Timing is Everything

Went to Philadelphia for the first time recently (a shame considering how close it is to New York) and loved it!

And found a lovely graffiti by Penn's Landing.

Looking Forward...

... to the next season.

Starting a little collection of my own . Simple idea - to make clothes that you can literally wear to travel or to sleep.

Hence the title here, Wander - voyages of body and dreams.

New Job and New Collection

Recently started a new job as a pattern-maker/designer at Donna Karan's Urban Zen collection. Urban Zen is a non-profit organization, and the collection is a means to financially support the foundation to carry out its missions. Long story short, it's fabulous clothes, and for a good cause.

www.urbanzen.org

Here is the new fall/winter collection. I made the patterns and samples for looks #2, 4, 5, and 9. Especially love look 5, it's a padded deer-skin leather jacket!

I mean, air, water, a padded leather jacket, what else do you need?

Inspired by Charlotte Gainsbourg

I went to see Charlotte Gainsbourg perform live a few months ago in New York, she was touring to promote the new album, IRM. To say it was a dream come true was a bit of an understatement! She wore a phenomenal cut-away Balenciaga (it has to be!) little jacket that fit her like a glove, along with a rock tee and some skinny jeans that might as well have been painted on.

What can I say, she is so, so, so elegant, delicate, but bad-ass at the same time! Imagine her frolicking in the field and swinging her baby around in a Balenciaga leather jacket while puffing away on a Gauloise (not when the baby is around, of course, that would be unthinkable) ?!?! That's right!

Anyway, here is a little collection inspired by the very beautiful Charlotte Gainsbourg. What's all the Liberty prints got to do with rock & roll?! You wonder. Well, she is half British!

Jacket w/ Paillettes

Here is a very rough sketch of the idea.

I found a dress from Mango (a Spanish clothing chain), with some great metal paillettes! A nice start. Now I need to find the perfect navy jacquard.

Again, life really does take you by surprise. Who would've guessed that Mango would make such a dress? It looked Balmain!

New Directions

Life takes you (me, at least, anyway) unexpectedly. It's always been busy busy - going to work during the day, coming home to work on jobs all night long, then going back to day job the next morning, and planning the weekend by the hour to keep up with the deadlines. Now suddenly I am out of freelance work and unemployed, for the first time in a long time.

Full stop.

Woah.

Well, now that I have all the time on my hands, I am starting on a very ambitious personal project. The picture here is a dress from Dries van Noten's fall 2010 women's collection - fully covered with different metal paillettes and hardware. I mean, "amazing" is an understatement. The amount of handwork on it is just incredible; and it has to be done by hand and not by machine.

And why should women have all the fun? That dress needs a man of matching status. I set out to look for similar metal hardware and beads, some sort of wool/silk navy/black jacquard fabric, to make a men's jacket of the same spirit.

And oh yes, with chains of course.

A sketch and samples to come soon.

Just went to Barcelona in Spain, and have to say, it was quite a wonderful experience. There were just so much texture, richness, and brilliant colors everywhere.

Little details, as seen in the photo above, make me smile. (Yes, I did a lot of smiling there.)

Monkey Boy

What a cool van!

"Monkey Boy Construction" - Hit them up! They must do a good job.

Light (Artificial)

I just thought this image was quite beautiful. (The source, I'm afraid to admit, is quite embarrassing.)

Photo by Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Gymnastics in a refugee camp in Kurukshetra, Punjab, India, 1948

Just went to see his show at MoMA, and it was overwhelmingly beautiful (the crowd at the museum were simply overwhelming).

Some Happy Animal

Just went to Cologne, Germany, for the second time. As I remember, there was a wonderful postcard shop that has literally thousands of postcards! Needless to say, it was a destination, and I found some really great ones.

Here is one happy cat, by Santoro Design in London.

Boy in Striped Pajamas

After working in retail for 4+ years, I finally caved in and got a Rick Owens leather jacket. What to wear it with? Say, a pair of yarn-dyed stripe drawstring pants (a sample for H & L that I just made, and will be available come next spring). ***Note the perfectly matching stripes! Didn't even notice there were patch pockets, did you?!?!***

Despite the jacket, I will NOT become one of those stereotypical Rick Owens caricatures, and will never be caught dead in a drapey cardigan!

By the way, the movie "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" is very good, highly recommend.

