La Mode Outré

On The Street, Taipei... Gaga

noreply@blogger.com (La Mode Outré) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:01:00 +0000

I was performing in New York and my friends started to call me Gaga, they said I was very theatrical and they said, 'You're Gaga'
- Lady Gaga

On The Street, Taipei... Cia Cia

noreply@blogger.com (La Mode Outré) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:01:00 +0000

If it looks good, you'll see it. If it sounds good, you'll hear it. If it's marketed right, you'll buy it. But... if it's real, you'll feel it
- Kid Rock

On The Street, Taipei... Corner of 12th Avenue and Shimin Boulevard

noreply@blogger.com (La Mode Outré) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:12:00 +0000

I trained as a theater actor and you had a bare stage and you had to pretend, one prop and you are in the middle of 8th Ave. and traffic is just going by
- Benicio Del Toro

I still feel a bit weird taking someone's photo like this, but, you know, I see something I want to photograph and I can't let myself let it go by. Besides, I think it'd be even weirder to then go up and say "hey, I just stood behind you taking photographs, do you mind?" I figure that it's positive, so that can't be all bad.

On The Street, Taipei... Hsiao Hsiao

noreply@blogger.com (La Mode Outré) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:01:00 +0000

I think I've done fashion passing through it. Not really being there. Passing through, meeting nice people and then coming back
- Ines Sastre

On The Street, Taipei... Jamie

noreply@blogger.com (La Mode Outré) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:01:00 +0000

Of course there are many ways we can reuse something. We can dye it. We can cut it. We can change the buttons. Those are other ways to make it alive. But this is a new step to use anything - hats, socks, shirts. It's the first step in the process
- Issey Miyake

I actually shared this photo on the New York Times Reader's photos section - each week they put a shout out for submissions on a particular theme - this week was coloured socks, so it seemed pretty much spot on!

If you want to give it a go, then you can follow for the shout outs on the NY Times Fashion twitter - this week they're after "street style photos of clutches".

On The Street, Taipei... Serena

noreply@blogger.com (La Mode Outré) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:01:00 +0000

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. There is nothing more common then unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent
- Joe Strummer

I think I once said something that to this day I still consider to have been vaguely intelligent and probably about the only thing I've uttered that could be considered so. Which was something to the effect of "the difference between successful people and those who aren't comes down to those who keep at it long after everyone else has given up." I think I was probably drunk at the time, so you could blame (or credit) the pseudo-intelligence on the alcohol.

And while you could probably argue that point either way e.g. if it's an absolute fact that the moment has gone and you're still pushing at it, then maybe you need to reconsider, I still think it holds a lot of truth. Very few people seem to become overnight success stories. I think even if it looks that way, a large amount of persistence and determination has already gone on behind the scenes to get it to that point.

On The Street, Taipei... Wu

noreply@blogger.com (La Mode Outré) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:01:00 +0000

The young dare to try new things. There are no limits for new fashions
- Fu Tzu-ching

On The Street, Taipei... Charlie

noreply@blogger.com (La Mode Outré) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:01:00 +0000

I think it's important to really press on with the song writing and just go with it. There's no code, there's no craft... it's just let yourself shine through your music. If it's meant to be loved and heard, it'll happen
- Chantal Kreviazuk

I'd already seen Charlie on his bike and it wasn't until after he'd ridden passed and away that I actually engaged my brain and thought "oh, I could have just waved him down and asked to take a photo." And I felt a bit annoyed that'd I'd let an opportunity go by without acting on it. The bane of the opportunist.

But then I do believe that if something is meant to happen, it doesn't even matter if you let it pass you once, it'll come back round and kind of make you have a bite at it. So when he rode back (from getting take-out lunch), I didn't even hesitate. Notwithstanding that it must be utterly bizarre to have a white guy waving you to stop just to ask for a photo. Such is life I guess.

