Forecasting the Doodles Print

I get so excited about the first day of the design process for a new collection at Mata Traders. The design crew sits at a table and combs through the trend forecast. We identify what we like individually and then think about what would work well with our manufacturing capabilities and overall esthetic. Sometimes (if we're are lucky) we see really strong trends and decide to merge them. That was the case with this Doodles print.

Doodles Print. Textile design by Shifra Whiteman. Dresses by Mata Traders. Spring '13 collection.

There were some great images in our trend forecast back in 2012. One page was full of   hand drawn doodles, which is one of my favorite styles to create. After perusing the pages a bit more, we noticed the slight shift from the southwestern/aztec trend that were all the rage in Spring 2012, to more Moroccan and Moorish geometric trends popping up all over the Spring 2013 forecast. Combining both the hand drawn style with Moroccan and Moorish shapes seemed like the perfect match.

Dresses by Mata Traders.

This Doodles print was designed as a traditional block print which gave a softer, yet still edgy feel to the fabric. It was produced in 2 color ways, on 2 different garments and gives off 2 totally different vibes: The strong and structured Shanghai Shift Dress on the left and the flowy and playful Twist and Twirl Dress on the right. 

I personally enjoyed the challenge of merging different trends. Just reminiscing and writing about this process has gotten me excited about the start of designing a whole new collection. In just a few weeks we will start designing for Mata Traders' Spring 2015  line and I am sure we will have many amazing stories of processes and inspiration to share with you.

Korean Design Inspiration

While designing for the Spring '13 collection for Mata Traders, we noticed a trend in simple geometric shapes and clean lines. I suddenly remembered a book I own on traditional Korean pattern design and the more I thought about it, the more I believed we could use some of the designs for the collection. These patterns are so traditional and incorporated in Korean design & culture, that it makes it possible for us to use without needing copyrights or licensing!

The great thing about Korean pattern designs is that they are extremely simple and feel very modern. After combing through the book multiple times, we had to narrow our list down to 3 patterns to work with. Here they are in their original designs.  

Once we selected these 3 patterns, we began to play with color. By doing this, we automatically changed the whole appearance and vibe of the prints. These designs are traditionally in black & white or at least in just two colors. We used one print in it's original state but also gave all 3 prints a contemporary feel by using the bold & bright colors in our color story for Spring '13. 

Korean Dots Print. Textile design by Shifra Whiteman. Garments by Mata Traders.

Let's start with the Korean Dots print. Here we created 2 different color variations for 3 garments. On the left, we worked with a bright pink and dark blue color combination (on the Garden Party Dress Polka Dot), giving the print a playful edge. On the right, we reversed the black and white from the original print, which sometimes plays tricks on my eyes (used on the Obi Crescent Dress Black and Yin Yoke Skirt Black). You might notice that both prints, look slightly different aside from their color. That is because the print on the right is a block print and needed slightly thicker lines in between each dot, while the print on the left is a screen print and can have daintier lines. 

Korean Blocks print. Textile design by Shifra Whiteman. Dresses by Mata Traders.

This Korean Block print is a block print that we decided to use both the original print as well as a colorful version. The original black and white is used in the Shibuya Dress and is paired with the monochromatic block printed Korean Dots print. The blue and green version is used in the Obi Crescent Dress Blue. This use of both colors incorporates the white of the fabric and really makes the dress pop. Both dresses have hand stitch details that really add the special element of hand crafting to the garments. 

Korean Hexagon Gone print. Textile design by Shifra Whiteman. Garments by Mata Traders.

The Hexagon Gone print  was my personal favorite to work on. Playing with placement of colors, and so many of them, was a thrill. Here we have 2 versions of the Hexagon Gone print, and they really do transform the feel of the garments from simple and traditional to vibrant and playful. There is a slight edge to each garment (on the left Kyoto Color Block Dress Blue, middle is the Tea and Honeycomb Dress and on the right is the Singapore Sweetheart Top Blue). These products can be found at Mata Traders and the majority of these garments are on sale.

