I chose my inspiration for the 2014 Target Competition to be 'The Semi-Permenance of Kaleidoscopic Images'. I derived this inspiration from a previous inspiration of optical illusions. When divulging into the realm of optical illusions I found the work of an artist named Suzan Drummen. Drummen creates kaleidoscope floors by placing mirrors, crystals, and glass in an array of patterns. She uses no adhesive to attach these items. Drawing upon this concept of 'temporary beauty' I found a secondary inspiration of Buddhist Mandalas; creations made from placing granules of sand in precise locations, then when the work is finished sweeping it away. The changing of kaleidoscopes, mandalas, and the lack of attachment of the kaleidoscope floors are all fleeting beauties.

My color story was derived directly from my mood board. I chose four jewel tones in magenta, golden yellow, sapphire, and emerald as well as gray and black to bring neutrals to the bold color story.

With these colors I created two prints by overlaying tracing paper onto my mood board and seeing what shapes popped out at me. The first print is more of an optical illusion while the second lends itself to look more kaleidoscopic.

 

Deciding which fabrics to use was easy just from looking at the clothing at Target and what fabrics they use. I chose pleather, Rayonne, and poly-blends for my mostly knitwear collection.

This look is based on the idea of creating different waistlines. Cording runs throughout the empire waist, the natural waist, and the hip line. When pulled and tied around the waist, three different waist lines can be created.

This look consists of a perforated pleather shirt and a skater-to-straight skirt. The skater skirt has two side panels that can zip open or closed to create the two different styles. When open, excess fabric billows out with one of the prints I generated showcasing. The top includes several different studs in the style of a fragment of a kaledoscope. The studs can be arranged in any manner on the top due to the fact that they are removable with the help of snaps on the back. This allows the wearer to customize their garment and make any design on the shirt they would like.

In the same style as the first dress, these pants have cording that runs down the outseam. When pulled, the pant can go from long to cropped. The top is more complicated. It's a wrap top with separating zippers at each end as well as one about a quarter of the way down. This allows you to not only wrap it in different ways, but keep the top secure with the help of a zipper that allows it to be flowy or tight.

This Rayonne dress can be worn backwards, forwards, and inside out. The two prints and different inside and out, and the neckline changes from higher to lower each way.

This dress has two convertible elements to it. The back is a low cowl with buttons in the style of those on the pleather top. This allows the wearer to change the back from open, to closed, to several key holes. The sleeves have zippers that allow them to be changed from a simple cap sleeve when zipped to an off-the-shoulder sleeve when unzipped.

This last look consists of a floor length skirt with a wide sweep and a top to be worn three ways. The skirt has buttons at the hips and button holes at the hem so that it can be pulled up and buttoned into an asymetrical skirt, a short skirt if both are hiked up, or a long skirt if neither are buttoned. The top has two center panels that come with it, in the same idea as a modern day stomacher. Separating zippers are on the sides so that the panels can be swapped out for one of a different print, or not used all together which would create a plain black shirt with a zipper down the front.