Craft

In a world where H&M and Uniqlo and Zara and Top Shop (and a million other labels) are able to recreate runway trends at a fraction of the price with two-week turnaround times, what’s left for the high end designer? The Financial Times says it’s all in the fabric. Designers such as Prada and Balenciaga are now focusing heavily on textiles as a way to differentiate themselves from the mass of cheaply made but on-trend labels. Bringing back long forgotten craftsmanship and experimenting with revolutionary techniques, designers are taking a stand and trying desperately to save face.

Prints, texture and rich embellishment were other avenues of exploration. Dries Van Noten revisited a 1920s printing technique created by Swiss inventor Orbis Wirth. With producers Jakob Schlaepfer, the label created incredible marble-ised patterns using an elaborate system of printing layers of coloured wax from a cylinder on to wet fabric. Nicolas Ghesquière at Balenciaga meanwhile (remember the chain-mail leggings from last year?) drew gasps for his collection of dresses covered in elaborate hand-painted landscapes and embellishments and varnished latex.

Balmain explored fine chain-mail – that looked almost like lamé – and Fendi even developed a technique for applying gold to fur, by heating 24-carat gold and spraying it on to surface tips. And that’s not counting Christopher Bailey at Burberry Prorsum, who created whole skirts from miniature suede sequins.

Can the newfound focus on quality, craftsmanship, and uniqueness in textile save the high end fashion industry?

Financial Times: Cut from a Different Cloth

22-year-old Leeroy New has stirred up a bit of buzz in Manila on account of his provocative public sculptures which play a stark contrast to our visually conservative city. We got a chance to chat with the budding sculptor shortly after he finished his latest assignment, “Winged Victory”, a Boccioni-esque piece (pictured above) for Nike on view in front of their Manila store.

So how is life as a full-time artist in Manila?

Being a full-time sculptor, or an artist in general for that matter, is next to impossible in the Philippines especially if you’re just starting out. As a sculptor, you work with relatively more expensive materials. I prefer working in large scale, plus I’m fascinated with using industrial materials. You already see how problematic this can be [here].

You’re right. The economics simply make it very hard to produce art in the Philippines. How do you stay afloat and how do you get your sculptures funded?

Most of my earnings from the works that I do sell end up funding new works. That’s generally how it works. I’m lucky enough to be getting commissions from private collectors and ad agencies. And it’s the same cycle all over again. You really have to work your ass off if you want to continue doing what you want. We’re crazy that way.

You have made a lot of sculptures - like the twisted versions of your girlfriend - that seem to come from raw fantasy. It reminds me of Surrealism or Art Brut. Is it all in your head or do you get inspiration from other sources?

I’m fascinated with the mythology of sci-fi and futurism - how we project the future to be, and the implications of this in relation to my immediate third world environment. Industrial design is a constant source of inspiration since industrial design greatly contributes to the realization of this futuristic fantasy.

I hope to get more into industrial design and film production in the near future. That seems to be the logical path for my practice.

Thanks, Leeroy!

Open Intelligence Agency is bringing the fourth installment of their awesome “Interesting Conference” to New York City next month.

Interesting brings speakers together to talk about things they are passionate about, but may have never shared before. Previous conferences have covered a huge range of fascinating and random subjects including: what to do with a broken umbrella, how to turn your blog into a new media company, personal digital archives, making and sampling raw organic chocolates, physics of quicksand, the next generation, Russ Meyer, facing your fears, art, storytelling, business advice and more.

The lineup is being finalized at the moment, but is sure to be varied, and as the name implies -interesting. (You can even submit your ideas here, if you would like to be a speaker.)

Interesting New York happens on Saturday, September 13 from 10am-6pm. Tickets are only $35, and go on sale September 3rd.

Interesting New York

Street artist Swoon has undertaken an ambitious art project named the Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea. Swoon and a motley crew of contributors have built a fleet of seven art boats that will journey down the Hudson river from Troy, New York, to Long Island City, Queens. Part floating city, part sculpture and part performance, the Switchback team will make stops at cities along the way, performing plays and music for locals. The ships will dock in Long Island City on September 7th for a run of shows until September 13th. The boats were constructed primarily out of found materials from junk yards and construction sites.

New York Times: “A Floating City With Junkyard Roots”

A group of teenagers from Queens, NY star in a short film about their unusual bike customizations. The teens, all originally from Trinidad have taken to the hobby of tricking out their BMX bikes with huge sound systems. The bikes range from the modest “Tinnitus Rex” to the ridiculously speaker heavy “Basszilla” (seen above).

Made In Queens

[via Tastemakers Society]

The New York Times has an interesting article explaining how the New York Tech scene has evolved from glamor and glitz launch parties to soldering competitions and PowerPoint Presentations.

Apparently, when the Internet bubble collapsed, New York Techies went back to doing what they do best; geeking out and making stuff.

Now, young Internet entrepreneurs, some holdouts from the old days and a few members of the city’s creative class (and underclass) are engaged in a new type of party, which mashes together Silicon Alley 1.0’s camaraderie and optimism, meetup.com’s spontaneity and informality, Burning Man’s home-brewed creativity, and a technology conference’s devotion to unveiling ideas. These days many of the ideas are about producing and delivering video content.

And like any scene, New York Techies have their scenesters too.

…A few mini-stars have emerged, appearing nearly every night at one or two events. By promoting their video blogs or online games, they seem to be trying to parlay fame on the scene to fame on the Web.

Others attend hoping to meet venture capitalists; some are just attracted to a night life that involves actually talking to creative people doing exciting things, rather than heading out to clubs and bars that beat you into silence with their thundering rhythms.

New York Times: Night Life Reprogrammed

Milk crates are one object we don’t have to worry about showing up in a landfill anytime soon. The plastic cubes are the perfect multi-use, modular design solution. For the most part, they’re a uniform size, and can be used as a building block of a structure or as storage containers. Milk crates can usually be found for free, and are nicely sturdy due to their former life as protectors of precious milk cartons. The possibilities are endless.

The milk crate chandelier seen above is one of many ingenious uses of the humble shipping container. Check out Milkcrate Digest for a more in depth look at “the milk crate lifestyle”.

[Curbly via Core 77]

Stained glass, usually confined to church windows and depicting biblical scenes has been popping up in new contexts. The ancient art has recently been used to illustrate pop culture icons and modern icons such as Albert Einstein, Darth Vader and Spiderman. Deputy Dog has a fantastic gallery that surveys the geeky revival of this archaic art form.

[Deputy Dog via Geekologie]

3D printing has taken a step towards becoming a consumer level service with the advent of Shapeways web to print site. The Netherlands based company has recently launched a beta version of their easy to use 3D printing operation. Just upload a 3D CAD file, place your order, and in ten days your virtual object will become a reality. Shapeways offers three different types of plastics and metal is on the way. Costs are low, ranging on averege between $50 and $150. The printers are capable of fine detail and the only limitation is size. The machine’s printing area is about the size of a microwave.

[via TechCrunch]