Designing the Graduate Collection

My self, Jay and Amin decided to create a 15 piece collection, 8 pieces i will design my self, 3 pieces i will create in collaboration with Jay, 3 in collaboration with Amin and 1 piece which we will all collaborate on together.
I hadn't released a collection since the limited edition collaboration with Tom Clague which was released in Feburary which consisted of 5 pieces and so i had a lot of ideas and designs already sketched up in preparation for when i'd release a new collection.
I wanted the designs to communicate a sense of being alone and wondering what to do next, however i still wanted to the collection to appeal to my customers who respond well to clothing that features the female form, based around female empowerment and so my side oo the collection is a mix between the classic Prawn Shop designs, and the theme i'm trying to convey.

Above are mockups (and thread colour codes)  for my embroidery designs, i wanted to have an even mix of printed designs and embroidered designs due to the fact that embroidery is more expensive than print, and so it gives my customers a wide variety of pricing options to choose from. 

The purple jumper will feature the above illustration embroidered on the chest, with phone imagery detailing on the sleeve, this design communicates a look in to the way women relax, i tired to create a familiar image with this design, which many of my female customers can relate with and see them selves within it. The second design features a typographic illustration which proved popular on instagram when i released it for international womens day. The third design will be embroidered on to yellow t-shirts, this design is based around self reflection, looking at who you are and who you want to be, which felt quite fitting for the theme of the collection. The final embroidered design is inspired by the mundane routines we often find ourselves in, watching tv, on the internet etc.

Above are the 4 printed designs for the graduate collection, printed pieces cost from £5.50-£7.50 to produce, which means that they will be affordable for the customer. The green t-shirt features front and back printing, it's quite a simple design with no real deeper meaning, but it's imagery that i know my costumers will respond well to. The second design on the top row was inspired by Raphaels 3 Graces painting, with a bold animal print pattern being used within the female forms to tie in to current trends of animal print within fashion today.                  The third and fourth designs are illustrations i uploaded on to the brands instagram account a few months ago, both were really popular and people were asking for them to be put on to t-shirts and so they will be. 

My 8 pieces aren't explicitly related to the graduate theme, but i didn't intend for them, or any part of the collection to be solely related to that as it restricts the amount of people who will purchase, and it makes it too personal to our own experiences. The graduate/school concept is more for the production shooting side fo the project, rather than the actual clothes, as the clothes can be worn by anyone at anytime of year. 

I wanted to get my solo part of the collection finished before Jay and Amin began fully working on their side as i wanted to be able to help to collaborate on their designs, and also make sure that the garment colours and overall designs of the collection would all have cohesion, and look as if they belong to the same line.