Dynamic

Because of certain upcoming "events", I have been drawing quite a lot this week. I've never been so productive, not even in senior year at Parsons?!?!

Ohhhhhhh... pressure always work wonders.

Now, I wish my fingers can fly like this!

Recycled Military Jacket

So, here is a photo of the jacket finally!!

Made from 3 pairs of GAP cargo pants and 2 swatches of sequins for the sleeve lining. (Reduce! Reuse!! Recycle!!!)

What to wear it with? Say... a silk camp shirt by Dries van Noten and a pair of skin-tight leather leggings?

This is project 1 of three for a certain fabulous lady with the initials "CG"!


More to come soon...

Fleeting...

The only thing more fleeting than summer is ...

childhood
beauty
encounters
....

How You Handle It...

"It's not what happens. It's how you handle it."

Artist Formula

Artist (formula):

art = life (+ - money) x passion >>>
experience // years ÷ love
(≅ inspiration/ work).

Military Jacket - Work in Progress

So, the idea is to recycle five pairs of GAP cargo pants and some swatches of sequins to compose a military-style jacket. (Other ingredients include lots of coffee, cookies and cake.)

It is commissioned by the same fabulous lady who got the chain-scarf previously. This is the second project for her, hopefully it would be an on-going relationship.

Petals and Shadows

Went to see the cherry blossoms at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden (finally, after two previous failed attempts). It was quite pretty, especially when all these fluffy petals fall off the trees, like rain drops.

Youth

Just started reading Edmund White's The Farewell Symphony, and moving along rather quickly. And here is a brilliant line that I just had to jut down on a napkin during lunch.

This perfectly captures youth and coming-of-age. I think, anyway...

Some Spring Blossoms

Coat w/ zippers, bird print silk cut-away top, and long gown w/ train, all by Ann Demeulemeester, spring/summer 2010

April Fool's Day Tax Return

Finally signed and packed up the tax return forms for 2009. Woo-hoo!

I have recently started subscription to the New Yorker magazine, which is quite wonderful. Lots of interesting articles and great cartoons! Just today, there is a cute one on tax returns, as shown here.

Then I felt like being silly and did some Photoshop-ing. (Well, actually, the bottom part is in fact my lucky case with tax returns.) Instead of paying even more tax, I will be getting a big FAT refund check from the IRS!! I will be walking away with a wad of cash!

To where? I don't know yet.


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Also have been working on lots of projects simultaneously (when it rains, it pours), including samples for a men's collection with the initials "H" & "L", and a women's knitwear line with the initial of "L" & "P", and a couple of custom-made garments for a very fabulous lady C.A.G. So have been neglecting this blog recently. Once all these projects are done, I will have more exciting pictures. Keep your eyes peeled sharp!! (whoever is reading this blog)

First Day of Spring

March 21, 2010 - First day of spring.

It's beautiful weather; stop wearing black, ladies (and gentlemen)! Think colors! Prints!! And more prints!!!

Here, the color theme is taken from Dries van Noten's spring 2008 collection, which was an explosion of floral prints on top of prints, and then slathered with jewels and silver pallettes. A wonderful and optimistic moment.

Carmen Kass

Carmen Kass, one of my favorite models of all times!

And yes, she is from Estonia; it's very cold up there ;)

The photo is taken from the Narciso Rodriguez "For Her" Fragrance ad campaign.

Chain Scarf

What I have been working on in the past few days (weeks?). All the chains are hand-sewn down (yes, every single chain) on a panel of silk charmeuse. Heavy, yes, but it'd be a fabulous work-out for the neck!!

And yes, this is commissioned by a certain fabulous lady, who no doubt is rocking this number out about town!

"The" Train Station

Finally found a perfect picture of the train station! (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2297/2290791982_4a59a25c8d_o.jpg)

This is exactly how I imagine the train station to be like, where Brian said farewell to Edward.

Now that I found something to base on, an illustration of the scene won't be too far away...

Dries van Noten f/w 2009

Dries van Noten fall/winter 2009 window at Eva Gentry (formerly known as Butter, a boutique in Brooklyn), from September 2009 to October 2009.

