Illustrated book flora fashion & sources of inspiration in fashion design

Recently we became aware of the newly published illustrated book Flora Fashion , in which renowned fashion and young designers such as Elena Nazaroff, Aphia Sakyi or Louise Summerlatte reinterpreted the world of botany with wonderful fashion illustrations.

The lightness as well as the playful elegance of the floral illustrations quickly captivated us. Reason enough to dedicate a detailed contribution to the illustrated book.

At the same time, a question that has always been buried in the past occurred to me again: Which sources of inspiration use fashion designers for their creations and collections in general?

From the tedious search for the muse

As long as you are neither under time nor performance pressure, the creative process can be an entertaining and funny matter. But as soon as you-like in the fashion world-have to produce new ideas on the assembly line and fashion critics are already with worn knives, the ideas usually go out quickly without recourse to a structured procedure.

Have you ever wondered how top fashion designers always succeed in creating a collection of collection like a well-oiled clockwork? Apparently these exalted people never run out of ideas.

It is therefore part of the secret of success of every established designer to have an almost inexhaustible repertoire of inspiration sources. But there is no secret superpower behind it, but a structured and ordered work process.

Inspiration in creation of fashion is the result of a longer, creative process. This also includes research, research, and dealing with a wide variety of things, information and topics. Above all, it is the procurement and collection of ideas, suggestions and order of thoughts. In this way, influences are made from impressions, which will also be visible later in the designs.

In fact, the majority of everyday work is characterized by creative professions , including designers of all kinds, by hunting for the muse. It is important to find them if possible, to capture them and then to keep alive as long as possible.

Demanding designers are particularly high in expectations of their own ingenuity. The next creative performance is said to be the big throw, surprise, amazed, provoke, provoke and ideally justify a new trend. For this, inspiration should be searched for this in unusual places. Even completely crazy ideas and mental absurds should not be ignored.

A look at 33 things that inspired the celebrated designer star at New York Fashion Week 2017 brings up astonishing astonishing. You can find out more in the contribution of the Instyle Magazine: 33 Things that Inspired Fashion Designer and Their Collections .

Where does inspiration come from?

So the muse often does not knock on the door so easily. If a delivery or delivery date moves closer, it slowly but certainly uncomfortable. Where should the inspiration come from now?

Fortunately, there are some good sources that have a reliable ideas for designers of all kinds and façon. Including quite unusual.

01 museums, exhibitions and art galleries

If you do not want to leave the world of art and design, visit a museum, an exhibition or a gallery, spark true kiss fireworks of the muse.

These original sites of the art world are a wonderful source of primary research on fashion saving. On the one hand, they are home to a large selection of different types of artifacts, exhibits, objects and historical treasures.

Second, there are numerous special exhibitions worldwide that show inspiring works by fashion designers, artists or architects.

If you happen to live only a subordinate role in one of these metropolises, then the Sir John Soane's Museum in London, the Musée Christian Dior with Christian Dior Garten in Granville (France), the Museo Ferragamo in Florence (Italy) and the Museum of Modern Art in New York are definitely at this point.

Of course, countless other museums, galleries and exhibitions are also suitable all over the world. A short local search on Google will help you quickly here.

02 Vintage Archive

The vintage scene is perfectly suitable to be inspired by the fashion of earlier years and get to know the construction methods of historical clothing and accessories more by-past for decades.

For some designers there is nothing more satisfactory than leafing in old books, magazines and magazines and discovering something unique, long forgotten.

Incidentally, online searches and browsing on the Internet apply overrated when looking for vintage pieces. Ancient clothes and treasures lost over time are more likely to discover by digging through old print media in large archives.

If you are looking for a certain decade from the start from the start, you will most likely find it disproportionately in the city archives of those metropolises when this fashion was booming at that time.

Vintage bookseller

Large booksellers with an extensive range of vintage books were once only reserved for the most demanding and most exclusive fashion houses. Since the advent of providers such as Idea Books (@IDEA.LTD) and November Books (@NovemberBooks) on Instagram, we have all enjoyed.

The books are not always completely copied, but they still offer enough inspiration. Interestingly, the best designers do not buy fashion books, but rather books about great photography and general culture.

You will also find special books, illustrated books and rare editions at the German online bookseller in two thousands

03 films

The film industry has always been very closely connected to clothing and fashion. Several films were style -defining in different forms and set completely new trends.

