I had the honour to work with the Luxembourgish fashion label vol(t)age to create a scarf capsule collection for their signature
v-neck scarves, featuring one textile design for each Zodiac Element, expressing a feel for the character traits that define them most. Each element unites three Zodiac Signs. Vol(t)age asked me to create the artwork inspired by vintage zodiac illustrations, which where mostly engravings or woodcuts, with a very distinct elegant line quality which also inspires me a lot.
Have a look at their amazing products here!
CLIENT // VOL(T)AGE
Textile Design
INDUSTRY
Fashion
LOOKBOOK PHOTOS
Christian Wilmes
EARTH ZODIAC SIGNS
The earth signs are characterised by attributes such as their down-to-earth attitude, drive, reliability and consistency. I presented the client with different approaches how we could express this mood and decided to go for a woodcut inspired look, as it is closest to the nature of this element.
I wanted to convey a sense of closeness to nature and appreciation for the treasures it offers us.
The zodiac signs Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn are surrounded by plants and flowers that grow into an interwoven flowing repeat, which I manually created with ink and brush piecing the rectangles together and later coloured it digitally, contrasting the earthy tones with violets and greens, all on a black background to elevate their luminosity.
First ink draft for the composition of the manual Earth repeat print
WATER ZODIAC SIGNS
The water signs are characterised by attributes such as empathy, sensitivity and depth of feeling, romantic imagination, but also obscureness.
In this case we went with a Toile de Jouy inspired setting, for which I created delicate ink drawings that weave a dreamlike, underwater world showing flowing seaweeds, jellyfisch, a mermaid riding a seahorse that tie the water signs Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces together in the composition.
FIRE ZODIAC SIGNS
The fire elements Aries, Leo and Sagittarius are said to be passionate, free, strong-willed and full of energy individuals. One of the brand founders, a Leo herself, asked me to incorporate the Hindu Goddess Kali into the design along with the Fire Signs as she complements those attributes being known as the goddess of destruction and transformation, which is sometimes necessary in order to discover your true wisdom.
In this composition a large ink & brush drawing of her surrounded by fire inspired ornaments reigns over the signs which interact seamlessly in a repeat pattern of black engraving-style drawings.
The fire-red background makes the pattern pop without drawing away the attention from the motives.
AIR ZODIAC SIGNS
The air signs Gemini, Libra, Aquarius are more of an ambiguous nature, remaining difficult to grasp as they are very versatile and often encompass contrasting attributes, being very reasonable while at the same time highly idealistic. Taking up on the playful spirit of the water element we once again decided on a Toile de Jouy inspired composition. Telling a story using celestial symbols while remaining very open concerning the shapes and sticking to a light coloured grey-ish blue background, which takes full advantage of the luminosity the satin silk radiates.
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