On The Street, Taipei... Doreen

noreply@blogger.com (La Mode Outré) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:01:00 +0000

My fashion pictures are documents just as much as my boat people or my pictures for Band-Aid of Sudan
- David Bailey

On The Street, Taipei... Ling Ling

noreply@blogger.com (La Mode Outré) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 02:51:00 +0000

For an idea ever to be fashionable is ominous, since it must afterwards be always old-fashioned
- George Santayana

It feels like the journey through style and fashion is driven by a constant need for something more. Like it feels as though you create a style or a fashion, you use it for a while and then it becomes very familiar to the point that you feel like a change. And the change is to create something else - a difference, a development, a step-up. So it's a cycle that keeps going and going, albeit moving upward - each cycle building on the last cycle.

And it's how I feel with doing all this - I feel like I see one style, I might photograph it a few times (including variations upon it) and then I want something else - it's done, so do something else. It's kind of like a frustration, but I think it's actually more like a desire. And that's got to be the central force really - of style, of fashion, of life even: a desire. It's not necessarily only what you're doing that defines you, but what you desire, what you want to be, what you want to express and, ultimately, whether you're going to let yourself go there.

On The Street, Taipei... Mars (and friend)

noreply@blogger.com (La Mode Outré) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:41:00 +0000

No matter how little money and how few possessions you own, having a dog makes you rich
- Louis Sabin

On The Street, Taipei... Molly

noreply@blogger.com (La Mode Outré) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:01:00 +0000

It is always the instantaneous reaction to oneself that produces a photograph
- Robert Frank

I love how quick this is, yet how amazingly powerful the output can be. I mean, I see someone, then 5 or 10 seconds later I'm asking for their photo, another 10 seconds later and I've got the spot and I'm getting them into place, then over the next 15 to 20 seconds I take a few photos, and it's done.

And even though the person had no idea the photo was going to happen just before it did, and even if they've got that feeling of being put on the spot, they sometimes manage to produce something so instantaneous that it's quite beautiful and incredibly honest. It's almost irresistible.

On The Street, Taipei... Ellena X Carol Ryder Illustration

noreply@blogger.com (La Mode Outré) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:01:00 +0000

_________________________________
Illustration by Carol Ryder

Carol, how did you come to be an illustrator? Was it through studies, previous work or a some other route?

I had always wanted to be involved in fashion illustration, but when I finished University, I was too much of a coward to put my neck on the line and do the trawling around London - visiting Art Directors and risking repeatedly being turned down - that illustrators were meant to do. Also, when I finished University, fashion illustration was at a bit of a low ebb; everything was about photography, so I became a fashion designer instead, then a lecturer in fashion design. A couple of years ago I decided that if I was going to do anything at all with my fashion illustration – as I had always wanted to - it was 'now or never'. I had a regular income as a part-time fashion lecturer, so figured that I could juggle the time and the money, which I have been doing.

What does working as a freelance illustrator actually involve?

It involves receiving commissions from clients, then first supplying them with rough ideas for their commission, whether it be for magazines, advertising or whatever, together with a price for the finished job. If the client is OK with the ideas and the price, I proceed with the full-colour artwork that they require, usually working to quite a tight deadline (this is OK by me; I work quite quickly, anyway). Once it’s done, it is usually e-mailed to the client before the deadline, together with an invoice for payment.

Illustration seems to be in a bit of a renaissance period at the moment, like it's coming back into vogue after a period of photography dominating. Would you agree and any reasons why so?

I absolutely agree. I think the only reason is that people got a bit bored of photography because it was so ubiquitous and held no surprises any more. Fashion illustration became fashionable again through illustrators like Jason Brooks, who used computer technology to generate images, but as people became used to computer-generated images as well, more hand-rendered images became fashionable again: David Downton, for example, is enjoying massive popularity at the moment.

Are there any illustrators who you particularly admire and who influence & inspire you?

Lots! I particularly admire illustrators who have a loose, free watercolour style. David Downton, who I’ve just mentioned, was a massive hero of mine when I was learning about fashion and how to illustrate it. I also liked the work of Tony Viramontes, who was incredibly talented but died very young. Other inspirations are Sara Singh, Stina Persson and Zoltan.

What would be success for you as an illustrator - the point at which you think "I've made it"?

Tricky. I suppose to have an illustration on the cover of one of the big glossies would be a real coup, but they all still use photography rather than illustration, so I guess I’d have to plump for illustrating the inside pages, instead. Or to be able to illustrate one of the big designer brands.

Finally, is there a quote which particularly inspires you or defines who you are?

