The title says it all.

I went to the Future Beauty exhibition at the Barbican on 28th Oct. I really loved it! It was really  good. I was inspired but also...slightly intimidated at the same time (which is a good thing). Each garment was had a special element about it because it was so creatively made, it was the materials used and the concept behind the original design. When you look at each garment, you just feel drawn towards it because it looks so stunning. I read somewhere in the exhibition that there’s a concept called “Wabi-Sabi” in which imperfection defines beauty – personally I think that’s a really interesting definition of beauty, it’s in an opposite way because it’s always been perfect is what defines beauty. There were a couple of pieces made by Yohji Yamamoto and Junya Watanabe.

I’m not sure if I’m being bias but I think that Japanese fashion designers are really the pioneer of creativeness. I like that they are more experimental with materials and, it seemed like they were not afraid to try new things out because it's good to be brave and unordinary. Seeing their garments felt like I was having an insight of the future rather than the present or the past. Love Japanese fashion designers :)

How cosy do those knitted lingerie look? I would never have thought of knitted lingerie!

Horrockses Fashions

This was another exhibition I went on the 27th Oct for research (I'm such a nerd lol). It was the Horrockses Fashions at the Fashion and Textile Museum. The last ime I went there, which in February (quite a while) I saw the exhibition for Foale and Tuffin creating fashion for the young during the 60s, which I loved. But this one I went to was just as amazing. Horrockses Fashions Limited is a manufacturer that created fashion garments for women in the 1940s and 1950s. I loved the clothes :) There were lots of full skirt dresses which ranged from summer dresses, beachwear to evening elegant dresses. The style during that era was very feminine and lady-like, something like...Marilyn Monroe would wear. The prints stood out, they were very bright and colourful, seems so fun to wear.

Immediately, the prints caught my eye in the glass displays. There were quite a few fabric designs by Pat Albeck and some dresses made by Alastair Morton. I was quite immersed in the garments and I heard it was really cheap in those days! It told a story of how the manufacturer started with the fashion design process in a Horrockses dress and also working with designers. 

This garment below (left) is a wedding dress deisgned by Marta Pirn for Daphne Patten's wedding in 1950. The dress is quite simple but I really like it, I think it has a modest feminine edge. I also love the dress on the right is so gorgeous! The prints are lovely.

Here are some beachwear fashion dresses:

These are the prints (below) I was talking about. So colourful and vibrant, don't you think? I liked how the designer started working on paper before applying on fabric.

I love that playsuit!

I brought this tote bag after I finished gawking at the Horrockses dresses. I like the banana prints, they're quite funny. The cost was not that bad ;)

What do you think?

x

Shadow Catchers: Cameraless Photography

Back in October, I went to a few Art Museums in London for research in my new project "Print" which lasts about five weeks. I went to the Victoria & Albert Museum because they had this exhibition on about photography. I was a little iffy about it because the project is about re-modernising classic prints, I thought..."how is going to a photography exhibition going to help me?" How wrong was I. It was really amazing and so inspiring, I think this just may have widened my interest in photography :). It was so creative how these contemporary artists created photography without using a camera. All the photographs were very impressive. I thought using the pin-hole was good, but photogram is more impressive. My favourites were by Susan Degres, Adam Fuss and Garry Fabian Miller. I took some pictures whilst I was there...when I was not allowed to, haha. Oh well, what they don't know won't hurt them, lol. 
Disclaimer: I don't own these photographs, all images belong to the artists. I just took them, purely for personal research :) So now, I'm just sharing them.

Susan Degres: 

Adam Fuss:

Garry Fabian Miller:

Oh god...you can see my reflection taking that picture in the above photograph, lol. 
A Canon SLR camera is calling my name. I had a dream about it...twice! How weird and strange. Dreaming about a camera *shakes head* Now I'm not torn between a Canon and a Nikon anymore :D