Project 3

What is a Hikikomori?

In its true essence, Hikikomori means "pulling inward" or "being confined". The government has estimated Japan’s population of Hikikomori aged 15–64 to be 1.15 million. And unlike homeless people, for example, these social recluses generally live with their parents and do not have to worry about providing themselves with food or shelter. Under these circumstances, many of them can be expected to continue their secluded lives as they get older. Japanese society has many problems, such as the lack of regular jobs, the steady rise in the average age of the population, and the trouble people have getting back into the labor force after having been forced to quit work to look after aged parents. One has to say it is not an easy society to live in. When hikikomori hear the government’s rhetoric about promoting ‘the dynamic engagement of all citizens,’ they’re liable to take it to mean that their inability to be ‘dynamically engaged’ makes them worthless. This drives them into a mental corner.

My inspiration

Bonobo's song "No Reason", is the inspiration for my garment collection. The video plays around the concept, showcasing a young individual who is not only trapped in the confines of his room, but also those of his mind. As the video progresses, the walls his room get smaller indicating suffocation, anxiety and unwillingness to venture out. Eventually, the person disappears, referring to he himself gets consumed by his thoughts.

Depression should be dealt with sensitivity and care. When there is more conversation, I believe will share with each other than keeping it to themselves. I designed this collection to create an awareness among people to talk more about it and spread word to bring them out of the dark.

Design Process

This is the design process which i followed. Finalising the inspiration, trends in fashion and target market is part of research. Conceptualisation consists of brainstorming on the chosen topic, colour story and thinking of ways of representation on fabric. Next, the design formation consists of finalising the sketches and drafting them into blueprints. Next, prototypes are made out of muslin to imitate the sketches before trying on actual fabric. Finally, the patterns are cut on actual fabrics and stitched to complete the collection.

Trend Analysis

Before designing any collection, we need to select which season and target market to create garments. I referred to WGSN, which is a popular fashion forecasting source which predicts the trends for upcoming seasons. I also, got inspired by looking at many other designers who displayed their collections in the fashion weeks across the globe.

Spring Summer 2019 Forecast by WGSN

Source: vogue and style-arena.jp

Look Board

Brainstorming

I took images of every scene and wrote down words that I felt during those instances when the video played. This method is great to write as many words as possible which are related to my inspiration. This helped me pick certain words which I could use in my collection to represent my inspiration.

Mood Board