Source: mymodernmet
A collaborative fashion learning studio.
We created Fashionurbia for people who are fond of fashion design. We know that there are so many times when our most creative ideas don't happen just because we don't know how to make them happen.
So, let's learn together!
January 30, 2010
January 17, 2010
Dream big, present and future designers!
{My mother always told me: “You are a dreamer. You always dream, dream…”}, Valentino in the documentary ‘Valentino the Last Emperor’.
As I watched this documentary, I gained a new perspective on designing fashion, on spreading the word about it, on building value. I also, answered questions I had and questions I never asked about making fashion business.
So, I warmly recommend you to watch it not once, but every time you need tremendous inspiration!
December 11, 2009
Coco Chanel's Shanghai Dream
A new short movie created by Karl Lagerfeld showcases the story of the Coco’s unrealized dream to visit Shanghai. One have to say from the beginning that the story is fiction. No one does certainly know if Chanel really had this dream, it’s sure however that her Rue de Cambon apartment was furnished with huge Coromandel screens and she loved Chinese art. We can also guess certain similarities between the classic Chanel tweed jacket and the Chinese Mao jacket.
Perhaps Karl Lagerfeld, the couturier who keeps Coco Chanel’s fashion dream alive, is the most able to reveal what she would have done if she really made this trip. So, as you’ll see in the movie, he supposes that in Shanghai she would have swapped her jacket for a Mao jacket, would have visited gambling clubs with Duchess of Windsor, she would have visited Marlene Dietrich in cabaret, she would have taken tea with the emperor and would have traveled with the Shanghai Express. Even if the film action is nothing but fantasy, I’m quite sure that the way Coco Chanel acts, speaks, reacts in this movie is very close to the real character’s way of being.
I’m sharing this with you, because I consider Coco Chanel to be a great inspiration for every person who loves or who creates fashion. She’s part of the history of fashion, actually…
Part one
Part two
The final part
December 2, 2009
We put our shoes on and went get our dream!
The beginning. Who are the two pixies?
We are two friends who got tired of searching for the perfect pair of shoes in the colors and the dimensions we wanted and decided to make our own. And, after seeing that people liked the pairs we made for ourselves, we started making shoes for our friends and from that to creating Pixie Shoes was only a step.
Another reason for starting this business was the fact that we were beginning to go over our budget when it came to shoes and the obvious solution was to share our ideas with our customers and incorporate their wishes in our designs.
We both studied at the Academy of Economic Studies, Eva having a degree in Economic Studies in French and she is now studying for a master degree in Marketing, while I studied Statistics and have a Masters Degree in Communication and Public Relations (French).
I am currently working in Market Research for an automobile company while Eva is still studying and managing the administrative part of Pixie Shoes while I try to take care of promoting our story.
What does the creative process look like?
The models are usually a combination of our ideas, the international trends and improvements made after our friends or us test the “prototypes”.
We collaborate with a workhouse and the lovely people from there do their best to transform all our dreams and wishes into palpable reality, that is our design ideas into shoes.
When we want to create a new model the first question we ask ourselves is: “Would we wear this model?”, followed by: “How comfortable would it be?”
Our goals
Pixie Shoes tries to combine in the best possible way the trend, the comfort and to add some color to the grey city. Even though we try to promote high heels, our shoes are very comfortable and once you try them on you will never want to quit wearing them.
We can offer shoes with numbers from 35 to 40, having the possibility, for certain models, to offer also the numbers 34 and 41. For special orders, or more models for the same client we can make a special number.
Another important aspect, the prices are established keeping in mind the materials that are used and of course the manual labor.
Our muse
We are inspired by what would we wear, what we see on the streets, in magazines, in the shops, on fashion sites and blogs. The colors are carefully chosen to make the shoes stand out but not in an aggressive way. We try to make shoes for all women, shoes that can be worn in the office, on the streets and for special occasions. That is why our shoes are very comfortable.
What about selling shoes online?
We know, shoes and selling online may seem an odd association and probably many women don’t dare to order their shoes on the Internet because they are afraid they won’t match the number or their wishes. The big advantage of selling shoes online is the price which one may keep in reasonable ranges taking into account that they are handmade using the best materials. Also, the customers can send us all the details regarding sizes and a footprint so that we can be able to make the perfect shoes for them. If the pair doesn’t match it can be sent back and replaced with the right number.
