noir et blanc

Mark Bridges is the costume designer for Michel Hazanavicius's, The Artist, a black and white, near silent film set in the halcyon 1920s of Hollywood.

Bridges came on board eight weeks prior to shooting and one of his challenges was finding the correct

colours for the costumes that would read on black and white film - that would be rich and texturous and brilliant and bold.  Peppy Miller's clothes were constructed from mainly silk crepe de chine, in black and white as well as navy blue and aqua, a fairly monochromatic palette. The lead actress, the wonderful Berenice Bejo, loved her costumes so much, she has been wearing them on the red carpet.

Bridges garnered his inspiration from old silent movies, studying how the clothes were worn, hemline lengths and accessories.  He also

observed the subtle changes from year to year in fashion.

Some of the dresses used were actual 1920's dresses.  However, most

of the dresses displayed some sign of age rendering them unsuitable

for the lead actress.  In this case, they were copied in new silks.

Bridges only deviated from original lines to ensure a better fit and to

be more sympathetic to the modern eye.

While being unaware at the time of preproduction and production of the current trend towards 1920's fashion, this film along with Baz

Lurhmann's remake of "The Great Gatsby" will help to propel 1920's

fashion into the mainstream.

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros

Tactile Texturous Textiles

In November I attended an event at PCC held by the Wearable Art Connection of Southern California which showcased beautiful textiles from the far corners of the world in addition to garments made from these exotic textiles.

 

The highlight of the day was the guest speaker, Sarah H Jackson with her speaking about "My Journey as a Textile Artist".  With a lifelong passion for art and textiles, Sarah attended the University of Kansas where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts, with a emphasis on textile design.  Her forte is colour and texture and as a production weaver, she has been commissioned to produce work for interior designers and furniture stores in addition to selling through retail venues.  Her interests also span silk dyeing, quilting and reconstructed clothing.

 

A lifelong interest in art and textiles led Sarah to the University of Kansas where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts, textile design emphasis.   A production weaver, she has worked on commission through interior designers and furniture stores as well as selling through retail venues.  Passionate about color and texture, Sarah's interests also include silk dyeing, quilting, and reconstructed clothing.  Her work has been published in Handwoven, Altered Couture, and Haute Handbags magazines.

 

I was really taken with her reconstructed pieces.  They brilliantly displayed her understanding of colour and her use of analagous colours to create harmony from disparate pieces of old garments.

Photos courtesy of stephanie flack

on the money

I love reading Robin Givhan's article on the Daily Beast

website.    Formerly, Givhan was the fashion editor for The Washington Post and currently she is the fashion critic and fashion correspondent for The Daily Beast and Newsweek.

She is smart, incisive and informative, winning

the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for criticism.  The Pulitzer Committee noted her "witty, closely observed essays....

transform fashion criticism into cultural criticism."

She is not afraid to mince words and does not pander to the fragile, "do not touch" egos of the fashion industry.  In fact, no one is exempt from her pen.  Writing about the 

attire worn by VP Dick Cheney when attending a ceremony

to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the liberation of

Auschwitz, Given punched "It's the kind of attire one typically wears to operate a snow blower.... Here he was wearing something that visually didn't symbolize to me the level of solemnity and respect that I thought a service like this demanded... He was representing 

the American people. I don't want to be represented by someone in, you know, a parka 

who looks like he's at a Green Bay Packer game."

She writes with an intelligence and clarity about and discusses all facets of culture. In describing Nancy Grace, she writes "it makes my ears bleed to look at her".  She has a

remarkable eye and through her writing, perhaps puts the more esoteric aspects of fashion 

in sharper focus for those who maybe oblivious to the power and importance of dress.

illustration courtesy of www.thestylenotebook.com

Quotes

Dick Cheney - www.cbsnews.com

Nancy Grace - www.robingivhan.com

AQ au Met

In june of this year, I was fortunate enough to travel to NY to visit the Met for the Alexander McQueen Exhibition.  Tales of people winding around the blocks of NY convinced me to spend $50 and attend the Museum on Monday, typically when it is closed.  This is the only way to do it!! Various friends either queued for half a lifetime or walked away, defeated by the queue.

What struck me most about the exhibition was listening to McQueen himself talk about his work in the most articulate and intellectual manner.   He was able to verbally express his ideas so eloquently...which for a lot of us is quite the challenge!

The exhibition comprised his early work from his sensational debut collection at St Martins to HIS most current.  

