FASHION SHOW PRODUCER

   (images taken from google; Vivienne Tam)

Hey Everyone!

Ever wonder about all the work people put into producing an extravagant fashion show? Well Sophia Change is a fashion show producer and she came to our class tonight! She produced Vivienne Tam's fashion show this fall in New York City. She told us about what goes into a fashion show like all the behind the scenes and group efforts it takes to pull off an awesome fashion show. She knew about everything that goes in to a fashion show and was a great public speaker. She had such a positive attitude and seemed to be someone that would be easy and fun to work with. The most interesting thing that Sophia did in my opinion was overseeing everything. She was the person in charge of making sure everything before, during and after the fashion show ran smoothly. She seemed like a great business woman and knew exactly how to handle any unknown situation that was thrown at her. Getting to hear from someone that knows and sees everything that goes into a fashion show production made me realize all the work that someone does for a 12 minute production. She compared a fashion show production to training for the Olympics because you train/plan for months for an event that last only a few minutes. There is a certain type of personality someone needs to have to be able to work with a fashion designer. She convinces the designer they do not ‘need’ something in order not to go over the budget. They need to know how to negotiate with people and get things done on time. Sophia also keeps an eye and updates the budget daily. She stated that she always ‘under promises and over delivers’ this way no one is ever disappointed, only happy when they get more than they had expected.  So next time you watch a fashion show, just remember all the hard work people put into it, and all the time they took preparing for it!

                                                             (images taken from google ; Vivienne Tam's  fashion show)

<3 Christine 

MASTER RETOUCHER vs PHOTO DIRECTOR

(Rundqvist retouched)


Hey everyone! Ever wonder why a picture in a magazine ALWAYS looks flawless? Well the other day in my fashion in the media class Peter Rundqvist who is a master retoucher for Harper Bazaar spoke to us. He is originally from Sweden.  He explained to us the process of retouching and the different things he does to manipulate a picture to make it the most appealing he can. Usually it takes a total of 10 hours to analyze and retouch an image. Most of his work is for advertising because the cover of a magazine is the most appealing and it is what makes people want to buy the magazine. He stated that he gets a lot of pressure from clients; he needs to make the image to what the client wants not just his taste. There were many images he showed us that we can compare the before and after. I also never knew that every picture in a magazine is retouched, even if it is just enhancing the colors. Some main things Peter does to retouch an image is the lighting or the shadows. He also goes beauty retouching and slimming, shaping and extending retouching. Some pictures are even composited for 2 or more pictures to make one complete image. Sometimes the background and the model for the picture are taken separately and then composited together for a more finished look. He also adds texts to some of the images. Although Peter doesn’t always have full say in how the image looks he sometimes will get invited to photo shoots to give his opinion so they picture will not have to be retouched as much. He also stated that print images are hard because of the sizing, such as if it going to be on a huge billboard or just in a magazine page.

(Image taken from google images)

How does a certain celebrity or model get on the cover of a magazine? Well Stephen Walker who is the photo director of Nylon told us about all the details that goes into a magazine cover. He has been working for Nylon Magazine for the past three years.  Nylon magazine is geared towards 18-25 year olds. They have more of a rebellious and edgy feel to their magazine. The covers are fun and colorful with the patterns and younger styling. Stephen spoke to our Fashion in the Media last night. He told us about his main responsibilities, and his day to day tasks and routines. He doesn’t always have time to go to every single photo shoot, but always goes to the cover photo shoots. When at the photo shoots he deals with publicists and managers. He also accommodates everyone on the set. Stephen is also responsible for the budget for the photo shoot and has to prepare for the unknown during a photo shoot such as props breaking or possibly needing extra equipment. Nylon usually does 30-40 photo shoots a month. On the days that Stephen goes to the cover photo shoots he works with the photographer to collaborate ideas on how the final image should turn out.  Stephen also works with the editors and stylist on a day to day basis. When setting up a photo shoots Stephen knows what stylists to pair with specific photographers. He often travels to L.A. and sometimes to London for a cover photo shoot. He mentioned that Nylon has less retouching than most magazines because they don’t want it to look perfect, but more real. Stephens’s favorite part of his job is putting together the best team to successfully pulling off a difficult photo shoot. He finds it exhilarating not to have control.

