This post feels a bit like a summation at a trial. I've been having conversations and making statements on the same themes for over a year now and I feel the time has come to lay down something very concrete.
The primary question that a desirous designer has to ask is, "Do I believe in my art, or don't I?" You should answer yes without a moments hesitation or you should quit. The road ahead of you is going to be brutal and vicious and you absolutely must have faith in yourself and your art to survive. You are going to have to an enormous amount of work to do every single day, no money, and sometimes no help, none of this can turn into an excuse. How bad do you want this? You have to get out of bed every morning and say, "I am willing today to go to any lengths necessary to achieve my goals." If you can't do that everyday, move on.
This week I met roughly 12 designers at various fashion events. In my opinion out of those 12, one of them at this time is demonstrating that she has the stuff to succeed. In her junior year in a fashion program she decided she was going to launch her line and go the direct route. At that time, she secured manufacturing she has a comfortable working relationship with. She also began to map out her marketing and press strategies. It is that kind of foresight and the ability to, "plan, execute, plan, execute..." that makes success.
In a sense, what the specifics are of your aesthetic is irrelevant. As long as there exists a type of client for your work you have an opportunity to succeed. The work comes in identifying, reaching and pleasing your client. Oddly enough this is the nature of all commerce, the only thing that separates this from standard commercial fashion is that profit is not the driving force. Not that it is not important but the belief remains "if I make my art to the best of my ability, people will buy it." No concessions are made consciously or unconsciously to the need to sell. If you believe what was just mapped out, then wake up every day prepared to use everything you have to find your client, the stores that cater to them and creating your art and the ability to have it manufactured perfectly and with consistency. If you don't, go do something else that you do feel that way about.
Seth F.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The war for a young designer's soul
Emerging designers are often too young to handle what they are thrust into as they begin to get their collections together and thusly their careers off the ground. Nurtured and protected by the non-competitive environments or institutions they train at they are suddenly dumped into the ruthless and machine like environment of the commercial fashion industry. For those designers that decide to immediately launch rather than accepting a low paying 60 hr a week job working for an established designer, the road is much, much harder, I applaud the bravery of those who make such a choice.
In New York City there exist a few retail establishments that fill the role of transitional incubators and educators. Debut, Hillary Flowers, The Dressing Room, Sohung Designs, NYPull, Subdivision, and a few others. They offer rental/consignment or flat out purchase emerging designers work. Almost more importantly they offer critical feedback on what of a designer's aesthetic sells and what doesn't. They also introduce designers to some of the more nuanced elements of being a fashion designer such as launch parties, working with stylists and art directors, dealing with clients etc... Also organizations such as Underground Runway, NOLCHA, & Gen Art host shows for emerging talent. Despite what seems like a fair amount of available help it is in fact a very arduous road for a designer who goes it alone.
It seems to me it is more the emotional pounding that takes emerging talent out early in their careers. Living in a state of constant fear about rent, food, utilities almost always requires designers to get a 40 hr a week "regular" job. The pay at such positions for someone with only a BFA in design, (if they even had the money to aquire that), is usually so low that they will barely be able to live in a major fashion center and most likley will have to have a fairly long commute to work, and live with roomates, in smaller places, that often are not the healthiest, all of which is additionally draining. All of this saps their energy, erases their time and restricts their ability to design and create. Many of them quickly give up on their dreams while others allow their asthetics to be corrupted towards a blander, more commercial appeal by the pressure of needing money, now.
Now, their is one positive aspect to this, only the strong survive. This is a fairly easy argument to toss over your shoulder as a defense. Howver it ignores two things, these are human beings whose lives and health are being compromised and that is never acceptable if change can easily be made. Secondly, how many brillant but fragile people is it acceptable to lose? The answer for anyone with compassion is of course none. For me it would be better to create an environment that focused on nurture, not devoid of tough love and honesty, but a system with a heart. Their are many, many changes that can be made in how our industry deals with generation next. Many of them are fairly simple but they will take courage, I'm already all in, are you?
Seth F.