Inspired by the collection's "shattered" prints, I scanned the actual clothing, cut-up the prints, and transferred the floral/knit/parrot motifs onto the canvas as backdrop. Then, I covered up books and magazines with these printed paper and piled them in stacks. Note the hat on the mannequin - it was shaped after a beak and a button was sewn on to imitate an eye, so a hybrid between a bird and human, a bird-woman.

"Kordian"

Another one of my favorite lines, taken from Polish playwright Juliusz Slowacki's play, Kordian.

The original goes:

Hundred desires within me,
Hundred of thoughts,
Hundred of wilted leaves.

And Jiang's version is:

Thousand desires within me,
Thousand of thoughts,
Thousand of wilted leaves.

Every beginning, after all...

This is one of my favorite lines of all times:

"Every beginning, after all,
Is nothing but a sequel.
And the book of events,
Is always open in the middle."

Taken from the Polish poet Wislawa Szymborska's poem, "Love at First Sight".

Daydreaming

Edward Phelan

This is how I imagine Edward Phelan (a character from While England Sleeps) to look like. A quick drawing for now, more elaborate illustration of him will be coming soon...

Art Deco Galliano

An attempt in a different style of drawing - Art Deco. The dress is by John Galliano, from spring 2008 collection.

Truth of Lies

Another excerpt from While England Sleeps, by David Leavitt.

Here, Brian commits adultery and entangles in his own lies. Edward is denied his rights to truth, and falls deeper and deeper into the endless despair.

I have read the book twice in three days. (Yes, it is very moving.) More entries and actual illustrations to follow.

Words of Love and Lust

This excerpt is taken from David Leavitt's novel, While England Sleeps, which takes place in the years right before and during World War II. Here, Nigel flees Berlin to Paris with his lover, Fritz, and wrote this letter to his friend Brian Botzford in London.

"...It is true that our days are full of bickering and anxiety; by night, however, we go on prolonged excursions into a different country, a country that exists only between lovers. How wonderful to explore its corners and intricacies, this place I have until now known only fleetingly! ... Kissing him opens the door to that other country to which I wish we could emigrate forever, but of course you cannot buy passports to places like that. So I dream up a house with a few small rooms and warped, painted floors, perched on a cliff high over the crashing sea, in a city of tilting houses, a city that is safe and distant from war..."

*** Note, this entry here is very censored. The original letter is, ahem, much juicier ;) ***

Elephant Valentine

Now, this is for a certain special someone!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Secret Compartment Book that I recently made for a special someone (nothing related to Valentine's Day at all) whom I admire. Got an old book from Strand's for a dollar, and after some hours of razor blades, hot glue guns (a revelation, works like a dream!!!), and Elmer's, here it is! The process is actually rather fun, the trick is to be meticulous while cutting out all these pages and really, really weigh down the book as it is drying to prevent the curling of pages due to wet glue. At the center, a rose is printed on a piece of muslin and sewn onto leather backing, along with ostrich feather and chains.

Oh, the scent of all these dried rosettes mixed with the stale smell of an old book is actually quite... intoxicating!

Confusion and Uncertainty

This is entry is for dear Dana (and myself), after the conversation we had today.

The drawing is taken from the book, A Chance of Sunshine (as it is officially translated in the English edition), by Jimmy. It is a wonderful book, and I especially love his style of illustration and use of subtle metaphors. Here, the character is facing the emptiness of despair, weakness, and confusion.

Alexander McQueen, R.I.P.

Alexander McQueen (16 March 1969 – 11 February 2010), one of the most original designers of the times. The fashion world will miss his unconventional vision of beauty and theater.

Here is a link to one of his moments of brilliance, with supermodel Shalom Harlow in a white dress which is then spray-painted by two robots, from his spring/summer 1999 show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reK0A1XIjKA

And another clip, from his fall/winter 2006 show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p6N_Ow5xRg&feature=related

"Inside an empty glass pyramid, a mysterious puff of white smoke appeared from nowhere and spun in midair, slowly resolving itself into the moving, twisting shape of a woman enveloped in the billowing folds of a white dress. It was Kate Moss, her blonde hair and pale arms trailing in a dream-like apparition of fragility and beauty that danced for a few seconds, then shrank and dematerialized into the ether." (source: style.com)

R.I.P.

Ann Demeulemeester Fall/Winter 2010

A light illustration of the look from Ann Demeulemeester's fall/winter 2010 show. The words are from the Belgian band, dEUS' song, "Nothing Really Ends".