Do What U Like And Luv What U Do...

Lee Hyori in different angle

2013-05-30T12:34:00.001-07:00

Lee Hyori

2013-05-30T12:33:00.004-07:00

Charismatic, chic and straight forward comments that's how I would describe Hyori's personality when you see her on t.v. However when she's not on t.v, you see her real personality which very kind, down-to-earth and giving to others. She is very inspiring for me because not only that she's fashionable, she has a very big heart that help others in any way she could.

My Muse Lee Hyori

2013-04-15T10:38:00.000-07:00

WHAT I THINK..

2013-04-07T16:17:00.002-07:00

The 2 designers that I have researched are opposite and very interesting designers that I have ever researched yet. When I first looked at the names of the designers, I had no idea who they were or anything about their background so it was very interesting and exciting to find out about them.
I researched Charlie Le Mindu first and I thought that he was diverse in design wise and he has a very strong dedication with hair/hairstyling in his work (not just in his fashion collection) which I think is strange but he made it work. Sometimes I think his collections are way too revealing and intriguing because of the way he presents his collection on the runway but its fascinating to watch, its like different sort of movie/song genre or even scene on the catwalk.
I also researched Junya Watanabe which I did not know was Rei Kawakubo's former apprentice for her fashion label Comme des Garcons. He is very different from Le Mindu because Watanabe focuses more on irregular touch, tucks, hemline and pleats on the his designs/collection which is different from Le Mindu's hair related collection. I really like his collections and his other work since I also focus on pleats, tucks and shapes/structure whenever I design so I get influence and inspired looking at his collections.
Overall I am glad that I got to researched both of these designers as I have never heard of them before or knew about them before.

Junya Watanabe review...

2013-03-21T10:43:00.002-07:00

Junya Watanabe seems to be in love with the idea of the ready-made—a piece of clothing that a whole collection can sometimes spin around in its many permutations. In recent years, season after season, he has presented something archetypal and iconic and, somehow, reinvigorated the view of it. During this process he has never bored the viewer or the wearer with the pieces' multitudinous forms; it's something of an achievement. Perhaps the greatest example of this was Watanabe's black leather jacket collection of Fall 2011, which also dealt with, in a hefty aside, the codified garments of punk. Quite a few people attempting to do punk collections this season should really read that one and weep. In fact, it appears that many have: Watanabe is one of the designers that has been most heavily borrowed from recently.

So today, at his own show, where Watanabe seemingly presented his own past collections as the ready-mades and decided to liberally lift from himself, there was a kind of cheeky meta-fashion. It was like a recent-hits compilation (and Watanabe's hits have a hefty dose of sampling) with a variety of remixes. Nevertheless, what he offered felt fresh, fun, and audacious today. He even accompanied the looks with high heels for the first time. They added to a sense of rebellion, maybe even a rebellion against the preconceived notions of Junya Watanabe.

There were hints of the reconfigured denim from Watanabe's Spring 2009 Africa collection, as well as his punk patchwork jeans from Fall 2011, here given a much bigger starring role. An additional spin on the trench also appeared again, this time seemingly cross-fertilized with the Perfecto, producing a profusion of zips. It all added up to a feeling of playfulness, and yet a strange profundity about the passing disposability of fashions.

If Rei Kawakubo is the queen of Paris fashion in terms of consistent innovation, then logic dictates that Junya Watanabe is the crown prince. Yet does a wider public quite realize this? Watanabe is one of the great contemporary designers; he's hardly an unknown, but he deserves a much broader audience. Hopefully, with this collection he will get it.

Charlie Le Mindu Review

2013-02-28T08:10:00.000-08:00

"VIOLENCE - reads the sign which is strapped to the head of a naked model, her chest is dripping with blood. Strobes fill the room and a raucous Kap Bambino soundtrack blasts from the speakers. Instantaneously gripping, we would expect nothing less from Le Mindu.

The show entitled Berlin Syndrome unveils the repressed sexual underground scene of WWII. The designer explores extremes of femininity and sodomy. Stained lace dresses are beautifully constructed with ruffles and off white fur trimming. Pearl peaked hats are worn with transparent PVC and of course towering platforms.

Raw, gritty and theatrical Le Mindu captures all elements of the frivolous, fearless counter culture from the madams in the brothels to the punks on the streets. Hair ranged from sharp blonde wigs, red and black spray painted mohawks, and shaved heads tagged with CUNT.

In your face shock tactics are employed, yet this is not to undermine his masterful creations. For the finale models walk out to the sound of squealing animals, very Marquis de Sade and haute charcuterie Le Mindu emerges in a blood stained apron."

Junya Watanabe..

