See you on the other side ;)
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Time for a makeover...
As you might know, i've recently graduated and even though i started this blog to document the process of my graduation project I have no intention to shut it down. Unlike my batch mates I actually enjoy blogging. Buttt I do feel how ever that some changes need to be made, there are so many things that I would like to share with you which are not necessarily in the field of sustainable fashion (even though that is going to definitely be something that I will focus on) I'm going to be making some changes in the layout and pages of the blog over the next couple of days and hopefully after that share some interesting things with you. Be it music, food, design or interesting articles. Lets see what i can make of it!
See you on the other side ;)
See you on the other side ;)
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Kate Spade New York
Clothes and accessories by New York based designer Kate Spade aren't my style, but i absolutely love the way she puts her collections accross. The use of bright colours...Wow!
Check out their website and their weekly blog about colour, it's quite inspiring, if anything the website will just brighten up your day a little. They have made some videos about living colourfully that are certain to put a smile on your face.
Seven henrietta street is another video made by Kinga Burza for Kate Spade. Happiness :)
image via
Gare Du Nord
So i'm in the mood to share some nice music with you today..and promoting the dutch music scene at the same time.
Gare du Nord is a dutch- belgian duo that kicked off in the spring of 2001 when producers Doc and Inca were asked by a French promoter to deliver a soundtrack for a Fashion & Lifestyle Event in Brussels called Excellence. Instead of going just for moody sounds and loungy atmospheres the twosome decided to go beyond synths and beats and they composed a song cycle to express their contemporary interpretation of traditional jazz and blues. The soundtrack for the event became the first Gare du Nord album.
After this they have released quite a few albums which have all been quite successful.
My favourite track by Gare Du Nord is Dish of the day from the album Love for Lunch.
Gare du Nord is a dutch- belgian duo that kicked off in the spring of 2001 when producers Doc and Inca were asked by a French promoter to deliver a soundtrack for a Fashion & Lifestyle Event in Brussels called Excellence. Instead of going just for moody sounds and loungy atmospheres the twosome decided to go beyond synths and beats and they composed a song cycle to express their contemporary interpretation of traditional jazz and blues. The soundtrack for the event became the first Gare du Nord album.
After this they have released quite a few albums which have all been quite successful.
My favourite track by Gare Du Nord is Dish of the day from the album Love for Lunch.
Room Eleven
I first came across room eleven a few years ago at Oerol ( a theatre and music festival that happens every summer at the island of Terschelling in the Netherlands) and how do i put it? it was a love affair that still lives on...
Room Eleven is a dutch band that brought out their first album six white russians and a pink pussy cat in 2006. Their music can be best described as a catchy mixture of jazz, pop, funk, blues and a touch of folk. Gotta love it!
One of my favourites is Lalalalove from their second album Mmm..Gumbo? it's got a very nice video to go along with it as well!
Room Eleven - Lalala Love from Herrjaapmans on Vimeo.
Unfortunately the members of room eleven have decided to go their own ways. But Janne Schra the lead singer has continued under the name Schradinova and has also come up with some pretty fabulous tracks. Check her out!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Guy Aroch
Hello everyone,
It's been a while since i posted something, and lots has happened since then: I've graduated, exhibited my work and travelled across indonesia for a month. Life changing experiences all of them!
I thought it was about time I post something again since I've been coming across so many lovely things after I got back. From now on this blog is going to be more of a space to share my findings, may it be fashion, photography, music or anything else that i find interesting.
I'm going to start with a few photographs by Guy Aroch for the free people january catalog. They are absolutely stunning!
while you're at it watch the video Guy made for the campaign as well it's lovely!
It's been a while since i posted something, and lots has happened since then: I've graduated, exhibited my work and travelled across indonesia for a month. Life changing experiences all of them!
I thought it was about time I post something again since I've been coming across so many lovely things after I got back. From now on this blog is going to be more of a space to share my findings, may it be fashion, photography, music or anything else that i find interesting.
I'm going to start with a few photographs by Guy Aroch for the free people january catalog. They are absolutely stunning!
while you're at it watch the video Guy made for the campaign as well it's lovely!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
The T-shirt adventure
When deciding which materials to use my choice seemed simple: knits.
I chose knits because i thought it would go well with the idea, my aesthetic and the fact that knits are apparently better for the environment; less processing etc. Easy. Simple. Fun.
WRONG! Little did i know that it was practically impossible to find someone who works with knits in bangalore. The machines that are used for jersey materials are different from the normal sewing machines which i was aware of, but turns out only large scale manufacturing units possess them. Here i am again, small scale designer (to be, which i think in this case is definitely an advantage) getting lost between the humungous orders of mnc’s.
After a week of desperate phone calls and visits to large amounts of people, where the answer was either i’m sorry mam we dont do knits or we take a minimum order of 500 pieces only, my only option seemed to be to take help from father dearest again. ( My father works with organic cotton farmers and has in the past supplied cotton to various ethical clothing brands) So he put in a good word for me to a former colleague and off I was to Tirupur.
Once in Tirupur, we had very little time. My designs were ready but since i’m not a fashion designer, my pattern making skills are not optimal, which meant that the patterns and my designs had to all be made in one day.
