Project Proposal

I chose the ruins of ancient Babylon where was in Mesopotamian Plains. 

The location used to exist only in paintings, and it was a splendid and complex structure. But now there are only crumbling stone walls, which is a stark contrast. These structural contrasts can add more detail to the menswear. In this ancient civilisation, their costumes also had distinctive features, such as the towering hats and sloping shoulder straps. The colours of this theme allowed me to discover a more elegant and classical colour palette. Unlike my previous themes, the statues in this theme also gave me a lot of different details to decorate the garment.

In the way of research more will be done through the internet. The location is in Iraq and because of the international situation, I will not be able to do fieldwork. I will use documentaries, films, and drawings to find out what the site used to be like. I will also be looking at some of the archaeological artefacts in the British Museum, which will make my project more interesting. The status of the site can be updated through Google Maps and some news reports. I also read books if I can’t use the internet to get information. For example, A History of Babylon, etc.

I want to become an independent designer and I am applying to BA Fashion Design Technology: Menswear. Firstly, menswear designs are generally simple in their overall, so I could only change them structurally. Babylon and ancient Babylon had many complex and prosperous buildings with very advanced construction techniques. This inspires me to think about the structure of the garments. At the same time, there is a big difference between the clothes of that time and the clothes of today, which is an interesting contrast and can lead to more minor changes in the shape. Secondly, I think the long history means that there are more paintings to document it, which gives me more options in terms of colour testing. Finally, the exaggerated architecture, the various cuneiform characters, all of which give me many different visual effects on the print.

For this design I planned to contrast the clothing, building structures and plants of the past with the Babylonian ruins. I wanted to understand what the people of the past were thinking about and show it in the form of alterations and prints. The contrast with the ruins is then used to express the changes of an era. I will try to recreate this history by garments. Through a whole collection, I will try to tell the story of the empire from its prosperity to its decline. The design is aimed at a high-income group (average income in the top 50%) as I will be using more detailing on the garments. The brand is positioned as a leading edge, with a more design-oriented approach. The theme was also chosen to express a change in history, which I think is a very meaningful thing to do.