Using the film as a starting point for your research and searching for inspiration is something that designers have been doing for years. A whole series of catwalk trends were justified by cult films or, as was only really started by a catalyst. As a designer, you should not close the multimedia, visually stimulating and immersive world of films and series.

The following 3 masterpieces of film art deserves an explicit mention at this point:

Breakfast at Tiffany (1961)

Audrey Hepburn's wardrobe by costume designer Edith Head was the stuff from which dreams were made.

Her iconic black dress was designed by GiveCenchy and the remaining articles were either made by the studio or acquired directly by well -known designers who worked in the 50s.

The autumn collection 2008 by Nicolas Ghesquiere for Balenciaga had quite appeared to have been inspired by the “little black” of this film.

Moulin Rouge (2001)

With costumes by Catherine Martin , also responsible for the equipment of Strictly Ballroom as well as Romeo and Julia, this musical film by BAZ Luhrmann has contributed to awakening an enormous interest in the burlesque and mastery trends.

Even beyond the cats on shows by YSL and Balenciaga , this fashion was back on the streets and alleys of this world.

Fun fact on the side: the costumes were historically not entirely correct, but referred to more contemporary mastery from Agent Provocateur.

Marie Antoinette (2006)

Sofia Coppola's historical drama was called "scandal" by Agnes Poirier , the film critic of Liberation. "The story only looks like a frame for the expansive decor and the Versailles splendid lock becomes a boutique hotel for the jet set-yesterday as it is today," continued the critic.

The film is lavishly equipped and extraordinarily rich in patterns, textile and colors. He spoils the taste buds of every fashion designer and takes you into another world - full of splendor, pomp and abundance.

The costumes were designed by Milena Canonero , the ironic glam-pop soundtrack from the eighties comes from Sean O'hagen.

Other style -defining film jewels for fashionistas:

• A sweet Fratz (1957)
• Blondes preferred (1953)
• The devil wears Prada (2006)
• The silk thread (2017)
• The September Issue (2009)
• Dior and I (2014)
• Valentino: The Last Emperor (2008)
• A single man (2009)
• The Crown - the series (2016)
• Girlboss - the series (2017)
• Gossip Girl - the series (2007)
• The House of Eliott-the series (1991-1994)

04 on the street

Pioneering fashion often arises from bold improvisation or a lack of funds, coupled with ingenuity.

It is difficult to say who first decided to combine different items of clothing for the first time, the designer or the customer. Jeans and tips, fur and crazy colors, heavy boots and summer dresses - all of these combinations appeared over time and through experiments.

Or let's take a look at the modern fascination for rags and torn clothing. Used look, destroyed look, where do these trends come from? Perhaps from a bigger of a designer to the penchant for perfection, shine and glamor. Or due to lack of ideas, means and alternatives. Completely irrelevant, because the result probably exceeded all possible expectations.

05 markets

Most fashion designers visit a flea market from time to time in search of inspiration and individual pieces away from the common fashion.

Found objects can become the starting point of an imaginary journey and thus a design muse. Discovering a story about the objects found can further stimulate the imagination. Ideally, until the designer has a sketchbook full of ideas that support the design process.

If you have the opportunity, the following international markets offer a real cornucopia of inspiration:

• Marché aux Puces - Porte de Clignancourt, France
• Portobello Road Market - London, Great Britain
• Feria de San Telmo - Buenos Aires, Argentina

06 foreign cultures

Have you ever wondered why Japanese motifs are so popular in fashion collections ? This is because designers like to be inspired by the dazzling and multi -layered Japanese culture in general.

Asian motifs and topics fascinate us people from the western world and are characterized by a very special charm. The fashion, the patterns, the colors, the hairstyles differ so much from what we have here in the western world that the temptation is too great to get past it. The whole atmosphere, which is created by the exotic image and color worlds, is almost captivating for us Western cultures.

Other strangers, exotic and distant cultures are of course also possible as a source of inspiration.

Fashion designs, inspired by cultural elements

07 travel destinations

In principle, strangers, unusual and distant places are always suitable to break through the usual thoughts and to shake the sluggish upper room again properly and get it trot.

If you as a fashion designer keep your eyes open and actively keep your mind, you can discover new and exciting opportunities for design development almost anywhere. Keep in mind that everything around you has the potential to become part of your research and your thinking process.

This also applies to trips and city trips.

Discovering and getting to know other cultures, countries and places can offer a rich source of inspiration material. Collected impressions and accumulated information can then be translated into contemporary fashion design.

Large fashion houses are happy to send their design teams abroad for research purposes . They lead a photographic diary together with sketches of their discoveries and document all their finds. These can be fabric cuts, jewelry, artifacts, clothing or accessories.

