bindihowarth-blog

[bindihowarth-blog]

DONE AND DUSTED

Ahh what a feeling! There's nothing better than finishing everything up in class for the semester especially when you have a little holiday to look forward to - Hello Central America!! For my final pattern making assignment we were required to create an outfit which included the skirt, top or sleeve pattern, and sketch, make a pattern, and then make a final mock up of the design. I decided to create a dress with an inverted godlet straight down the centre, blind stitching horizontally across the waist to pull the style in, a full skirt bottom and open button seam at the back. The idea was to have a hint of colour, through the godlet which is only visible when the wearer is moving.  When I created pattern pieces for the garment, I also created facing patterns for the armholes and back opening. The patterns were all also completed with seam allowances, zip measurements and attachment directions - it surprisingly turned out how I expected which was nice!

[bindihowarth-blog]

LUNCH WITH THE LADIES...

Lauren and I wining and dining at lunch in Midtown...

[bindihowarth-blog]

'TIS THE SEASON

After our lovely housemate Indigo and her boyfriend moved out at the beginning of November, there has been quite a scarcity of life and character in the furniture and decor that was left inour apartment. Over a few nights we adopted some new bits and bobs to accompany the lone red couch in the middle of the room. We created a cozy little lounge room once more, complete with a flogged packing crate for a coffee table, and these fun fairy light lanterns.

[bindihowarth-blog]

CHOPPING / CHANGING

Today at Alexa's (Eighteenth), I begun to put my pattern making skills to good use, re-styling the long 'slinky sleeve' top to the neck and shoulder structure fitted better. Although we had already used this garment for the fashion show and shoots, Alexa wasn't 100% happy with the cut, and if Eighteenth gets shortlisted for Ecco Domani, 5 looks need to be submitted to the finish and cut had to be perfect...

[bindihowarth-blog]

TEE PHOTOGRAPHY

As part of the revamp of Eighteenths website (witty word jumble on Alexa's part), I was able to utilise my photography skills for the online store. We hired out the same space we did the video for Ecco Domani, and I snapped away with talented model Renee Lilley. Renee was a true natural in front of the camera and possessed a gracious poise which allowed minimal direction. Here's how some of the pictures turned out...

[bindihowarth-blog]

MINI PUMPKINS FOR MINI HANDS

4 year old Quincy with his latest purchase from the County Line Orchard in Indiana 

[bindihowarth-blog]

SPINNING AROUND PENTAGRAM

Even though this is slightly beside the point, I found a hilarious article the other day about how to be an Australian living in New York. Beside the point because, well, I'm not Australian, nor do I ever think about 'strengthening my pack' when I find fellow, how should I say it 'Australasian'. I merely get excited that I have some relation to anybody in this big city, and act upon instinct to get in touch and introduce myself. Which is how I came about meeting up with Hamish Smyth. Hamish is also an ex 'The Works' Design Studio member, and was part of the RMIT Consultancy Program a year before me. While at 'The Works', Hamish won the prestigious 'Fabrica' Design Award at AGIdeas, which gave him huge recognition for his astounding talents, and sent him off to the Fabrica design firm base in Italy to intern as a graphic designer. When work and a little holidaying finished up in Europe, Hamish hit the Big Apple. After a brief work experience stint at Pentagram, he was offered an internship position, which has lead to a full-time position at the internationally renowned Graphic design Firm. Hamish kindly invited me to join the Pentagram crew for rooftop work drinks, and I had a chance to see where all the magic happens in the New York office.

[bindihowarth-blog]

D/CRIT FORUM AT SVA

Last night I attended my first DCrit Lecture at the School of Visual Arts. I found the free lecture on the   '8 Days a Week' website, which provides a calender of creative talks and workshops that are on throughout the city. I thought it would be a great experience to listen to the speakers they had on offer and meet like-minded creatives that studied at the University. The classroom was somewhat comical - a compact space with 25 odd chair/lean-table seating arrangements, a projector and room full of college students. On this particular night, Luke Ballman and Jessica Young from Thumb had come to chat about their Graphic design Studio Thumb, and their interesting transition from Architecture Graduates into the Graphic Design industry.

The more they talked, the more interested I became about the architectural aesthetics they had acquired through their education and how they had adapted these into their graphic design work. They spoke about the ways creatives work and the similarities they had come across within the two creative disciplines and mentioned some fantastic analogies - both ORGANISE material, use a sequence of SPACE and rely on STRUCTURE. I too am on the journey of transition, using my graphic design skills as a base and adapting these skills into fashion. Although I have the graphic design education, I am more interested in how I can transform these skills into an alternative way of thinking and working within the fashion world. 

