Li Xiaofeng is a Chinese artist that makes clothing by stitching together pieces of China dishware. The piece above is priced at $85,000, but considering the artist uses China dating back to the Qing Dynasty this price is justifiable. Using only shards of China, Li Xiaofeng is able to construct beautifully shaped clothing out of a solid material, which can actually be worn. I’m not sure if you would be able to sit down in this dress but these images show how striking the garments are when worn. This is a magnificent display of craftsmanship and excellence in design. I can’t imagine how much planning and time goes into something like this!
With hints of summer creeping up, it’s that time when we throw open the wardrobe doors to reassess our warm weather wear. If we take a peek at European summer footwear fashions, the gladiator sandal is back, in earthy browns, solids black and fun metallics. Putting a new twist on the traditional gladiator sandal style is Scorah Pattullo, a London based collaboration between Danish designer Rikke Hjelde and UK shoe retailer Frances Scorah. In their third collaboration with UK fashion designer Marios Schwab, the three have come together to produce some new spring/summer designs, which includes a shoe that pushes the boundaries of traditional gladiator sandals. By adding an 11-cm heel, a peep toe and a cut-out silhouette with four delicate straps, the shoes were premiered on almost every model in Marios’ spring/summer catwalk collection. Fashionistas will be glad to hear that the well-loved Brisbane shoe boutique, Beth and Lou, stocks a collection from Scorah Pattullo in its new Fortitude Valley store. Continue reading ’summer shoe dreaming’
In the history of the world, has humanity ever reached a tipping point like the one we seemingly face, with the knowledge we’ve created it and the capabilities to ensure it never happens again? And not just environmentally but economically, culturally, socially and industrially as well? Each day when I read the news I anticipate (depending on the section) which bank has collapsed, how close we are to a recession, what the latest science is telling us about climate change, and with more acceptance than I should have, I gloss over the latest conflict in the West Bank, bombings in Pakistan and the war in Iraq. But in the midst of this insatiable media reporting, some communication mediums give me pause to also consider if there ever been a better time to be positive and opportunistic about the future? Continue reading ‘being blue.’
Originally drawn to her interestingly designed hairpieces, Nagi Noda proves to be an extremely accomplished and designer hailing from the left-field. In addition to manicuring obscure hair designs, Nagi Noda has directed videos for the Scissor Sisters and has done work for Laforet and Nike and is busy working on her own fashion label Broken Label with Mark Ryden. Her video called ‘Ex Fat’, which features her and several poodles doing an aerobics workout in a similar style to Aerobics Oz Style, launched her into designer fame. Born in Tokyo in 1973, Nago Noda has affirmed herself as one of Japan’s most prominent young designers. With the help of her lateral thinking prowess she runs a company Uchu Country Limited, which increasingly attracts global attention from potential clients and avid Continue reading ‘nagi noda’
Why do women have an obsession with shoes? Is it because they always fit? Or is it because they complete an outfit, or are they considered the modern-day sculpture? Adding to the temptation of buying more shoes is United Nude’s range of obscure heels, flats and wedges. The ‘Mobius’ shoe was the brand’s first design and has proven to be a completely new shoe silhouette. Continue reading ‘united nude’
Whether you call them kicks, hi-tops, plimsolls, runners, tennis shoes, trainers, or joggers, the rise and rise of the sneaker in the popularity stakes since its invention in 1917 cannot be denied. Who can forget the prominence of Air Jordans through the 80s and Seinfeld’s signature jeans-and-sneaker look during the 90s? More recent times have seen the resurgence of hi-top pumps amongst the skate crowd and the popularity of the narrow monochromatic plimsoll in the indie scene. The universal and timeless popularity of the sneaker is the inspiration behind Flipbook Gallery’s call-to-artists for a sneaker-culture-related group exhibition to be held in October. The gallery is currently accepting proposals from artists of every medium including stencil artists, painters, sculptors and video artists as well as designers, performers and musicians. Applications close July 14, leaving three months for accepted artists to get creative.
If you’ve got time on your side and you’re looking for a life-changing experience to kick off your career in tourism/ health/ nutrition/ human movement or management, consider applying to new five-star eco health retreat and day spa, Gwinganna’s, work experience program. The retreat is perched atop a ridge on 50 acres of private land in the Tallebudgera Valley, a breathtaking pocket of the world, and is surrounded by lush rainforest, fruit orchards, organic vegie gardens and herb mandalas. The program asks for five weeks of your time as a volunteer helping support the inspiring facilitators with everything from conducting morning tai chi sessions and bushwalks to guiding evening candlelit adventures, serving the organic feasts, tending to the gardens, leading guests through the day spa rituals, helping with cooking demonstrations, and keeping the open fireplace well stocked with wood. The reward is getting to reside on site in the gorgeous restored timber suites, use of all retreat facilities, all organic meals, and the chance to interact with and learn from staff, other volunteers and guests. And, to top it all off, you get to be pampered for the final week as a guest at no charge. Yes, it’s six weeks out of your life but I’m guessing it’s six weeks you’ll never regret. The volunteers I met there were shiny-eyed with excitement for the pure and revitalising experience they were living as their new reality.
