PUBLIC MARKET

Two days in Singapore is quite a difficult time frame. We don't have tonnes of time to do all the touristy stuff but we also don't have very little time where we can prioritise it. I knew Singapore was known for its business and creative arts, the Gardens of the Bay is an example of the creativity within the city but also its markets, galleries and museums are extremely popular. Similarly to London, fashion students within Asia would make it their mission to visit Singapore and other places like Tokyo.

Choosing not to do an internship and travelling instead meant that I was going all summer without learning about the world of fashion communications. So I decided to develop my learning by making the most out of the creative industry in Singapore. We had previously been to loads of markets in different countries, but for Singapore I wanted to look for a different kind of market, perhaps a flea or a textiles market. When researching I came across a website that showed different arty events on throughout the month of August. Public Garden had an indoor market event on on the 21st August.

Public Garden aims to bring together independent businesses and creative individuals to interact, engage and learn, this is done through workshops and markets. The market displays a collection of entrepreneurs within the creative industry and allows the general public to wonder around and admire (and purchase) their work. On the weekend of the 21st, the market was held at Chjmes Hall, an historical church. The location was absolutely stunning, all painted white, the church stood on the grounds of Chjmes, a complex which combines entertainment, architecture and history. The area has a range of restaurants, bars and cafes which all surround the hall.

The instant you walk into the hall you are overwhelmed by the choice of stalls. We started from the right side as it was the least busy and snaked our way around to the left. I remember the first stall we visited, my eyes were drawn to the necklace of one of the girls behind the stall and thats when I noticed, Asians have a passion for statement accessories! As we continued round you could see the majority of the stalls were either accessories, stationary or food.

I think it is fair to say there was a lot of talent at this market and a lot of businesses which deserve the recognition.

FASHION REVOLUTION DAY

In my first module, we performed a debate on whether fashion does more damage than good. A few days ago, the annual Fashion Revolution Day was held, which helps raise awareness of the real cost of fashion and promote change within the industry. 

Carry Somers, founded the organisation 2 years ago, shortly after the Rana Plaza disaster occurred on the 24th of April 2013. Carry described how everywhere she looked there was people complaining about the ethical issues within the industry and yet no one acted upon it. She decided it was time someone did this, and contacted a close friend for some help. Although we may think we have little connection to the factory that collapsed that day, we in fact stimulate this production by purchasing items from brands which use environments like the Rana Plaza. 

This year there were over 70 countries involved all over the world and the question people were being asked was "Who made your clothes?", to which over 70% people couldn't answer. If companies aren't publicising where their items are made, then they probably have something to hide. In the centre of Berlin, the Fashion Revolution team placed a vending machine selling €2 t-shirts. When someone went to purchase a t-shirt they were shown a video of a young girl, working in poor conditions on very little wage, the customer was then asked if they wish to continue purchasing or whether they want to donate that €2 to a charity supporting this issue. As you could guess, most donated. 

A simple action like this contributes to changing the industry. Continue your curiosity about this subject and mark the Fashion Revolution date in your diary, so you can help raise awareness of it each year. 

DAMN GOOD ADVICE

After reading Hegarty on Creativity: There are no rules, which a thouroughly recommend by the way, I decided to look for books which are similar concepts to this book and that have a similar layout and tone of voice because it was so easy and enjoyable to read Hegarty's.

I came across a selection of books, the first one I brought was Damn Good Advice by George Lois, an art director and designer. Lois published this book in 2012 to give advice to people on how to reach their creative potential. Much like Hegarty's, Lois writes in a manner which is both entertaining yet insightful. From picking up the book once, I'm reached near the half way page. My favourites points so far have included...

• You can be cautious or creative (but there's no such thing as a cautious creative.) He urges that a creative thinker must be fearless with little care about what people's thoughts are.
• Reject analysis paralysis. Once you've got 'the big idea' and thought it through, if it works, accept it. Trust your gut. Trust your instincts. This is definitely my weak point, or was... Since being at uni I've become more decisive and trustworthy of myself. I've started to not analyse things as much.
• Even a brilliant idea won't sell itself. From one of the few kings of advertising, Lois speaks from experience when he says "you need to sell it". He's tried every page in the book to sell his ideas, from persuading to manipulating. 

So far I'm impressed with the advice given. It's funny to think when reading through these books that a lot of the points made, you can relate to. This makes the book much more intriguing to read! 

ALEXANDER MCQUEEN SAVAGE BEAUTY

A while ago, I wrote on a post, that one of the things I will try to do more of was visit galleries and exhibitions. Last Thursday the opportunity arose to go to the Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibition, and of course who would say no?! We jumped on the train to London nice and early so we had plenty of time to get there in time for our 12.45 entrance (Nottingham to London is further than you think!). We arrived slightly early, so we sat in the foyer of the V&A, admired the beautiful decor and impatiently waited for our time. As it was coming up to 12.45, we rushed to the entrance, and waited in the queue. Then it was our turn. AHHH!!!

We walked through the entrance and suddenly there was an absence of light and in front of us was a huge portrait of McQueen, done by his brother, Lee McQueen. As we continued through we set foot in the first room, which stood a variety of garments taken from McQueen's first collections. It was extremely weird and surreal seeing these garments in the flesh, especially when they're older than you! 

"I'm a romantic schizophrenic"

After the first room, we were greeted by a quote stating "I'm a romantic schizophrenic", this is something which became a reoccuring subject matter through the rest of the collections we were about to see. We went on to see garments from A Romantic Mind, A Gothic mind (one of my favourites), Romantic Primitivism, Romantic Naturalism, Cabinet of Curiosities, Romantic Exoticism, Voss, Romantic Naturalism and his last collection Plato's Atlantis. There was one room which was complete madness, Cabinet of Curiosities. In here lay a centre piece of the the dress from SS99 that was sprayed with paint from industrial paint guns, which was surrounded by a huge range of McQueen's work including his peculiar headwear and footwear. 

This is something you have to see in the flesh, its such a surreal experience and I fully appreciate this man's talent and what he brought to the industry!

STYLE ICONS

In one of this week's seminars we did a bit of research into style icons. A message learnt from this seminar was to be fully informed and knowledgeable of fashion history. As part of my textiles course we had to learn the history of fashion from the 1800's, so I would say I'm fairly informed on this part, however when Tim was asking us to recall style icons from certain eras, it proved difficult to me. After a couple of hours of researching into some of the most exciting and well known style icons, we were asked to think of who is iconic to us and inspires us.

A lot of my inspiration comes from Instagram accounts and blogs rather than actual people but after looking at a Pinterest board that I created a while ago, I noticed a few heads which were reoccurring. The blog 'Kayture' is something I've followed for a couple of years now. Kristina Bazan, the creative mind and founder of Kayture is someone who I really admire in terms of style and the person she is. The posts of her incredible journey from Swedish blogger to global fashion icon, are a pleasure to read and the images, taken by her talented boyfriend, portray such positive vibes.

Another couple of icons who I admire when it comes to style are Mary Kate and Ashley. Most young girls will of been a fan of the Olsen twins since they were young, but within the recent years, as they matured, the girls have become rather celebrated within the fashion industry. Their couture line 'The Row' shows their eye for style and their talent for design.