Sourced from www.thumbprojects.com

[bindihowarth-blog]

LAST TASTE OF SUMMER

[bindihowarth-blog]

DAPHNE GUINNESS EXHIBITION

On Friday I went to the Daphne Guinness 'Dress for Excess' Exhibition at The Fashion Institute of Technology. Guinness is the Brewing Heiress of Jonathan Guinness, and is renowned for her outrageous elaborate style, designer friends and extensive wardrobe. The style icon was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1994 and has some 2,500 pieces in her wardrobe and 450 pairs of shoes, which are nearly all designed by the most highly recognised and sort after creators in the business.

The exhibition displayed some of Guinness' most fabulous wardrobe pieces from an 100% metal dress and hooded coat by Gareth Pugh to Alexander McQueen erotic studded and spiked black platform boots. Guinness is truly her own creation, wearing Haute couture as seemlessly as a pair of jeans and t-shirt. She has truly created a fashion persona like none other through her style which has been described by New York Times as 'One part Victorian damsel, one part sci-fi geisha and 100 percent off-the-wall.'  

My favorite piece of the collection was the Skull Coat created out of felt by Japanese designer Jun Takahashi. It was such a simple idea but visual aesthetic of the outfit was so captivating. Also exhibited were works by Balenciaga, Valentino, Karl Largerfield and Dolce and Gabana to name a few. The styles were catagorised into themed areas which gave the exhibition and element of excitement, and the 'Cruella De Vil' hair on some of the models was a cool quirk too. 

Sourced from www.burdastyle.com

[bindihowarth-blog]

BYE BYE BROOKLYN

[bindihowarth-blog]

FABRIC TREASURES

On Monday Alex and I had a few appointments around the Garment District and Chelsea with fabric suppliers to get samples for the FW 2011 Collection. First stop - MJ Khan - a wool specialist in Chelsea in a multi-story Wholesale Warehouse. The office was a total 60's flash back - muggy light green interior teamed with tan everything, burgundy carpet and even the makeshift pidgeon hole style flatbox the materials were kept in screamed time-warp. We had a bit of a frossic around in the pidgeon holes before heading then went upstairs to explore a larger range of the fabrics in larger quantities. The building was incredible - an enormous barren warehouse packed full of plastic covered fabric rolls and minimal natural light...

[bindihowarth-blog]

FASHION FACTORIES

As well as sourcing fabrics on Monday, Alexa and I went to her factory in the Garment District, to collect all her last seasons patterns and bits and bobs so we were ready to start the new season with a clean slate. The Garment District is littered with Factories in all shapes and sizes - some, like Cynthia Steffe and larger labels have everything in-house, and others outsource using several different companies through the design process - patternmakers, cutters, sewers, pressers etc. This particular factory did large quantities of clothing and cut the patterns as well as construct the garments.

[bindihowarth-blog]

On Sunday afternoon I had lunch with the only relative and contact that I came to New York with - the lovely Henry Hargreaves. Henry is my second cousin, and is originally from New Zealand, moving over here 10 years after being 'discovered' while in South East Asia on holiday with his family. After several shoots, he was signed by a modelling agency and went on to be the pin-up boy for high profile fashion houses such as Prada, YSL, Jil Sander and Lacoste. He worked with some of the top photographers in the business and traveled frequently to Around the world for shows and shoots.

He is now settled in Brooklyn, and funnily enough only just moved out of the same apartment block I am currently living in a month ago after living there for 2 years - Small world! He now spends his time working on a range of client and personal work in his photography studio nearby, specialising particularly in both still life and fashion photography. He tends to be extremely adventurous in his personal work, coming up with new and outrageous creations frequently - his latest project was an entire alphabet made out of Bacon! Recently, Henry has also been working with Graphic Design genius Stefan Sagmeister on Aizones SS12 Campaign and Aishti's packaging Campaign. Here's the making of Aizones crazy cool photographs which Henry shot...

[bindihowarth-blog]

EVERY SHOWROOM AND ITS...DOG

Axel from Parlor Showroom, what a cute pooch!

[bindihowarth-blog]

AND ANOTHER SEASON ROLLS AROUND

   After a bit of manual Lookbook collaborating at Parlor Showroom, Alexa and I settled in a cafe for the afternoon to begin planning for next season. Her t-shirt Collections have by far been her greatest selling point, so it was time to create a fresh approach for FW2012 with her existing aesthetics. As well as a t-shirt line, she also wants to create another line similar to the 'I Gained 10 Pounds and Grew 10 Inches' Collection which we have just been working with. Today, new ideas started to develop and timelines were created (amongst drinks, food, drinks, drinks.) The final video happens for Eco Domani on Sunday, and fabric sourcing and designing begins on Monday!

[bindihowarth-blog]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

To Kylie...