Promotion
For promoting our shoes we use mainly the online environment, we try to get as many articles about us as possible in the online versions of magazines. We are active on Facebook and Twitter. We are members of the Romanian fashion bloggers community.
In addition, we participate at hand-made and vintage fairs and we have catalogs in a few selected locations.
Another important thing is word of mouth, our friends being our main spokespeople.
Some advices
Although we adore doing this, there are sometimes difficulties we need to surpass. And the fact that we are quite new to this domain and that we prepared for very different careers can sometimes be a minus. However, we learned from our mistakes. We try to prevent them and nothing can beat the feeling of seeing our ideas being appreciated by others. That is the only boost we need for continuing despite the hard parts of the process.
The problem in this business is the fact that there isn’t a textbook to read or a users’ guide to follow its instructions, you have to learn everything the hard way, if I may say so. That’s why I have a few advices for those who want to start designing shoes the way we did:
- Establish connections with everybody involved and try to maintain them as close as possible.
- Never assume that somebody thinks like you or can guess what you want: always specify clearly and very detailed your wishes.
- Lose any trace of shyness you have left in you. You have to talk to everybody and “brag” about your work.
- Leave your creativity take control and never create anything only if you think it will sell. Create with your soul, people can see beneath the surface of a product and you are trying to sell creativity and hand made goods.
Guest post by Sinziana Nastase, one of the founders of Pixie Shoes.
November 16, 2009
November 5, 2009
How to transform the passion for fashion into business
Milliner Kim Dye of Topsy Turvy Design has always had a passion for history. From a young age she built elaborate sets and costumes, in an attempt to recreate the bygone eras she’d read about in books.
Nowadays, her handmade hats channel this passion and combine her interest in theater, costume, puppetry and architecture. She dreams of the day when everyone will return to dressing up for every occasion with hat and gloves.
This video was very inspiring to me as it tells the story of a passionate woman who lives her dream and created her own business starting with a simple passion. I also found inspiring her workspace, it is set in a historical, 1915’s brick building.
Enjoy and be inspired!
October 31, 2009
How start and run your own fashion business
My book recommendation for the next week is for those who dream to start and run their own fashion business.
If you’re thinking about getting into the world of fashion design, “The Fashion Designer Survival Guide” is the book that you should read before diving head first into a pool with little water. It’s an in depth look into a very popular career choice, but it definitely teaches you the do’s and dont’s when you enter this industry.
The author, an industry authority and consultant to hundreds of designers, gives readers behind-the-scenes advice and essential business information on creating and sustaining a successful career as an independent designer.
Here is the table of contents:
This book is available on Amazon.
What about you, my friends, what book are you reading to develop you business plan?
October 27, 2009
Can someone else take your talent and do your job for you?
While reading Iulia’s interview with Kathryn Elyse Rodgers, a fashion illustrator whose works I love, I stumbled upon this question: “What are the most challenging aspects of your job?” Kathryn’s answer was not surprising for me so as, I believe, any artist has the same problem - the lack of time:
Illustration wise, is keeping up with everything since I have to do it all in my spare time. I’ve had some very overwhelming days, because I want to do almost every project that is requested, but there is only so much time in a day and at the end of the day I’m the only one that is working on it. I can’t go out and hire help. That is one huge challenge. It’s all on me! I love it so much though, that it’s completely worth it. I just have to start deciding which projects are more important, and which ones I have to let go of. The biggest stress for me is time.
So I started thinking whether it’s possible for someone else to “take” your talent and to do your job for you? Perhaps some of you will say NO! I would have said the same a while ago, too. A while ago, until I have read Coco Chanel’s story and until I have seen Karl Lagerfeld’s Spring Summer 2010 fashion show for Chanel.
So, the hypothesis I’m proposing is: You can “teach” someone else your talent. But, you really have to be passionate about what you do, love it with all your heart. So much as to give up your ego. You have to be willing to give your talent away. You really have to be grateful for what you have received and be generous. It’s more about the attitude than the action itself. The actions will actually follow. I believe this is what Coco Chanel did. That’s why the brand survived it’s creator. Her talent is still alive though the first hands that materialized it into clothes don’t exist anymore.
