Often my inspiration for a new design comes as a full picture that pops into my mind. When I'm not thinking about it, not looking for it. It pops in my mind, complete, and then I have to translate that mental image into the physical object.
The past few weeks I've been making fresh batch one-of-a-kind jackets out of repurposed, upcycled & vintage materials. (I'm preparing for 4 pop-up events in December.) I've been following my inspiration and started out with a couple of neutral colors and tone-on-tone effects, doing a lot of painting. Then one day, I think I was walking somewhere, a totally off-the-wall image popped in to my head. I almost ignored it, because it didn't resemble any of the materials I had, and it had a bold, simple color combination.
But these images, when they pop into my head, they don't leave until I create the physical object. (That's how Featherweight started; two images rolled around in my head for almost a year until I finally gave in and figured out how to make them into T-shirts.)
So I put this colorful image on the backburner and went about my business. Today I was in my studio, after finishing several jackets & shipping them off. I was a little keyed up with energy and I needed to calm myself and clear my head, so I started straightening my studio. As I was straightening, I remembered a vintage trim I bought awhile back. One of those "I don't know what I'll use this for, but I need it" purchases.
I rummaged around and found the tangled yardage of vintage royal blue pompom trim. I'd gotten it at a thrift store. Then I remembered the vintage red wool jacket I hadn't customized yet. And then THAT off-the-wall image came back into focus. See, I told you. I had carried that image around in my head for about three weeks before I realized what it was showing me.
So I'm about to customize a cherry red wool blazer with royal blue pompom trim. Hopefully it's awesome.