carosidequests

[carosidequests]

For cotton inc the class attended the place in person and were able to get a tour and information on how cotton inc works. I on the other hand was able to find out that cotton inc was funded by growers and importers of cotton within the U.S.

“To ensure that cotton remains the first choice among consumers in apparel and home products.”

Cotton inc does research on how to encourage the use and desirability of cotton. Don below are some resources provided by cotton inc.

As for the worldwide headquarters cotton inc has it based in Cary, North Carolina. It’s 3 hours from where I live so I thought it was interesting that they were based in North Carolina.

Overall they are a company that focuses on research for things such as product development, agricultural research, and fiber competition.

I’m sure that they much more but that is what I was able to find.

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Hudson Yards

The study tour class took us to the Hudson Yards in NYC during this trip. I was not able to attend due to a fever. I gathered information on the destination by watching videos showcasing the Hudson Yards.

After researching the official website and looking at reviews. I was able to find out that the Hudson Yards is the "biggest "most expensive real-estate development" in the history of the U.S. It is also one of the largest (18 million sq ft).

As a class, the study tour visited Aritzia first. They went around and looked at what the Hudson Yards had. There is so much to cover ranging from technology, fashion, food, and even residences.

In regards to the fashion aspect, they have multiple shops such as Aritzia, Bvlgari, Cartier, Coach, Dior, and many more. Many of the fashion stores offer personalized styling and consultations that can be booked online beforehand. The stylist consultants have a good reputation in regards to helping the customers. All of which contributes to the rich and easygoing experience at the Hudson yards.

Overall, a very cool trip. I imagine it'd take more than a day to get through all of what the Hudson Yards offer.

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CREATE A MARKER

Create-a-marker, Inc was the quest this time.  This took place on 35th st!. Create-a-marker is a company focuses on computerized grading and they serve the fashion  industry by a whole lot. 

They provide “personalized service” as they state to every customer. As someone who’s gone to various pattern,  grading, etc. companies this semester it’s interesting to see the environment and the way they interact with their customers in real-time. So many different people come to them to get their services done. I mention this since I did not attend the tour.

Create-a-marker was founded by Paul Cavazza. He studied at F.I.T and hence his career path it led him to create create-a-marker. A lot of this inspiration and want to do it comes from growing up with his mother who had a  sewing factory according to their official website.  

Overall, looking into the company and its social media handles was interesting. It would have been nice to have attended in person and seen a new factory.

[carosidequests]

Fifth avenue jewelry NYC

Fifth Avenue jewelry was the quest for this week. I wasn’t there to attend so  I decided to research the brand and look into who they are and what they do. Fifth Avenue Women is a  supplying company (stones, pearls, jade, etc.) They are  located in  NYC  as a private label and they were founded in 1985. 

Down below, I'll add some examples of the types of jewelry or pieces they have within their store.

We can see in the images above different styles and different pieces being used such as stones, sterling silver, obsidian, and of course pearls. I was not at the in person tour but I do know my classmates had the chance of choosing stuff to purchase after the tour. I was able to see some of the pieces in person from my friends.

Overall they seem to have a large range in variety of stones or pieces to choose from.

[carosidequests]

M&S Schamlberg custom fabric flowers

This quest we  had to attend the M&S Schmalberg’s custom fabric flowers. I missed the tour so I did my research online to learn about  this company. 

M&S produces their flowers by hand and it can be seen on their Instagram via reels. They show real-time pressing of the flowers and other employees carrying out duties. 

A lot of the flowers that they make are made from materials like natural silks, cotton, velvet, felt, etc. Some are even made from snakeskin.

We can see above the different types of fabrics that they use for the flowers.

M&S has worked with brands who have worked with celebrities' outfits for certain events.

A lot of the machines they use to create the flowers have been passed down for generations and I think this makes the whole handmade process to another level of special.

Overall, it seemed like a really cool place except I did not see it in person but I'll share some images below of some of the studio appearance.

[carosidequests]

For the most recent quest we went to see the Harry Potter exhibition here in NYC located near the flatiron building. Once again, I don’t keep up with Harry Potter but I think it still is a reminiscing memory that was in my childhood of watching the movies with my parents.

When I first walked in it was a lot going on. There was so much stuff everywhere it had a maximalism theme going on. However, the trio started once the hosts started walking around with us explaining what each artifact was and where it was within the movie.

This was the golden snitch inside the box and the tourist was able to give us background information on it. Whilst listening i also caught sight of other things like such….

She mentioned to us that this was all hand written and that you could buy it for the price of $3000. Or you could go with the cheaper alternative which was around $30-$50. Im not exactly sure on the price.

