The School of Fashion would like to welcome Russell Clower, the new Assistant Director of Visual Merchandising.

One of Russell’s windows for Wilkes Bashford

At first, I misread the announcement and I thought it said Russell Crowe will be the new Assistant Director of Visual Merchandising. I thought, “Wow. That’s odd. What is he doing here?” Then I read it again and it made more sense.

With a background in illustration, Russell has an extensive experience of visual merchandising - or as he likes to call it “The Theatre of Presentation.” From art direction to event production to brand imaging to advertising, Mr. Clower is definitely going to bring a lot to the School of Fashion. He has worked for the San Francisco-based upscale retailer Wilkes Bashford as the creative director and the director of special events. He has also done consulting work with Ralph Lauren POLO and was the visual merchandising manager for Bebe.

Follow the jump to see more pictures of his work at Wilkes Bashford (in San Francisco, Palo Alto, and Carmel) Read more…

Sabah Mansoor Husain, of Bangalore, India, entered the Academy of Art University for her MFA degree in Fashion and Knitwear Design, after receiving her BA degree in Textile Design from Bangalore’s Srishti School of Art Design and Technology in 2005.

Sabah’s knitwear collection combines an eclectic set of techniques derived from both craft and design. She drew upon traditional methods of felting fabrics, crochet, hand embroidery and Shibori (a Japanese technique of dyeing a pattern which begins with binding, stitching, folding, twisting and compressing fabric); Sabah incorporated these first steps of Shibori to manipulate the fabrics and enhance the sculptural textures in her collection.

Commissioned beads and crystals:

Inspired by chandeliers, Sabah worked with an artisan in Firozabad, India to customize the jewel-shaped crystals and faceted glass beads she used to embellish to her entirely black and charcoal collection.

The use of ‘felting’:

“I learned how to create felt from artist Tenzin Yang, a woman who makes felt hats and bags in a small shop in Darjeeling, India. When I began developing my collection, I remembered her patience in teaching me the process she had such passion for - a process that had been passed down through generations in her family…I would love to see her reaction to my collection; sadly do not have contact with her anymore.”

Sabah’s experience commissioning the beads and crystals:

“When I began working on my collection, a search for the right materials led me on an interesting exploration. I wanted to use a jewel component; however, I was not satisfied with the size and scale of the crystals available at local stores. I searched shops and salvage yards for crystal chandeliers, yet didn’t find the colors and quantities that I needed. Since I grew up in India, and started my design career in the textile industry, I had heard about factories and artisans who created faceted glass beads and bangles in a small city called Firozabad, located within the state of Uttar Pradesh. I traveled there and discovered a small workshop run by a gentleman, Ahmed Farouq. He agreed to work with me and together we designed the pieces from scratch; he even taught me how to facet glass and make it shine like crystal. In a gesture that seems to speak of the importance of his craft and the personal dedication to his work, Mr. Farouq made the trip from Firozabad to Bangalore in order to work on the final product and hand-deliver the finished pieces to me.” Read more…

Korean-born Hyo Sun (Nicky) An will debut her women’s wear collection during Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week. Nicky was born in Busan, South Korea and grew up in Seoul, South Korea. In 2003, she graduated from Sa-jick High School in Busan, and in 2007, received her BFA in Fashion Design from Ewha Women’s University in Seoul. Nicky then decided to pursue her MFA in Fashion Design at Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California.

Inspiration for her Fall 2010 Collection:

“My collection is inspired by ‘Klein’s bottle.’ The Klein bottle was first described in 1882 by the German mathematician Felix Klein. The Klein bottle is a mathematical certain non-orientable surface, with no distinct inner and outer sides. I also incorporated the Möbius strip into my looks. Whereas a Möbius strip is a two dimensional surface with boundary, a Klein bottle has no boundary. The bottle can be never filled. As a conceptual collection, the main idea was to design a garment that has no boundary.”

“On the back of a coat, I created volume with folds. I constructed the bottom to meet with the lining inside to hold the shape. I used the same draping techniques for the shapes of the collars. The collar has volume on the center front, comes out from the inside, and goes into the bottom of the coat. For the more constructed looks, I used wool. For the strips, which needed to be light in weight for movement, I used rayon jersey.”

Photo credit: Bob Toy

Click here for more info on Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Fall 2010.

