I’ve been really busy the past two weeks, preparing for my final presentation. My folio was finally printed and bound on Thursday after days of stress. Any wheel of death that might pop up on my screen now won’t send me into heart failure, I’ve finally got a hard copy! I was so happy with how it turned out I wanted to upload some images to the blog. Here’s the result.
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Here’s a link to a Suzy Menkes article asking ‘Is a runway show really necessary?’. A couple of posts back I wrote about how designers are starting to reassess how they are presenting their work. It’s always interesting to hear designers like Pugh talk about communicating their work and how they are trying to push the envelope. As soon as you decide to show your work in film (either in a film or image) you loose elements of it, however there are different elements that you can add or subtract. Ultimately it’s always a compromise but there are a lot more options than just the runway to represent the designers concept. Nick Knight suggests that it’s not just the communication of the work that can be changed, but also a ‘click to buy’ concept that could revolutionise how consumers purchase fashion. The most exciting part of this mini revolution is that it is the younger generation of designers who are pushing the boundaries and hopefully changing the fashion landscape.

September and March are months when I’m waking up checking my style.com app on my iphone to see the latest runway shows. New York SS 2011 fashion week has been a little lack luster for me. I was disappointed in some of the designer’s shows, but they save the best till last anyway so here’s hoping the next few days pick up.
The reviews of Tom Ford’s show gave me a glimpse into a world pre Style.com. Strictly keeping the guest list for his show to 100, Ford made a comeback to women’s wear that made me realise how homogenised the fashion weeks have become. I expect to wake up and browse my favorite designers collections with my head on the pillow and my thumb flicking through the runway images. I can see who attended the after parties of the designers shows, then watch a podcast that neatly sums up the key looks and the front rows opinions. Then I wake up the next day and see the next round of designers. The way the information is delivered to computer screens and mobiles around the world can’t be controlled by the designer (Gareth Pugh mentioned this in the SHOWstudio interview). Tom Ford is a smart guy, he has taken back the control and at the same time leveled out the playing field for bloggers, buyers, editors and fans alike. Everyone will log on to his site come December (a time that basically guarantee’s everyone’s attention away from the rush of fashion month) to see images he’s selected and make up their own mind- not style.com’s writer. Not every designer can create this kind of interest in their shows, but I think it was a good wake up call to everyone to pick up their game and actually think about the communication of their work. Maybe this will be the start to breakdown Style.com’s strangle hold of the fashion world.

On Thursday night I helped out with Ricarda and collaborator Michael Spooner’s exhibition. The layout of the space was really beautiful and I was gob-smacked with the wallpaper that was designed and carefully pinned in place by Ricarda’s husband. The simplicity of the space made me think back to the planning that went into my container and I know that this space would have been painstakingly thought out. I was there for the entire opening and it was great to watch the behavior of those taking part in the portraits and those standing on the side taking a peak.
I was inviting people to sit for the portraits with the ‘elephant knits’. Some people were excited to get into the fun of the night, others were a little more hesitant but I think the fact that they could hide under the elephant skins was a factor that pushed them over the line. There were so many ways that you could style the skins. It was a great way to get people to interact with and understand the work. It wasn’t a static environment; everyone had a lot of energy. I loved pointing out to people the front legs, back legs, trunk and tusks. When they looked over to the person sitting for the portrait or seeing it hung from the wall there was a great moment when they put all the pieces in the space together and ‘got it’. There was a similar moment with my work when I would point out the loops in the paper knit, show the booklet, direct them to the shoes and bangle or explain the actual dress is made from neoprene. That moment of connection is great, and it can happen in so many different ways for every single person. In my work, it’s a goal post to work towards.

After all the sleepless nights, last night was finally time to see the fruit of everyone’s labour. It was such a high standard of work that it was impossible not to be so proud of all my friends. I became the embarrassing aunt for the night, sitting front row to snap hundreds of photos.

Being there for all the ups and downs I didn’t regret deciding to focus solely on the exhibition. The night did make me think about the relationship between the runway and the audience. One of the reasons for choosing the exhibition over the runway was the immense amount of work that gets poured into four minutes of show. Experiencing the runway last night reminded me of the magic that is in that moment.

I was watching a SHOWstudio video of Gareth Pugh talking about the runway and it was interesting to hear his perspective. Pugh noted, ‘the thing I didn’t realise is the image you put out-it’s not the show, it’s the image of that people take…it’s more important with everything so visible now to reconsider how I present.”
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