New York State of Mind

New York makes me feel alive. There's just so much happening in such a condensed city, it's equally stimulating and exhilarating. My all time favorite places to check out are Soho, Bleecker Street, Brooklyn, and of course, Broadway for the odd musical and show.

We saw the musical "How to Succeed in Business" featuring Daniel Radcliffe (that guy from Harry Potter), by scoring lottery tickets in the morning when the theater just opened. It saved us a ton of money, but only gave us more reason to shop. 

Soho

Bryant Park

Streets of Soho

Hide-Chan Ramen in Midtown

Locanda Verde in TriBeCa

Chrysler building

Times Square

My New York Minute

Last Friday, I was whisked away on a surprise trip to New York City to celebrate our anniversary. We were lucky enough to get upgraded to this fancy suite with a private balcony and the most amazing view of New York.

We barely had time to enjoy it as we were busy exploring the city, eating a delicious dinner at L'ecole and catching a performance at the New York City Ballet. I love New York and I will be back again for a planned visit to see the Alexander McQueen exhibition at the Met.

ThinkContra

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by Melissa Fox for a feature in ThinkContra, a Toronto-based online magazine highlighting Canadian and International design talent. It went live yesterday on their site.

Click here for the full interview. Thanks Melissa!

 A few excerpts:


"My accessory line, Love at First Blush, is for lingerie and fashion lovers. The muse I design for is a fashionable and iconic woman who loves a bit of romance, glamour and rock and roll. She’s an alter ego of me."

This is why I love Fashion

Last week I wrote up some answers to a few interview questions I did for an online magazine. It was a very self reflective exercise which allowed me to question my own motives.

I design because I am passionate about fashion, but the heart of it really comes down to one thing; All of this is to share my vision with others, to reproduce the imagery I envision and to hopefully inspire others.

The vision I created for my graduating collection, entitled Sacré Coeur, was inspired by the Church in Paris, representing the contrast between light and dark, the sacred and the sinful. With the use of distressed leathers, and the airiest silk chiffon, I wanted to create a sense of drama between the fabrics. The raw edges of the fabric and the couture refinement of the embellishment also add to the contrasting elements.

This is what I love to do. This is why I love fashion.


Photographer: David Hou
Stylist: Lotus Leaf

Learning How to Use my DSLR

Ever since I inherited my Nikon DSLR, it has been a huge learning curve. I would pick up my camera, fumble around with the functions, then set it to Auto for the camera to decide my settings.

Though I could learn much of the information online, I decided it would be helpful to take a class.
It's my second class I'm taking at Concordia University; a Product Photography class which will immensely help with photos from my Etsy shop. We've been bringing our own products to shoot each week and working with 3 different lighting set-ups. It's been fun to use professional studio lighting and equipment that I normally don't have access to.

Here's one of the photos I took from last class.

Behind the Scenes: The Ballerina Photo Shoot

I haven't been able to update frequently as I'd like to, as I've been caught in a whirlwind of custom orders, mini projects and assignments. Last week, we received a surprise rush order from a costume department filming a blockbuster movie in Germany. If we're lucky, we may see our cuffs in 3-D!

This weekend, I helped style a photoshoot inspired by the Ballerina in Motion images found here. I clicked a few behind the scenes shot of the magic in action. The model is a classically trained ballerina and she was extremely flexible, creating some really amazing poses. I'll post the final pictures when they are ready.

Photo Shoot: Love at First Blush

So here it is! These are the final results from my hours of planning and my first time using studio lighting. The lovely models were my friends, Melanie, Laura, and Anushka. All the girls are from different cultural backgrounds that made the photos more interesting, allowing me to showcase the range of colors of my cuffs.

I found it challenging to meter on the different skin tones of each model. If I were to do this again, I would pre-set the camera to capture each skin tone, then combine the three layers in Photoshop. A lot of post-process work!

I definitely learned how to use my DSLR more comfortably, but I still have a lot to learn.
I hope you enjoy these.

Behind the Scenes: Photo Shoot

Sunday was the big photo shoot day and I was happy that all my models showed up!

