Cocoon

Back in 2006, at the end of this year I felt unhappy studying architecture, teachers sucked, the program sucked and I was not fulfilling what I desired...

I've always loved fashion, since I was a kid! I remember doing sketches for my mom, with really colorfull and 90's cloth...

So in 2006 I made a change and I started my career in Fashion Design. It hasn't been easy, especially because Costa Rica is really small and chances are SO limited... but anyways, I took a risk and I'm SO happy I took it, since that time I've been really happy and satisfied with what I'm doing. I learn a few things at school and another porcentage I think I have learn it by myself.

Dreams are always ON and I have really high expectations and goals for the future, so hopefully you'll be seing more from me...

Here's my first project for school, it was for the first fashion show I had. This was designed for Fall/Winter 2006-2007, is really conceptual and not that wearable. The inspiration for the collection was music, specifically Alternative Dance. They asked us to have a muse, so I chose Björk 'cause I think that she is a music icon and also A fashion icon, always dressed with avant garde pieces, from unknown designers, wearing what she likes no matter if she's on the worst dressed lists all the time, but that makes her unique!

So reading about Alternativa Dance, I found that it was a really rich inspiration for my first fashion collection. I created for the runway 3 pieces: 1 dress, 1 skirt and 1 blouse. As this music genre does, my cloth representing style, texture and fusion/contrast of different elements and fabrics. I used jacquard, jersey, silk, lace and damask. And the colors were based on the trend for the season, that's always a requirement for school. -.-'

But anyways...

Here's the final product!

The photos were taken by Matias Sauter.

Femme en fourrure

I was online today talking with my friend Daver, as he introduces me to a great music duo, so I thought I should write about... Femme en fourrure!

Femme en fourrure is a duo from Finland, and looks like this country is been a major scene for music and also well known for its unique street style and fashion designers coming from there.

Formed by Juuso & Bianca, both from Helsinki, they're part of the nu-school of house born in the finnish land. They're quite new online and they have only released a few singles and remixes on their MySpace profile. But when you hear their music, you can tell they're going to be a major hit or at least a song that you can enjoy and dance.

The purpose of this entry is showing you the AMAZING video from their single "Plump Bisquit". First the song is super housy and nice to hear and then, the video seems to me like a great aesthetics proposal. As you start with the video, you realize that every detail is taking care of, the way the color matches (or not), the photography from the video, the hair, the headpieces, the outfits, the Vivienne Westwood for Melissa Shoes, the make up, the movements, etc.

I'm not an art critic or a video expert! But just by watching this video, a low budget video, you realize that is not necessary to include sci-fi/special effects/celebrities/expensive things in a video music to make it awesome! Miika Lommi (she directed one of Terry Poison's video) is the director of this super creative piece, which I can stop watching and enjoying! Is great to see how people still cares about making a statement without using a great famous directed, giving the opportunity to new rising stars like Lommi is. There's too many good directors, designers, artist, musicians, etc that have so much to say and show with their work.

I'll try to keep posting interesting things that I find around...

Please check the park with the nipple-less/navel-less girls + the nail polish!

♥ femme en fourrure!

images taken from myspace.com/femmeenfourrure

FEMME EN FOURRURE - PLUMP BISQUIT from Top Billin on Vimeo.

Hermès Tokyo ♥

Hermès, the french fashion house established in 1837 by Thierry Hermès, especialized in leather goods, ready to wear, ready-to-wear and luxury item is renowned by everyone, in + out the fashion world.

After receiving a great gift book from my boyfriend for Christmas, it's called "Moda: arquitectura corporativa" I decided that I need it to blog about Hermès and its amazing store in Tokyo.

Hermès, always recognized by its quality and of course for its Birkin bag, is also famous for their scarfs and handkerchiefs, which are design by special artists and they are created with the oldest techniques of silk printing.

The tradition and also the craftmanship applied in each and every piece, lead the architect Renzo Piano to creat a store, a building meant to be one of a kind. Located in Ginza, one of the fashion districts of Tokyo, stands as one of the most monumental buildings in the city. With its 6000 square meters of construction, has on its inside shopping spaces, workshops, offices, exhibition spaces, a multimedia area and also a garden on the rooftop.

Its thingness, structure, covered all in glass blocks makes it looks like a well-crafted jewel. You can say that the Hermès store has two faces, one by day and one by night, lights (in + out the building) makes it look diferent. Another great detail about it is the form that every block has, flat on one side and curved on the other, this shape makes and effect on the glass, producing one of the things that Piano wanted for the building, that is NOT transparent and that people could use their imagination to wonder what's inside the glass box.

Hermès Tokyo by day.

Hermès Tokyo by night.

Detail of the glass blocks.

Christian Lacroix forever!

For Fall 2009, in Paris, Christian Lacroix presented his last collection. An haute couture show full of emotions, full of effort, produced by seamstresses, embroiderers, jewelwers, milliners and shoemakers that have worked with Lacroix loyally through the years.

Lacroix filed his label for bankruptcy in May, 2009. The designer said about the owners that “not being from the couture-and-luxury field ... were not prepared for the long-term investment”. As people know, the purpose of couture show is not mainly to sell cloth... is its power what's important, how this benefits a label's marketing.

Couture has a limited clientele. One gown could cost at least €30.000 and that's without including the fittings at the atelier.

So here's the problem with Lacroix:

First, the owners (the Falic family), thought that in two season they could have their inversion money back. Another mistake was, just focused on the production of haute couture pieces, leaving aside the production of sunglasses, handbags and ready-to-wear collection from the Lacroix firm.

Fashion might lose a great designer, with a great impact and a unique creativity. It's sad to see how bad decisions could end a great fashion house such as Christian Lacroix was. His patterns, volume, siluets, fabrics, headpieces, embroiders, skirts, shoes, pins, etc would remains in everyone's mind and they will always be considered as a great legacy to the fashion world.

Christian Lacroix forever!

♥

And here are some of my favorite looks from the collection: