Hasta La Ideas

Thermochromic interactive grids invade Issey Miyake’s Tribeca location

A bright blue interactive installation has taken over the walls of Issey Miyake‘s Tribeca storefront. Composed of grids of hexagonal pads or “voxels”, Symbiosis0: Voxel responds to body heat or “artifacts” left by users who touch its textile surface. Accompanying the physical responsiveness of the piece is a mobile website that enables users to design a pattern that is displayed across the polygons upon submission. The display, a collaboration between artists Alex Dodge, Kärt Ojavee and Eszter Ozsvald had visitors pressing hands and faces against the shapes and delighting both fashionistas and children alike.

“Issey Miyake’s ability to take traditional designs and techniques and reinvent them through new materials and technology is something we all felt inspired by,” relates Alex Dodge. “When we first thought about possible colors for the installation, we found a nice relationship to a traditional Japanese textile dyeing technique known as “shibori”—it’s typically indigo blue with white lines. So we found a way of doing something similar with a totally new technology.”

Connected by a series of wires, the royal blue shapes turn bright white on contact, retaining the impression for a few minutes afterwards. As Kärt Ojavee explains, “Every pixel of the honeycomb-structured installation is individually constructed of several layers: covered with silk, the substrate material is felt, and in between are the warming elements. All voxels have two visual states—blue and a highlighted wire-frame of a cube. The silk is coated with thermochromic ink, reacting to body temperature or activated by the middle layer, which is controlled through a web-based interface.”

The installation was imagined as an interactive piece that would engage shoppers in a way that traditional art cannot. “People are usually not supposed to touch artworks nor create their own content on the medium,” says Eszter Ozsvald. “Suddenly, from a passive listener you become an important part of the installation and your displayed image becomes a part of the interior. I like the fact that you not only take something from the store but you leave a trace, a unique touch behind.”

SymbiosisO: Voxel will be on display at Issey Miyake in Tribeca through 28 April 2012. Check out the installation in action by watching our rough cut.

Tribeca Issey Miyake

119 Hudson Street

New York, NY 10013

By Greg Stefano and James Thorne.

Behind the scenes with the NYC-based footwear brand’s founder and designer Ce Ce Chin

Proving that fashion and function can indeed go hand in hand, 80%20 stands out as a chic, everyday answer to the often painful women’s heel. What started as a girl’s spin on what sneaker-heads and skaters were wearing has grown into a much more mature and fashion-focused footwear line for ladies. While the Vans-inspired styles have evolved into a more formal silhouette, the emphasis on comfort and wearability has remained a constant. To get a better feel for this continuous progression we recently caught up with founder and creative director Ce Ce Chin at her studio.

Looking out onto midtown Manhattan, Chin’s Fashion District design studio maintains a sense of order, with only a few inspiration boards hinting to the free-flowing creativity at the heart of the operation. Neatly tucked away behind closet doors is an endless collection of sample shoes, swatches and objects—offering somewhat of a parallel to the designer’s signature style, the Original Hidden Wedge.

Chin describes her design process as “non-linear”, mocking up ideas, sketches and digital models as she goes, and using her unique masking tape technique. Covering current shoe styles in tape allows the designer to create a 3D drawing board of sorts, turning her ideas into a model she can hold in her hands before resorting to an actual prototype. The freedom of adjustment during the design process allows Chin and her team to toy with ideas and colorways, keeping 80%20’s playful attitude going from ideation to production.

As shown in her design methods, Chin says she has always learned better through experience than by regimented task-driven assignments, a style that ultimately led the designer from her hometown in the Midwest to experiment with design in NYC, where her grandfather and father had grown up. Fifteen years later, Chin—who lives in her grandfather’s third-generation Chinatown apartment—has made a name for herself among what she calls the male “shoe dogs”.

Chin sees a future of exploration and expansion for 80%20, aiming to introduce more silhouettes and materials for upcoming collections, like Hudson Bay-inspired colorways and cork-molded footbeds on a high-heeled platform for Fall 2012. As far as inspiration goes, Chin says she prefers to “build based on what works, but shaped on the current vernacular.” With this in mind, the line seems poised to continue introducing innovative new styles that still follow the 80%20 mantra of designing for everyday use.