We were then next stopped by the anime section. Where they had a Japanese artist collaborate with Harry Potter to create all sorts of merchandise and Harry Potter in that artists own style. I think this was the coolest part for me because I really enjoyed the art style. The little plastic bits either being pins or for keys were pretty cool and the quality is quite good for the price.

What was last interesting for me was that they had butter bear. They had a whole area dedicated to it. Since I do not keep up Harry Potter I’m not sure what the correlation is to the movies would be. The last thing was the cup cleaner. I just found it odd they had it out for the public to use.

Overall pretty interesting trip 👍

[carosidequests]

For the Broadway trip we took I was able to attend and enjoy the trip with my classmates. Personally I’m not a musical person and I’ve never really been interested in in theater. However, it was still super cool to see all the costumes and the detailing that many of them had included.

Since I don’t watch musicals it was kind of hard to understand where the outfits came from and such. I’m saying this because I do feel like I’d at least be more excited knowing where the outfit came from and just the feeling of being able to see it in person.

It was pleasing to see the way that they organized their costumes and pieces. For example the first picture above is interactive in the sense that you stand on the dot sticker which is placed purposefully so you can see the shape of the mask within all the crystals.

They also had some beautiful dresses, a lot of which consisted of a lot of trims, beads etc.

However what caught my attention right away were the outfits from the Chicago screenplay. They were automatically eye catching because they were black, which is a color i love working with. Also the lace was nice as well.

Overall, this trip was cool to attend. I was able to learn some stuff about Broadway, and also be able to see the garments up close!

[carosidequests]

Ross trip

For this trip, we were able to attend the Ross headquarters located in the heart of the garment district. We were able to get information right off the bat as we entered the office that was provided by Jennifer. She seemed to be super enthusiastic and passionate about her role at Ross.

She talked about the basic information about Ross, like its origin and who founded it, etc. Some other information consisted of the benefits that Ross provides their employees. They also have activities or events where the staff can connect.

After talking about the information and statistics, she mentioned the internship program they have in this office. She mentioned they offered either a buyer or planner? I think that's right? Anyhow, she mentioned they are open to taking juniors going into their senior year. I personally don't see myself working here but I didn't think it would hurt to take a picture of the email she provided.

I wasn't able to take any pictures because I forgot while I was listening to her present. But what she did mention was interesting. It's also just interesting to hear about statistics especially for a company like Ross. I feel like the scale of it is not recognized.

[carosidequests]

The View (from home)

For this trip, I was not able to attend due to some personal reasons. However, I did have the chance to hear from others how they felt about the experience and such. Before, looking at any clips from that day's taping I looked up information on 'The View'.

I was able to find out that this show consists of getting a woman's perspective on topics ranging from fashion, and art, all the way to politics. They chat about what's going on around us and therefore provide their own perspectives.

For this taping, I was able to come across the clip of the musical. The musical was Back to the Future. I've never watched the movie fully, only some clips. I also do not particularly enjoy musicals so I wasn't really the target audience for that. But I did think it was cool that whoever enjoys that and musical theatre would enjoy it a lot. Especially since they get to see it live.

I was able to hear from other classmates that they also experienced the BTS such as the gestures to make the audience laugh etc. They mentioned it was super interesting to see people working in the entertainment industry.

Overall, I do wish I had gone but I am glad that some were able to enjoy the experience!

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4th Sidequest

Today we headed to the Coterie New York Event held near Hudson Yards. We were handed a pamphlet with all the vendors who were out to pitch to any potential buyers. I was surprised at the amount of stands there were and how many products were being offered.

We started off the sidequest by getting into the event and then wandered off in groups or on our own. I was able to wander around with Sawyer. We headed into the event and I was able to notice that a lot of vendors had florals implemented into the collections. It was kind of overwhelming especially seeing all the bright colors. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of them since I wasn't specifically drawn to the styles. I was interested however in looking for more chic or edgy brands. We first ended up at True Religion... something about True Religion just makes me feel something. It's such a cool brand and the design choices just fit True Religion so much. We were able to see some of their spring collection and it was just so clean and also more progressive in the design choices. Again as I've mentioned the logo that True Religion has is unique and an attractive quality to the brand.

We then headed over to look at more brands and I was able to find some beautiful garments such as:

I wasn't able to get the name on some of them but all the details in the pieces were really beautiful and intricate. Some of the brand's names really did correlate to the garments. For example, one was called 'LUNAB', and 'Luna' is moon in Spanish. As we can see in the image a lot of their designs included a moon attachment which was definitely clever and cool.

After looking at the vendors with clothes and such we headed over to the footwear and accessories section of the trade show. I was able to find some cool pieces, especially in the jewelry and handbag-based designers/companies. I feel like these pictures down below more so represent what I like personally and as a designer.

