Inspiration

Where does inspiration come from?  As a young designer I find myself asking that on different occasions.  Do I look at what successful, notable fashion houses have done?  Do I do research the trends that months from now I'll be seeing in every knock off, cheapy fashion store out there?  Or do I say screw it all and go with what I'm feeling?

While attending Woodbury I was faced with this challenge for my senior project.  The possibilities were limitless, the only thing we were asked as young designers was to incorporate the broad theme of "living green" into our collections.  Beyond that it was up to us.  Everything we had learned up to that point was ours to use.  I remember tossing and turning at night trying to come up with an idea, a concept I could run with and not be bored by.  I tend to have a short attention span, and get bored by ideas quickly so I knew it had to be solid.  Then, finally it came to me...the human body.  How amazing, this beautiful, organic being made from organ systems that are each responsible in its success at striving.

This inspiration came to me like a light had been turned on after being in the dark for weeks.  Once it was there it grew and pushed me to create a collection I was proud of.  But inspiration comes and goes.  Sometimes I go weeks without feeling inspired, other times it flows out of me.  I appreciate design houses such as All Saints for their unique approach to designing, where doing what they are good at is amazing.  They seem to follow their own flow, not necessarily what has been said to be the next trend. 

I guess my point is that when I go looking for inspiration it doesn't come naturally.  My inspiration comes from my experiences, and how I'm feeling at the time.  But I don't think there is a right or wrong way when it comes to designing, because as long as the outcome is what you envisioned, it doesn't matter where the inspiration came from.

The Art of Failing

I've always admired my mother's ability to apply watercolor paint to a blank canvas so freely and openly.  Her beautiful brushstrokes create dream-like scenes of forests, flowers, exotic animals and seascapes. 

I tried to paint a lily when I was about 10, and was unsuccessful.  I believe this is because I tried to control every aspect, every color, every runny water mark.  I design the same way.  My personal favorite garment I've made is extremely technical, and won two awards - one surface design award for the use of laser cutting, and the other was an overall technical award for my couture collection senior year of college. 

 Now that I'm out of college and work full time to sustain living in Los Angeles, draping, pattern-making and sewing are squeezed into a schedule with a 50 hour work week, a social life, and any other useless time sucks.  Sometimes when I get home all I want to do is eat and watch some show on Hulu, but then I remember my ultimate goal and how bad I want it.  I work on patterns for a dress for a couple weeks in between working and living, make sure they are perfect, cut out a mock-up, put it on the dress form...only to be disappointed that it's not what I envisioned.  You see, when I'm at work and we need a pattern it's a matter of an hour or so that the pattern maker has the pattern completed, it's put up to be cut, and we are looking at the sample by the end of the day.  It's not that easy when it comes to doing everything yourself. 

 So now I have this semi-complete mock-up of a dress that I know I don't want to spend any more time on, and am starting to accept that not everything I start is going to come out perfectly, but in some way still helps me get a step closer to my goal, and maybe one day I'll have a pattern maker who can whip out patterns for me.  Until then I'll try and learn from my mother and take it one brushstroke at a time.