‘I came into this world with nothing and I still have most of it left’!

by Carol Ryder
Portfolio at www.carolryder.com

On The Street, Taipei... Wang

noreply@blogger.com (La Mode Outré) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:01:00 +0000

When I'm doing this, it's all about taking the photograph and I have a complete disregard for myself. I swear I'll get run over one of these days, jumping around in the street to get the best angle

I must be an amusing sight when I take photographs. I mean, I'm an amusing sight at the best of times, but when I take 6foot3 and scrunch it up down near the ground, long legs, arms and body moving around to try and get the best (or what I think is the best) angle, that must look kind of funny. But then this isn't a photograph of the photographer and it never is. Having said that though, I'll see one day if I can get Stacey to catch me in action.

On The Street, Taipei... Alex

noreply@blogger.com (La Mode Outré) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 02:01:00 +0000

Cheerfulness is the best promoter of health and is as friendly to the mind as to the body
- Joseph Addison

I've enjoyed meeting people all over Asia so far. Certainly there are general differences in how people react across the different countries, but still there are people everywhere who are very cool to meet, it's just a matter of how many of those people I can find.

So it's nice to be on my fourth trip to Taiwan and I'm still waiting for this bubble to burst, like it feels like I've only met very cool and friendly people - in general - so far, and it almost feels like "when is it going to stop?". Not that I want it to because I love meeting cool people, but I don't quite know whether I'm just sugar coating the experience I'm having here because I'm still quite fresh, or if the Taiwanese are actually just that way. Deep down I think it's pretty much the latter.

On The Street, Tokyo... Daiki

noreply@blogger.com (La Mode Outré) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 09:01:00 +0000

More than any other city, Tokyo demonstrates that ‘city’ is a verb and not a noun
- Mori Toshiko

The ridiculous thing is that even though I've lived in Tokyo once and travelled there on five other occasions, I still sat on the plane for my last trip wondering how it'd go looking for people to photograph, not sure if I'd find many people. I think it's just that I don't have much of a memory - I tend to get swallowed up in whatever I'm doing in the now and I forget the past; I forget how it was. But it's great to go to Tokyo and walk out onto the street and realise (and remember) that it's everywhere - everything is happening everywhere. It's great.

On The Street, Taipei... Karen

noreply@blogger.com (La Mode Outré) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 09:01:00 +0000

I never cared for fashion much, amusing little seams and witty little pleats: it was the girls I liked
- David Bailey

On The Street, Taipei... Pin Zhou

noreply@blogger.com (La Mode Outré) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:01:00 +0000

All I need is a camera and I'll make things happen
- Keenen Ivory Wayans

The great thing with doing this (or one of the great things I should say) is that while it's got it's twists and turns and idiosyncrasies that can present a less than obvious challenge, at the core of street style photography is that it requires nothing more than having a camera, going out onto the street and looking for someone who takes your eye, then asking them if they mind you taking their photograph. I think everyone should try it, at least once or twice - it can be challenging but it's a real buzz at the same time.

On The Street, Taipei... Vicky

noreply@blogger.com (La Mode Outré) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:01:00 +0000

Music, art, literature, movies, fabric, travelling, fine food, antiques... are not only part of my job, but also my life and most importantly where I get my inspirations from
- Jamei Chen

But then maybe on the whole 'what are you looking for' thing, it's actually a good thing to not be looking for something specifically. Because I suppose what I'm really after is an inspiration for a feeling which could be anything really, and I've just gotten hooked on finding that inspiration and feeling from the way people dress, recording it by way of street style photography.

And it's probably good that I don't really know much about fashion or think about clothes in a "parts of the sum" type way, because if I went out each day saying "I want to take a photo of someone wearing jeans and a light coloured coat and blue/purple scarves and a cool black bag", it'd be all a bit formulaic and predictable; it'd be like ticking off a look on a predetermined list. All I know, then, is that I know it when I see it and that's inspiration enough.

On The Street, Taipei... Chen

noreply@blogger.com (La Mode Outré) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:01:00 +0000

Music and silence combine strongly because music is done with silence, and silence is full of music
- Marcel Marceau

I seem to be thinking a lot about this question recently: what do you look for? Because I've never felt like I've been able to answer that exactly. I know that I like lines and shapes and forms, but that still really doesn't say anything. Then sometimes I think I know what I'm not looking for, only to then find that very thing and realise that it works somehow. It's very hard to define, definitively.

