I made some belts

Or belt-type things.

current projects

north to south:

1. rack of clothes, all in various stages of deconstruction and experimentation, from clothing exchanges and thrift stores.

2. wall of sketches. loose and fast, not very detailed, with some scribbles. it’s the next  collection, coming together like clouds.

3. drawing horse w/ drawing pad and brand new soft pastels. happiness, thy name is new art supplies.

4. bills and papers to read. index cards strewn across the drafting table, each with a new idea to ponder. other ideas on post-its stuck to the bottom of my computer screen like so much dribbling food off a baby’s chin.

5. bin of things I should take upstairs to the bathroom, like nail polish and the new toothbrush from the dentist.

6. camera. the big fancy one. it’s there for a good reason, I just know it.

7. jar of nuts. operation: snack more healthfully.

8, research materials for next collection.

9. new filing system! 98% done!  just need to add a few thing. see item 4.

10. bin of clothes that are victims of item 1 gone awry.

11. pattern for a wedding dress for my model, along w/ corkboard of notes. 

12. wall of sketches, big ones, of the next collection, with more details and even more scribbled notes, coming together a bit more concretely that clouds, like, say, slurpees.

things i learned at the photoshoot

Things went smoothly enough, but these are just some notes to myself to keep in mind for my next shoot.

1. Buy all sorts of foot creams, insoles, pads, bandaids, etc for the model’s feet. Learn proper foot massage techniques.  (I felt really bad about how long my model had to stand in heels.)

2. Plan for about 2 more hours of lighting set up time than I did. (About 4 hours total.)

3. Buy healthier snacks.  We noshed all day and at some point I really needed some celery sticks.

4. Construct lazy-susan for model.  You know those round platforms often found on each table at Chinese restaurants?  All the dishes are placed on the platform and everyone eats family style, spinning the lazy-susan so you don’t have to pass heavy, hot platters across the table.  We really really wanted one for the model to stand on. There were so many times the model hit the absolute perfect pose but we really wished we could turn her just 2 degrees towards the light.  So we would try to nudge the model around and sometimes we’d sort of lose the effect. I am seriously considering commissioning one for my next shoot.

To read a post I wrote for F-I two years ago on producing a catalog/lookbook, click here.  I reread it and none of it is obsolete.

mooooovin’ on

ok, so i’m a perfectionist whatever ok not really i’m more of a 300% or 0% sort of person so when i start designing something i could probably nitpick over a collection until i started getting wrinkles and you know asians don’t get wrinkles for a really really long time ok point being i could obsess and redo and redo and rework and tweak and push and pull and fiddle and snip loose ends until my eyes bleed but that would be very very bad indeed so yesterday i forced myself to finally fucking cut the cord already i am totally doing that mixing metaphors thing again aren’t i? and now i am done designing shit on paper.

today, finally, for reals, i know i’ve said it a few times, but this is the real deal no turning back now, i’m starting my spec packs and first muslins this weekend and should i do something really stupid like turning back to sketch more you have my permission to hang me by my toenails.

fickle

I’m redesigning everything.  Everything.

portfolio overhaul almost done

Click here to see the project I’ve been working on for fall 2007.

I’m not too pleased with it.  I think I should just embrace the fact that I’ll never be as good an illustrator as I hope.  The clothes are boring.  This is what happens when I try to do “clean, salable clothes”.  Oh well.  Tell me what you think.  Practice makes perfect.

i love fashion

I do, I really do.  How else could I sit here, exhausted, blurry-eyed, with crampy, chapped hands and only feel the buzzy pleasure of accomplishment.

The designs are complete, the final flats pages (all 4) are complete, the mock-up for the final figures pages is complete, photocopied so I can do some rendering experiments tomorrow.  The storyboard is 95% done; I’ll look at it with fresh eyes tomorrow.  And then I can do up a fabric collage board.

The hardest thing for me when I work on projects for my portfolio is fabric sourcing.  I go retail, since I have no plan on producing these designs and therefore wouldn’t feel right sampling with wholesalers for this type of thing.  I just need to hunt down some leather.  The husband came up with the brilliant idea to scour Goodwill or the like, which I hope to do over the weekend.

Tonight is the first night in long, long time when I’ll be going to bed feeling good about the amount of work I got done today.  I love it.  Best feeling ever.

vocabulary definitions

resignation:  the moment you realize your favorite dress just doesn’t go with the rest of your collection and needs to be chucked.

colorblindness:  the state of mind where you’ve been poring over color groups for so long they all start looking equally sucky.

night vision:  when you come up with the most brilliant solution to Question X in the dead of the night but you’re too groggy to write/sketch it down, sleepily promising yourself you’ll remember in the morning but to no avail.

pure joy:  the late night moment (12:22am by my watch) when you realize it’s all coming together and now all you have to do is draw out the final illustrations.

g’night.

midnight editing

Finals to the left, discarded designs to the right. Each page has several pinholes in it from moving back and forth. Each page also has several designs on it, so the pages have been folded, opened, refolded, etc. Throat dry from explaining to the husband why designing a 9-outfit collection is way way harder than designing a 90-outfit collection. G’night.

Oh, who are we kidding. I’ll be up giving myself pinpricks and papercuts all night.

my next projects

Okay, I know I said in my last post that I was going to relax this weekend, but who are we kidding? We all know I can’t sit still for very long. Three exciting things came my way recently and I’d like to share them with you. I will try to be good and start on Monday instead of right away. 😉

VC reader Karen has been quite the doll and 1. invited me to a local industry meetup, the next one which will be next month and 2. sent me this link about a non-profit looking for fashion designers for their next fundraiser. Basically, the designer creates a one of a kind piece made at least 50% out of random clothes donated to St. Vincent, and the proceeds from the silent auction will go directly to the organization. Click the link to find out more. I’m so excited about this. A chance to use my skills for the greater good? Hell yeah! I urge all Bay Area designers to participate! They raised $15,000 last year; let’s top that this year. Click the link above!!! Thanks, Karen!

Next up, I’ll be interviewing The Evans Group for a post for both VC and Fashion-Incubator. The Evans Group is a vertically integrated production facility based in L.A. that has small minimums for high end apparel. A team from The Evans Group is coming up to meet with Bay Area designers, by appointment, to discuss what they do, how they do it, and explore possible working relationships. They will be here Monday and Tuesday of next week (the 20th and 21st). If you’re interested, please contact them and set up an appointment with Julia. I am interviewing them on Monday, so that I can give you guys a better informed post on their company. I’m not endorsing them in any way until I get a chance to meet them, but first off, Julia was really nice and her follow-up very efficient. If you have a particular question you’d like me to ask, drop me a line in the comments thread.

By the way, I found out about The Evans Group through a different local fashion industry through meetup.com. They’re a very friendly, mellow group that gets together and discuss various industry goings on once a month. Check it out if you’re local, or hit one up in your area. Thanks to Grace, the fabulous blogger behind Design*Sponge for the link trail.