I started my day off at a deserted factory, with an if i may be blunt exceptionally daft pattern master. After 2 hours of explaining what i wanted over and over again we finally had some patterns. But i felt like i could have probably done better myself. Not a very good feeling. Thankfully the guy who was helping me out seemed to think the same and so he took me to another pattern master in another factory. This guy was great, he understood exactly what i was talking about and made my patterns in just about half an hour. He also got a mock up stitched really quickly and made necessary corrections.
We were then off to yet another factory to get my t-shirts stitched. (i must tell you getting these t-shirts stitched was definitely not the best for the carbon footprint of my project) By then i was exhausted from being carted from one end of the city to another. On the way i was nearly tempted into buying some surplus stock “branded” t-shirts, but keeping the principles of my project in mind i politely refused. Besides the day was coming to an end and i had to leave early the next morning.
So to the production unit we go, where i find out that the unbleached cotton jersey that i bought has not been processed to be work with yet. Which means that my t-shirts are probably going to get twisted once i wash them. Brilliant, uptill now i thought i had made a responsible decision but i guess i was slightly wrong there. I guess these prototypes will have to stay prototypes and can’t end up in my cupboard to be worn over and over again.
The patterns were then cut and stitching could begin, so far so good. But then, another problem surfaced. T-shirts need piping on the neckline and yes there’s a seperate machine for that. The unit was in the middle of a production which needed a 2 cm piping, which was way to broad for my liking, but changing the size of the piping on the machine takes 2 hours, this meant that my t-shirts could not possibly be finished by the end of the day. I guess wantting to finish everything in one day was a bit too ambitious anyway.
The whole t-shirt experience has taught me a lot. Once again i have been confronted by the fact that things are not easy to do on a small scale. Which makes it all the more difficult for designers who want to make a change little by little.
One thing that i noticed when i was in tirupur was women sitting on the side of the road picking apart pieces of jersey. When i asked what they were doing, i was told that these women take apart the waste from the factories which is then used as cleaning material or filling for car seats. This to some extent was a comforting thought., because the amount of fabric that gets wasted is substantial. Although i still feel that we need to reduce the amount of waste that is generated in the first place.
I chose knits because i thought it would go well with the idea, my aesthetic and the fact that knits are apparently better for the environment; less processing etc. Easy. Simple. Fun.
WRONG! Little did i know that it was practically impossible to find someone who works with knits in bangalore. The machines that are used for jersey materials are different from the normal sewing machines which i was aware of, but turns out only large scale manufacturing units possess them. Here i am again, small scale designer (to be, which i think in this case is definitely an advantage) getting lost between the humungous orders of mnc’s.
After a week of desperate phone calls and visits to large amounts of people, where the answer was either i’m sorry mam we dont do knits or we take a minimum order of 500 pieces only, my only option seemed to be to take help from father dearest again. ( My father works with organic cotton farmers and has in the past supplied cotton to various ethical clothing brands) So he put in a good word for me to a former colleague and off I was to Tirupur.
Once in Tirupur, we had very little time. My designs were ready but since i’m not a fashion designer, my pattern making skills are not optimal, which meant that the patterns and my designs had to all be made in one day.
I started my day off at a deserted factory, with an if i may be blunt exceptionally daft pattern master. After 2 hours of explaining what i wanted over and over again we finally had some patterns. But i felt like i could have probably done better myself. Not a very good feeling. Thankfully the guy who was helping me out seemed to think the same and so he took me to another pattern master in another factory. This guy was great, he understood exactly what i was talking about and made my patterns in just about half an hour. He also got a mock up stitched really quickly and made necessary corrections.
We were then off to yet another factory to get my t-shirts stitched. (i must tell you getting these t-shirts stitched was definitely not the best for the carbon footprint of my project) By then i was exhausted from being carted from one end of the city to another. On the way i was nearly tempted into buying some surplus stock “branded” t-shirts, but keeping the principles of my project in mind i politely refused. Besides the day was coming to an end and i had to leave early the next morning.
So to the production unit we go, where i find out that the unbleached cotton jersey that i bought has not been processed to be work with yet. Which means that my t-shirts are probably going to get twisted once i wash them. Brilliant, uptill now i thought i had made a responsible decision but i guess i was slightly wrong there. I guess these prototypes will have to stay prototypes and can’t end up in my cupboard to be worn over and over again.
The patterns were then cut and stitching could begin, so far so good. But then, another problem surfaced. T-shirts need piping on the neckline and yes there’s a seperate machine for that. The unit was in the middle of a production which needed a 2 cm piping, which was way to broad for my liking, but changing the size of the piping on the machine takes 2 hours, this meant that my t-shirts could not possibly be finished by the end of the day. I guess wantting to finish everything in one day was a bit too ambitious anyway.
The whole t-shirt experience has taught me a lot. Once again i have been confronted by the fact that things are not easy to do on a small scale. Which makes it all the more difficult for designers who want to make a change little by little.
One thing that i noticed when i was in tirupur was women sitting on the side of the road picking apart pieces of jersey. When i asked what they were doing, i was told that these women take apart the waste from the factories which is then used as cleaning material or filling for car seats. This to some extent was a comforting thought., because the amount of fabric that gets wasted is substantial. Although i still feel that we need to reduce the amount of waste that is generated in the first place.
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