In New York City there exist a few retail establishments that fill the role of transitional incubators and educators. Debut, Hillary Flowers, The Dressing Room, Sohung Designs, NYPull, Subdivision, and a few others. They offer rental/consignment or flat out purchase emerging designers work. Almost more importantly they offer critical feedback on what of a designer's aesthetic sells and what doesn't. They also introduce designers to some of the more nuanced elements of being a fashion designer such as launch parties, working with stylists and art directors, dealing with clients etc... Also organizations such as Underground Runway, NOLCHA, & Gen Art host shows for emerging talent. Despite what seems like a fair amount of available help it is in fact a very arduous road for a designer who goes it alone.
It seems to me it is more the emotional pounding that takes emerging talent out early in their careers. Living in a state of constant fear about rent, food, utilities almost always requires designers to get a 40 hr a week "regular" job. The pay at such positions for someone with only a BFA in design, (if they even had the money to aquire that), is usually so low that they will barely be able to live in a major fashion center and most likley will have to have a fairly long commute to work, and live with roomates, in smaller places, that often are not the healthiest, all of which is additionally draining. All of this saps their energy, erases their time and restricts their ability to design and create. Many of them quickly give up on their dreams while others allow their asthetics to be corrupted towards a blander, more commercial appeal by the pressure of needing money, now.
Now, their is one positive aspect to this, only the strong survive. This is a fairly easy argument to toss over your shoulder as a defense. Howver it ignores two things, these are human beings whose lives and health are being compromised and that is never acceptable if change can easily be made. Secondly, how many brillant but fragile people is it acceptable to lose? The answer for anyone with compassion is of course none. For me it would be better to create an environment that focused on nurture, not devoid of tough love and honesty, but a system with a heart. Their are many, many changes that can be made in how our industry deals with generation next. Many of them are fairly simple but they will take courage, I'm already all in, are you?
Seth F.
Monday, June 8, 2009
No one is a fashion expert
So I just spent a lovely late afternoon with the amazingly talented designer Kaytee Papusza. (http://www.papuszacouture.com/) Kaytee was relating to me how a few well known fashion industry people and show biz types recently told her that there was no place in the real world for her designs and that they were the experts on fashion, not her. Not only are they not experts on fashion they don't even view fashion in the proper context. This importantly points out what is wrong with the way these "experts" and the industry as a whole sees designers and designs. We do not use the word expert when speaking of subjective art, because we know it is a laughable concept. How can anyone be an expert judge of sculpture? The variety of types of powerful and astonishingly skilled sculptors renders the idea of an expert impotent. Is there a system in place that allows objective judging between Rodin and Richard Serra? Is Renoir a more talented painter than Raphel?
History measures artists not T.V show judges. There are only two yardsticks for measuring artists, permanence and influence, no other opinion means a damn thing. American Idol judges would not have allowed the Sex Pistols beyond the first round and all they did was change music forever. Project Runway has yet to produce an artist of any magnitude, (though I do still root for Christian Soriano). What this fashion T.V show judge meant was, I am an expert on commercial fashion tastes. Which in twenty years will mean what exactly? They think they are experts because in their hearts they do not really believe that fashion is an art form...which is why they don't get many of the artists working today. Is there a place for her art? Is that what you really meant to ask? Tragic, absolutely tragic.
History measures artists not T.V show judges. There are only two yardsticks for measuring artists, permanence and influence, no other opinion means a damn thing. American Idol judges would not have allowed the Sex Pistols beyond the first round and all they did was change music forever. Project Runway has yet to produce an artist of any magnitude, (though I do still root for Christian Soriano). What this fashion T.V show judge meant was, I am an expert on commercial fashion tastes. Which in twenty years will mean what exactly? They think they are experts because in their hearts they do not really believe that fashion is an art form...which is why they don't get many of the artists working today. Is there a place for her art? Is that what you really meant to ask? Tragic, absolutely tragic.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
On being stupid and talented at the same time
Today, gentle reader I will rant and opine about me. Okay not really I'm just going to say I was stupidly casting about on the E-Sea for a place to host my styling and art directing portfolio when it suddenly occurred to me that I can add pictures to my blog...so I can do it here! So here will be the temporary home for some of my work. Now I just finished my "Brooklyn Woman" shoot and I can't put those pics up till after they get picked up or rejected. Pity that because the shoot was amazing but they will be here in a few weeks. So what follows is my work through April 2009:
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