For a closer look at the 80%20 design studio check the gallery below.

Wilderness-inspired men’s collections

Of the many noteworthy designs to come out of 2012 Paris Fashion Week the spatially inspired Fall/Winter collections of Sruli Recht and Inaisce were particularly captivating.

Sruli Recht presented a highly spirited line of garments featuring graphics of horses running across wild Icelandic landscapes while conveying the warmth needed to face such harsh climates.

The Field Dressing collection comprises luxury-quality natural animal-based materials like felted and knotted Icelandic wool, reindeer leather, calfskin and hand-loomed satin made from single strands of horsetail hair. For his third complete menswear line, Recht employed a hunting theme, but tailoring is decidedly urban, with impeccable detail from innovative silhouettes to precise pleats.

The 35-ensemble collection centers on a color palette of rusty orange-red, black and a spectrum of beige shades. The spirit of hunting shines through in audacious accessories, from a dolphin-skin belt to bird-wing collars and glass-blown slippers. Shorts over light knit leggings were shown with transparent shirts made with spider silk. Coats feature oversized pleats and enveloping hoods and jackets stay more closely cut, offering an asymmetrical line to the overall ensemble.

New Yorker Inaisce finds his inspiration in Far Eastern wonderlands like Mongolia, Siberia, Armenia and the Silk Road for his Pilgrimage collection. His story, documented in beautiful photography, follows some kind of rough warrior traversing land and sea to reach a kind of hidden heaven.

The waterproof garments are stiff and durable outside, disguising sensuality in soft and delicate materials on the inside. Paying close attention to fabric, Inaisce plays with contrasting textures on lambskin, wolf wool, cotton, silk, fur and leather smeared with resin or carbon.

Conceived as a whole, the architectural unisex collection is highly cohesive. The wraps and coats, caftans, leather blazers, monastic tunics and warrior skirts work together seamlessly.

Our studio visit and interview with the veteran fashion designer on her first collection in nearly 10 years

Perched on the top floor of a nondescript building in New York’s fashion district you’ll find veteran designer Gemma Kahng‘s studio. The bustling space serves as a showroom, office, archive, design studio and production workshop, housing more than twenty years of inspiration pieces, vintage couture and past collections. From here the exuberant Kahng is staging her “comeback,” as many are calling her return to regular production.

The designer made a name in the fashion industry in the early 1990s with bold women’s jackets and suiting. Her mainstream success came upon major industry praise and countless editorial spreads—including the cover of Vogue in August 1992. A decade or so later she experienced some tough times and eventually dropped out of the limelight. She never stopped designing, however, and now some 10 years since that dip, Kahng has a new team to help her build her label once again.

Using the fresh start as a chance to showcase the expertise she’s garnered over the last 20 years, Kahng seems to be in perpetually good spirits having turned out a stunning Spring 2012 collection. But with New York Fashion Week approaching there is still much to do, and the studio is in full production mode with samples, sketches and fabric swatches hanging everywhere.

While exploring the studio I was immediately drawn to the overflowing stacks of fabric, spindles of ribbon and wall after wall of boxes filled with rare vintage materials—including 20 years worth of original Kahng handbags and garments. I sat down with Kahng to chat about the inspiration behind these current designs and where she sees her brand going.

When you first got started in the industry what would you say you were best known for?

Oh, suits. Power suits. They were so loud and a little bit obnoxious [laughs]. Everyone loved it.

With your new Spring 2012 collection it seems you’ve shifted from bold suiting to a more feminine, sexy aesthetic. Would you say this was a natural transition or a more calculated move?

I don’t think you can be that conscious with knowing what’s right, you just have to try and see what happens. And it’s been years, so I’ve tried all types of things. Not too long ago I made a piece when I was on the TV show (All on the Line) and it was basically like putting all the leftover stuff in one garment. And somehow I just created this very interesting texture and harmony. And a new idea came out of it. Judging from everyone’s reaction I thought “let me take that further” and the idea developed into this Spring collection.

