Kinematic Konnection Garment by Anna Vescovi is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2022 A' Design Award in Fashion, Apparel and Garment Design Competition Category.
IronFashion· 2022
Kinematic Konnection Garment
by Anna Vescovi
Client: Anna Vescovi
A' Design Award Winner in Fashion Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #133098The Design
About Kinematic Konnection Garment
Kinematic Konnection is a garment made from laser cut acrylic pieces. Hundreds of gold jump rings join roundels measuring one inch by one inch, cut from smoke colored acrylic sheets. The pattern was calculated mathematically, and sample variations were tested to millimeter accuracy to set the ideal width and thickness. The glossy surface returns subtle reflections, much like a mirror. The joinery balances movement with weight, referring to the pressure of unrealistic standards of physical image in ballet. The linked structure also allows pieces to be added or removed to adjust the fit.
The Recognition
About the A' Design Award
Kinematic Konnection Garment is an Iron A' Design Award winner, a prestigious recognition granted to good designs that meet the professional and industrial requirements expected from well-designed creations. Iron winners demonstrate great skill, high specialization, expert understanding, and creative capacity of their creators. Kinematic Konnection Garment is expected to be a highly regarded, admired, and cherished creation that is practical and innovative. This Iron A' Design Award-winning design integrates industry best practices and has competent technical characteristics linked with know-how and talent. Kinematic Konnection Garment is respected for its thoroughness and is designed to provide quality of life improvements that help make the world a better place.
Interviews
Design Interview
What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?
Through the narrative voice of textiles, Kinematic was designed as a means to connect psychology with properties of tactility. My overarching academic thesis, Mirror Mirror, analyzes the juxtaposition between past and present through freedom and confinement with the process of joinery serving as an allegorical parallel to my ballet career. As a former professional dancer, the joy of ballet I’d once known as a child dissipated under contractual obligations of an aesthetically oriented industry. The material process of joinery is intended to restrict the form in a way which prohibits motion, symbolizing the complex internal feeling of entrapment experienced in my career. The surface, however, remains elegant, symbolizing the poised complexion of a ballet dancer. Despite the dark undertones of the collection, the completion of this undertaking has encouraged reconciliation with the past, perfectly timed as I embark on my professional career into the world of textiles.
What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
The primary intention of Kinematic was to push the boundaries of surface development. The process of designing these garments is incredibly intricate; the particular elements of Kinematic are customized exclusively for its pattern through defining factors such as size, weight and textile technique. The adaptation to cutting edge machinery and engineered development remain critical aspects in unveiling uncharted facets of material evolution.
What are your future plans for this award winning design?
Kinematic remains on display for the moment and is appreciated by students, faculty and visiting industry professionals from Vogue, Vanity Fair and The New York Times. Aside from galleries and exhibits, there are no specific plans for this garment. It remains not only a defining work in my textile repertoire, but is one of the most flattering garments of the series. Despite its current role as a display piece, it may be rented for upscale events and carpets upon special request.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- The Kinematic Konnection garment is comprised of laser cut acrylic pieces, deliberately designed to parallel the weighted nature of the ballet industry and the struggle of fitting unrealistic cosmetic standards of physical image. The garment pattern is constructed mathematically in the Adobe Creative Suite, meticulously comprised of intentional juxtaposition. Unlike the flow of fabricated textiles, this garment pushes technical boundaries through contrast of kinetic freedom and restriction.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Acrylic roundels measures 1"x1", cut from four 12"x18" sheets. I'd calculated 30 excess roundels in the event of additive alterations for length or width of the garment if necessary. Inclusivity is an underlying theme; with joinery, one size fits all with customized additions or reductions. With fabric, there is often little room for a one-size-fits-all ability when tailored for traditional measurements. This garment computes 3.5' in length & 2.8' in hip width, made specifically for our model.
- Tags
- kinetic, garment, structure, fashion, reflection, textile, acrylic, lasercut, material, innovation
- Production Technology
- Adobe Suite files were digitally arranged to include roundel shapes with interior hole dimensions. Sample variations were created in order to arrive at the ideal width, size and thickness for the garment pattern. Sample considerations were paired down to the millimeter with the best result selected for the final cut. The finalized template is then laser cut into individual pieces from a 12"x18" "smoke" colored acrylic sheet, prepared to be joined with hundreds of assembled gold jump rings.
- Design Challenge
- One of the greatest challenges were the mathematical calculations of this garment. Following several laser cut test prototypes, I'd noticed the heat of the laser beginning to warp the acrylic towards the end of the job. Calculating the distance of the joinery holes from the edge of the roundels, the ideal mm width of the jump rings, warping preventions, the exact amount of acrylic sheets needed with safety excess and the mathematical alterations for the model's dimensions was a tedious task.
- Research
- A second career in design opened my eyes to the extent of traumas contingent on what psychologists call "mirror-gazing." Research on Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) stems from studies with the British Journal of Clinical Psychology, medical podcasts and discussions with doctors at Boston Behavioral Medicine. Mirror-gazing is an almost unavoidable complication, ingrained as unrealistic standards of living. Social research includes interviews with Simon Biles, Laurie Hernandez and Kathryn Morgan.
- Inspiration
- This garment, part of my senior thesis, is inspired by the 15 years I'd spent dancing under international ballet companies. Dancers in training dedicate 75-80% of their waking lives to mirror-gazing. Over 28,000 hours of my own life have been spent analyzing my reflection. Textiles' reflective materiality conveys physical and emotional confinement. Scandinavian principles of minimalist craftsmanship lay the aesthetic ground-work for this garment, voiced through appreciation of textile design.
- Project Duration
- This project began in Georgia, USA in May of 2021 and was completed three months later at the end of the summer. It was then captured in-studio at Savannah College of Art & Design's Adler Hall.
- Operation Flow
- One of the most captivating elements of this garment is its play of light; the glossy surface returns subtle reflections, just as a mirror would. Kinematic Konnection balances fluidity with weighted restriction; joinery techniques serve as the metaphorical juxtaposition between freedom and confinement. The purpose of this garment is to provoke an awe-inspiring allure of constructed elegance imagined from heavier subject matter of mirror-gazing.
- Team Members
- Garment/Art Direction: Anna Vescovi
Photography & Editing: Patrick Cox
Photography Assistant: Emerson Scheerer
Talent: Chloe Hill - Image Credits
- Image #1 : Patrick Cox
Optional Image #2: Patrick Cox
Optional Image #3: Patrick Cox
Optional Image #4: Patrick Cox
Optional Image #5: Patrick Cox
Film Credits: Patrick Cox
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