3. Circular fashion

what i've made

mind sparkles

The first source of inspiration I had was some fish scales that I have been keeping in a drawer for more than 2 years now. The scales where given to me by some fishermens at a beach in Brazil, there were all discarded in the sand from the fishing of the previous day. I got totally fascinated by them, the shape, transparency, texture and silver color tip are all so beautiful. So my first step on this week's process was to start digging in the world of the scales, how do they form a pattern and also researching about this fish in particular, called Camurupim (known as Tarpon in english), a huge fish that looks right out of pre-historical era.

From top to bottom, left to right. 01 Tarpon fish picture from google images - unknown autor, 02 my fish scales collected in Brazil, 03 Rowan Mersh - Placuna Phoenix, 04 fish scales google images - unknown autor, 05 Fish scales types

From top to bottom, left to right. 01 Comme des Garcons at the MET, 02 Matija Cop, 03 Chevron Pattern

Other source of inspiration came more from the fascination I have with traditional patterns in the fashion industry, how they shapes cultures and are instant recognizable. I reccomend here the Articles of Interest podcast where they explore the reasoning and history behing such common concepts in fashion that we are not used to think about.

digestive process

This week I has A LOT comes and goes. So I'll try to explain how the process was with it's UPs and DOWNs.

1. Since I had the scales as a initial reference I wanted to replicate the same shape I had in my hands, draw that on a paper and went to Rhino to try to replicate it. UP: explored the way the fish scales are attached and combined to form a pattern | DOWN: didn't know how to use Rhino, didn't know how to make a module, waisted a lot of time trying to do something that I had no idea.
2. At this moment I realized that going back to paper and scissors was a much better option, so I made different drwaing on the type of pattern I was trying to achieve, understood much better how I could conncet the modules and replicate them.
3. Now back to Rhino, with a paper module in hands that worked. UP: It was much easier to replicate something in the program that I already had in my hands as a paper | DOWN: I wanted to have a very simple module but I realized I was creating a multiple overlapping structure that was too complex
4. Did first tests on laser cutting, the material I choose form this was Organza. UP: we had available at the lab a dark blue sort of mettalic organza, that really matche the concept of a fish skin. So I thought that was the way to go, also I was very interested in exploring the transparency and overlapping of the module | DOWN: Organza is a very very very difficult fabric to work with, it can easily tear appart, is not so simple to attach, it gets messy, it flies all over the place
5. After doing Rhino > Laser cut > Rhino > Laser cut (always in Organza) for I don't know how many times, I realized I had to change the material I was working with to make my module work. So friday evening I went to a shop nearby, got a new fabric to work with and my life became much easier. I also adapted the pattern to a more simple version and decided really to go with the straight lines shape instead of the round organic thing I first had in mind. UP: It was good not to get super attached to the initial idea of the scales and really allow myself to explore other options, when creating a product I've always let the fabric/texture guide me through the process, so from the moment I decided to do the same here, it all flowed more naturally
6. Now that I got a module that works and a fabric that I liked, I started thinking about what sort of product to make out of it and allowed myself to still experiment with different fabrics and possibilities, in the end I got three different option in fabric/size using the same base model. So will explore the final version in more detail here.

final module versions

Finally these were all the different shapes and fabrics I used, below the specification of laser cutting.

A. Fabric Type: Organza | Composition: 100% poliester | Lasercut specs: Speed 150 - Power 12 - Corner Power 12 | tip: to cut organza you want to make sure to have a paper underneath your fabric, so is not flying away, the best solution was with a cardboard sheet under and spraying water to have them "glued" antoher important thing is to make sure to have the laser cutting first the lines inside the module and then after the outlines, so you make sure the fabric don't move as well

B. & C. Fabric Type: Translucent Forsted Matte TPU Soft | Composition: 100% Thermoplastic Polyurethane | Lasercut specs: Speed 150 - Power 15 - Corner Power 15 | problem: since I choose a light color, I had a problem with burning the edges with the laser, so I got some brown stains that I couldn't remove

D. Fabric Type: Stiff tulle fabric | Composition: 100% poliester | Lasercut specs: Speed 150 - Power 12 - Corner Power 12 | tip: place the fabric straight on the laser table and attach the sides with tape

E. Fabric Type: Synthetic Leather | Lasercut specs: Speed 120 - Power 30 - Corner Power 20

F. Fabric Type: Tarp | Composition : (probably mix of Poliester and Polyethylene coating) | Lasercut specs: Speed 120 - Power 25 - Corner Power 15

final module on Rhino

The module I decided to use as a final version is a diamond shape intercalated in a way to leave no open gaps. It was intriguing to me to create something we are used to see as a plain fabric in a modular construction, that at a first glance doesn't seems a module.

This is the step by step on Rhino for this module:

CREATE THE INITIAL SHAPE AND MODULE APPEARANCE

SEPARATE THE OVERLAPPING PIECES AND CREATING THE CONNECTING LINES

HOW THE MODULES CONNECT HORIZONTALLY

HOW THE MODULES CONNECT VERTICALLY

THIS IS THE SAME PATTERN ON A DIFFERENT VERSION: WITH DOUBLE CONNECTIONS TO MAKE THE STRUCTURE STRONGER

video/tutorial on how to make a pattern-module for dummies (like me)

I've made a video/tutorial on how to make the modules on Rhino software. They are very basic instruction but I like to think that it might one day help a lost person like I was last week :)