Rue and fae

I started another blog, rue and fae, which will document my creative journey as a fashion student. There’s not much there now, but journeys all start somewhere, don’t they?

Random clickables

The Conveyer Belt: An example of an excellent resource for local Vancouver fashion news. Blogs are great, if I do say so myself. Media is definitely becoming more of an even playing ground, good news and bad. But click if you want to read about Vancouver fashion.

Wis.dm: A cool site, not really anything to do with fashion but about getting to know the world, what people think, sharing your thoughts. The world is becoming more collaborative in many ways. This is one of them.

EDIT: Checked out the site more and found that you can search up fashion. I looked at responses to the question “Is fashion important to you?” and this is what people came up with.

Great pockets

Found this cute site. Kinda reminds me of Ollivander’s from Harry Potter. Apparently great pockets are their solution to where to put all our little gadgets, and their pockets are very big. I wonder though how many people would want huge bloating pockets on their sides. Although I have to say, I do love pockets. Purses can be annoying, but I guess with all the stuff we carry some days, they’re necessary.

A point of view

I’ve noticed that the post that has generated the most traffic for me is the little piece I did on online portfolios. I love looking at the way someone presents themselves and their work creatively and professionally, and apparently others do as well.

Today I took a look at Alecia Ebbels‘ portfolio. She’s a Kwantlen grad from last year and now is working as a stylist. Her website definitely shows off who she is as a designer. It is important to show not only your work but your point of view, and this site achieves that well.

Effective marketing isn’t just a good thing – it’s necessary. This is about branding yourself; in a world where schools can teach you the skills, only you can determine who you are. Out of the many graduates’ work I saw from last year, this line was one of the most memorable because it had such a strong look and point of view. In Project Runway the judges always talk about the importance of a point of view. It would appear that point of views are kind of important.

I am developing mine as I learn more. From what I knew of fashion two years ago to what I know now, my point of view has changed so much, and yet the core of it is still there. The only thing is that now the vagueness is slowly being carved away.

The easiest thing for me is to write about it. Sometimes I like to put it in a collage. Sometimes I like to collect files.

Find yours.

Asian Models

Well this isn’t related to technology persay, but it is a further example of how fashion completely connects and influences society and vice versa as well.

Growing up, I didn’t really see any models who looked like me, which I never thought of as a big deal because it was the norm – now seeing a more varied umbrella of races with designers, models, actors, and visible people in the media, it becomes exciting. Here I found a blog that documents the growing visibility of Asian models in fashion. The great thing is that they are wearing fashion, not just clothes and editorials associated with “Asian-ness”.

Time Management for Creative People

Here are a list of resources gathered by Mark McGuinness and this is the e-book in PDF format that goes over in good detail and concisely how to maximize your time as a creative person.

Definitely worth reading – it’s a more practical approach to how to become a more creative person simply by getting better at managing your time.

Away from a disposable mentality

This is an article from September of last year that I just found.

“The eco fashion movement, on a small or large scale, is about drawing the connections between consumers and their clothing, moving away from a disposable mentality.”

Tidbits

Beyond being a possibility in changing the clothes themselves, technology is obviously changing the way we live, the way we communicate, and the way we learn. Good thing companies are figuring that out – we are again seeing innovation cropping up in the business of fashion (not just in design, but in marketing and collaborations), because apparently companies are learning that staying the way it has been for so long is no longer enough. Finally.

Here are a few somewhat random tidbits all connected by bringing together an old model with a new way to connect with people, because technology has the power to do that.

• 360 Fashion is a network of high level fashion professionals using the latest web 2.0 technology to create convergence media. Each participant of the project (a model, designer, journalist, agency, photographer) is given a section of the 360 degree wheel and a blog which then can be accessed through the computer of course and also mobile technology.

• I also saw something on Aritzia’s website. Their looks of the season are now being presented as videos instead of still photographs. This is not brand spanking new technology, but it’s refreshing to see a successful mainstream fashion company from Vancouver making small steps to move forward.

Many companies are now bringing new media and technology mainstream, and inspiring the development of different ways to do things.

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The sharing of things people make, linking what has traditionally been thought of as traditional (crafting) and new ways to promote and inspire a new generation of people who are well versed in technology.

• Thinglink is a database for artists and designers to share the things they make by creating portfolios to display their work. It is open to anyone and is interesting to browse around to see what other people are making.

• And of course, Etsy, the site to buy and sell handmade items.

Kind of the answer to the movement of people who are sick of mass consumerism and production.

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There’s always a reason why something crops up and becomes successful – if it comes in at the wrong time, we never hear of it because it doesn’t have relevance. Do innovation well and at the right time (when it makes sense). All this new media and technology entering fashion makes sense for where fashion is headed, and we are seeing it pop up in small doses everywhere, because that’s how things start.

Interview notes

This is an interview of 2006 fashion graduate Danielle Meder (I mentioned her in a previous post about her blog/portfolio) done by The Laboratory. I thought there were some really interesting points worth bringing up here.

Near the end, Danielle offers her insight into what she thinks will become of fashion in the near future. This is one path I hadn’t previously considered.

“*do you see any shifts in the industry that you think are worth commenting on?
A phenomena I see everywhere lately is fashion as entertainment.  It seems like everywhere I look, manufacturers and retailers are vulnerable, while designers become TV stars on Project Runway, everyone blogs now, and somehow I can make a living drawing pretty people and outfits, or draw a crowd by draping in a public square.  Something tells me that if we are to succeed as the next generation of the fashion industry, we need to behave as if we are part of the entertainment industry.”

And this says perfectly why so many of us are in love with fashion:

“*anything that you would like to see?
I would like to see what happens next.  I think my abiding fascination with how fashion changes makes me an obsessive prognosticator, and yet I am still often surprised by how complex and connected fashion is to every other part of life.  It never bores me.  My tiny niche that I inhabit contains enough nuance to last a lifetime.  I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to pursue this remarkable thing called fashion.”

And then going back to my previous post about whether good design can be measured.

“Design is about utility, but great design combines aspects of style and fashion – taste and timing – with utility. Great fashion design is a wonderful blend of all these qualities.  This is why fashion design is incredibly difficult to do well.“

Sometimes you need to hear it from someone else to realize that what you’re thinking has validity.

Fibers of 21st century

Here’s a great article I found about the possibilities of textile advances beyond what consumers are seeing now.  

ABSTRACT

As we enter 21st century, technical advances are dramatically influencing the world of fibers, fabrics and textiles. Today, technology can provide us with fabrics that imitate and actually improve upon nature’s best fibers. In the next millennium, textiles will not just be an extension or simple alternatives to natural or synthetic fibers, but will provide superior functionality in broad and emerging sectors of the economy from space to super conductivity and agriculture to geotextile. This will be accomplished through modern business strategies for enhanced stakeholder value and highly efficient production schemes with no adverse impact on the environment and development of precisely specified molecules for new textile platforms.