Steven Oo was born in Yangon, Myanmar (Burma) and lived in Singapore from age 13-15, until his family immigrated to the U.S. He is fluent in English, Mandarin, and Burmese with knowledge of basic French and Japanese. Though interested in fashion, he entered UC Berkeley to pursue a career in medicine, then changed his major and received a BA in Political Economy of Industrial Societies in 2007. His decision to pursue fashion led him to Academy of Art University for his MFA degree in both Fashion Design and Knitwear Design.

Inspiration for his Fall 2010 Collection:

For his thesis collection, the clean lines in the work of Italian architect Massimiliano Fuksas influenced Steven. He translated Fuksas’ curves into drapes and the buildings’ repetition into textures and cutout details. He combined several hand and hand-machine knitting techniques to create structure, weight, ribbing, and texture in his knitwear collection.

“The clean lines and graceful curves were translated into garments as I draped each of my designs. In my final collection, there are three different design elements that I have employed to tie all the pieces together. The long draped curves are used around the shoulder, on the back, and on the side to create dramatic silhouettes. Each of the knit stitches has extreme textures that are balanced by the traditional rib stitch, which is recurring in each garment in a variety of ways. Lastly, cutout details from the architecture of Fuksas are used in the garments to expose the garments worn underneath as well as the accessories.”

Steven’s design philosophy:

“I am enticed by anything new and excited by amazing textures and shapes. Modernity is very important for me, as I love the feeling of constantly moving forward. I wish to create garments to dress extraordinary people and be a source of inspiration. I am intrigued by both draping and tailoring so experimenting with both, using wovens and knits gives me a challenge that keeps the thrill of the game going.”

Photo by: Bob Toy

Click here for more info on Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Fall 2010.

Russian-born Marina Solomatnikova will debut her women’s wear collection during Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week. Marina was born in Revda in the Sverdlovsk region of Russia and raised in Kazan in the Republic of Tatarstan of Russia. She received her AA degree in Graphic and Interior Design from Kazan Art College in 1998, and her MA degree in Design and Construction of women and children’s wear from Kazan State Technological University in 2002.

In 2004, Marina was the recipient of Russia’s Couturier of the Year Award, and in 2003, the Russian Silhouette Award. After working for fashion design company Indan in Kazan, Marina decided to pursue her MFA degree in Fashion Design at Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California.

Inspiration for her Fall 2010 Collection:

“My primary inspiration for my thesis collection came from Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings showing pieces in nature from an unusual perspective. Images as flowers on the horse skull against a sandy surface, mother of pearls with colors changing from pure white to night black, white seashells contrasting against the multicolored dark background – these all found their way into my collection. The combination of tough natural forms with fragile airy elements married silk chiffon and suede in my collection. The multilayered landscapes inspired pleats and trapunto quilting designs. Curvy, continuous, flowing lines in her paintings inspired the complex drapes and silhouettes of my outfits.”

Marina’s fabrications:

“From my tailoring and construction process, I now fully understand how unforgiving suede is as a fabric, how much care it requires, and how precise the patterns need to be. I wanted to have pleats but found out that suede does not keep them so I worked with my instructors, used various techniques and supported the pleats with interfacing. Overcoming this challenging fabric and the time spent on these techniques has greatly improved my tailoring skills. I incorporated sheer silks to give a lighter appeal to the overall look.”

Photo credit: Bob Toy

Click here for more info on Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Fall 2010.

Born in LeCenter, Minnesota, Naomi Sutton graduated from Mankato West High School in 1998, took classes at Northern Arizona University, and received her BFA in Printmaking from Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia in 2003. After graduation, she stayed in Australia for six months before traveling to (and surfing in) Costa Rica, Belize, Guatemala, Nantucket and Hawaii. During her travels, she learned to knit, crochet, weave and sew from local artisans. While completing the MFA program at Academy of Art University for Fashion Design and Textile Design, Naomi drew upon her knowledge of printmaking for her thesis collection. She included intaglio style etchings and used a clean silhouette with fabrics such as cotton, silk organza, wool, wool jersey, and velvet.