2013-02-19T16:31:00.003-08:00

· Born in Fukushima, Japan in 1961
· He went on to attend Bunka Fashion College in Tokyo, graduating in 1984.
· He began his apprenticeship at Comme des Garcons, the company run by legendary Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo, as a patternmaker.
· In 1987, he was promoted to chief designer of Tricot knitwear line and then moved on to design for the Comme Des Garcons Homme line.
· in 1992, he has worked under his own name as part of Comme des Garcons.
· He started his own line under the Comme Des Garcons name called ‘Junya Watanabe Comme Des Garcons’ in 1993 and began showing in Paris that same year.
· In 1994, Junya Watanable launched his own label. A few days after his own collection, he presented the collection for his friend Rei Kawakubo.
· His designs do reflect the principles of his mentor Kawakubo, but he takes a personal approach to his garments.
· He gives his clothes an irregular touch through random tucking and pleating or ruching.
· Glamour, sound and colour are notably absent from his design shows, and he keeps a vast distance between his models walking on the catwalk, so that the viewers can give full attention to each design as it appears.
· In 1995, his collection was all boiled wool and black leather with tattoos on the models
· In 1997 he put his own stamp on florals, models seemingly cocooned in Japanese style prettiness but their sculptural half-dresses were conventional from the front and cut away at the back to reveal baggy embroidered trousers. Every outfit was crowned with a folded turban-style wig.
· In 1999, he has given cape sleeves and an uneven hemline to a white Indian cotton multi-layered dress and the model said that suddenly when worn, all the fabric makes sense and it feels much different on a body than when it is seen on a hanger.
· He is particularly interested in synthetic and technologically advanced textiles and fabrics as found in his spring/summer 2001 line but also uses more traditional materials such as cotton in his spring/summer 2003 collection.

· Watanabe is often considered to be a ‘techno couture’ designer, creating unusually structured clothes out of modern, technical materials.

Junya Watanabe Collection timeline from 2002.

(Taken from vogue UK website)

Vauxhall Fashion Scout..

2013-02-19T15:56:00.001-08:00

Subculture: Hip hop presentation

2013-02-16T07:12:00.001-08:00

Here are the slide for our presentation for the hip hop subculture;

Charlie Le Mindu craze..

2013-02-13T15:33:00.001-08:00

· Born in Bergersc, France
· Was a hairstyling prodigy at the French Hair Academy, cutting and styling from the age of 13.
· Le Mindu ascended from boarding school to a fashion hairdressers/stylist in berlin and now London’s French master of Hautw-Coiffure
· He established himself as resident Hairdresser at nightclubs such as White Trash, RIO club and etc
· Pioneer of pop-up salon in Berlin
· He cultivated his own technique and style, known for creations ranging from classic to trashy, wearable to insane
· In 2008 Le Mindu moved his pop-up salon to London, as his creative editorial work flourished
· After featuring in Russian Vogue, Elle, French Vogue and being selected as Observer’s 22^nd coolest person, he took his hairstyling skills to the next level
· In 2009, he launched his first wig collection at the London fashion week, surprising London’s fashion scene with his dramatic wigs

· His clientele has included Lady Gaga, Peaches, Kap Bambino, Ayumi Hamasaki and furthermore

· He has now opened his flagship location at London’s super salon, Urban Retreat at Harrods

“His unique ability to combine show stopping and often shocking pieces inspired by unexpected themes, with genuine hairdressing expertise, a fashion focused sensibility and artisan wig making techniques have positioned him as the unrivalled champion of a new, more progressive attitude towards hair design and technology. Charlie is re-focusing the way hair is perceived within the modern art and fashion environment.” From urbanretreat.co.uk

· He continues to increase his artistic collaborations including L’Oreal Professionnel; for which he has created exclusive hairstyle for the global campaign, ‘Super start heroes’

· His work has been featured in publications such as Vogue Italy, Vogue Hommes Japan, i-D and more
· He has launched his first haute couture collection SS13’ in Paris

My mood board analysis..

2013-02-06T01:00:00.000-08:00

The style of clothing I tend to like are geometric, avant-garde, heavily embellished and extravagant when other people wear or style at/on a photo shoot, magazine or etc.

I like colours that aren't too feminine but bold block colours, ombre, gradient and pastel.

There are difference when I style myself and someone else according to the style of clothing.

My eyes are focused to structured, clean, luxurious, geek chic, sporty and boho clothing but sometimes I thing that the clothing/style are too much so I would add or take away things to create it as my own style.

