Simon Doonan

A few weeks ago I attended the Simon Doonan lecture, and I am very glad I did.  It was an amazing experience to get to hear Doonan's thoughts on the fashion industry firsthand.  I really liked the way he described fashion as a modern day "spectator sport"; it really is when you think about it.  I had never seen it in this manner but now its the only way I see it.  Different brands are different teams and they hire different designers who are the real players, and of course the regular person wearing the clothing is also competing against their peers.  Competition is fierce in fashion, and it really is sports-like to see what different brands can produce.  Doohan was funny, down to earth, and of course dapper--his shirts are killer.

Robert Montgomery

I'm finding myself intrigued by this artist.  I particularly enjoy his Fire Poems...

Here is his website, if you guys are interested, as well as an article of his recent show...

http://www.robertmontgomery.org/robertmontgomery.org/16.html

http://www.someslashthings.com/online-magazine/2014/12/2/someart-robert-montgomery-opening-event-at-ajl-gallery-berlin

Alexa Meade

Recently an artist that caught my eye was Alexa Meade. Instead of painting subjects on a canvas, Meade makes subjects the canvas. She applies acrylic paints on human subjects and makes them appear as a painting.

It's absolutely unreal, and I love the angle that she takes in her art.

"I paint representational portraits directly on top of the people I am representing. The models are transformed into embodiments of the artist's interpretation of their essence. When captured on film, the living, breathing people underneath the paint disappear, overshadowed by the masks of themselves." -Alexa Meade

Simon Doonan

I genuinely enjoyed Simon Doonan, as I’ve seen his work before. He started in the department store industry where he eventually began designing window displays in unconventional ways. Fantasy-like, gory, busy and often disturbing, I personally really appreciate his work. I love his touch of humor in many of the examples that were shown in the backdrop during the event. Although however outlandish his displays were, they did exactly what they needed to do—capture attention.
 Doonan also discussed the fashion world, and unsurprisingly he mentioned that he thinks even fashion is subjective, and so it was not in his place to dress people. As a result, he has little to no critique on outfits and style. Personally I appreciate his stance, as I feel strongly about make-up in the same manner. However, I do also think that there can be a standard of fashion, and not to mention, often people have the desire to be trendy but simply cannot. In addition, there is often a limit to one’s style, even if one doesn’t intend it. I don’t see an issue with helping certain people with fashion, and I think that by sharing one’s taste, one can share his or her style. It’s a celebration of different tastes.
 Overall, Doonan was an eccentric personality with great messages to share. I'm a fan.

Petal Fashion

Fashion designs using flower petals. I found these and thought other people would be interesting in seeing them!

Tattoo Designs

Some tattoo designs I did recently for a friend...

Simon Doonan Talk

Simon Doonan Talk (Extra Credit)

I really enjoyed the discussion on Tuesday, October 14th with Simon Doonan. Displayed in the backdrop throughout the event, images of Doonan appeared in the backdrop. These images showed him posing with other fashion mogels, flyers to his most popular events, and the variety of his style. As a creative ambassador and fashion mogel, Doonan started in the department store industry. Eventually, he was placed as a window display creator and his career took off from there. After considering traditional store window etiquette, Doonan felt it best to break those very rules. He created gory windows, bloody windows, creepy windows, extremely busy windows, disturbing windows, and more. For him, it was about attracting the viewers attention through obscurity.

He then went on to discuss his place within the fashion world. Although this is true, he surprising stated that he does not judge others' outfits. I found that quite interesting. He feels that people should wear what they want to wear and what they feel most comfortable in; it is not his place to dress anyone. Doonan even gave an example. He remembered the time he was invited to be on the show "Fashion Police." However, Doonan felt uncomfortable on the show because he simply didn't have much opinions on the people's clothing choices. Needless to say, he wasn't invited back. Additionally, Doonan pointed out his own shirt. He knew that he liked it, but also knew that most men of the world world would neither like, nor wear his shirt. This was completely okay with him. Towards the end of the discussion, Doonan informed us that although he was able to have free range of his window display designs, it first took him learning and understanding the concepts before ever breaking away from tradition. The discussion was entertaining and I am glad I was able to attend.