<3 Christine

Japanese Inspired Fashion

After visiting the F.I.T fashion museum I started to realize all the Japanese inspired fashion styles.
Here are some pictures I found.

I have actually started to see people walking around on the streets wearing some items that reminded me of the Japan style. Keep a look out for some Japanese styles.
<3 Christine

TRENDS

hey everyone! This week I was looking at some fashion show looks and the doneger website. I wanted to see if what doneger said matched up to what was on the runways this season. This is what I found:

DESIGNERS TRENDS SPRING 2011 VS DONEGER

DESIGNERS:

-Tommy Hilfiger- has an all American look, showing navies, reds, yellows. Lots of solid colors and strips, geometrical patterns.  

-D&G-  lots of floral and ruffles on the dresses. Clothing has very good drape and flow. Reds, yellows, and blues were mostly used and a little green. Very feminine.

-Isaac Mizrahi- Neutral solid colors for the suits, and floral rose colors for the dresses.

DONEGER

For the most part after looking at Doneger’s predictions for colors and patterns I think that they are on track with the designers. Each different category had some of the same things the designers were focusing on, even if it was the same color in a different pattern type or the same pattern with a different color story. Looking through the color stories for the spring 2011 Doneger slideshow shows similar the  looks were to the Tommy Hilfiger line. With the colors and the patterns matching up pretty well. I also so a lot of floral patterns and pink/rose color themes along with them. Its interesting how on track both Doneger and the designers are with each other about the upcoming seasons.

<3 Christine

Street Fashion

Now that the weather is changing I have seen some great fall fashion trends, such as layering. It is great to layer many different types of clothing to keep warm in this colder weather and also be fashionable. I have seen many different types of sweater layering. Most people I have seen have been wearing these over sized sweaters with legging's or tights. This look has been very popular. Also the fall color trends with the dark purples, olive, grays, browns, and blacks are the main colors I have seen people on the streets wearing.

Another big fall street fashion is lace up boots. Many people are wearing leather or suede boots. Most colors I have seen are gray, black or brown. These boots are great for the fall. I have seen mostly wedges rather than a heel, probably because once it starts snowing they won’t be as slick. These boots are very trendy and fashion forward. I have also seen people wearing these types of boots out to dressier occasions.   

I have also seen many fitted jackets. "A great tailored jacket -- fitted to show off feminine curves, not a baggy masculine style -- will pair with everything from work trousers to jeans. A jacket adds structure to your figure: gives curvy girls more angular lines, creates waistlines for boyish figure types and smoothes out lumps and bumps for all shapes. Choose traditional fall jacket fabrics like tweed, corduroy, denim or menswear plaids; or velvet, leather, brocade." (About.com: Women's Fashion) 

<3Christine

One on One with Designers

BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE VICTORIA SECRET FASHION SHOW 2009

Ever wonder who makes the costumes for the Victoria Secret Models in their annual fashion show? Last night October 5, 2010 at Kent State University's NYC Studio two of the designers that designed the “Star Trooper” theme in the show came to explain the process and the crazy work that goes into designing for a fashion show. Alexander Koutny is a designer for a high end women’s wear label. He focuses on conceptual and geometrical shapes for his line. Lucy Falck is a designer that is now a freelance pattern maker in women’s wear, while styling on the side. Both designers were born and raised in South Africa but now live in New York City.  When they were asked to design for the Star Trooper theme they used pictures of outer space and rockets as inspiration. The picture above was inspired by an old school rocket. The other picture was inspired by meteors and shooting stars. It was interesting to learn about the challenges they faced when designing for the show. Such as dealing with the pieces breaking, or the pieces being too stiff or heavy for the model to wear. They made the pieces into the sleek and sexy look that Victoria Secret is all about. These two designers took their own geometric and conceptual style to make the pieces they created into the unique and striking designs they completed. It is an eight month process from beginning to end for the designers. Starting with sketching to small models, tweaking it for the prototype to get the shape seems and colors correct and finally the weeks of fitting the models. The model fittings generates the most hype for the media. Seeing and learning about the other side of the Victoria Secret Fashion Show was a great experience. Alexander Koutny and Lucy Falck are imaginative and talented designers which is perfect for designing looks for the Victoria Secret Fashion Show.

Pictures taken from the Victoria Secret website

<3Christine