I agree, to “teach” someone else your talent is a big challenge, but there’s nothing impossible, right? What do you think?
October 26, 2009
Fashion show with ballerinas
I was talking about creativity in a previous post and how it applies in fashion. Just bring into fashion concepts, colors, sounds, patterns from outside the fashion.
This is what the Russian designer Tatyana Parfenova did in her latest Spring Summer 2010 fashion collection show in Moscow this week. Besides the fact that she brought a little bit of ballet in fashion, she also made a statement about the deep connection between the Russian contemporary culture and this form of dance.
“She is not the first to replace models with ballerinas - we’ve seen similar approach from the French born NYC based Malan Breton at his last NY fashion week show. Malan mixed the ballerinas with models, creating a surprising effect, while Parfionova chose to stage the entire show as a runway ballet performance.” (Yuli Ziv on Myitthings.com)
October 13, 2009
Fashion Meets Tech: 10 Inventions To Change The Fashion Industry And Our Clothes.
When speaking about fashion we are used to approach themes like the history of costume, techniques of fashion drawing, sewing or pattern making, fresh existing or near future trends. We hardly approach themes like predicting medium or long term future trends, not to mention the scarcity of information on how would fashion look in the future if having interacted with other disciplines. Today we have a very special guest post from Yuli Ziv, co-Founder of My”It”Things. She forecasts a possible direction in which fashion might evolve if meeting tech.
Why would this matter to you, my dear readers? Well, I believe you are the future creators, connoisseurs and consumers of fashion, so you would like to be aware of the places we might get into with this fashion thing and jump on the wave.
I really enjoyed, Yuli’s forecasts and, after all, they might happen in quite a short term, taking into account the speed things develop nowadays. So, just imagine and join Yuli Ziv into her trip to the future of fashion:
“I spent the last week playing with futuristic thoughts on fashion and technology, triggered by the Singularity Summit which took place in NYC this past weekend and I followed live via Twitter. For those new to the concept, “The Singularity represents an “event horizon” in the predictability of human technological development past which present models of the future may cease to give reliable answers, following the creation of strong AI or the enhancement of human intelligence.”
Illustration by Anna Higgie
Afterwords, autumn/winter collection 2000 – 2001
According to Ray Kurzweil, one of the leading inventors of our times, the paradigm shift rate is now doubling every decade, and eventually the pace of technological change will be so rapid, its impact so deep, that human life will be irreversibly transformed. I found it would be interesting to apply the same logic scientists apply to the evolution of technology to the evolution of fashion inventions.
Compared to other industries fashion is still very low-tech, and is mostly relied on the inventions of the past centuries: the sewing machine, artificial dyes, zipper, etc. The only things that have changed during the last years are the shapes of our clothes and the processes in which they are made and sold. I will try to expand on these processes in another post, but this time I would like to focus on various technological inventions which I feel have the potential to create the Singularity moment for the fashion industry, and eventually change the way we consume and wear clothes:
Futuristic fabrics:
1. Color Changing Clothes - one of the latest inventions in the field of light emitting devices might change the way clothes are designed. Due to the fact that the organic light emitting devices are very thin and flexible, electronic display screens could be easily created on nearly every material, thus, for example, clothing could, for the first time in history, display specific electronic information. There are various ways of using the OLED, like for example change the color of clothes. Imagine what this could potentially mean for the trend forecasting companies who come up with the color palettes every season, designers who choose from those pallets and finally consumers who have a hard time to decide which colors to buy every season.
2. Wired Clothing - this isn’t completely new concept, mostly explored so far by sport apparel companies such as NIKE and Burton, and the health industry for monitoring heart rate, such as Sensatex SmartShirt. There is still a huge future for the “wearable computing” built directly into our clothing. Who knows, maybe in the future our clothes will automatically come with multiple USB outlets, just like our notebooks have today.
