(13/10) Finalising Concept Design

The nature of a westerner interpreting a Chinese design is not lost on me, the only way to do so well is with as much admiration and listening and learning as possible. Not to replicate, or imitate but to learn from it and from that create something that is wholly its own. When considering the pattern design I’ve thought about this a lot. As their imagery often centres on their moral beliefs, stemming from folklore, religion, ideologies or other. The image could further try to deliver the message of delicateness, a feather, a bird, a rabbit, a creature that we may read/view as feminine and soft.

I think that hand stitching may be the way to go, not only because of the time constraints meaning I’d have to do the sewing both when I’m in studio and not, but also the vast majority of traditional methods of making the bottles were by hand, creating one off pieces that only increased in value because of their uniqueness.

I want the imagery used to reflect the ideas of delicate so that they will contrast harshly with the contents of the bottle, the pins.

Femininity speaks of a softness, a vulnerability, to remain empathetic, sympathetic in the face of harshness. With that comes a certain strength, morally. In material context though, when we think of a functional object we think of a material that can endure a lot of use, and remain unscathed, a quality we typically assaying to masculine attributes.