Think 1930s Shanghai with rich red, silk cheongsams. Think dazzling neon nights amidst a city booming with financial success, opulent ballrooms and old Hollywood glamour. This will bring you closer to imagining the aesthetic of the Queensland Design on Show (qdos) awards gala event, in which the 2008 award finalists will showcase their innovative designs at UQ’s Schonell Theatre on June 13. Themed ‘Red is the New Black‘, qdos will transform the space into a glittering evening of high fashion, red carpets, acrobatics and paparazzi. Judged by some of the finest design and fashion minds in Queensland and Australia, including Tony Gooley of designfront and Continue reading ‘red is the new black’
Get inspired by leaders in the Brisbane fashion scene at a free talk hosted by QUT Creative Industries Precinct this Thursday. With guest speakers Deanne Maiocchi of Maiocchi and John Prikryl of Check, the Setting Up Shop presentation is an opportunity to hear it from industry professionals who have the personal experience of creating up their own label and opening their own stores. The Japanese-inspired prints and designs of Maiocchi is stocked by over 70 stores nation-wide and John has recently opened a store in one of the hottest fashion precincts in town – the TCB. From the humble beginnings of selling t-shirts at the Valley markets (Deanne) and graduating from QUT’s fashion design course (John) to great commercial success, both designers will offer an inspiring insight into the fashion business and allows up-and-comers and fashion newbies to ask questions and learn from local role models within the industry.
“Is another world possible?” This is the question posed by Veja, a French footwear company that is working with Brazilian farmers to produce fair-trade sneakers. Spurred on by the knowledge that the Amazonian rainforest could disappear by 2020, Veja set about designing and producing a range of sneakers that left a smaller footprint behind. The result was sleek and chic footwear that has been made from organic cotton and fair-trade natural latex sourced from Brazil. According to Veja’s website, Brazil is also the only place on earth where wild rubber trees are found. Farming the by-products of these trees also eradicates the need for non-biodegradable products such as rubber and plastic. So is another world possible? With the advent of a company that respects humans and the environment equally, we may be on the right track.
This year, Gorman will launch its newest project at Rosemount Australia Fashion Week. Inline with the dramatic eco-friendly changes from Gorman that have seen Lisa Gorman become a pioneer of the eco-luxe fashion industry, the Gorman Ship-Shop will be an exciting showcase of her work. The Gorman Ship-Shop is exactly what it’s called. A shop that can be shipped, moved, planted anywhere there’s space. It has no carry bags, no cash register, but it does have a change room. Converted by new young Melbourne based architectural firm NEST, it is made of recycled material and all purchases will be made online. RAFW will also see the launch of the new Organic range and Organic denim, giving fashion insiders veritable proof that going green is a completely viable choice for all levels of business.
There’s something about getting up early on the weekend to check out the markets that captivates the senses – from the dew-laced fresh vegetables to the live music to the intoxicating aroma of freshly-ground coffee. Brisbane has several well-known and established markets but there’s some new ones popping up that you mightn’t have heard of yet. The Servo Sunday Markets have been happening for the last two months in Paddington. Specialising in vintage fashion, accessories and home wares, these markets add a retro-cool twist to the traditional craft market. The market starts at 9 am so you can kickstart the day with a coffee from Cabinessence before wandering the stalls and hunting down some quality vintage goods (and perhaps some breakfast). Also back this weekend is the second The Way We Wear Vintage Fashion and Textile Fair at Mt Gravatt Showgrounds. Inspired by the vintage fashion fairs taking place overseas, the fair was started as a way of taking the hard work out of finding quality vintage clothing by bringing the best dealers from all around the country together in a single spot. Following the very successful inaugural Brisbane fair last August, the fair promises stalls from over twenty high-quality vintage clothing dealers.
