Exhibition - The World Goes Pop

When I think of Pop art, Andy Warhol and Roy Litchenstein are the only artists that come to mind. I automatically think of modern and comical art work that uses graphics and logos to convey a message. What I didn't know was that pop culture was often used as a subversion of language for historical events such as war and protests. The World Goes Pop exhibition at the Tate Modern explores how different cultures and countries responded to the pop movement and how they used the art to convey a certain message. The photographs of the artwork below focuses on the representation of the woman's body. 

Photo Credit - Chloe Ferdinand

The first two images feature artwork from Jana Zelibska who trained as a graphic designer and illustrator. The work shows fragmented female dancers outlining their bodies and using mirrors for genitals, flowers have also been placed on the wall piece surrounding the mirror to create more emphasis on the area. This refers to a temple in India and reflects on the Hinduism and sexual rituals. Originally, this art was supposed to be featured as street art but it was seen as too explicit so could not be published on the streets. The third image shows a body but as something that is experienced from within (the television screen) showing female liberation which focuses on a global and political view.

This exhibition made me realise that a lot of art is made in order to show a deep message, whether it being pop art or a type of sculpture, what you interpret is never what the artist wanted to convey to the audience.

Exhibition: The Fabric of India

As you know I visited the V&A recently, on my trip I also went to the The Fabric of India Exhibition. This exhibition was all about the fabric from over the last 600 years, the techniques used in order to create the fabric, dyes and other skills such as embellishment. As an ex-textiles student, I thought it would be a good idea to go to this exhibition as I used some of these techniques for my portfolio for GCSE and A Level. When you first enter the exhibition, you are presented with two models wearing dresses, one being the dress shown below, made by the designer Manish Arora. When I saw this, I was shocked to see the amount of detail, colour and thought put into the dress. After being presented with the outfit, I was excited to look around the rest of the exhibition because if this was just the entrance, what would be inside.

Photo Credit - Google Images

But, when walking around the exhibition, I felt like there was a lack of creativity and although it was very informative, there was't anything that stood out to me amongst the fabric and techniques. At the very end of the exhibition, there was a small room and this was my last hope for the original creativity that I was searching for. Then I spotted this outfit!

Photo Credit - Chloe Ferdinand

Manish Arora uses ancient methods and modern materials to create a new spin on Indian fashion. I thought the skirt was beautiful, beside the model there was a video that showed how the outfit was made. Manish Arora has a signature colour palette of pink and gold that he uses all the time, the skirt of this outfit shows his trademark off well. With his mix of cultural and contemporary designs, he has been featured in many magazine such as V Magazine, Vogue and Elle. As well as his own creations he has collaborated with other companies such as MAC Cosmetics, Swarovski and Reebok. Katy Perry has been lucky enough to wear one of Arora's creations on stage for one of her tours.

Photo Credit - Google Images

It is clear to see the Manish Arora has a distinct style and when you see a product designed by him, you know who designed it. I also think it is very important for designers to collaborate with other sectors because it becomes a challenge for them and opens their designs up to other audiences who may not specifically follow fashion.

Watch out for other designers that experiment with collaborations!

Exhibition: Shoes, Pleasure and Pain

The V&A always hold such a great range of interesting exhibitions aimed at young creatives. When I saw the title for the current exhibition, Shoes, Pleasure and Pain, I was excited to see the selection of shoes as shoes are definitely my weakness. I thought the exhibition would display hundreds of shoes ranging from different eras. The exhibition did look at footwear from different eras but also footwear from all around the world, ranging from intricate details to elaborate contemporary shoes. Lots of the shoes came with background cultural information and part of the exhibition focused on the development of specific types of shoes. 

There were 5 main sections; transformation, status, seduction, creation and obsession. The section that caught my attention most was seduction as it was interesting to see how different cultures interpreted a "seductive shoe" and foot size. For example, in China, to have small feet has always been seen as seductive and attractive. Foot binding is a process that began in the 10th century where women would practise binding their feet so they would eventually stop growing because they thought it would make them more beautiful and appealing to men. Young girls would wrap their feet tightly in bandages so their feet would stop developing and therefore naturally stop growing. Many shoes in the exhibition were tiny and didn't look like they would fit any adults foot, they looked like shoes for dolls. Personally, I think the size of the shoes are ridiculous and are not even the slightest bit attractive or beautiful. If I am completely honest, I didn't find many of the shoes that beautiful, they were completely different to the shoes sold in shops now and didn't appeal to my personal taste, but that just shows how shoes/trends vary with the era, culture and person. After the exhibition it made me think of all my shoes and which ones I would consider as my favourite. However, I struggled with this because I found a reason for each of my shoes... The type of shoe you wear is very important as they can make you feel completely different. For example, trainers, make you feel comfortable and chilled, whereas in heels, normally your posture changes and you carry yourself in a different way.