My influence and inspiration in clothing styles has broaden since I moved country. I think that my style of clothing have changed throughout the years leaving behind my Filipino culture influences bit by bit since I moved country. As I grew up in the countryside of the Philippines, I did not really know much about fashion, all I knew about was what I wear on a daily basis; top and bottom nothing more nothing less. I did not really pay attention to fashion either but I watched my grandma sew clothing and sofa as their business. Now that I have grown up in a fashionable and trend setting city, I think learned about what my actual fashion sense, influence and inspirations are. My sibling has more or less same fashion taste as me so we both share sometimes share similar opinion on how we dress and style that we like or do not like.

Mood board analysis..

2013-01-26T00:48:00.001-08:00

Nhi’s taste of clothing are very tailored, sophisticated, chic, urban/glamour, sexy and luxurious. She sometimes wears different style of clothing depending on the day like sometimes she wears sleek clean and smart look and other times she will wear sporty toned down casual look. In terms of clothing, bags or shoes she likes gold studs, animal print, black and burgundy colour. Working out is part of her lifestyle to keep her body in shape.

Harajuku kids: Japanese Kuro Gyaru Unit Black Diamond in Shibuya

2012-12-18T09:59:00.001-08:00

Over a few days I've have been trying to email people who I can interview but no one has gotten back to me so I have found this interview of gyaru which answers some of the questions I needed to be answered.

Styling Photoshoot

2012-12-18T09:54:00.002-08:00

For my styling photoshoot I have decided to style my models in a vintage harajuku inspired look. I have chosen pastel colours for the colour palette because I wanted to contrast the vintage and femininity of gyaru with some western culture. I wanted the outfits to be minimal, vintage and chic which conveys the style that I am trying to show to the audience.

I tried to recreate the scene in harajuku station where you would normally see the harajuku kids most of the time and the location I have chosen for the photo shoot is on a fun fair/ night market near Waterloo station. The photograph was taken at night time which shows the beautiful christmas light decoration around the area. I wanted the clothes to be the focus of the photograph instead whole scenery so I ask the photographer if he can blur out the background and focus on the outfit.

Thanks to everyone that helped me:

Photographer

-Paul

Model

-Mars Sasuique

-Manika Gurung

Hair & Makeup

-Lala Rose

Location location...

2012-12-18T07:46:00.001-08:00

Here are some of the places that I thought might look great for the atmosphere/background of the final shoot. These places have vintage and playful sense that I though would relate to my chosen subculture which is vintage harajuku and I thought that it would be great to shoot in.

Fun Fair and night market near waterloo station

Inspiration

2012-12-18T06:28:00.005-08:00

These images are some of the outfits that vintage harajuku kids would wear and I found inspiring for the photo shoot.

Subculture: Harajuku kids

2012-12-18T04:13:00.000-08:00

For my chosen subculture I have decided to go with harajuku kids as their diverse style and avant-garde clothing interest me the most. Harajuku is well known for having produced subcultures even before the 1990s. Japan’s street fashion scenes include a multitude of interesting subcultures, one of the most fascinating is the Harajuku Girls. While the Japanese themselves don’t usually refer to this subculture with this title, the phrase hit the mainstream of American consciousness with Gwen Stefani’s Love.Angel.Music.Baby. album.

The fascination of Harajuku kids stems from their fashion ensembles that reflect sexiness mixed with characterisations. Subcultures of Harajuku kids are sometimes manga inspired like Cosplay, but tend to revolve around genres such as Gothic Lolita, Decro, Gothic Maid, Vintage, and sexy school girl. The Gothic Lolita influence includes Victorian style influences, such as lace, corsets, ruffled hems and collars, and headpieces. However an ensemble of Harajuku kids can easily include a mix of such ideas including corseted tops, maid type uniforms, thick layers in short skirts, soft and furry capes, purses, and charms with animal motifs such as lambs, rabbits, or fawns. Outfits are topped with Little Bo Peep hats, mini maid hats, mini tophats, and crowns, depending on one’s preference of Harajuku kids genre. They can also include thigh-high leggings or intriguing tights, worn with clunky platform shoes. Some are into black gothic ensembles, others into pink.

Vintage

hime gyaru

Decora

different subgroup of harajuku kids

goth

cosplay

Ganguro's are another subculture under Harajuku. The Ganguro use tanning machines and make up to make their skin as dark as possible. They also bleach their hair and apply pale make up on their lips and around their eyes for a strange panda effect. The Ganguro wear high platform boots, very short skirts in neon colours with gold jewelry. The Ganguro are heavily influenced by hip hop culture that they want to become black. When asked about changing their skin colour some Ganguro girls replied that it made them look healthier, thin, smart and cool.

Ganguro

“Kuro (hada) gyaru” literally means “black skin gals”. Ten years ago, their dark tans (several Black Diamond members actually work at tanning salons) may have led to these girls being labeled ganguro. However, kuro gyaru is a thoroughly modern version of the super-tanned gyaru. When it comes to fashion, Black Diamond’s kuro gyaru members share a love for the Japanese brand D.I.A., with most members wearing D.I.A. items daily.

