The theme for the Foundations Revealed competition this year is Renewal, with a focus on mythology and sustainability.
My first thought was the goddess of dawn, Aurora. I started picturing her in my mind in black and gold, with leaves and branches. It took me some time to decide what I was going to do exactly, so I made a paper mock-up, and a few drawings, you can see below. But I was unhappy with it.
The only thing I was sure about was that I wanted to use only materials I already had, and reuse some from previous projects, and not to buy anything. This will be my vision of sustainability for this project.
At first I wanted to try laser cutting. I have a beautiful ancient gold faux leather and I thought it could be great to laser cut flowers and leaves in it, and to contrast it with a black satin coutil underneath. But unfortunately the laser cutter I wanted to use did not support such materials. And the few tests I made cutting the faux leather by hand were not satisfying at all. So I changed my plans.
Finally I decided to use a black satin coutil I had, and use it as a base for my corset. I hand sewed a lot of ruffled tulle on the hips, as the pattern I was using had beautiful hips curves. It made me think of flowers blossoming. I liked the idea and sticked to it. I used black to represent the darkness of the night. Aurora rises from the dark, renews herself, bathing the earth again in the light. To symbolise the light I decided to use gold. So I hand sewed gold beads around the hips as flower buds.
As I wanted Aurora to be dramatic, I decided to complete the corset with shoulder pads. I had to design the pattern by draping on a mannequin. Then I choose worbla to create it. I had buy worbla months ago to give it a try, so it was the perfect occasion! Worbla could look intimidating, but to be honnest it was really fun to work this material! For those who don’t know about worbla, it is a thermoplastic that comes in plates. With the help of a hot air gun it gets soft and sticky and can be shaped into any form. So I was able to design my shoulder pads and molded it into shape on me.
I choosed to add ruffled tulle to remind of the corset, and decorated the shoulder pads with branches and leaves, also made in worbla. Finally I painted it in metallic black and metallic gold.
So, are you ready to see the result?
I am really happy to participate this year competition. When I saw this year theme, I thought, this is a sign Léa, do it! And I won’t have any regrets because I did it. I think I can say this is my firt entry, and not my last one, as I found it so stimulating. It made me push myself out of my comfort zone, and try new things.
I feel lucky to be part of the Foundations Revealed community because it gives me so many opportunity to learn from awesome designers and discuss with other creatives with a lot of kindness.
