Dans La Lune: Senior Collection

Senior Collection Tech Design on Kathryn McCarthy's Online Portfolio

Look 4: Chiffon dress with original artwork for engineered print and hand embroidery design.

Dans la Lune line up and materials

Market Day: buying sheet for tradeshow simulation

Look 6: Silk top, silk wool pants, and chiffon over skirt.

Look 1: Silk top with original artwork for print repeat and machine stitching on jeans.

Look 2: Chiffon wrap dress with hand embroidery.

Look 3: Silk top and wool coat with original artwork for engineered print and hand embroidery designs.

Look 5: Silk skirt with original artwork for print repeat.

An illustration featuring a woman in an etherial pose wearing a couple of designs from the collection and framed by Art Nouveau style details

An illustration of a look that didn't make it into the final collection but was one of the top contenders. Illustrated in Adobe Photoshop in the Art Nouveau style.

Dans La Lune: Senior Collection

April 2017

Dans La Lune is inspired by the Art Nouveau movement and is a women’s designer RTW collection aimed at tenacious women who have reached the top of their field and need clothes that transition easily for every occasion. It is filled with fantasy and magic. Think of a secret garden where fairies flutter from flower to flower unbeknownst to the garden’s keeper and you have the essence of Dans La Lune. Throughout the design process I was thinking of the big picture down to the tiniest detail. My customer is a busy woman and doesn’t have time to think about what accessories she’s going to wear. She has to jump in a taxi and go to a fundraising event straight from the office! That’s why I planned and produced a six look collection composed of separates, jewelry, and a clutch so she’ll be covered six days out of the week (she gets Sunday off). So, my customer might throw a jacket over look 6 while she’s at work, but she’ll keep the removable necklace and the wrap skirt in her bag for later that evening. Here’s how the production process worked:

Drafted production patterns, fit samples on models, and created tech packs within 1 1/2 months.
Illustrated two original prints and collaborated with DPI print services to create the textiles.
Developed and executed six beading/embroidery designs, eleven jewelry designs, and the clutch.
Constructed the collection within two months allowing for fittings in the final fabrics.

Tech Design

The tech design process included keeping detailed tech packs that included line sheets, spec sheets, bill of materials, and inspection reports among other materials. Above are examples from my tech packs and special details for each look.

Market day is a tradeshow simulation in which design students “sell” their collections to buyers—students studying fashion merchandising. Each designer sets up a booth and buyers are given a budget for a theoretical store they represent. In order to make the simulation as realistic as possible, I created a buying sheet and other props. My collection was turned into its own brand, which is why some styles came in multiple sizes and color ways. Through a combination of costing materials/labor and emulating the pricing standards of my brand’s competitors I attempted to estimate realistic wholesale and retail prices. However, due to buying fabrics at retail prices, some of my wholesale prices are skewed.

Design Process

I started my senior collection design process by collecting random fabrics and ideas that appealed to me. With the fabrics I created different color stories and the ideas developed into three different concepts. Through sketching and exploring each concept I narrowed down my inspiration to Art Nouveau. I also researched my target customer, market, and narrowed down to my ideal customer. The following journal pages show my process from start to finish.