Bring The Sass to Class – Cockroach Fever

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This project is the summary of our Print lessons at school and first fashion show experience during Sønderborg Fashion Day.

About the details: when most of the people meet one (or more) cockroach(es), the first feeling is usually fear and disgust. So the obvious question now is why did I choose it as my inspiration for print design?
One of my close friends just moved to an other apartment. The unfortunate part is that she was complaining about roaches and other tiny creatures which made her life a little bit more difficult. Nevertheless, when I was able to overcome my own disgust and see about how a real roach looks like – scaled up, looking for solutions to my friend's problem – I thought: it is rather beautiful if we take a closer look. Let's mix it with fashion!

My main idea was to somehow use the roach an unexpected way and make people feel surprised when they see my outfit with the print on.

The first sketch and watercolor version. The big question is: can I create something beautiful using one of the most repulsive creatures on Earth as my main inspiraton?

Let's go digital. First pattern versions.

Working on computer can be exciting but not as much as playing around with real materials and different print techniques. My first experiences with puff binder (distendable base with green pigment on 100% cotton).

Metal pigment experiments on 100% cotton.

My favourite: the metal foil. It worked well on the experiments but unfortunately did not give me the same quality when I wanted to use it on white canvas.

Fast sketch about what I planned for the fashion show: a completely white classical cut outfit with a huge shiny roach on the top as a surprise.

After all the experiments, I decided to use metal binder with two different metal pigments in two layers to add highlights to the final pattern. Sequins give a little extra shine and 3D effect to the look.