Interview with Canadian Fashion Designer Angela Chen

Angela Chen F/W 2011
Photo by George Pimmentel

When I saw Canadian fashion designer's Angela Chen's Fall-Winter 2011 presentation at LG Fashion Week, I was struck by her bold combination of chunky knitwear with delicate fabrics like tulle. It was paradoxically cozy and delicate at the same time and reminded me of ballerina dancers in rehearsal with their sweaters and knitwear piled on for warmth. It was this successful pairing of hard and soft elements that led me to seek out an interview with Angela.

Ingrid: It seems to me that you took bigger risks with this collection in moving beyond classical elements into more daring and bolder design work. Would that be an accurate assessment?

Angela: Yes. This season I was really inspired by contemporary artist Jonathan Lasker and his brushstroke technique. Jonathan likes to play with form and this influenced my decision to knit.  With knits I can incorporate both thick and thin yarns to create unique shapes that are heavily texturized. My collection captures bright white against black to achieve a bold contrast similar to Jonathan’s use of pop colours against neutral backdrops. I love his artistic technique and his ability to use erratic brush strokes to play with shape. I drew on his use of repetition and freehanded lines when I knit my Fall collection. This season my collection is titled Sleep & Poetry, which is also a partial title of a Lasker book of drawings and poems, and a poem by John Keats.

Ingrid: Almost all the pieces in this collection seem to have a knitwear element. Was this a conscious decision to move to focus your strengths and something that you enjoy?

Angela: Knitting has become one of my signature styles. I love the art of knitting because it allows me to manipulate yarn so I can play with different silhouettes, create repetition and weave abstract lines, similar to what Jonathan is able to accomplish with his sporadic brushstrokes and use of abstract forms in his artwork. 

Angela Chen FW Collection 2011
Photo by George Pimmentel

Ingrid: How did you begin your design process for this particular collection? Did you sketch it out first or just pick up the knitting needles?

Angela: I knew that I wanted to incorporate a lot of knits into my FW2011 collection. I sketched dozens of knitwear ideas down on paper before I picked up the knitting needles. When it came time to pick up the knitting needles I didn’t put them down until right before the show!  

Ingrid: I was particularly drawn to your tulle skirts. Is this the first time you've worked with tulle?

Angela: This was my first time incorporating tulle tutus into a collection. I decided to use tulle because I enjoyed how the chunky knit mixed with the tulle to create a hard and soft contrast, similar to Jonathan’s paintings.  Tulle and yarn allowed me to create texturized layers and shapes, which is why I incorporated them both into my collection. Jonathan really inspired me to play with form and contrast. The wool yarn I used had hints of mohair in it, which is a light-weight yarn; my outfits had to appear big and chunky but be light enough to wear and I think incorporating the tulle skirts emphasizes the weightlessness of the collection. 

Ingrid: In our previous interview, you mentioned that you hand-knit all the chunky sweaters yourself. Was that also true this time? If so, how do you envision this going into production?

Angela: It’s true! All the knits in my FW2011 collection were hand-knit by me. For the production of my knitwear I contacted a fashion office in Hong Kong that connected me to a factory in Shenzhen that specializes in knits. While most of my production is based in Vancouver, Shenzhen handles my knitwear pieces. I believe that building connections overseas is the first step in establishing OR as a global brand. 

Angela Chen FW 2011
Photo by George Pimmentel

Ingrid: Almost all the pieces were in black and white, except perhaps for the tulle skirt and the purple bustier. Why weren't they also in black or white? (I loved them in gold but just found it interesting that they weren't black or white).

Angela: I choose gold because I wanted to incorporate a pop of colour within my collection. I was influenced by Jonathan’s use of bright colours against a neutral backdrop in his paintings. Also, it is important for me to create a collection that is timeless; I chose to incorporate gold within my colour palette because gold will never go out of style.  

Ingrid: Please update me on where you are selling your collection now.

Angela: I am currently in talks with some stores in Toronto which I am very excited about. I also have OR selling in British Columbia and in Taiwan. Online my line is available at Moxsie Online Boutique and Etsy. 

Ingrid: What's next?

Angela: I would like to open a flagship OR by Angela Chen store in countries all over the world, starting with Canada of course! 

Angela Chen at LG Fashion Week 2011
Photo by George Pimmentel

Photos provided courtesy of Angela Chen via lotus leaf communications

Artful Fashion by Mary Katrantzou

I rarely post about the current runway shows, but occasionally a collection comes along that compels me to stop and take notice. On Monday at London Fashion Week, there was a collection by a relative unknown by the name of Mary Katrantzou that combines art and fashion in a novel way.

