Premier of Saskatoon Fashion Week

 

After my show for Vancouver Fashion Week, last Thursday, I received the greatest compliment - I was invited by the creative director of the soon to debut, Saskatoon Fashion Week, to show at SFW's launch next August!

I can't believe how lucky I am; what an amazing opportunity.  I'm very excited by the prospect of being involved in the PREMIER of this event - I keep thinking of how much exposure I could possibly receive by being a part of something so new to the Canadian fashion scene.

So, cross your fingers for me my lovelies and hopefully I'll be jetting off to Sask. in August!

 

Hang Tag

For a digital illustration class, we had to develop and create merchandising/marketing materials for our brand.  I've been doing a lot of thinking about branding and what the lifestyle of my target market is, what images and characteristics that I would like to associate with my brand and are these things that appeal to my target market?

I started with gold - I'm a sucker for gold bling and I feel like it embodies both qualities of luxury and kitsch; two juxtaposing elements that are present in my designs.  I also think that a general theme that runs through my designs is the sense of the garments being unique, yet quite wearable - gold is a precious material that, when you consider only items made from a pure form of gold, is not as prevalent in the market as say, silver or even gold plate/vermeil; yet it is very easy to incorporate into a wardrobe.

Next, a pony because of the feminine and masculine qualities that it represents.  Some little girls have soft, ethereal dreams of riding a horse through the mist on a beach; and the lean musculature of a horse can certainly be related to a lean, chiseled male physique.  Many of my designs incorporate elements of soft draping and structured, tailored silhouettes, so finding an image that also had "soft" and "hard" qualities was essential.

Using Adobe Illustrator, I found an image of a carousel horse that I liked, traced it and tweaked a few aesthetics - curved the tail upwards to give a sense of movement, removed the saddle and draped a riding blanket over the back with my logo on it; I was trying to keep the incorporation of my logo simple as the rest of the illustration was fairly detailed.

Then, I outlined the entire tracing and filled the outline with a gradient of dark browns, golds and creams.  After I had the "shine" pattern that I wanted, I played around with some different effects, like glass, crystalize, ink outlines, and paint daubs, and finally, I used Shape Builder to draw an extended outline that included a tab for a hang string.

Now, where can I have these printed and cut without being charged an arm and a leg...?

Vancouver Fashion Week

As I implied with my last post, I showed my new F/W '11 collection at Vancouver Fashion Week this April!  The collection is inspired by driftwood and the shapes and movement that it embodies, along with the element of erosion, as that is how driftwood is formed.

I've used a lot of draping and smocking to mimic the smooth, flowing lines that are seen in driftwood; the smocking is meant to appear as root structures and knots.  I rely a lot on juxtaposition in my designs, and what I found interesting about driftwood, was the way water and sand slowly shapes the wood into these smooth, sloping shapes - there is a sense of movement, fluidity given to the rigid wood through the erosion of its surface.  I also thought this erosion process was much like the way people change through each experience of their lives.  With each triumph, downfall, love and heartbreak we learn and reform ourselves and the parts of us that are not authentic are eroded away.

Thanks to Daniel Jolly and Victoria Radbourne for the fantastic photos!