DESIGN = ART? My trip to New York makes me wonder more about the two fields.
Last week, I went to NYC for New York Fashion Week Flying Solo, and here, I will give a quick overview of my trip.
I am a designer at Vitruvius, a student-led fashion brand. This year, we are working as a group of 4 designers, showcasing a total of 20 garments on the theme of “Survival”. Read more about the meaning behind this season’s series here.
I have been preparing for NYFW for an entire year. This is my first fashion week and my first international event, and it was definitely worth the time and most importantly, the winter weather.
Day 1
I went to the Flying Solo shop to do model fitting. Here, we have a lovely photo of me awkwardly standing next to my beautiful model.
Day 2
At the Flying Solo shop, I did interviews backstage.
Day 3
This is the big day, but it was snowing!
I woke up early to take care of my makeup, and saw the snow. I tensed up at the site of a white city because this year’s show was held on the top of a building, and the snow just made the situation rather complicated.
But the hosts were determined to hold the show rain or shine.
After receiving confirmation from the host, I arrived early with all the designers of Vitruvius before the show started. Stepping right into the building we did interviews and photos. After photos of us shaking in the cold, we went to the top of the building to check our models.
I had the honour to open the show, so I arrived early to organise their walking order.
Fun fact: models step their shoes into a bag of Sprite before going on stage to prevent themselves from slipping.
Thanks to the Sprite, everything went smoothly: the gorgeous models went on the stage one by one -- I still cannot believe that they are wearing my designs -- and I went on to thank the audience for coming.
NYFW FLYING SOLOS was one of those once-in-a-life-time experiences. It posed new questions to me: what is the boundary between art and design? As someone who primarily describes themselves as an art student rather than a design student, through this event, I am finally starting to see some of the difference and at the same time, some of the blurry grey zone. I think that design has a dedicated audience and sometimes a dedicated group of consumers, whereas art has much more fluidity with the presence of an audience, not to mention consumers. Yet, art and design both do not have strict boundaries. Artists and designers are always trying to challenge the limit of their fields.
I used to think that fashion design is limited because the form of a human body is constant and thus limits the possibility of design. At NYFW, I saw designs that challenge the idea of the human body as a mere container of fashion and incorporate the human body as part of the artwork. Together, the garment, accessories, and the human body is an artwork. The presence of a human body completes the artwork. Fashion design is not limited by the presence of the human body, which rather amplifies the design through the uniqueness of each model. Fashion design is limited by only the creator’s imagination.
Comments