People of Fashion
NUFS writer Rommie Pintatham, speaks to an upcoming young fashion designer and finds out what she sees for the future of fashion.
The Newcastle University Fashion Society offers many opportunities for its members to share and develop their collective love for fashion and what that industry has to offer. My recent experience of this was getting to interview a fashion graduate about their student life as well as their most recent collection; spotlighting the processes behind fashion design and what an aspiring fashion designer has to work through to make it in the world of fashion.
Arada Samatthakarnaksornkij is in her first year of studying fashion design at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand. To her, fashion is art but also a reflection of wider society, as it can depend on social movements, politics, culture, social media and so much more. Arada’s decision to study fashion design stems from her personal love for styling, mixing and matching her own clothes. She flags her close friend as her inspiration for pursuing this degree as she wasn’t aware of a fashion course at all until her friend chose it as her major in University.
The most exciting thing for me is learning how fashion can influence social movements
- Arada Samatthakarnaksornkij
On a day-to-day basis, Arada learns about all modes of art ranging from drawing to photography. Most fashion designers are expected to be fairly proficient in all these art forms as it’s the key to creating and processing initial concepts for collections. For Arada, her favourite forms are photography and direction as it involves choosing models, lighting and backdrops to provide the perfect visuals to go with a collection.
Inspiration Moodboard
Concept Moodboard
Creative Brief
Her first collection of the year, “Kalopsia”, has been inspired by the concept of “pandora’s box” and Greek mythology. The word, “Kalopsia” is Greek, meaning, “the delusion of things being more beautiful than they really are.” The process for making this collection coming to fruition is complex. Arada explains that she needed to create various pieces of “inspiration” such as concept moodboards, word maps and creative briefs. These specified her target group for the collection whilst keeping with the initial concept.
In these inspirational pieces, Arada explains: “I had to consider the initial concept with considerations of season/occasion, mood/tone, colour palettes and material. This will all helped create my sketch design which, will be sent off to tailor to make her pieces come to life.”
The biggest challenge for Arada so far in her degree is when she is unable to crystallize her ideas during this creative process. As a fashion student, she mentions that there is a lot of pressure surrounding the individual as she believes most fashion students are perfectionists. One can feel dejected if their work is rejected or not up to the standards of their superiors.
The balloon idea was very vital to her concept brainstorm as it imitated the opening of Pandora’s box and this burst of colours and ideas that comes with this reveal. Arada explains that she tries to recreate the chaos and the evil whilst also, maintaining the beauty and feminine feeling of the concept.
By creating this collection, Arada mentions that she’s learned a lot about what sort of work needs to be emphasized in the design process to make the final product come out easier. She mentions that prioritizing defining the concept and the scope of an idea is vital as it’s the starting point for all concept designs and mood boards that will be referred to during the process. Arada doesn’t currently have concrete plans about fashion after graduating but she is considering starting her own brand.