Photo by Yannis Vlames

Inspired by images form old issues of Architectural Digest and the World of Interiors, the designer created surrealist looks that turn the wearer into a walking sculpture. Images of lavish room interiors are placed on the body in such a way that the effect is like a tromp l'oeil painting. For some outfits, sculptural jewelery pieces seemingly inspired by chandeliers enhance this effect. In one interview I read, Mary Katranzou said "With this collection, I wanted to put the room on the woman, rather than the woman in the room."


Mary Katrantzou has a degree in Architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design which probably explains the sculptural qualities of the garments she designs. She also graduated from Central Saint Martins in Textile Design where her graduating show was themed around trompe l’oeil and digital prints of oversized jewellery (inspired by Russian Constructivism and early 70s movie posters) featured on dresses.

This is a designer that I'll be keeping my eyes on.  Her looks are available at Harvey Nichols in London and Barneys in the USA, among other stores. To see more of her designs, click here.

Confessions and the Sense of Self: Works by Noel Palomo-Lovinski

 

In the exhibition Confessions and the Sense of Self at Kent State University Museum, Noel Palomo-Lovinski has explored the themes of women's roles and self image. She has designed and created clothing  layered with meaning through shape, texture, fabric and embellishment that as a whole functions as sculpture. Anonymous confessions by women were obtained through public websites and used as design elements in portraying the "tension that exists between the enduring archetype of the caring female and the nature of such contradictory confessions".

Using dress as a visual metaphor for identity, the exhibitions include:
I Feel Great!
Bridezilla
All Tied Up in Knots
Hold It In
Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety
Twisted Sister
Levels of Confession
Mother Love
Camouflaged Confessions
Suck Punch
Family and Friends

I was particularly taken with I Feel Great! and Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety and Noel kindly gave me permission to show images of these works. 
 

 

I Feel Great! by Noel Palomo-Lovinski 

 

I Feel Great! (Detail Shot) 

Noel wrote that "Polite conversation often includes the rhetorical question 'How are you doing?' The expected response is 'Fine; great, how are you?' The under-layer of the dress is candid confessions in red; the top layer exhibits expected responses. The muzzle signifies a suppression of blunt or truthful thoughts."

 

Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety by Noel Palomo-Lovinski

Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety (Detail Shot)

About this work, Noel wrote "In our current society women are often expected to be a type of superwoman, ambitiously working in a career, be a loving and patient mother, expert housekeeper and true partner in her marital relationship. There are several websites that are devoted to confessions from women who are not able to cope with the demands that they feel from society, their families, their partners and employers. They seek advice, comfort or just use the websites as a sounding board for their anxieties."

I encourage you to check out the entire exhibition here. Noel Palomo-Lovinski's hauntingly beautiful work is a fusion of fashion, art and sculpture.

Confessions and the Sense of Self: Works by Noel Palomo-Lovinski
Kent State University Museum
Rockwell Hall
Kent Ohio
Phone: 330-672-3450
Email: museum@kent.edu

New Directions in Sculpture continued

Vanitas I, Paper Sculpture by Ingrid Mida 2009

In Vanitas I, I have created a circular sculpture out of fashion magazines inspired by the shape of a crinoline or hoop skirt from 1860. Emerging from the form are the airbrushed illusions of the ideal woman - tall and thin,  dressed and coiffed to perfection  - a largely unattainable standard of beauty that fuels the big business of fashion.

The sculpture is entitled Vanitas I after the latin "vanitas vanitatum" meaning the emptiness associated with earthly life and the transient nature of vanity. This theme, which also has biblical references in the Ecclesiastes "Vanity of vanities! All is vanity", has served as inspiration and thematic premise for many artists, including 17th century Dutch still life paintings. The title seemed highly appropriate given the nature of vanity in the world of contemporary fashion magazines.

This particular sculpture is in the window of Launch Projects and if you happen to be driving or walking by 404 Adelaide Street West in Toronto, you can see it without even going inside. It looks particularly striking at night.

I know this art work is not commercially viable but it feels right! I think it is provocative and compelling.

Crinolines in Contemporary Fashion

Elsa Shiaparelli's 1950 dress

In spite of its impracticality, the crinoline has occasionally resurfaced in contemporary fashion. In the post-war period, when traditional female roles were emphasized and female curves were celebrated, Elsa Schiaparelli, Balmain, Christian Dior, Jacques Fath, Yves Saint Laurent and others created gowns mirroring the influence of the bell-shaped skirts of the Second Empire.

More recently, designers have used the crinoline for inspiration. Vivienne Westwood designed a whole collection called the mini-Crini collection in 1987. John Galliano created a gown in black silk with a skirt nine feet wide in 1998 and Alexander McQueen created this spun-sugar-like shell reinforced by plastic in his 2000 collection for Givenchy.

Alexander McQueen for Givenchy Haute Couture, Spring-summer 2000

And check out this confection from the latest collection of Giles Deacon.