Inspiration for her Fall 2010 Collection:

“I was always interested in combining fine art with fashion without making it look too ‘crafty’ and for my prints, I loved the combination of the raw quality of intaglio etchings combined with images of children playing outside. I tried to capture the innocence and a certain emotion and let the rawness of the etchings
enhance a moment. Most of the images are of my brother and I growing up with our cousins.”

“The inspiration for the prairie silhouette draws from ’70s Laura Ashley, 19th century undergarments, and my childhood growing up on a hobby farm. I wanted the collection to portray a bit of a farm girl.”

Naomi partnered with BFA Technical Design students Lindsey Gong, Jackie Nguyen, Kendy Morton and I-Wen Chen for the technical aspects of pattern making and construction of her collection.

Photo credit: Bob Toy

Click here for more info on Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Fall 2010.

Born on West Point U.S. Army Base in New York, Bethany Meuleners has lived in California, Nebraska, Virginia, and Germany. She now considers ‘home’ where her family has settled in Northern Virginia. Before pursuing a MFA in Fashion Design and Knitwear Design at Academy of Art University, Bethany received a BS with Honors, Dual Degree in Apparel Design and Fashion Merchandising from the University of Delaware in 2005. In addition to graduating Magne Cum Laude, she studied costume design in London and International Marketing Management in Peru.

Inspiration for her Fall 2010 Collection:

“I focused on combining knits and wovens into one fabric and/or garment. With a double major in Fashion Design and Knitwear Design, this naturally came into play while working on my final collection. For my inspiration development, I envisioned a young girl playing dress up before going out - grabbing several
different layers, throwing them on, and letting them land wherever they fell.”

“My visual inspiration for my knits was derived from 3D images and futurism photo images, such as Duchamp’s painting Nude Descending a Staircase. All of these have a theme in common: the visual effect of more than one image (sometimes the same image several times) layered on top of each other but slightly off-kilter. This worked with the combination of knits and wovens, making them into different layers but still part of the same fabric or garment.”

Photo credit: Bob Toy

Click here for more info on Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Fall 2010.

There were so many good ones, we couldn’t pick just one!

Some 300 masked French employees of German industrial conglomerate Siemens hold a so-called “ghost town” protest in downtown Saint Chamond, central France, Feb. 4. Employees working in the Saint-Chamond Siemens plant protest the planned closure of the factory, a day after negotiations with unions were blocked by the management, unions said. Inscriptions on masks read “Siemens kills jobs”. Shopkeepers closed down their shops in solidarity with protesters during the duration of the action. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

A couple chat under a heavy snowfall in downtown Moscow near about a hundred snowmen at right on Feb. 2. (AP Photo/ Mikhail Metzel)

Gregory Holm sprays water on an abandoned house in Detroit. The two artists who are encasing the home in ice are hoping their effort inspires and helps draw attention to the housing crisis that has battered the nation. Photographer Gregory Holm and architect Matthew Radune spent weeks spraying water on the home for the Ice House Detroit project. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) Read more…

The location for tonight’s Beyond the Front Row meeting has changed!

See flyer below for the new meeting venue:

Once again, the meeting is in the 79 New Montgomery Auditorium!

See ya there!

The spring semester has started!

Winter break was nice and long - and I’m ready to work hard and search for an internship. There are a lot of decisions I have to make in the next couple of months. I’m not sure what type of internship I want; whether it would be a position assisting a buyer or maybe for a fashion magazine. Writing this blog and researching job descriptions on fashion editing has sparked my interest in an editing career. I like to write and I absolutely love styling. Is it possible to find an internship that has the best of both worlds?

Besides looking for a way to gain more experience in my studies, I need to start getting my mind prepared to put my academic and career goals before the m modeling goals. I think that this switch will be good for me. At least it will help me get my mind off of waiting for modeling jobs that I may or may not get. I am finally in a position to let my portfolio, networking and appearance book my jobs.

This past week was very busy. I had an editorial spec shoot for submission to Chaos Magazine and I am hoping they pick up the images. The editorial I shot for Mocha Bride magazine should be available in the next week or so. The magazine will be sold at the major retail giants Target, Borders and Barnes & Noble!

I also received images back from a look book shoot I did for Deen + Gray, an accessories line by Kade Stuart. She makes chic scarves and hats by hand in beautiful rich colors. I absolutely adore every single piece!

Written by: Erin Leeper

Click here to read more of “The Model Life of Erin”