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Andrea Singer's interest in ladies undergarments is more than a passing fancy.
She designs underwear based on fashions from past eras, oversees their construction and has assembled a display that opens today at the Guy B. Woodward Museum.
Singer calls her installation "Ophelia Rising," after a character in Shakespeare's "Hamlet."
All of the pieces in the exhibit are designed by Singer, an associate professor at San Diego City College. Singer teaches fine art and graphic design there.
"The exhibit is about the social construction of women, where we were in the past," she explained.
Singer scans history books to discover what types of clothing women wore and what they wore under their clothing.
The styles in the exhibit date back to 1770 and extend through the 1960s. Many of them are elegant enough to be worn on the outside.
When Singer finishes drawing a design, she turns it over to her cutter, Lorna Harris, who creates a paper pattern. From there, it goes to a master stitcher.
The installation includes a variety of underwear, such as the awkward half-hoop skirt that extends out from the sides.
"You'd have to turn sideways to go through a door," Singer said. "You couldn't sit in a chair with arms. You couldn't sit in a carriage without collapsing the hoops."
Even more awkward is the hobble s
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Local fashion designers should participate in international fashion exhibitions to gain more exposure, said Malaysian Official Designers Association (MODA) president, Bill Keith.
He said such events are where designers and style experts from around the world come to display their unique and fashionable clothings and accessories.
"Local designers should participate in international exhibitions in order to be more exposed to the latest developments in fashion around the world and to compete with other foreign designers," he told reporters here Wednesday.
Keith said through such exhibitions, local fashion designers would be able to improve and become more creative.
"The association has been encouraging local designers to be more aware of international fashion exhibitions," he said.
In its efforts to attract more participants to international events, Keith said the association needed government support.
"The government should play an important role to assist local fashion designers in terms of resources and funding," he said.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong Trade Development Council's director for Malaysia, Peter Phang, said the Hong Kong Fashion Week for Fall/Winter 2005 and World Boutique, Hong Kong 2005, which were held recently, saw a lack of participation from Malaysia.
He said only one exhibitor from Malaysia too
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The fashion pack gathered in Grand Central Station's Vanderbilt hall for the opening of "Fashion Underground," an exhibition of original, subway-inspired accessories co-sponsored by the CFDA and the MTA. Honoring the New York City subway system's centennial this year, "Fashion Underground" features the work of nine renowned accessory designers, all of whose work will eventually be auctioned off to benefit the beleaguered transit system.
"As far as I'm concerned, this marriage makes perfect sense," noted CFDA President Stan Herman. "You think of New York, you think of the subway; it's an essential part of the New York experience. So it's a natural source of inspiration for designers. And I think if you look at the pieces the designers have created, you see that - they've taken ideas from the mosaics in the stations, from the old tokens; but they've also been thinking about, you know, how people use the subway," Herman continues, pointing to a pair of boots by Kenneth Cole with a clear plastic MetroCard pocket. "Every New York woman needs a place to put her MetroCard - and so, here's another option."
Herman goes on to note that for him, in particular, transit and fashion have long gone hand in hand.
"I've designed uniforms for MetroNorth," he says, gesturing toward the station's main foray, where harried commuters
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Hard to know from which social background emerged the models in the Rive Gauche collection shown Sunday - male models don't speak until spoken too - but the clothes all suggested they all went to pricey private schools.
There was a princely quality to the show, and collection that had to be admired, even if the clothes did seem out of step in the current men's zeitgeist of tailoring meets street credibility. For his second Yves Saint Laurent Men's collection, though first time at bat on a runway, Pilati used the same space created by Tom Ford at his turbulent days at Saint Laurent.
After playing a politically correct card in the previous men's season - by heavily evoking looks Mr. Saint Laurent wore himself in the 70's. Stefano was also diplomatic this weekend, showing a Helmut Berger-inspired collection of luxurious men's clothes.
The classicism was evident in the opening suits - lengthy jackets, with patch pockets worn over billowing pants with three-inch turn-ups. It was Berger at his Visconti best. Sitting between Gucci Group CEO Robert Polet and former Culture Minister Jean-Jacques Aillagon, Pierre Berge, the founder's partner, clearly snorted his approval of these suits.
And, what worked best were his interpretations on Rive Gauche classics. Take the Canadian jacket - a YSL staple - which Pilati sent o
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The world's top menswear designers went back to the basics in Paris with their collections for autumn-winter 2005-06, offering sharp, luxurious elegance with just a hint of poetic romance.
Velvet blazers, cashmere coats and tailored suits are the must-have items for next winter, as are trousers and jackets in all sorts of checks -- the more patterns in one outfit, the merrier.
Veronique Nichanian at Hermes captured the vibe running through the four days of menswear shows that ended Monday, skillfully combining micro and macro houndstooth and Prince of Wales check for a subtle, youthful look.
Jean-Paul Gaultier, Stefano Pilati at Yves Saint Laurent and Naoki Takizawa at Issey Miyake offered up refined wardrobes for the confident career man, with smart suits and trim outerwear in muted hues.
At Louis Vuitton, US designer Marc Jacobs took the more obvious luxury route, with chic velvet suits, monogrammed carpet bags to match and plush gray astrakhan coats.
Dashes of color added a bit of warmth to the winter classics. Nichanian used turquoise, purple and the iconic Hermes orange to brighten her palette of rich autumnal browns, while Pilati dared to send out a violet mohair coat.
At Givenchy, British designer Ozwald Boateng sent out the ubiquitous velvet jackets in jewel tones like ruby and sapphire. Flashes o
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