so little credit, so much to give

                I wish i didn't, but I cant help but like The Row, label of Olsen twins, Mary Kate and Ashley, (or shall I say their design team). Nearly always getting it spot on, excluding the odd unfortunate fringing and python print, the refreshingly simple and dare I say, understated elegance of their collections appeal to real women, making The Row retail gold. The Row design clothes for the woman who dresses for herself and her career success, reminiscent of  90's Calvin Klein they are consistently defining 'New York cool'. Naming themselves after the notorious Savile Row, The Row have done justice to everyone by presenting impeccable and delightfully feminine tailoring. Although the amount of fur and leather used, especially for Fall 2011, might seem a bit excessive in getting across whatever message they are trying to convey, as picked up on by animal rights group PETA. Making me both sad and happy that if a pair of sickly child stars, can generate an admirable collection, then maybe as a fashion student, I will too someday.

                    

Images- www.style.com

'Ark' (6'12)

        Hunter Gatherer is an exhibition of installation, sculpture, sound, video, print and drawings by artists in response to Artemis, an artefact and art loan repository.  Artemis contains thousands of authentic and replica objects indexed through categories such as world cultures, natural history, science and social history. One of the nine artists featured is Lisa Stansbie, who presented a video entitled, 'Ark' (6'12).

The short video was filmed inside Artemis, in which the camera was on a track and passed the archived  objects at speed. The viewer looks, but does not take in the objects and species that come and go.

"As soon as I visited Artemis I knew I wanted to work with the ‘place’.I considered during the visit that this sense of place could be expanded and even fictionalized through the use of film and in particular the experience of the movement/walking amongst the static (some frozen in perspex) objects."[1]

As the camera moved past the taxidermy my initial thoughts were how the movement of the camera animated the activity of evolution. The camera was frequently reflected in the glass display boxes, which to me was a juxtaposition of new technology reflected in nature and history. This eliminated all feeling of abandon.The video was accompanied by unsettling atmospheric drones, like an exaggerated silence. An overwhelming stillness that might be felt in a vault or museum. 

All in all, the film was well shot and edited with sound that complimented the pictures. The installation was effective and invoked mystery and interest in the viewer.

Hunter Gatherer is currently on at Project Space Leeds until the 6th August.

http://huntergathererpsl.tumblr.com/

http://www.projectspaceleeds.org.uk/

http://www.zeppelinbend.com/

http://www.soanyway.org.uk/

[1] Lisa Stansbie http://huntergathererpsl.tumblr.com//
Image- screen shot from Lisa Stansbie's, 'Ark' (6'12)

       Examining the 'Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion' exhibition enabled me to fully investigate works of contemporary Japanese designers. This helped me understand their theories and concepts later translated into my own work for my 'East Meets West' brief. For this project, I was to design garments that reflected both Japanese and British cultures.

The design process included research into both traditional and contemporary designers, learning how to combine both cultures and traditions, finally designing garments that potray contemporary ideas. For example, the minimal, decontsructed works of Yohji Yamamoto, a designer heavily featured in the exhibition. The Japanese perception of minimalism in the late 1980's/ early 90's was to strip tradtions down  to their bare bones, leaving only vital aspects. A shared goal of designers in the 1990's was to dissolve conventions in a decade of reinvention. Minimalism is a movement that I feel strongly about, and that I wanted to be evident in my own work. Studying examples from Yamamoto, Kawakubo and Miyake gave me an idea of how I wanted to aproach this.

My final designs were more influeneced by Rei Kawakubo of Comme Des Garcons, who deconstructed and reinvented typical western dress in a new way. For example, the white shirt design (scans to be uploaded later), I experimented with shapes and lenghths, inspired by Shinto preist dress.

Image- http://www.style.com/fashionshows/complete/slideshow/S2007RTW-CMMEGRNS?event=show1524&designer=design_house98&trend=&iphoto=29

Minimalism and Fashion: Reduction in the post modern era. Elyssa Dimant. Collins Design, 2010.