An Image-making Collaboration: Drawing in the Design of Stagewear

The paper describes an investigation of a collaborative commission involving two people, a client who is a singer and a fashion designer who has extensive experience of designing stagewear. The commission was for a garment that was to be an important part of a promotional video, tour and press campaign, and the client wanted it to be based on a theme involving the style of iconic female singers whom she admired and project an image of a strong, confident performer. Face to face meetings between client and designer were impossible for much of the period of the design process, but the designer was able to use her command of various drawing techniques to support informative¬¬ and appropriate communication with the client at each step of the process, and it was evident that traditional, paper-based drawing was an ideal medium for achieving close, careful collaboration. The decision was taken to base the garment on a classic trench coat design, an emblematic garment with both utilitarian and high fashion connotations. During the investigation five sequential steps were identified as being significant in the collaborative process and indicative in terms of distinctive uses of drawing. These steps have been termed briefing; collection of visual reference; concept exploration; concept development; and specification for making. Moreover, five distinct types of collaborative communication were also identified in the use of the drawings included in the analysis namely, to suggest; to inform; to persuade; to demonstrate; and to instruct.