I was counting on a sunny day for natural light, but unfortunately the weather prediction was cloudy and overcast. This meant I had to rent lighting which would add another layer of complexity. I rented a few items that would create a simple set up in my apartment; a strobe light, an umbrella, a reflector, and a stand.

We had a ton of shoes and clothes to pull outfits from as each of the models brought some of their own. The outfits were an array of cosmetic pale pinks, silky greys and dusty nudes.

Each model had a unique style and look to the shoot, but it worked together cohesively. 
I'm now busy editing the photos for my presentation on Wednesday. I can't wait to show you the final pictures.

Photo Shoot Planning

This week, I'm currently working on a photo shoot concept for my Photography class. I've worked on shoots before, but only as a stylist. This time, I'll be behind the lens taking the photos.

In any photo shoot, you will need some models.  I've asked some of my friends to participate and luckily they're part of the fashion crowd so they love to do this sort of stuff. You'll also need a makeup artist, props that will add to the concept, and of course, the clothing or accessories you will be shooting. (I'll be choosing some new accessories from my shop to photograph).

I've pulled together some ideas for posing and lighting, but most of the fun will be from the spontaneity of the shoot. The image I found here captures the feeling and mood I would like to emulate, but we'll see what we end up with!

DuJour Magazine Editorial, Alexandra Cameron

Trend Forecasting by the Color of your Shoes

I'm still feeling the macro trend of Blush and Nudes strongly pushing it's way into spring 2011 from watching the Golden Globes and venturing into a few shoe stores. I'll let you in on a bit of info; you can usually tell the color of the season by looking at shoes, since they are meant to match with the color of upcoming clothing deliveries.

I bought these multi buckle wedges while I was in Hong Kong but I can't wear them yet because of the heap of snow outside. They look like the Surface to Air Buckle Wedges that I've been eyeing on their website, but I bought them for half the price.

For now, I'm just waiting till the snow melts till I can wear these puppies out.

Painting with Light

via www.utauta.info

This year, one of my resolutions is to take a photography class. Since I recently inherited a Digital SLR camera, I thought this would be a good chance to take a class and improve my shop photos on Etsy.

A little tidbit I learned yesterday: The word photography means "painting with light" in Greek. How simply beautiful.

I thought these photos from Lucyna DanUta Bakowska were fitting for this post. I love the saturation of colour, the play of light in the foreground and the matching electric makeup. You can see more of her work here.

The Best of Hong Kong: My Top 5 Highlights

I thought I would share some photos from my Hong Kong trip from the perspective of my point-and-shoot camera. The trip was such a colourful experience, visually and personally. It was inspiring to see the colours from the flower market, the lights from the oversized neon signs, the sun setting behind the mountains and to see old China juxtaposed against modern skyscrapers.

Also, I learned on this trip that I am just too snap happy when it comes to food.


Here are my top 5 highlights of Hong Kong that you shouldn't miss:

1. The Peak: for amazing panoramic views of the city. Plus you get to ride a tram to get to the top.
2. The Big Buddha: It's probably the biggest Buddha I've ever seen. It's a little bit of a tourist trap, but it's definitely worth checking out.
3. Mong Kok: for cheap shopping and bargains at the market. Remember there is no tax and you'll have to haggle!
4. Flower Market: for the impressive variety of flowers and inspiring colours
5. Causewaybay: for the extensive amount of shopping and the most damage to your credit card. There is Laforet here and a street called Fashion Walk lined with Marc Jacobs, Isabel Marant and smaller boutiques.

A look back at 2010

Mong Kok, amidst the bustling crowd and city lights

Looking back, 2010 was a year of definitive changes for my personal life and career. I did my very first Craft Show at Puces Pop in Montreal, got published in a National Magazine and Newspaper and moved into a new apartment with a dedicated studio space. In the last 2 months of the year, I left my corporate job as a Fashion Designer, one of the biggest decisions I had to make, to further expand my online business and to travel around South East Asia.

I would like to thank everyone for continuing to support, comment and read my blog.