A crinoline is a beautiful object in and of itself and creates a striking sculptural effect. And those that chose to wear them, whether for bridal wear or a fancy dress ball, can swish about in their full skirts celebrating the timeless element of seduction created by a garment with a heightened sense of femininity.

Desire

Just around the corner in every woman's mind - is a lovely dress, a wonderful suit, or entire costume which will make an enchanting new creature of her!
Wilhela Cushman

I want to be this enchanting creature from the cover of the Fall 2009 Holt Renfrew catalogue! Ooh la la! Just imagine wearing head to toe Alexander MacQueen....

Schiaparelli and Surreal Things

If you are like me and swoon when you hear the name Schiaparelli, you must find you way to Toronto's Art Gallery of Ontario and see the Surreal Things show before August 30, 2009.

This exhibition, which was curated by Ghislaine Wood of the Victoria and Albert Museum, surveys the contribution of surrealists to fashion, design, photography, advertising, architecture, and theatre.

From the moment I walked into the gallery and took in the display of the fantastical ballet costumes designed for Les Ballet Russes by Giorgio de Chirico in 1929, I was grinning from ear to ear. Why had no one mentioned that fashion, costumes and jewelery were an integral part of this world class exhibit? I'm sorry that I did not go sooner.

I was blown away to stand in front of the bird cage and wooden mannequin from Schiaparelli's Paris storefront as well as twelve of her couture designs, including the infamous Skeleton Dress which features padded quilting to emphasize the ribs and spine. I almost fainted when I noticed the delicate sketches by Salvador Dali for his collaboration with Schiaparelli for the Skeleton Dress and the Dress with Drawers.

Other highlights in the exhibition included the Horst photo called Girl with Mainbocher Corset (1939), and the Man Ray photo called Model in a Dominguez Wheelbarrow (1937) where the model wears a Vionnet evening gown.

There was no doubt in my mind after seeing this exhibition that the surrealists were well acquainted with glamour and fashion. I bought the book Surreal Things (cover shown below) and intend to read it carefully before going back for another look-see. There is also a video clip on the ago website with an introduction by the curator.

Join me if you can. You won't be disappointed! By the way, this exhibition originated at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2007 before travelling to the Museum Boijmans Van Reuningen in Rotterdam and the Guggenheim Museum in Bibao in 2008. Toronto is its final stop!


Art Gallery of Ontario
317 Dundas Street West, Toronto, Ontario
1-877-225-4246 or 416-979-6648

Isabel Toledo: Fashion from the Inside Out

Blossom Sleeve Bolero and Balloon Dress, Spring/summer 2005 by Isabel Toledo
Photo by Irving Solero

Half Moon Blossom into a Cornflower, Fall/Winter 1998 by Isabel Toledo
Photo by Irving Solero

The Fashion Institute of Technology is currently featuring a retrospective of the work of fashion designer Isabel Toledo (June 17-September 26, 2009). Curated by Valerie Steele, this exhibition called Fashion from the Inside Out includes 70 iconic looks from the mid 1980s to the present, including Michelle Obama's Inauguration Day Outfit.

Cuban-born designer Isabel Toledo works closely with her husband fashion illustrator Ruben Toledo and does not herself sketch. She says she is "not a fashion designer, but rather a seamstress" and construction and draping are the starting point in her designs. "I really love the technique of sewing more than anything else...the seamstress is the one who knows fashion from the inside! That's the art form really, not fashion design, but the technique of how it's done!"

The exhibition is organized into 7 sections including:
Organic Geometry
Shadow
Suspension
Liquid Architecture
Shape
Manipulated Surfaces
Origami

Admission is free to FIT but if you cannot make it to NYC, there is a comprehensive on-line exhibition.

Fashion Institute of Technology
Seventh Avenue at 27 Street
New York 1001

1966

Details of orange paper dress ensemble from 1966, copyright Ingrid Mida 2009
Mixed media (Paper, ribbon, thread)


Details from blue paper dress ensemble from 1966 copyright Ingrid Mida 2009
Mixed media (Paper, ribbon, thread)

Unlike the prevailing view in the contemporary art world, I believe that art does not need to be provocative or ugly to have meaning. Earlier this spring, I created an artwork (for a prestigious competition) in which I wrestled with my soul over whether or not I could produce shocking and ugly work. After many sleepless nights, beauty won out. I knew then that I would not be one of the chosen. I've tried to make peace with that and decided to share selections from that submission.

This is my artist statement from the work which is called "1966".

Our choice of clothing conveys unspoken messages about our self-image and our place in society. My artwork, which uses paper as a medium to represent the ephemeral nature of fashion trends, examines the meaning inherent in women's clothing.

With the birth of the feminist movement in the 1960s, women began to question their traditional roles as wives and mothers. Fashion mirrored the social and cultural upheaval of that decade and women were freed from the constraints of highly structured clothing.