These prints are a wonderful example of modernizing traditional styles and elements with color. I hope to be inspired and possible use more Korean patterns in the future because I believe these really did turn out great. 

Battling the Bedrock Print

Let me introduce you all to the Bedrock print.  This was yet another print that has been in the works since I was an intern at Mata Traders in the fall of 2011. I had just finished my thesis project and was obsessed with hand drawn doodles. The Aztec/Southwest trend was at it's peak and I decided I wanted to make a pattern that merged the two ideas! 

This turned out to be a bit more difficult than I thought. Not necessarily drawing the pattern and getting it into repeat, but the color combos drove me crazy! We had our color story ready and nothing worked well together. Should we use 4 or 5 colors? Should we stick to similar colors or go crazy and use complimentary colors? Is this even the season to use this print? It was a lot to handle. I had never had this problem before, but then again this was the first time I was designing for mass production!

Sometimes it really is better to take a deep breath, acknowledge that you have a great start on something and then put it away for a little while. We brought out the Bedrock print a season later and began to rework it in a different color story, with a new selection of garments and most importantly, fresh eyes.

Here we have the Bedrock print in three different garments. On the left we have the Singapore Sweetheart Top, in the middle the Kyoto Color Block Dress and on the right the Patterns and Pockets Skirt. All three items are now on sale on the Mata Traders site! Check out how Laura, from the Mata Traders Blog, found the Patterns and Pockets Skirt at Loufest and Dus, from Cuddly Cacti, wears and styles her Kyoto Color Block Dress.

Don't these ladies look great wearing the Bedrock print?!

Piecing together the Leaf Puzzle Print

The Leaf Puzzle print was one of the first prints I designed for Mata Traders as an intern in the fall of 2011. I had hopes that it would make the cut for the Fall '12 collection (like so many prints), but it had to wait until Spring '13 to make it's debut. 

The story behind this print is interesting because it deals with restrictions. Mata Traders works with a few fair-trade cooperatives in India and Nepal and each one has their own restrictions on what they can produce. A designer might get frustrated by not having the freedom to create anything their heart desires. However, I love a challenge and believe that by learning how to work with these restrictions and guide lines, my designs get stronger each season. 

This particular print was manufactured in a cooperative where I, as a designer, was only allowed to use two colors in addition to the white of the fabric. In the past, the designs Mata Traders had created for this cooperative, were small amounts of two colors and a whole lot of white as background. While that looks nice with one or two pieces of clothing, having too many garments with that color formula gets mundane. Also, I don't even have THAT many clothes with a white background in my wardrobe. I decided that I would challenge myself to design a print that is dense and minimizes the amount of white you see. My goal was from a distance, the eye would blur the shapes and colors together so that the overall print wouldn't seem to have any white at all.

Jin Ju Ruffle Dress pink/blue and Pagoda Pocket Dress yellow. Textile design by Shifra Whiteman. 

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! After playing with a few shapes, scale and the spacing, I believe my goal was accomplished. I focused on leaf and geometric shapes that together looks reminiscent of fabric from the 40's and 50's. 

This print was manufactured on two different dresses in two different color ways. The Jin Ju Ruffle Dress on the left and the Pagoda Pocket Dress on the right are now on sale through Mata Traders. 

Featured on Jezebel

Yesterday, my friend Becca posted something exciting on my Facebook page - Jezebel, a famous feminist blog/website, geared towards women's interests and media (and one of  several blogs owned by Gawker Media), featured a piece on their "Group Think" page on "Ethical Fashion". In it, the writer describes her desire to start making conscious garment purchases through ethical and fair trade companies. One company mentioned was Mata Traders... and guess whose print made it up as the image for the article? You guessed it!!! (In case you needed some help, the textiles on the dress on the left is mine!) To read the article and comments click here!