry that you’re passionate about fixing or having a positive impact on?
The fashion design is not only fashion for me. There are many talented artists and designers in fashion industry who are constantly trying to tell people their ideas through the creative works, and let those who wearing these costumes understand and agree that creating dialogue between more people allows the concept to pass further. Every brand I want to know its development background, and every season I would like to know the story behind them, which makes me think and reflect more.
What is your plan once you finish your BA? Where do you wish to be in the future?
After my BA degree, I plan to work in the wedding couture industry, continue more detailed research and production, and after two to three years of work to study for master's degrees in France or Italy. The reason that I especially love the couture industry, in addition to its fine beautiful costume, but also the custom is for a specific person or occasion,It would'n be quickly designed and produced, resulting in a lot of unnecessary waste.
My ultimate career would like to develop a fashion brand that doesn't continue to consume the planet's resourcesIt. The fashion brand that really care the environment but can still retain the beauty. Although I can't do this in this collection, I'll keep the idea until I have the ability to do it, and that's my biggest vision, and I hope that like the concept of my work. Not only did it see the appearance, but also look into deeper and find the resources the wounds.