March 26, 2011

Sky is the limit


Today I was looking through my photos, pondering on the amount of moving around I've done over the years, especially this past year.
I've lived in 4 major cities: Paris, New York, Los Angeles and now London, and have been lucky to travel a lot for work and pleasure throughout America, Europe, Asia and Africa.
No matter how diverse and unique these places are, I always marvel at the same things, the first being the sky, who doesn't!
Here are some snapshots, I'll keep updating as I go through my archives.


Morogoro and mountains, Tanzania Africa



Cycling home in Santa Monica California





Flying over the Lybian desert for 3 hours



Driving home, Downtown Los Angeles
















A reminder in Paris to "Look at the sky"

March 25, 2011

Everyone get your sketchbooks




































This winter, when I was heavily working on updating my fashion portfolio, I came across a book called "Fashion Designer's sketchbooks" by Hywel Davies. It inspired me to reshape my portfolio into a much more handfelt and personal experience for myself and the viewers, much like a sketchbook.

Gone with plastic sheets and binders (Yuk!), the clean computerized portfolio.... Showing your designs is a shared experience and I wanted the viewers to personally connect with my work and come away feeling inspired.

This book is not only beautifully laid out, its content showcases sketchbooks from amazing designers, independent to major names: Matthew Williamson, Lutz, Yamamoto, Hamish Morrow, Antonio Marras for Kenzo and much more.
I'm in awe of how they put down their ideas on loose pages, sketchbooks, post its, etc...  The result is poetic and uncompromising. It's an example for all of us designers to never let our flow of ideas be wasted. An amazing moment of inspiration can come and go so we should all have sketchbooks to capture a fleeting dream.
On a more permanent level, a sketchbook is a great working tool to note meetings, doodle, staple swatches, write lists, basically help you through out your daily life.


Anecdotally, I still have my sketch book from art school and when I look at it, I'm so happy it's still with me. Although it was created some 14 years ago, I still get inspired when I look at it.
Because it's the raw untouched version of myself and I guess this post is really about that, never loosing touch with the deeper creative You.
It's great to work in the fashion industry, but it can also burn you out creatively, churning hundreds of styles a year like a fashion machine!
Keeping a sketchbook, discovering books like "fashion designers sketchbooks", is a reminder to cultivate and stay in touch with our magic moments of inspiration.

March 2, 2011

My vision of the Prada Fall 2011 catwalk









































I recently sketched this one night after watching the Prada Fall 2011 show, I was really inspired!

March 1, 2011

Fall 2011 catwalks: late summer nights dream

Missoni and Matthew Williamson

























I'm loving the gradient color effects used on the Fall 2011 runway. They remind me of a late summer palette, when you're still holding on to the last few days of warmth.
The color palette is soft. The juxtaposition of prints and gradients is carefully balanced creating a romantic effect.
The techniques used feel very new like this interlaced Missoni sweater and gradient trouser, as well as the Matthew Williamson "dip died" mongolian fur vest.