What are your favourite shoes and why?

Photo Credit - Chloe Ferdinand

Pleats Please - Issey Miyake

I could spend all day in Selfridges, it is one of my favourite places to visit when in Central London and I can guarantee that my day will end browsing around the high end/boutique floor! Although the clothes are mega expensive and looking around this area can be very depressing when you are a student, this always gives me extra drive to do well in life because when i'm older, I WILL be owning these clothes!! The brand that i immediately go to look at is "Self Portrait", this has been my favourite brand for a while (as you can see from my profile picture - I am wearing one of their dresses from last season!) but it becoming well known and i like discovering brands or collections that not many people have heard of. 

During my recent visit at Selfridges, my aim was to find something original and unique that I hadn't seen in every mass market shop because to be quite honest, i'm getting bored of the high street stores! Issey Miyake's style has always caught my attention but when I saw the current collection featured in Selfridges, "Pleats Please", I fell in love. This collection includes clothing that is made completely from pleats and although this sounds bit boring, the amount of work that has been put into making each garment is crazy! Each item looks so elegant and the fabrics are so luxurious. Below are a few of my favourite items from the collection:

Photo Credit - selfridges.com

Photo Credit - Chloe Ferdinand
After the discovery of "Pleats Please", I was on a mission to find a cheaper version of something similar to Issey Miyake's style. At first this seemed a difficult task because at the moment, a lot of stores are stocking up for party season so there are lots of beads and sequins around. But, with determination, I found a black pleated dress from the boutique section in Topshop similar to the items above!!

Dress - Topshop, Shoes - Zara

Don't feel like you always have to start with high street brands because thats within your budget, get some inspiration from other places and create your own designer outfit.

Designer clothing is not impossible to own,  just find an alternative... 
until you can afford the real thing!

Selfridges succeed again!

Visual merchandise is always so beautiful at this time of year. Shopping in central London is such a great experience, and it gets everybody in the mood for Christmas. This year, Selfridges have used astrology for their Christmas inspiration, they have named the theme “Journey to the Stars”. When I first heard the name, it made me think that each window would feature a star and it would be the usual display for christmas.. but then I thought, surely Selfridges wouldn't stick to this stereotype. Of course they wouldn't!
Each window facing the street presents all 12 zodiac signs, when first looking at the displays you do not immediately understand the concept but if you look closely, each window shows the most recognisable characteristic for each of the star signs. For example, for Taurus there is a Bull in a China Shop, Pisces shows ladies of the lake with mermaid tails featured next to glass sculpture and for Scorpios, mannequins have been positioned in a passionate and explosive manner to show the main characteristic of that star sign.

When I came across these window displays, I thought this was such a brilliant idea because it isn’t the normal display of stars, Father Christmas and reindeers etc. It is unique and still looks very Christmassy. The windows are full of creativity and have been put in place to distract shoppers during the crazy period this Christmas, they definitely attract attention to the store. The windows “took over 30,000 hours to design and produce” and you can see this as the result looks exquisite. This year, I haven’t been that impressed with the visual merchandise for stores but Selfridges have definitely succeeded in making our shopping experience festive!

Good luck with the Christmas shopping!

Photo Credit - Google Images

Mushpit - My favourite duo

Last week I went to Raw Print which is an event in Nottingham that happens the first week of every month, aimed to celebrate the making and publishing of independent magazines. Guest speakers are invited to share their publications with us and explain their process, personal experience, struggles and successes. This week, the magazines were based on feminism and as you guys know, I love independent women that stand for what they believe in. I was intrigued to see how people of such a young age with no funding could create such professional magazines and bring together a successful end product. Charlotte and Bertie, the founders of the magazine “Mushpit” were hilarious and stood for everything I believe in. They had an idea/dream and made it reality! I was fascinated by their story and felt like I could relate to them because they were young girls who went to university, loved to party, were dedicated to their studies and had a mare with InDesign – any student who studies FCP can relate to this, especially me! 

I loved how they didn’t hide their weaknesses, for example they made it clear that they had no funding but they used their creativity to make money and provide clothing for their photo-shoots. For example, they spoke about one of their shoots where they photographed elderly women and then tried to replicate their outfits by using clothing and accessories that they already owned or found in charity shops to then place on a younger model in a different location. They aim to make their readers laugh and even flicking through some of their old issues I can easily say that they have accomplished this!

3 things that Charlotte and Bertie taught me:

1.“Trust your gut” – listen to advice, but at the end of the day do what you want to do

2. Be realistic – we all have bills to pay, spend time on your projects but remember you still need to eat, pay for rent and have a social life!

3. “Know your worth” – Negotiate, don’t let people take advantage

The current issue of Mushpit is sold out but I can’t wait to get my hands on Issue 8 and follow the duo to see how they progress! Good luck girls!

Photo Credit - stackmagazines.com