His symbiotic design collaboration with Philip Treacy was delightful and ever so whimsical.  The hats are objets d'art in themselves and magnificently compliment AQ's garments.

AQ used the visual medium of video so effectively and there are many, many clips playing continously throughout the exhibition.

His silhouettes are formidable and audacious and he really is a powerful master of design.  His use of fabulous rich textures elevate his designs into the stratosphere.

Sara Burton provides additional commentary which is illuminating.

Photos courtesy of the NY Met, Sarabande Dress - Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty book

textiles

Last week I attended the International Textile Show at the California Fashion Mart in Los Angeles.

The ground floor area was dedicated to Korean Manufacturers.  A sea of incredible colours and luxurious textures made one swoon.   Beautiful charmeuse prints, both conventional and digital, fell from racks and immediately conjured up whimsical designs.

It was a three day affair and I was able to crash on the last day.  There were seminars and showrooms and stalls.

Many of the papers I collected discussed textiles trends.  The new kids on the block are paisley, textured leather and shine on specialist fabrics.  Also classical floral, vintage inspired prints and woven woolens are deemed to be popular.  With the success of the Missoni capsule Collection for Target, zig zag knits and chevrons in lush colour palettes are being offered by textile designers.

I attended a seminar on Cotton which was particularly interesting.  Cotton Incorporated (www.cottoninc.com) is a non-profit research company offering a free service in exploration of new fabric developments in cotton and attempting to infiltrate certain niches, eg women's businesswear, that have not been traditionally known to have cotton apparel.

They are involved from the earliest stages, the cotton seed, right through to developing new machinery processes in addition to new combinations of yarns.

Wicking Windows Technology was developed to deal with cotton's inherent problem to absorb moisture and make it competitive with synthetic fibres.  The technology is applied to the inside of the garment and directs moisture generated on the inside to move to the outside where it will evaporate.


My favourite vendor was Mandarin Enterprises (International) Co Ltd (http://www.mandarinsilk.com/).  The colour trend photo for fall/winter 2012 (left) was taken at their stall.  Based in Hong Kong, they supply beautiful silks along with various kinds of woven fabrics in cotton, wool and synthetic fibres.


I was able to talk to a few fabric importers and it seems that Korea is the preferred choice for manufacturing.  Product from Korea is reliable and of good quality. 

Photo © Stephanie Flack and www.californiamarketcenter.com

2011 fashion symposium

 In April 2011, I attended the 2011 Fashion Symposium Competition and Fashion Show
for California Community College Fashion Students which was held downtown at the
Fashion Mart.

The theme of the symposium was Re-Imagine, Re-Purpose, Re-Design Our World.  The Symposium featured guest speakers and opportunities for one-on-one interaction with fashion leaders.   The competitions were for  8 categories which were pre-judged, and  2 categories - Denim Deconstruction and Accessories - which were judged live. There were three categories for the Fashion Show - Red Carpet, Repurposed and Sportswear.

Pasadena City College was well represented at
the show with various students winning prizes
for many of the categories.

As a neophyte student, it was particularly interesting.  The Denim Deconstruction allowed
groups of students to rip apart jeans and reconfigure
into an interesting and creative new design.  This
was carried out in specially allocated rooms upstairs prior to the fashion show. 

A room full of board presentations really took my
eye.  At this point, we had not done a board in class
so it was a little overwhelming seeing the level
of artistry and creativity and factual and deduced
knowledge that was put into the boards. 

In 2012 I am hoping to submit my own designs
and boards!!







photos courtesy of stephanie flack

perception is not reality!!

I believe the greatest and most satisfying challenge in design is creating garments that actually flatter the body.....quelle un concept!!!

Obviously designing for the 10 headed croquis is sheer bliss and everything looks so faboo.  Karl Lagerfeld move over!!  Sadly in this case, perception is not reality and she doesn't really exist in the real world. 

So to maximise design and make attire accessible and desirable, one has to play with and manipulate a myriad of elements to create a garment that flatters and enhances or detracts where necessary.

To achieve this, there is an array of design elements to play with - colour, texture and luminosity of fabric, silhouette, lines, balance.

Colour and fabric and extremely important.  Flat, matte colours recede and shiny, slinky fabrics advance.  Warm colours make areas appear larger whereas cooler colours recede.  

Lines allow the eyes to be drawn to one area while moving the emphasis from a problem area.

sketches by stephanie flack