Inspiration

Competition Package Write-up

Iyuptala; a concept of spiritual oneness, bridging one soul to another through deep emotional and mental connections formed through trials and tribulations, progressive events, and explosive episodes of pride. The journey one experiences to achieve Iyuptala is perpetually filled with ups and down, but it is an overall transformational excursion that never truly ends. From the very first moment of contact a spark of similarity is ignited, and long past the diffusion of events and physical spaces this amalgamation of compatibility lives on between the two souls. Iyuptala is a true syncretisation of personalities, lived experiences, and ideologies; a force of bonding through momentum.

The Iyuptala collection carries out this theory of oneness through visual media. Providing a personal story of building a relationship through fears and jubilation. It translates the overarching theme of momentum into three subclasses of time, progression, and perpetuity and reflects each respectively through physical design attributes. This collection builds on to the concept of Iyuptala through the philosophies of one Monty Oum. His idea that society, and each individual themselves, do not live forever, but they should strive to create things that do; they should strive to keep moving forward. Through this ideology and the aforementioned definition of Iyuptala, this collection creates a visual narrative that spans history, and a timeline of progressive events founded through the momentum of living itself. Together, these two thoughtful frameworks have developed the very art and fashion within this package of work; the core of designer Jessica Fox’s perspective on momentum.

Fox has related her personal experience within these concepts and her bond to an equine soul named Shahin through the collection’s looks. Look 1 titled Endeavor, encapsulates the origin of Iyuptala; it denotes the beginning of any bond, the struggles, the hurdles, and the effort made to pursue success. It speaks to the weight and restriction of trust through time. The colors reflect these ideas and showcase the repercussions that effort has on the body, mind and soul. Next, look 2, Liberation, builds upon the success or freedom provided on the heels of a bond’s struggle. It develops the concept of rejoicing in one’s difficulties, expanding time into a relative force where miniscule misunderstandings matter not, for the entire trajectory of a bond speeds towards everlasting heights. The colors reflect the image of
wide-open skies; freedom everlasting, yet they still carry the difficulties of past time. Lastly, look 3, Ascension, wraps up the story of Fox and Shahin with their current separate lives; their Iyuptala connects them throughout time and space. It is a state of being honoring the past, uplifting life with the memories of their shared experiences, emotions, and thoughts; eternal spiritual oneness. The colors reflect this through joyful and exhuberant tones and scenes.

By dissecting each individual look within the Iyuptala collection, it can be seen that numerous visual, textural, and surface details have been implemented to further elaborate and symbolise these previously stated ideologies of relationships and time. Structural elements have formed symbolic weight, armor, and both detrimental and supporting frameworks of the soul. The minute details of these structures reflect the complexity of a being’s lived experiences, emotions, and thoughts. Pleats, patchworks, and varying opacities within these elements create a novel idea of the inner worker’s of a soul during Iyuptala. The foundation of the garments revolve around naturally occurring materials; further symbolizing the natural momentum and perpetuity of time. Fox has developed unique dyes made of organic materials to hand-dye each look. She has selected colors and motifs that symbolize the natural world itself and curated a blend of historical and futuristic influences within each detail, silhouette, and technique. This represents the balance between then, now, and what isto be. It represents creating something; creating a piece of work, a bond, a legacy that strives to live forever as Monty Oum described. In conclusion, the Iyuptala collection has incorporated key ideologies into its visual designs that pertain to the theme of momentum; a transformational force of relationship building, and a transitional absolution of time itself.

Iyuptala: the spirit of oneness. – Lakota Sioux

Design Development

Applicants to the Arts of Fashion Foundation’s 2021 competition were tasked with creating a design package depicting a 3 look collection inspired by the theme MOMENTUM. Designers were not to take the theme literally and needed to attach their own sub-themes and research to their designs. Application packages needed to include inspiration, research, illustrations, technicals, fabric exploration, and more.

The following sheets show designer Jess Fox’s proposed 3 looks, and the appropriate color palette and fabric experimentations she conducted.

These looks contained Fox’s signature style with design traits such as color-blocking, corsetry, structural garments, and the blending of harsh & soft shapes. Once again Fox used both past, present, and proposed trends of the future to create these looks; further exploring her main design style of the landscape of time.

Fox also conducted numerous dye tests as all color in the proposed collection was to be hand-made out of natural dyes. This meant Fox needed to collect scrap materials and create a wide range of colors to pull her final recipes from.

Once the top 50 finalists were announced, Jess Fox being one of the only 3 Canadians accepted and the first ever from her University, designers were tasked with creating 2 full looks from their collection. This required Fox’s skills in drafting, patterning, sample making, and of course a finesse for the final details.

Final Designs

NOTE: Garments were returned after judging by the Arts of Fashion Foundation wrinkled and misshapen, further editorial photos will be taken upon the garments being re-pressed and cared for.

Detail Shots

All black stitching is made of hand-braided horse hair donated from Fox’s community of equestrian friends.

Editorial Shots

COMING SOON.