The intersection of art and commercialism
A lot of fashion retailers are partnering with designers and artists to promote their brand. Nike has partnered with experimental theater director, Robert Wilson (whose art has appeared in the Guggenheim, Metropolitan Opera of New York, and the Centre Pompidou) to create video portraits for Nike store retail displays.
While not for all companies, I feel that this is a refreshing injection of perspective into a brand. While in Japan, K learned that Chanel's mobile art container. Chanel partnered with famed architect Zaha Hadid to create and curate an multi-media experience. The traveling exhibit launched in HK, made a pit stop in Harajuku, and will end in Paris. Luckily for us, the rush line was pretty short and we were able to get into the exhibit.
Upon entering the container, you're directed to sit down and wait while the all-black-outfitted workers set you up with a personalized mp3 audio guide. A melange of music, voice-overs, and sound effects direct you through the container, telling you to stand-up, look-up, and walk to the next exhibit. Controlling your movements allowed each of us to experience a personal connection with the narrator and art. The 20 different pieces reflected their impressions of chanel, handbags, and leather. I was surprised how edgy some of the content was.
The container lands in New York between October 20 and Nov 9. To read more about visiting it while in NY, check out the NY Times article here.
Brooklyn Science (Nihongo Style)
The past few weeks I was back in DC working at my company's headquarters. Over the Memorial Day weekend, I went up to NY to visit K. Sunday morning, we went to go check out the much talked about Brooklyn Flea.
What does one do at the Brooklyn flea? EAT! After waiting for just about an hour for Popusa's from Red Hook, we browsed the wares at the flea market. I gotta admit, I am a self-acknowledged geek. I bought a t-shrit--the print below. Can you guess what it is? It's taken from a Japanese science textbook for children:
If you guessed anthropomorphized water, you were right! To see more of Kari's work check out her etsy site.
Korean is for design
In a recent FT article, Tatiana Boncompagni, predicts that Korean or Korean-Americans may be the future of fashion. In the recent Gen Art Fresh Faces catwalk, four of the eight designers were of Korean heritage. In fact, 29 percent of the student population enrolled in The New School for Design at Parsons are Korean. The article goes into profiling prominent and up-and-coming Korean fashion designers.
Why Korean, not other emerging arts countries like China? Well, according to Grace Sun:
I was born in Korea but I conduct business in China a lot and I’ve realised that Chinese culture is very much focused on food and culinary experiences. Koreans focus more on appearances and therefore fashion is a bigger part of the culture.
Yes, I do love my food.
Loonie arbitrage
Over the summer, I spent a couple days visiting my family in Vancouver. As we visited the area, K and I were surprised how expensive things were (and this was before the loonie caught up with the greenback). My aunt mentioned that it wasn't unusual that people would come down to the US to do their shopping.
According to a news article, its so prevalent that:
At the Fashion Outlets mall just outside the city of Niagara Falls, managers have placed collection bins near the exits where Canadians customers can deposit their unwanted items.
Business is booming for a lot of border towns as our friends up north are cashing out at parity!
Catway to the Web
The new site extends the theme of the year and extends it into a immersing multimedia experience. You delve deep into a world where your mouse floats on the screen, pods appear and release models suspended on the screen.