Traveling is always a question of the wallet and unfortunately you cannot visit all the places worth seeing in our beautiful earth.

However, the following more and less relevant destinations should be on the list for (fashion) designers:

• Paris
• new York
• London
• Los Angeles
• Milan, Italy
• Rome
• Barcelona, ​​Spain
• Madrid
• Berlin
• Florence, Italy
• Tokyo, Japan
• Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France
• Abidjan, ivory coast
• Accra, Ghana
• Auckland, New Zealand
• Beirut, Lebanon
• Jakarta, Indonesia
• Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Lagos, Nigeria

08 architecture

Since we are on the subject of traveling and world metropolises, you will also find another source of inspiration right next to the people: buildings and buildings.

Some architectural sights are so elegant and so striking in their form that they are easily suitable as a mental template for new clothing. The chosen combination of colors can also inspire and get new ideas.

It is not just about completely crazy buildings as a model for haute couture collections. Architecture is a sublime art form and offers many steep templates for the catwalks of the fashion world through elegant lines, tension -charged shapes and playful silhouettes. Whether antiquity, Rococo, Baroque or Bauhaus ... The range of architecture of the past 3,000 years offers a wide range of styles, epochs and characteristics.

Fashion collections, inspired by architecture, sculptures and paintings

09 traditional clothing

In addition to vintage fashion and cultural models, traditional robes, clothes, shirts and traditional costumes are lined up.

There are entire countries, such as India, where traditional clothing is still very common. In such countries, the use of traditionally anchored patterns, colors and templates in fashion collections is an obvious choice.

In many other countries - including most nations in the western world - people have long since stopped wearing traditional clothing. In this case, it is not obvious to search for inspiration in traditional clothing. Here the inclusion of traditional elements in modern fashion creations requires a little more effort and creativity. The results could be all the more worthwhile ...

10 nature

Finally, we probably come to the “most natural” and obvious source of inspiration: nature. She surrounds us, we inevitably encounter her almost every day and yet we sometimes overlook what is right in front of our eyes.

The view for the miracles and the beauty of nature must then be trained again. The astonishing variety of shapes and colors can only be captured stimulating with open eyes and a certain level of mindfulness.

It is sometimes difficult to imagine that someone comes up with a clothing design, only by looking at a sunset or a tree line. But nature is a great source of inspiration.

Fashion designs, inspired by plants

Fashion designers would be crazy or terribly ignorant not to use it. Fortunately, they use this never -ended source of concepts, moods, impulses and enlightenment extensively.

This is also the case with the FLORA Fashion illustrated book, which we are back at the starting point of this contribution. In the following section, we will now show you how this illustrated book was inspired by the world of botany and what wonderful results were promoted to light ...

Inspired by nature and botany - the illustrated book Flora Fashion

Nature has been giving important impulses for fashion since people cover their bodies with clothing. Above all, the colorful and diverse world of botany is an almost inexhaustible source of shaping fertile food for thought, colors, patterns, textures and materials.

The international designers who participated in this illustrated book and used flora and fauna as an idea generator also followed this path. The result was a lively, colorful and delicate journey into the world of plants and fashion.

Established designers as well as talented young designers ensure a wonderful mix of high -quality fashion illustrations from different fashion styles.

From flower to design

Based on a plant of their choice, the designers developed a design based on the concise colors, shapes and patterns of their plant. Ideas took shape in sketches and drawings, whereupon an illustrator finally translated them into beautiful fashion illustrations.

The only prerequisite for the choice of the designer was that the plant emphasized or reflected its individual cultural origin.

The multicultural mix of their creators became a formative part of the floral illustrations, as did the diversity of the flora.

The following fashion designers participated in the illustrated book:

• Louise Sommerlatte (Kenya)
• Emine Capartas (Türkiye)
• Elena Nazaroff (USA)
• Hassan (Afghanistan)
• Zahra (Afghanistan)
• Rula (Syria)
• Aphia Sakyi (Ghana)
• Sabine Feuilloley (France)
• Lara Regula (Germany)
• Sarah Wolff (Germany)

... and these plants served as an impulse provider :

• Aloe africana
• Alpine-Encian
• Sword
• California wildflowers
• Poppy
• clove
• Sunflower
• tulip
• Imperial crown
• Crowd

The illustrated book deserves the rating “particularly worth seeing”. Incidentally, it is available as a free download directly on the Flora Fashion website.