Research Presentation

SHUSHU / TONG

Last session I have given an presentation to the class about one piece of my research. I have chosen SHUSHU TONG, which was my second research. Below I will show you my slides and also what I have said in the presentation, more or less.

To put you in context, I am going to explain you how I went to this research. Talking about my project itself, I have chosen the theme Oriental Surprise although I had other ideas in other themes. My project will have 4 pieces in 2D, which will be digitally created and 1 in 3D. This includes a pattern creation, a piece of cloth with my pattern, an outfit using my piece and an accessory creation. For the 3D piece I will be embroidering a shawl with my pattern. The first step is the pattern and for that I had to inspire myself in other artists. I started by researching Robert Kaufman fabrics and patterns, but I found it very conservative and decided to complement my research with SHIUSHU TONG, which is a more modern and fresher brand and with this research I could inspire myself in terms of patterns, colours, and textures. I also could not forget about the fabric that I will use for the shawl so I was also paying attencion to fabrics while I was doing my research.

Talking about the brand itself, SHUSHU TONG is a Shanghai based brand and it is focused on feminine design. It was founded in 2015 by Liushu Lei and Yutong Jiang. This brand produces clothes for women who choose to represent themselves by wearing feminine details such as, ruffles and bowknots. This is a brand with a relaxed and cool attitude, it has a specific silhouette with unique details.

The designers of this brand are also shanghai based and they both graduated from London College of Fashion’s Womenswear MA programme. They both describe their brand aesthetic as bold and feminine and before launching their first label SHUSHU TONG collection in 2015, they worked for Simone Rocha, which is an Irish international Fashion designer and with Gareth Pugh, an English fashion designer.

In these slides, I am going to show you 2 of their spring / summer collections, since my idea is to create a shawl with a fresh and soft fabric, I decided to focus on spring / summer. This is the spring / summer collection from 2019, and t seems like floral patterns are always a trend and this year is not an exception. I am impressed about the photo shoot for this collection. This collection has huge contrasts in colours. And it is not usual to mix a floral pattern in a white fabric with black pieces. And this is what makes this collection be different than others. The diversity of necklines, fabrics, colours, sleeves, and details are perfectly chosen. The silhouette seems the same in all outfits and that is what makes the collection make sense.

The other example is the spring / summer 2020 collection and once again, we can see a lot of floral patterns. This collection is not really my taste. In my opinion, the silhouettes are not that elegant because the pieces end in a weird place over the legs. In addition, the pattern looks boring, and I think that is due to the background behind the flowers. Maybe I would choose a more contrast hue for this type of flowery.

These designer techniques are very particular. They have some details that appear in all the collections since 2015. I am talking about the ruffles, which is a trend that is coming once again this year, the Vichy pattern, which is associated with the domestic climate, picnics, or bon tonne dresses from the 19 century. 2018 was the year of its comeback. Floral patterns have a presence in almost every collection of SHUSHU TONG. Every collection has at least one pattern, mixed with one colour pieces. Bowknots have also a huge presence in their collections. It is not really my style because since I was a little kid, I never liked to use bowknots and so I never had a chance to make that taste grow. However, this research made me look at patterns in another way, they represent patterns in a very romantic way, and I also identify myself with their silhouettes.

The feedback was quite positive. I have done a good research and my powerpoint was also commended. This presentation helped me to improve my performance in talking for others formally.