Archive for November, 2011
LG Fashion Week – SS 2012
Here are some images from my recently concluded second season at LG Fashion week. All images courtsey my talented fashion photographer friend George Androulakis. It was a full house again!? 
Behind the Scene LG Fashion Week-Fall 2011
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Here are some images from behind the scene at LG Fashion Week F/W 2011, in Toronto. Biggest ever thanks to my darling husband Gaurav for being my show producer, my 10 year old son Zuv for putting the music together on Garage Band. My sincere thanks to Virginia Johnson and Rachel MacHenry for taking out time to come to my show and for all their love, kindness and support. Thanks to my friend Lana Filippone for all her help. Thanks to my Boss Melanie Egan for her encouragement and advice.
Finally, I would like to thank Robin Kay, President Fashion Design Council of Canada from the bottom of my heart for giving me this opportunity. And a “big thank you” to the wonderful FDCC team.
Gaurav, my handsome husband & my show producer. Can’t imagine my life without him.
The fabulous Loreal Hair and Make up team from Montreal. Thank you Eddie and Eric for the amazing hair and make up.
Such a huge team taking every instruction so seriously……I was totally impressed
Love the eye make up and nude lips…
Checking out textured lighting effect…Simon did an amazing job.
Last minute steam ironing …
So proud of my family…my beautiful sis in law Leena. Thank you so much for all your help, love and support.
My talented, beautiful friend Sheyda Sayahi (we studied at London College of Fashion,London UK together)
My incredibly talented Photographer friend George Androulakis who took most of these lovely shots. Thank you George & Clorinda for your support.
Thank you Lissa for sponsoring your beautiful Jewellery….besides being a wonderful soul, Lissa Brunei is an amazing Jewellery Designer.
Many thanks to Town Shoes for sponsoring all the beautiful shoes.
This beautiful lady in my Pheran tunic is Robin Kay, President Fashion Design Council of Canada. I totally owe this show to her.
Going thru the Show Script with Lizz Walsh who choreographed the show just the way I had envisioned it. Thank you so much Lizz and Erica Larva.
Powerful Rehearsals…
Dressing up Models
Final touches…
The Final Moment…
Thanks to all my friends who made it to my show at such short notice….I am grateful.
I hope you enjoyed the images…hope to have many many such wonderful shows in the future too.
Anu
Chapter 2,Page 1
My arm and the weather, both seem to be getting a little better. Although too much work still hurts. Wanted to share the wonderful news with everyone that my Autobiographical portrait, “Chapter 2,Page1″ has been selected for an upcoming Exhibition at the Pearson Airport, International departure Lounge. I feel so happy and so honoured. The Exhibition starts from 16th of April to Oct 3rd 2011 and all the people flying out of the country can see it. We might be given permission to visit and see our work one of the days. Other Artists from Glass, ceramics and Jewellery are also having their work displayed. It’s a collaboration between Harbourfront Centre and University of Toronto. Here check out my piece….
A close up shot of the Portrait….
It’s a 5ft x 4ft delicate patchwork made with discarded embroidery punch cards, pieces of Mylar stitched together with fishing line. Free hand drawing, Silk screened. It has my French Poem hand embroidered in the background.
Split Personality
…..while I recover from my surgery and feel strong enough to start working on my next project, why not tell you about this interesting project I did some time back. It was for the Theatre. Based on the opera “Don Giovanni” and set in 1700′s about literature’s most famous womanizer, his victims and nemesis. It is sung in Italian and boasts of Mozart’s elegant scores. I chose to design a costume for the Don himself….he is cunning, charming, a lover, a heart breaker, smooth talker, murderer who has a motto “Who is faithful to one woman, is cruel to all others”.
I found the attributes of his character quite similar to this lizard I read about once “Gila Monster (pronounced as Heela Monster). Lizards are normally harmless and this one looks pretty much the same but actually is a deadly one…..can paralyze the hand that pets it….just like Don Giovanni…..innocent but totally poisonous. So I decided to give him a Gila Monster costume, I used split peas and vinyls to create warty and leathery textures…….I’ll let my sketch book do the rest of the talking….
I was trying to achieve a highly textured, leathery, warty colourful and almost 3D’ish surfaces.
Since it was set in 1700 AD, I was looking at men’s period costumes but at the same time I wanted to give the costume a more contemporary twist in terms of texture and materials used. I wanted to design a bold and elaborate costume fit for Theatre that would create drama with lighting and swift movement of the character on the stage. A costume that would define Don’s character….the and the poisonous gentleman side of him…….stylish & contemporary as a new age casanova….a deceptive charmer….
Check out some textures I finally came up with…..the best part is I made them all with Vinyl and Split Peas using different techniques like Shibori, burning, embossing, melting, inserting, layering etc……Split Personality….
Cut out Vinyl with Split pea inserts, India ink and wax crayons..
A close up shot….looks like Gila Monster’s eye….
Heat setting the Vinyl with inserts….
Close up shot…..doesn’t it actually look like a Reptilian skin ???
Close up shot…..texture with burning and layering….
Warts created with Shibori technique….India ink, tracing paper, colours and dyes…
Close up shot…
Scales…
More scales..embossed vinyl…dyes and India Ink…
Close up of embossing…
Split peas and Vinyl…
Warty skin….close up…..the new age Casanova……here’s the outfit I created from one the Textures.
The final look….cunning and contemporary…
This was the presentation of my proposed outfit…everyone loved the Lizard costume…
A warty jacket worn with a flimsy silk shirt….
This series of Surface designs was selected by Surface Design Association of America (SDA) and displayed for a month at Hilliard Gallery in Kansas City USA last year.
It’s amazing the way life works…..how one thing leads to another. I was so excited that a bunch of my surface designs got displayed in Hilliard Gallery and I went to Kansas to see it. The whole experience made me realize how small an artist I was……..I met Ray Materson.
I have no words to describe this incredibly talented self taught artist. I met him at the SDA Conference in Kansas (his Solo exhibition in one of the Galleries)and very casually asked him “So what did you do before becoming an artist”. I assumed he made art as a hobby. Ray answered very patiently “I was in Prison”. I didn’t know how to react and hated myself for asking such a stupid question.
Ray spent 15 years in prison for drug related crimes. He writes in his book “Sins and Needles” how a Hypodermic needle ruined his life and how a sewing needle led to his redemption. Ray traded couple of cigarettes for a pair of socks and secured a sewing needle from the prison guard. He unravelled the socks and started making these incredibly beautiful miniature embroideries with 1200 stitches per square inch.
Ray’s miniature embroidery collage…..
A close up shot of one of his embroideries…done with the nylon yarn from the socks….
Check out his website http://www.raymaterson.com/
Well….that is a long story I told you today….do check out Ray’s website and read his incredible story in his book Sins and Needles. Ray is no doubt an inspiration for the whole world and I feel so lucky to have met him in person.