3. Body Temperature Balancing Clothes. Our body’s temperature naturally changes throughout the day so why shouldn’t our clothing? Outlast Adaptive Comfort products are storing excess heat as it’s created and releasing it as it’s needed, so you can do whatever you are doing longer. Nano-Tex Coolest Comfort - gives you the freedom to move from hot to cold environments and still feel dry, all day long. Its advanced moisture wicking keeps you cool without changing the way your clothes feel. these inventions may potentially eliminate the need for seasonal clothing.
Futuristic Care:
4. Smart Cleaning - the laundry machines definitely made our lives easier, but still require special installation and access to water, not to mention the ruining of fabrics after multiple washes. The Naturewash by Zhenpeng Li is a true futuristic laundry system. It’s a waterless washer that cleans nano-coated fabric clothes using negative ions. Imagine simply spreading your clothes on the machine surface to get rid of dirt, instead of today’s laundry process.
5. Instantly Dry Clothes - swimwear that dries itself instantly is not a dream anymore, thanks to Sun Dry Swim, which features quick dry nanotechnology enhanced swimwear fabric that sheds water as naturally as skin. It’s only a matter of time until this technology will make it into apparel making the rainy days much less wet, not to mention eliminating the need for driers.
6. Odor Preventing Fabrics - one of the reason for frequent clothes wash is the non-pleasant odors they catch. Japanese company Teijin is known for applying cutting edge technologies to textiles, develops a wide range of solutions, including the anti-bacterial odor preventing functions. Carnation Footcare has launched silver-lined socks it claims keep feet warm and smelling of roses. Pure silver, which coats the outside of the textile fibres, kills bacteria and neutralizes nasty odor-causing elements.
7. Stain Resistant Fabrics - there are plenty of stain removers on the market today, but what if the fabric itself wasn’t even able to catch stains? Nano-Tex, a leading fabric innovation company providing textile enhancements to the apparel market, recently rolled out the market’s best-performing stain repel-and-release treatment. The new solution threatens to eliminate the need for the most innovative stain remover.
8. Wrinkle Resistant Fabrics - who doesn’t like perfectly ironed crisp looking clothes? The process of ironing did improve our clothes appearance, but is tedious and doesn’t produce long lasting effect. A new technique allows the garments to be treated with the anti-wrinkle finish before the garment is dyed. This chemical treatment minimizes wrinkles and gives a smooth appearance to the fabrics. Hopefully, the day we say goodbye to the old heavy irons will be soon over.
Futuristic Wear:
9. Shape Changing Clothes - perhaps the “Airplane dress” by Hussein Chalayan looked too futuristic, but the concept itself of shape changing clothes isn’t as far from our reality. Imagine a skirt that could change from A-line to pencil shape in a click of a button. The simplified version of this concept includes convertible garments such as dress that becomes a skirt, coat that becomes a jacket, two-sided garments - the opportunities for innovative multi-functional garments are endless.
10. Detachable Elements - another innovative way to use materials effectively is detachable elements of clothing and accessories. OneSole are an example of shoes with interchangeable tops, which could be attached to the same sole. Similar concept was also recently explored by the Uniform Project, where a black dress is worn with different accessories to create multi functional looks. Although this wasn’t an actual product, it’s only a matter of time until we’ll see a branded version of this concept.
11. Size Adjustable Clothes - a bonus idea, yet to be invented, but has the potential to change the fashion world as it solves the biggest problem in mass clothing manufacturing - the unique shape of each human body. Size adjustable shoes are today’s reality, although haven’t been hugely penetrated in the market. Imagine what size adjustable clothes could do - a fabric that is “learning” the curves of your body and adjusts accordingly, by that eliminating the need of multiple sizes. I wonder if any inventors out there are tackling the issue.
On a last note, these ideas might sounds too futuristic for mass market integration, but with the decreased costs of new technologies they will become standard in apparel industry in the next few years. Pressured by the economy fashion designers and brands are so busy these days thinking about the next season, while in fact they should be thinking about the next decade. If our clothes could be compared to computers, we are still wearing DOS…”
For more interesting info about fashion and not only, follow Yuli Ziv’s blog.
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ELLE februarie 2010 - Twin
photo: Ionut Staicu
model: Cristiana Grasu
makeup: Diana Ionescu
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ELLE februarie 2010 - Twin
photo: Ionut Staicu
model: Cristiana Grasu
makeup: Diana Ionescu
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