FABRIC SOURCING

Sept 09 London
This was the first time I had visited Goldhawk Rd. I wasn't overly sure what I was looking for but I wanted to idea of what to get from where for my final collection. I noticed that Goldhawk Road would be especially good for jersey and denim. I found it really useful as they were quite keen to give you a lot of samples. I foud this beneficial as I didn't have to spend as much and by the time I had got to Cloth House I was a lot more confident about asking for more than I usually do.
The shops on Goldhawk Road that I would go back to are UK Textiles, AtoZ Fabrics (which is right next to the station) and Classic Textiles. Some of the other shop assistants were a bit unhelpful with fibre composition especially. But Goldhawk Road is definitely the cheaper end of the fabric sourcing in London.

I went to Cloth House on Berwick Street and found a great fabric; double faced cotton silk, beige, creme reverse. I bought a 25cm cutting so I can try sampling in this fabric as I would love to use it as the basis for my final collection.It is £22 per metre and has the name Reid and Taylor Made in Scotland on the selvedge. I might get in touch with the supplier direct to see if they have any similar cloths and whether their price is a little cheaper.
Overall I think this was a successful days sourcing and I feel I have a good range of fabrics for menswear.

Whilst in London I visited a Fashion Exhibition of the Royal College Graduates of 2008. It was a really interesting show. The patterncutting and garment construction techniques were really interesting and innovative. One project I particularly liked was the paper toile project. I thought this was a really interesting way to go about developing designs and seeing how they would work. It looked like sculpture; I liked it. I would like to use innovative techniques such as this in my research and development. I also bought the RCA lookbook from 2009 so that I could remember what I had helped with.