Since coming back from the UK, I have been regaling friends and family with stories of the fashion forward city of London. From Oxford Street to Portobello Road Markets to Covent Garden to Brick Lane, there’s always something new and exciting going down in London Town in terms of fashion and footwear. It’s been tricky keeping up-to-date on what’s happening fashion-wise over the other side of the world, as magazines and shop websites tend to offer a limited, stylized view of current trends, so I was very excited to discover London Street Fashion. Continue reading ‘london street fashion’
The Australian Wool Industry (AWI) has suffered recently. Between the drought and an ever-increasing image crisis, it became clear that Australian merino wool needed a makeover. The AWI put their heads together last year and launched the Protege Project, as a way of bringing the product back into the global consciousness. The Protege Project matched five unknown fashion designers with five iconic designers as mentors: among them Karl Langerfeld, Paul Smith and Donatella Versace. These five proteges were chosen to design and launch a new, exciting and modern range of clothing that would change the world view of Australian wool. Continue reading ‘merino makeover’
“Skin+Bones: Parallel Practices in Fashion and Architecture” was a fascinating exhibition that showed in LA and Tokyo during 2006/07. The exhibition highlighted the work of superstars from both architectural and fashion fields including Comme des Garçons, Frank Gehry, Alexander McQueen, Herzog & de Meuron, Narciso Rodriguez and Zaha Hadid Architects. It explored how both professions share the same concerns for ‘sheltering’ the human body and both can act as a means to express an identity. It showed interesting themes in form, patterns, geometry, construction, deconstruction and folding. and demonstrated how both fields (well, all design professions I think) also share quite a similar process from concept development to detailed design. Continue reading ’skin+bones’
Reduce, reuse, recycle, recreate. Recycled couture is proving to be a popular approach for new designers and loved by global fashion fans. And I’m not talking about op-shopping and pre-loved retro clothing nor do I want to detract from the goodness of buying items from such outlets. There is a new type of recycled fashion, one that is carefully designed to reflect high-end couture and clothing that feels good, looks good and is good for the planet. Freedom Clothing Collective in Toronto, describe their ethos as a ‘fun scavenger adventure into a realm where random eclectic finds are plenty and affordable designer pieces deviate from the mass market and their questionable labour practices’. The group was formed when the members were studying fashion design in Toronto.They were offered a space, created a concept and have since formed a fashion revolution. Continue reading ‘Recycled Fashion’
Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe program recycles old shoes to make material that is turned into sports surfaces like outdoor courts and tracks. It’s been happening in the US for a while and in recent years has expanded to Australia, UK and Japan. As I discovered at Harbour Town on the Gold Coast, you can take your old sneakers to any of Nike’s four factory stores around the country. They accept all brands, not just Nike shoes.
A short stroll from Yoyogi Park in Tokyo, where the Harajuku girls gather in their unique sartorial glory and aspiring rockstars brave winter’s stinging bite to sing their hearts out to anyone who will listen, sits the health-inspired juice bar/cafe known as Forbidden Fruit. But unlike many of the unique characters who frequent Tokyo’s infamous Harajuku neighbourhood, this tiny locale prefers to go relatively unnoticed – except to those in the know. Continue reading ‘forbidden fruit in harajuku’
I’ve seen a lot of shoes lately. Colourful, crazy, cute. Sexy, strange, simple. Irresistible, irresponsible and insidious. But none which were recycled, reused or returned to life, not to mention visually appealing, like those found on Terra Plana, and its family of shoe brands including Worn Again, Vivobarefoot and Dopie. Winners of The Observers Ethical Fashion Product of the Year Award in 2007, Terra Plana bids to develop ‘the best feeling designer shoe brand in the world’. With processes including souring locally available resources such as bicycle tyres, car seat belts and reclaimed jeans, utilizing a unique stitching design which cuts down on the need for solvent glues and aiming to make the shoe as light as possible, Terra Plana’s range of shoes have a blueprint to create a very light footprint indeed.
Opening for a short time but a good time, Schmik at Brisbane’s new Portside Wharf is a temporary retail concept featuring eight local artists’ works for sale. Driven by jeweller Marisa Molin and photographer Romy Willing, with space generously sponsored by Multiplex, Schmik will officially open at 6pm on Saturday 8 December and invites shoppers and arts lovers to spend their pretty pennies where it counts with free hugs on offer, live music and refreshing refreshments. Artists’ works are handmade and inspired by nature and include jewellery by Marisa Molin and Eliza Tee, photography by Romy Willing, paintings by Simon Degroot, bags/purses by Rebekah Coffey, body products by Annie Burns, and artist books by Hiromi Tango. Schmik isn’t the first time Marisa has driven an arts retail store. She also helped kick-start the Museum of Brisbane workspace in 2003 and this year organised a similar one-day sale of art works in Launceston where she has spent the past three years completing her Masters. She takes time to travel the State in her van, camp in remote locations and bushwalk to be inspired by nature. She’s also just returned from Singapore where her works were included in a Tasmanian Jewellers exhibition, singular and multiple, as part of the Singapore Design Festival. She was selected with four other jewellers to return to Singapore in March and present at Singapore Fashion Week 2008 but, until 31 January, you’re likely to find Marisa and other Schmik artists manning their magic store at the wharf until it vanishes as miraculously as it appeared. Pop in to Schmik on Fridays 1-8pm and Saturdays/Sundays 11am – 4pm until 31 January.
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