In fact, the only way I can describe it is to describe the result - I'm looking for a photograph that makes me feel very silent and still, and solid too. Which is really just saying that I'm looking to take a photograph that makes me feel very complete, like nothing else is required, nothing else needs to be done. It still doesn't answer the question, does it? Maybe it's a question that should never be answered, because the whole point is to keep on looking.

On The Street, Taipei... CatKing

noreply@blogger.com (La Mode Outré) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:01:00 +0000

Fashion is a language that creates itself in clothes to interpret reality
- Karl Lagerfeld

On The Street, Tokyo... Yuko X Rachel Wilkinson Illustration

noreply@blogger.com (La Mode Outré) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:01:00 +0000

Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford
- Samuel Johnson

_________________________________
Illustration by Rachel Wilkinson

Rachel, you're a student of the London College of Fashion, is that right?

I graduated from LCF with a BA in Fashion Illustration last summer. Now I work for Illustrated People, a clothing and print company based on Brick Lane.

How have you come to be so involved with illustration - when did it all start?

I'm from a fine art and textiles background. I did my foundation at Chelsea school of art, where my tutor suggested I try fashion Illustration as a mix of the two. That's when I fell in love with illustration.

Looking across your portfolio, it seems your style has a focus on sketched lines and key colours. Is that how you see it or how you want to define it?

I think thats a good representation. I would say my work is very pencil heavy, with a strong focus on detail. I love colour and experimenting with traditional techniques such as etching and letterpress printing.

Are there any illustrators that you identify with in particular? Maybe David Downton or Kenneth Paul Block perhaps?

My favourite is Laura Laine. I love her tone and line and she's unique.

What are some illustrations or projects that you've completed that you're particularly happy with?

My final major project for my degree was challenging but in the end I was happy with the outcome and pleased with the progress I had made from pushing myself, so that is up there.

Finally, is there a quote or saying that really defines who you are or what you do?

When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.

by Rachel Wilkinson
Portfolio at www.rewilkinson.com
Contact at rewilkinson@me.com

On The Street, Taipei... Katherine

noreply@blogger.com (La Mode Outré) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:01:00 +0000

I have tried to be as eclectic as I possibly can with my professional life, and so far it's been pretty fun
- Roland Barthes

It's funny that so many people consider Asians to be conservative and shy. I think they definitely are in some respects, although maybe a better word to use is modest. But for some reason it feels like people in Asia can do way more with their style, really build in a sense of eclecticism that back in the West might be called eccentric and viewed as a negative. I mean, that's hugely stereotypical and probably borderline racist, but then it's a compliment really - that through a sense of the eclectic comes vibrancy, colour and a whole lot of life, which should be viewed as a very strong positive and anything but conservative and shy.

On The Street, Taipei... Chen

noreply@blogger.com (La Mode Outré) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 10:22:00 +0000

It doesn’t matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop
- Confucius

And when I started this, I kind of thought I'd do it for three years and try and get around 300 photos that I really loved, then I'd make myself a book and that'd be that, enough done. However now I kind of feel like it'd be neat to keep on going for like ten years, or even more, maybe indefinitely, as long as I can. So whenever I start to feel impatient or frustrated because I want to do more and more but circumstances make it otherwise, I take a step back and remind myself that so long as it keeps going and I don't call it a day, there is time enough to do more and that's the way it should happen.

On The Street, Tokyo... Isoda

noreply@blogger.com (La Mode Outré) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 09:01:00 +0000

The average novel invariably reads like a detective's report. It is drab and tedious because it is never objective
- Natsume Sōseki

I started doing all this after using streetstyle photographs of people to make characters for short stories from. And I keep thinking I'll do that again at some point. In fact, I definitely will, it's on the cards.

And I still see something of a character in people. Like Isoda, for example. I don't have a specific character for him exactly, except that I feel he'd fit very well into either a Kōbō Abe or a Haruki Murakami novel, maybe as an off-beat detective, someone who you bump into in the back alleys or upon turning a corner at night, and who your meeting with is absolute key to being able to move forward.