In recent years, Japanese gyaru magazines like Egg have focused more on the less-extreme shiro gyaru (white skin gals). But Japan’s fashion scene changes quickly and there are recent signs that tans gals may be making a comeback. Egg launched “Foxy egg” this summer, a sister publication that covers the new kuro gyaru boom and showcases sexier, less conservative gals. Soul Sister Magazine also covers kuro gyaru, including running several features on members of Black Diamond.

Black Diamond’s over one hundred members come from all over Japan – from as far north as Hokkaido and as far south as Okinawa. While Shibuya remains the center of gyaru culture (Black Diamond members can frequently be seen on the streets around 109), they also hold meetings in other cities throughout Japan. The basic goals of the group are simple – to support each other through shared interests, to make friends, and to promote kuro kyaru fashion and culture both inside of Japan and abroad.

Kuro Gyaru

As there are a lot of subgroup within Harajuku kids I have decided to go with the harajuku vintage girls because there clothing that they mostly wear are very interesting and it fits more into my style than the other subgroup. I am gonna be doing my styling photo shoot taking inspiration from this subgroup and making it my own.

Beyond Retro is my chosen shop..

2012-10-31T04:00:00.000-07:00

Beyond Retro offers variety of quirky and unique vintage style of clothing. Therefore I have chosen this particular store to review on. As I look at the exterior of the shop, it is very different compared to the interiors the shop presents. Amusing retro displays using unique merchandises which creates a dramatic world inside the shop. Their dark and gothic mannequin displays were very eye catchy which allows to create the halloween atmosphere. It lifts up the entire environment boosting the vibe for the customers.

When entering the shop, the music in the background suits the atmosphere and creates a fun place shop. Overall the sales assistants are very friendly and helpful which makes me more at ease.

The clothing, accessories and shoes are arrange in different categories, for example colour, style or occasion both for menswear and womenswear depending which are very handy for the shoppers.

What I love about this store is that it immense unique style of clothing that it offers. The clothes, shoes and accessories in the shop as they are sourced from different era and not mass produced, some are customised in diverse way.

The type of customer who'd shop here would be the type of person who likes and are interested vintage and people who loves to be individual about the clothing that they wear on daily basis.

The logo of the shop is simple but eye catchy and bold in it's own way. I think that the clothing sold in the shop influences the logo because of the chosen font style and the use of colour gives off the vintage feel and quirkiness of the whole shop.

Beyond Retro

2012-10-30T13:32:00.001-07:00

Beyond Retro is very different shop out of all of the shops that I have visited so far. Looking from the outside of the shop, it doesn't look very vintage unless you go inside then you'll be able to see all the vintage clothing and the vintage atmosphere that it has. I really like the shop because it's very interesting for me and it also have variety of style clothing in there for me to have a look at.

farfetch.com

2012-10-30T12:54:00.002-07:00

Farfetch.com is different from other online shops that I have seen/visited because they have clear and understandable layout for the online shoppers. The online shop reminds me of Selfridges because they have the designers section, womenswear and menswear. It gives off this similar atmosphere as when I was in Selfridges.

Pop up shops

2012-10-23T15:32:00.001-07:00

Pop up shop that I came across with while I was in Portobello road. The interior and window display of the pop up shop looks very stylish and feminine which I think would attract the younger age group. The clothing in the shop are more affordable than Selfridges, Topshop or Urban Outfitters. I personally like the friendly and fresh atmosphere of the store and I wasn't intimidated going in and looking around unlike when I visited Liberty and Dover Street Market.

Start

2012-10-23T15:29:00.000-07:00

Start is located in a very quiet and calm area where there aren't many people. The interior and exterior of the store is calm atmosphere and simple decoration. I found this store a little similar to the ACNE store in Dover Street because of the same style of clothing that are on the mannequin display and on their rails/shelves.

Bluebird

2012-10-23T15:25:00.001-07:00

Bluebird's interior and exterior looks more glamorous than other shops that I have visited for this task. It is very quite and calm because there wasn't many people that were there.

Matches

2012-10-23T15:19:00.002-07:00

Matches interior is more luxurious and chic which I think is suitable with the area where it is and their customer. The atmosphere seem more friendly and laid back. How they arranged their garments, bags and shoes are very organised and easy to looks through when your shopping.

Oxfam Boutique

2012-10-23T14:57:00.004-07:00

Oxfam Boutique looks more mature and is more targeted to older customers aged late 20's- 30's, that shows on their mannequin on their window and on the cloting that are on the shop. The interior of the shop feels more antique and old-fahioned because of the decoration that are used inside the shop.