12.11.2008

Fashionably Ritardando

Greetings


'Pologize for the lag'o'posts.

I am on myspace, facebook, email (swapahire@gmail.com) so yes there are other methods of keeping in sync with my existence.

Things have been productive with various creations of all sorts and within the next few days/week, I will certainly shoot a few of the samples and have a preview available via here.

Had a fashion show yesterday for Cotton Inc. My role in the 6 month long project was accessory generator in a group of 3, competing with 6 other groups.
Here's my aftertaste of the whole process: To be general, but frank, the consistency of the group dynamic was slightly off. A disappointment to say the least- since our individual aesthetic opinions and creative strengths were from such diverse ends of the design spectrum. This means, unlike the other groups who were pre-composed of one key signature and taste-we had the opportunity to bring together some elements that were nearly the antithesis of each other. And we really did for the most part.
As a developing designer, it is easy to create a piece overnight that rolls off the tip of your tongue like mere conversation. But having to structure an outfit with 2 strangers is a completely different animal. And it can also work well into the personal language as long as the strangers speak and understand. But when the three of you come from 3 separate dimensions of fashion philosophy...it is nothing else but a learning experience. I more than love to work with other people so as long as we intertwine in each others' ideas and tastes. It actually speeds up my creative process to have another individual to feed off of and vice versa. But working with another individual or two who do not see the world even remotely similar to how I do means I have to pull out of my skin and step into foreign territory. It's a very vulnerable feeling at first, but as I adapted to the likes/dislikes of my teammates I was able to venture outside of myself with much more ease than before and realize I can still create and continue growing into myself while learning the techniques and styles of others.
It is a shame that we all didn't realize how urgently our tastes needed to be synthesized into this single outfit before time was called. Needless to say, most people were able to recognize this interesting element so I'm sure we were closer to the right track than not. It was a journey. That's a fact.
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On another note....
If 2009 and so on means disco (since we are regressing [musically] from the 80s to the 70s) then I am looking forward to be in the right place at the right time when we hit the good ol futuristic storm of the 60s. Not sure if I'll just sit through the 70s in my little nest of translated antitrends. Or if I may adapt to the dancefloor, since this is one beat I am down for.
I''m fascinated with various textiles and treatments/washes/print structures- but as long as there is no association with geo-tacky and esp. speaking personally, I'm getting picky these days.
Definitely an advert of grunge and death silver metal chains&anoraksnapszippers hardware junk so as long as they are constantly re-innovated and not regurgitated. This is why Ed Hardy (the label) has painfully bellyflopped into that very pool of regurgitation.
So yes I am gagged up by the skulls at this point but there is one skull I refuse to hate on..and that is probably as biased as a music crush can get---Boys Noize Disco Inferno (artist Christoph Steinmeyer) definitely revved me up for some of my personal interests and current collections.
Moving on, punk is fair, gothic is bland if not properly portrayed. Frankly, all I really need is my gunmetal grey accompanied with tons of blacks and just enough white to accentuate the grey and black.

Speaking of which, I'm not un garcon when it comes to creating and it hits my funny bone to hear it from so many people..Because cleanliness in structure and design is a possible weakness and in the past I've succeeded primarilly in subtly voluminous draped silhouettes--which in my opinion accentuate femininity. But my interests revolve around most things anti-feminine..and I'm guessing this will get me onto cleaning up my seams and silhouettes that pertain to my women'swear designs.
Many people (and this is more important to me/relevant with design students b/c otherwise its okay for much of the general public to not understand this) experience the world in black vs white, male vs female, masculine vs. feminine, gay vs. straight, rich vs. poor, ugly vs. beautiful, truth vs. lie, etcetcetc. This is my opinion: An artist (in this case-fashion designer) who assumes that the bulk of life is primarilly composed of such contradictions and opposites is really one who is practicing a state of mind that is detrimental to his/her "essense" as a designer. I see it as an active inhibition of what can be addressed creatively w/out the precepts that have been thrown into our brains.
Perhaps I've been somewhat irritated of being constantly assumed menswear/masculine aesthetic when it has nothing to do with the gender itself but rather the elements taken from menswear that have been feminized in my personal constructions. This is something that is well understood among my ferociously apt contemporaries in the big league -Rick Owens, Gareth Pugh, Inbar Spector, Jun Takahashi, Suzuki Takayuki , Diana Brinks-- just to name a few. But because ATM I am merely a neophyte loosely influenced by their exquisite & acquired taste, it can be tasking to be a student designer who must balance my inclinations- with the realistic world aka common people who are "most commonly" exposed to typical interests. And anything atypical will be associated with some sort of atypical extreme.
As for now, I am enjoying the whole process of learning from others and receiving feedback. Also attempting to help others realize that one doesn't necessarily have to follow the nonexistent doctrine of design philosophy and that in truth, anything goes!- as long as it is done with the right amount of sophistication and modesty.

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Time to step out of the computer and back into life. I will share some pieces very soon!

Swap