In 1966, the year that the phrase "women's liberation" first appeared in print, the disposable paper dress was created as a marketing tool. These cheap and sexy dresses were an instant hit and symbolic of the new levels of liberty women were achieving in the workplace and at home. Bikinis, representative of new sexual freedoms, often came in ensembles with matching dress, hat, and shoes, and were sometimes even worn as bridal wear.

This work called "1966" celebrates a pivotal year in our recent history in which there was a convergence of the women's movement with fashion.

Christian Lacroix: On Fashion

Talent does not always equate to success in the worlds of art and fashion. And yesterday, one of the greatest fashion talents Christian Lacroix staged what is likely his last haute couture collection at the Musee des Art Decoratifs in Paris. Forced into receivership in May, Lacroix has been looking for a buyer to rescue the fashion house and unless he finds one, the beautiful clothing shown yesterday will likely never go into production.

That prompted me to pull out the book "Christian Lacroix: On Fashion" from my library of fashion and art books. This exquisite book is filled with pages and pages of gorgeous haute couture confections, some of which look as if they could have been worn in the 18th century. And perhaps in this world of casual dress where people wear jeans to the opera, Lacroix's talent was not sufficiently appreciated.

I was particularly taken with a chapter of the book called Cobwebs where Lacrois says "From sketch to dress, from fabric to lace, thread is another running theme. It is both a motif and a form of writing; the bare bones of fashion, a glittering spider's web that has no wrong side or right side when it becomes a transparent dress." (page 171).


I've been researching spider webs myself for my artwork (spider webs are nature's lace!) and I will be posting images of how I've integrated this into my fashion plates later this week. Needless to say, I found Lacroix's work breath-taking in conception and execution.

Title: Christian Lacroix, On Fashion
Text by: Christian Lacroix, Patrick Mauries and Olivier Saillard
Photographs by Gregoire Alexandre
Publisher: Thames and Hudson, 2007
Price: USA $65 Canada $71.50

Yves Saint Laurent and The Leather Jacket

The influence of the late Yves Saint Laurent on what women wear today is mind boggling. In all the tributes to the designer this week, few people mention his introduction of the leather jacket for women in 1960. Although my leather jacket is not YSL, it is one of my favourite items and I wear it almost every day in spring and fall. It is incredibly versatile and goes with everything from jeans to a pencil skirt.

In what turned out to be his last collection for Dior in 1960, Saint Laurent referenced Paris street wear and introduced the first leather jackets for couture with this crocodile version trimmed in mink shown in the photo above. This marriage of couture with street fashion represented a fundamental shift in the fashion world at the time.

But at the time, the drastic departure from the ladylike look at Dior was heavily criticized and Sain Laurent was effectively fired and replaced with Marc Bohan. The stay on Saint Laurent's mandatory military service was canceled and he was forced into military service in September of 1960. After three weeks of service, he entered a military hospital for nervous depression where he stayed for six weeks of treatment. He was given a medical discharge by the end of the year. The experience haunted him for the rest of his life and he suffered recurring bouts of depression.

In retrospect, this break from Dior turned out to be a turning point in Saint Laurent's life (an inspiration for anyone who has suffered a setback). Breaking from Dior turned out to be a silver lining in a drak cloud since it allowed him to open a fashion house under his own name and to freely create his innovative fashions without the shadow of a founder over him.

Yves Saint Laurent used his haute couture label as a labratory for ideas, leaving a legacy of fashion innovation that not only allowed women to embrace their beauty and power but also to use fashion as a form of self-expression.

A Working Wardrobe Staple: The Pantsuit

One of the most significant fashion legacies of the late Yves Saint Laurent was his introduction of the pantsuit for women. "A woman in a pant suit is not masculine at all - a severe and implacable cut only emphasizes her femininity, her seductiveness all the more."

The YSL pantsuit first appeared in the form of a "smoking tuxedo" in the summer haute couture collection of 1966. This alternative to the evening gown became a YSL "signature look and reappeared in each of his subsequent collections.

In January 1968, YSL introduced the safari look pantsuit. He said "I suddenly became aware of the female form. I started to have a dialogue with women and to understand what a modern woman was." His pantsuits revolutionized what was considered acceptable street wear for chic women after the 1968 Paris student uprisings.

And of course, I cannot write about the YSL pantsuits without mentioning the infamous story of socialite Nan Kemper who was turned away from a fashionable Manhattan restaurant because she was wearing a YSL tunic with pants. Instead of leaving, she simply removed the pants and wore the tunic as a very short dress. Talk about elegance under pressure!!

Yves Saint Laurent gave working woman a lasting gift in designing clothes that allowed us to be both powerful and beautiful. Merci Monsieur!!