After spending the last six months of my life running around
for the St. Lorient Beyond Fabric-ation show
it is now over and the show was a huge success. There were a few minor little
glitches the day of the show, but nothing that we could not handle. I am sure
that no show or event has ever gone down without kinks that needed fixing on
the day.
Just to remind all our readers of what the show was
about: it was a collaborative fashion
show between ten fine artists, five textile designers and the second year
Fashion Design students from the Tshwane University of Technology. The aim of
the show was to design and create a garment, its fabric and accessories based
on one of the ten artists’ work. This
show formed part of the 2014 Cool Capital initiative that I wrote about earlier
in the year.
For the students and designers working on the show was
almost a full-time job along with all the stress of our regular jobs and
studies. The process was not without tears, fights and breakdowns, but for the
most part it was a very positive experience and atmosphere. The most
challenging part was the fact that for most of the participants, including the
artists, it was a huge learning curve as most of us have never done a
collaboration of this nature before.
At the show each model walked out in her garment, along with
the artist whose work inspired the dress, the textile designer and a
representative of the fashion group that worked on the garment. The crowd’s
response was overwhelming when each group walked out and seeing the whole
outfit come alive was breathtaking.
Will I do it again? The answer is: YES!!! So what is the
problem? The problem is that I miss the excitement and pressure of helping with
the show. The explosive creative energy has come to a standstill all of a
sudden. Let us hope the next challenge is right around the corner…
Peace and love
Clara
PS: All the garments and artworks will be on display until
31 December 2014 at the St. Lorient Fashion and Art Gallery.