The Spring collection is all about texture and mixing different fabrics and layers. I don’t want it to fall into being entirely romantic and super feminine. I want it to be a little bit edgier. That’s when I decided to put a little bit Mad Max kind of feeling into it almost—exaggerated shoulders and sheer hem lines, something a little bit more interesting.

Is this how you’d describe your current design ethos?

The vocabulary I like to use is being carefree. You know I don’t want to try to make everything perfect, to follow the rules or make everything be luxurious and proper. I try to move away from that, but of course my customers are very elegant and very fashion-conscious. They want to look perfect. But I’m putting a little bit of edge into it, so my clothes are made with a carefree spirit, but when it’s on isn’t really. That’s what I’m trying to do.

Texture and lace seem to be central to the new line. Are there any specific materials or fabrics that work best with your design style?

I like to work with chiffon. You can do so many things with it. Chiffon is very light and sometimes transparent so you have so many options. I can gather it and make it thick, or make it heavy by shirring it. I can cut it up and make ruffles out of it. Or i can just do triple layers to give thickness and still flowing at the same time. There’s so many different things, but it also depends on the season. Spring, chiffon is a very very important fabric. Also it’s very easy to get. I can get all different colors right down the street. So that makes a big difference [laughs].

You use a lot of vintage materials as well. Why do you prefer this idea of re-purposing?

I like the things that are old and aged, and have some history. It makes it more beautiful, a little bit sentimental. You wonder how long it’s been since it was made, things like that. When you look at some beautiful garment from the Victorian era it’s aged and falling apart—so delicate and precious. I love that kind of feeling.

So sometimes yeah you can get vintage material. You have to think creatively and try different things. For example right now I’m washing this wool to make it a little more “raggy”. It was perfectly pressed beautiful wool crepe, and I washed and dried it and it became very soft, like a rag. It’s very nice, I’m making a dress out of it.

Has your design process changed since the ’90s with the advent of computers?

I like to sketch. And erase. But when it comes to computers I’m always doing research online. Before I used to go to the Metropolitan libary, make an apointment and sit down to make copies. None of that anymore. Just go online and it’s all there. And I can do that just laying down right there on the studio sofa.

The new Spring collection has a rather subdued palette of black and gold, any specific reason for this?

Oh yeah black and gold. Color is very challenging for me, personally I don’t like color, but I want to try. So I’m kind of timid about it. But red, I feel very comfortable with, because red is almost basic. So I’ll be doing some red, I like to try to squeeze in some colors—little variations of red or brown, not another color but kind of different tones. Very gentle, it has to be gentle. it cannot be too shocking.

Are you currently designing and manufacturing all your garments in the studio?

Right now, yes. But I’m talking to some factories in the building. There’re two factories on this floor we just went to say “hi” to them at lunchtime today. They all want to make my samples. So that’s an idea we have in mind. But I like to do it [in the studio] so I can watch—and catch them if they’re doing something wrong haha.

Head to Gemma Kahng online to see her Spring 2012 collection. Fall 2012 launches next month at New York Fashion Week.

The recently released tome covers art, design and fashion inspired by the iconic symbol in all its morbid glory

Long lauded as a dark symbol of the occult, the skull has endured a rather fashionable resurgence in recent years. Cataloging some of the most intriguing and sometimes unnerving displays of the symbol’s use is Skull Style, a newly released visual encyclopedia of sorts on the subject as it has appeared in modern design. Covering nearly 500 pages, this massive anthology details various forms from art and interiors to avant-garde fashion and jewelry.

The first page we opened to landed on the incredible “impaled” high heel by fashion designer Kermit Tesoro—we knew then that the book would uncover even more unique iterations of the motif. Jim’s papier-mache and rope “Fashion Designers” and Scott Campbell‘s 3D “Noblesse Oblige” made entirely of cut and uncut U.S. currency.

Alongside each artist and designer featured, Skull Style provides a brief biography for context and, sometimes, up to 10 pieces of their skull-centric work. As the book flows from fashion to object design and jewelry the reader is introduced to an stunning array of works from the likes of Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst and Alexander McQueen.

Released earlier this month, Skull Style is now available for $91 from Amazon. For more information on Skull Style and other equally intriguing books from the new publishing house Curated Collection head to Farameh Media online.