FASHIONOFFICE INSIGHT
by publisher Karin Sawetz
September 2009
Sometimes it is not important how you catch the ball - you have to catch him in the right moment!
Catch the ball!
How is the right moment defined? Talking about the right moment in fashion design is not so much about developing colors for a season - this job is made by trend color bureaus mostly 2 or 3 years in advance. Fashion design is about the construction of social life by creating the cultural signs clothing, accessories, and shoes in the right moment so they can be activated by a group or an individual to resolve a socially, politically or personally relevant topic.
The 'Law of Design' rules the complex field from choosing the right colors and materials over developing pattern and manufacturing methods to fulfill the desires of other people in the right time.
It is extremely unlikely to convince as a designer without the professional education and the precondition of 'that certain something'. Have you ever taken a look at the biographies of the leading designers for edgy labels?
Chronicler Fashionoffice
That's what Fashionoffice is working on: collecting information about the ideas of designers and researchers behind the easy visible colors and pattern of clothing, accessories and shoes.
Use Fashionoffice's summary of the top ranking editorial pages on the magazine’s main URLs and other statistical data to find out how these chronicles are backcoupling to the memory of the internet which represents the people's virtual consciousness.
Compare the Alexa.com rankings of May and August 2009!
Watch the video youtube.com/watch?v=16u0wwCfoJ4: 'I Fought The Law' by the British punk rock band The Clash. The band was active from 1976 to 1986 and well known for their idealistic political ideology. The Clash positioned themselves as rebels with a cause. With songs such as 'The Guns of Brixton' or 'I Fought the Law' they became icons with outlaw image for a new generation which have worked on a new society by the end of the 20th century.
Why this song? The Clash gave a whole generation words to express their helplessness against the system. The only way to realize your desired future is to learn the rules of the game. It is not said, that you have to follow them strictly the whole life through; learn more by reading following first 'Short Message' on this page about the designers' ‘Hacktivist’ method.
'Short Message'
The fashion design researcher Otto von Busch is known as 'Haute Couture Heretic'. He has developed the idea of the designer as a ‘Hacktivist’ to enforce socially and politically changes such as the construction of co-productive communities and emancipatory practices: “…fashion designers ‘hacked’ the industrial production at a traditional shoe factory…. Instead of lasts, patterns or machines, they worked to change the work model and process through a co-design workshop on-site with the factory workers. A three-day workshop involved joint sketching, tinkering and using the industrial machines ‘wrongly’. For example, the designer Siv Stødal recombined existing components, materials and techniques to generate new forms – this was the start of a new shoe collection and long-term collaboration. While many such factories have declined over the last century, this collaboration has resulted in a permanent prototype lab, new product lines, local pride, national attention and international fashion awards.” Otto von Busch participates the discussions on 11 September at the 'Design Act' (9 Sept - 8 Nov) in Lisbon www.design-act.se
'Short Message'
Cultural objects and social revolutions. If you take a cultural object apart and reconstitute it in the secret place of a tiny room, have you begun a revolution? If you are not sure, track this: visitors are invited to bring an object from their native country that might have some social, cultural, or historical significance which could be interesting to be used by the Philippines artist Gary Ross Pastrana on occasion of the ArtHub symposium ‘The Making of the Silk Roads’ from 27-30 Aug at the Bangkok University Gallery www.arthubasia.org
'Short Message'
Future design practices and sustainability. The Danish Design Center questions in the exhibition ‘it's a small world’ how designers will work in future to address global issues such as sustainability, new technology and consumption; running from 27 Aug 2009 until 31 Jan 2010. It is planned that the exhibition travels through Europe and US www.itsasmallworld.dk
'Short Message'
mija t. rosa presents FW09/10, entitled 'A Woman under the Influence' on 11 Sept at the Viennese WUK, choreography by Andrea Schmidt. Designer Julia Cepp has studied at the University of Applied Arts Vienna/Professor Raf Simons. She creates images of women that stand for self-determination, freedom of action and against social barriers www.mija-t-rosa.com
'Short Message'
Pattern Design Conference in San Francisco from 2 to 4 October 2009. The California based Center for Pattern Design celebrates 1st anniversary, hosting a Pattern Design Conference to bring together master pattern makers who will share their insights, their designs and the pattern techniques of the fashion industry www.centerforpatterndesign.org
'Short Message'
‘Farmer in Search of Style‘ is the title of Eindhoven’s Designhuis exploration of a new lifestyle where humans are seen as an integral part of the ecologic cycle. Information technology has set humans free from a fixed location within the urban environment... 7 Aug - 27 Sept www.designhuis.com
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Karin Sawetz is journalist, media researcher and fashion scientist (Mag. Dr. phil.). > sawetz.com
Source: Original article with image and video on https://www.fashion.at/survey/2009/karinsawetz9-2009.htm.
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