Pumped Up Kicks

Number one on the pop charts, "Pumped Up Kicks" is a slang term for cool sneakers.  This hit song by the group Foster the People is causing controversy these days.  Listen to the song.  What do you think it means?  I see the isolation of a kid who is in essence ostracized.  He has developed a hatred for those who diminish and shun him.  He is not able to lash out directly at his non-present parent.  Perhaps he is bullied at school. Who are the kids he wants to harm?  The ones with "Pumped Up Kicks".  What does the Foster the People band say about it?  The lead singer and songwriter Mark Foster states in an exclusive interview with KROQ,  "When a 13 or 14-year-old kid brings a gun to school and does something, sure, you blame them for making that choice….. But at the end of the day, he or she is still just a kid and there’s a lot of other things that led up that moment that should have changed."  Now I'll go see what everyone else is saying. Meanwhile see a one one one interview with Mark Foster.

Earning a Living with What you Love

A dilemma you will face as you start to sell your designs is pleasing yourself vs. pleasing your customers.  When you began you delved into your work.  Maybe you didn't consider the economics of your production process. You paid too much for fabric because you "just loved it" or spent hours intuitively sewing stuff together, creating and enjoying yourself.  Maybe sometimes you even flubbed up bigtime, a yard or two of fabric wasted. With a sigh you chalked it up to experience and moved on. You didn't have to answer to anyone. Then maybe you decided to open a little online Etsy shop -- "Just to see what happens."  You got a sale or two -- your confidence surged and why not?  Someone thought your design was nice and was willing to pay for it!  Some of us stop here.  We sell something occasionally to supplement our incomes.  But even at this level the dilemma starts. You still don't have to answer to anyone but yourself, you still only design when inspired. But as you turn what you love into a business you must start to consider your target market, what will sell, your marketing approach, analyze the response to your ads , customer service, customer complaints, etc... While the internet has certainly leveled the playing field in most industries earning a living with your art is hard work. At the point where a designer begins to consider the financial feasibility of his work artistic compromise is necessary and will be from now on until you reach the ranks of Jean Paul Gaultier, Alexander McQueen or Gianni Versace.

Maneuvering Fashion Week

Tory Burch Andres Pant
In which Fashion Week did these appear?

If you are one of those people left asking, "Didn't we just have a Fashion Week?" here is a hint:  Four seasons. Hundreds of designers and heaps and heaps of clothes. Repeat that year round -- week after week in all the big cities around the world. Spring 2012 shows are now rolling.  Meanwhile the quite wearable Fall/Winter 2010 is still available online and in outlet stores just as we are welcoming Fall 2011. Donna Karan has voiced her opinion more than once on this topic.

In 1943 Fashion Week was literally one week and in one city. Now
there are two to five Fashion Weeks in each big city a year. Due to their opposing seasons the northern hemisphere is now buying what is "in" for Fall 2011 while the Southern hemisphere is just leaving behind the styles from Fall/Winter 2010 and eagerly awaiting their turn for Spring 2011. Spring 2012 hasn't even hit the stores yet. Unless of course we are surprised at Rio de Janeiro or Santiago de Chile where a bold designer may decide to thwart the established albeit flexible trends of the "fashion system" and move ahead a year or a season at his own risk.
An interesting article was published in 2008 which may help you make heads and tails of Fashion Week. Another challenge to you readers and budding fashion designers alike:  In which Fashion week did the garments you see on this page appear? See all the recent Fashion Week launches, search for the runway shows on youtube or even directly at the designers' personal websites.

Chloe Colorblock A-line Skirt

Marc Jacobs Metallic-finish hoodie

Fashion Shows
New York
Los Angeles
Miami
Montreal
Toronto
London
Paris
Milan
Tokyo
Rio De Janeiro
Sao Paulo
Buenos Aires

Capriole by Iris van Herpen

See the Paris Fashion Show Video

Permission obtained from the Iris van Herpen Company

to republish this photograph.

Let's face it, the fashion industry is saturated.  We can't all be famous designers (although with some effort and some luck we could be working for them). A fashion designer may just need to find his niche market and create his signature style to stand out from the rest while scraping out a living. Trends can guide you but there is a dangerous line between creating a style each season and blind "carbon copying" of the latest trends. Part of creating a unique collection is knowing what is already out there. Get to know your colleagues/competitors. The other is to expose yourself outside your comfort zone.  Be bold and experiment with something unfamiliar to you. If you are a left-brain person take a right brain class in something and vice-versa. Newly acquired knowledge will usually lend itself immediately through your design.  It is then incorporated into the pool of knowledge that makes you....well...YOU.  Remember, fabric is flat and virtually everything has been done in the Euclidean sense.  Use some projective geometry.  Textiles can and should be sculpted. Use pleats and folds for example. Try crumpling and topstitching or combining hard fabrics with soft. Iris van Herpen has some incredibly inspired designs.  See Pleatfarm.com to immerse yourself in the art of folding in all industries.