I was able to take a look in the Brasill section. I believe they had a setup area specifically for Brazilian-based brands. However, I wasn't able to look much into it. I was able to pick up on the color trends and the amount of vividness a lot of these Brazilian brands had. I think they really took a lot of inspiration from their roots and executed it differently but successfully at the same time. Overall, they had a good energy to the atmosphere and idea they were trying to sell.

Overall, the trip to the Coterie show was super interesting. I think this opened my eyes to learning or researching more about smaller or bigger brands that I may not know about. This would definitely benefit me by letting me have this knowledge and approach to understanding more brands. I wish I would have been more assertive in knowing the brand names as well. However, it was kind of hard due to the energy the vendors had once they realized we were students. It was something I found funny but also interesting to see in the professional world.

That concludes the 4th sidequest!

[carosidequests]

3rd Sidequest

For the 2nd sidequest, we headed over to New York Embroidery Studio. We headed over at 10 AM but were cut short on our entrance due to a fire drill occurring right at 10 AM for the whole building the day of our tour. So most of us headed to a local coffee shop or some place with food while we waited for the drill to end.

When we first went through the doors the first thing I was able to notice was all the machines that were found on the racks beside the entrance and customer service group. The tour guide went on to explain what each one did, and they even had some examples included by them. He was able to explain "Faggoting" techniques, and personally, I had never heard of that but it was interesting to see examples while being introduced to this for the first time.

For the next thing, we were able to walk around seeing all the machines they had, some of which sewed on from the back and made products like the one below. They also do rivetting and were shown examples. Not only that but they also do jeweling where they have machines that do it by picking each stone up individually.

Toward the end, we were able to head back to the room where we were able to end our tour. We ended our tour by looking at the patches on the wall, the sample fabrics, etc. The sample fabrics included hand stitching/embroidery, whilst also showing the techniques done by the machines they have within their office. Some examples are below.

Overall, I enjoyed going because it showed me a different perspective on embroidery. It was cool to see all the machines at work and the variety of work they can produce. I didn't know how many people could be involved in the making of things. Especially when he mentioned they have done work for Coach, Marc Jacobs, Alexander Wang, Ralph Lauren, Tory Burch, etc. Some examples down below.

To end it off I have some images from the studio.

[carosidequests]

For this study tour we headed to the MET. I had never been before and I didn’t really intend to go either. But I think it was a good experience going in as a class. The energy to get there was kind of drastic due to the 15 minute walk we had to take across Central Park in the heat that day. It was pretty bad.

We ended up getting there and the first thing I saw was a fountain. It looked pretty cool but it would’ve been cooler if we could’ve had a pool that day.

After going inside we followed Aanchal around so we could get the tour. We went through different exhibitions ranging from paintings to sculptures, of course they came from a variety of areas of the world.

I went over to look at one painting specifically. I think out of all the monotone colors I kept seeing this one captured my eye because of how colorful it was. It was a piece done by Ana Kwami. The contrast and combination of colors was pretty cool in my opinion. It’s also is abstract so this is something else I’m fond of. I also thought about how it’d look on a garment or make an accessory. The art would look nice and especially with the right type of garment.

I was able to go off by myself and observe the statues from afar such as the 2nd floor. I wasn’t able to get up close pictures since I wasn’t feeling the physically. I had to sit down for a bit of the tour.

I was able to sit down towards the end when everybody was on the roof top. I just sat and observed people observing the art. It’s just interesting to get a different perspective other than mine.

Overall, that was it for the second side quest. Not my personal preference for museums but it wasn’t too bad.

[carosidequests]

1st sidequest

For the first study tour, unfortunately, I had some stuff come up and I wasn't able to go. But, I am able to recap on the trip we had to Macy's. I decided to go off on my own, the first thing I saw was this display in the entrance we came in through. It's interesting to imagine how the people who were behind this were able to come up with such an appealing display. I wonder what the thought process behind this could have been.

Where did I go? I went to the perfume section

Something I just love is perfume. Scents are so infatuating and finding the right one for you is an experience. So, I don't get tired of smelling or getting handed swatches. Except when they started trying to get me to buy it I had to move elsewhere. However, I did get to smell some perfumes I've been curious about and I was able to discover more in the short time we were in there. Moving on from this I headed over the men's section I suppose.

True Religion... I was so surprised to find this in Macy's. However, I'm definitely hoping that they will make a big comeback. It's nice seeing their garments in there though. It's different from the rest just because I personally didn't see this brand being inside of Macy's. True Religion has such a good logo. I think the most impactful choice for the logo is definitely the pants. True Religion is a classic, very cool experience overall.

I pretty much ended my side quest here. Overall, it was pretty cool to see everything inside of the Macy's. I wasn't aware of how many brands could be inside of Macy's. But I'm glad I was able to tour and be exposed to the environment.