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- Martin Dolan
Martin
Dolan
Paint Splatter
My Father is the inspiration for my collection. When my dad was 17, he moved to London around 1969, 1970 and lived there for ten years working as a painter decorator. I have always found this time of his life very interesting.
While working as a painter decorator he travelled all over London using the tube. I used the 1970s map of the underground to create interesting and innovative pattern cutting and also used my dad’s real work clothes as a base for the collection. The collection starts with his overalls and moves from work wear into casual and then to slightly more formal. This was to show the flow from work life to personal life. I used drape inspired by painters’ tarps draped over furniture to protect them from paint splatters, as a way of bringing interesting shapes into the garments. The collection is unisex with a masculine edge as the base is from my father’s actual clothes, while the drape makes it slightly feminine. The colours are loosely inspired by the tube map, a white background with different colour lines traveling through each look. I then used house paints splatter on the garments to give a contemporary look to each garment. With workwear in mind the main fabric of the collection is a white denim drill and cotton. I then used waxed cotton, PVC, and masking tape for details, the PVC is also used to give a wet look to enhance the collection.