I stood in the studio early this morning, looking at a giant piece of printed fabric that everyone deemed as having a hideous color way. “Frances,” I asked, “can I play with this piece of fabric?” “Yes go right ahead.” she said as she walked into the computer room. I took the black fabric, on it printed flowers in pink, white and electric blue for the next collection. I unfolded it and wrapped it around my shoulders, then unwrapped it and wrapped it a different way. I watched myself in the mirror as I did this, and I couldn’t help thinking of Madame Gres, who was known for her pleating, but did I lot of draping fabric on the body. I turned to Frances which a particularly eccentric wrap, “How do I look?” She laughed.
5 minutes later I decided it has been enough playing, it was time to cut out the facings for the 3,000 pound dress I mentioned in early posts. Of corse I took great care with this even though I found out it was just a sample for the new collection. I try to take every project I work on. I pretend that everyone looking at it for the rest of eternity will know which part of the garment I did, and be abel to tell if its up to par or not. I know this is not true, but If I think this way it makes me perfect everything I do to the utmost I can perform.
Later in the day we were all looking at this black top that had been almost completed. Normally when something is done, or almost done, one of the woman in the studio will try it on to see how it hangs. Yesterday, I actually tried on a top that Zandra will be wearing for this season with her newest print on it. We were doing just this with the black top, looking at it on someones body to see if it hangs right. Two different people tried it on to determine it the shoulder seam looked ok, or if it needed to be modified. In the process of doing this I herd Frances say that the top was going to the Princess Michael of Kent. She has married the queens cousin, but originally hails from Austria. To think that this shirt is just a shirt to me, and then I hear where its going and suddenly I am fantasizing about all the places this shirt is going to see, where its going to go.
The rest of my workday I unpacked garments Harper's Bazaar had used/photographed, and got things ready for a runway show we are doing next week called Pure. the runway show will be at a textile convention where we are showing our Zandra Rhodes handbags. After my lunch brake I took the tube and got some hats for the runway show. These hats were so funny, they were GIANT bows! The moment I got back into the studio, and they were out of the bag, they were on peoples heads being modeled by the Zandra Rhodes team. I then returned to packing for the Pure show, but for side tracked then I came across one of Zandra’s signature jackets, I asked if I could put it on and was told I could so on it went! It is one of the most comfortable things, I felt like a giant pillow as I stood in front of the mirror. I think that if I had a giant wallet, I would purchase one, just to hang out around my house in, it is THAT comfortable.
Work concluded with me squeezing as much preparation for the Pure show as I could get in before 5:30. Every time we send out clothing from Zandra Rhodes there is a process. We have to get the garments, press them, record whats being sent, their style numbers, descriptions, the value that must be declared for insurance for the borrowers, then there is the matter of shoes, accessories, model sizes, will things fit? These are all very important things that need addressing before the show happens.
When work was done I was TIERED. I did not really want to go out, I didn’t want to do anything. I wanted to sleep, but I was not tiered. After messaging my boyfriend in the states, he told me to get out of the house, go explore, I would regret it when I got back to America if I don’t. This was all true, and he was very right. So I got my lazy butt out of the apartment and went to Oxford Circus stop. I wanted to go back to a store called Top Shop that I had explored earlier that week. This store has 4 levels and it best compared to a MUCH nicer version of Forever 21. So I am looking around the store, and suddenly I see a man standing there, talking to a store employee. This man has slightly painted jeans, a hat, a beard...Mr. Brainwash? IT IS! I went up and introduced myself. I told him about how I had seen his show, how I loved the message. I explained that I even saw him working outside after and wanted so baldly to say hello, but that everyone else was standing around him like vultures all wanting a piece of him. I explained I had respect for the fact he was busy, that I didn’t want to one of “those people.” You see, I like meeting people for real, I don’t want to meet someone because they are someone to the public, I want to meet someone to talk to them, to get a feel for who they are. We talked for a while about film, documentaries, art and a bit about life. After I left, I realized I had so many questions left unanswered. Some, appropriate to ask to a general stranger thats well known, some I want to ask but know that its probably best to keep those questions to mystery.
Here is the thing about Mr. Brainwash, and the reason that I admire what he does so much. He is this normal guy, who loved art. He loved it wish a tremendous passion and all it seemed he wanted to do was be an artist therefor living his dream. In the end, he got that, and while he does not make all his own art, he has managed to do the impossible, become a really successful artist without being incredibly artistically inclined. Do you know how many artists are in this world who don’t end up making art for a career? There are MILLIONS! Art is incredibly hard to make into a career, you can do it, it IS possible, but its not easy, there is no path where you apply and get a response back saying “yes come work for us and make art for the rest of your life, you will be famous.” It takes a lot to get on that level, and you have to want it, you have to want it so bad that almost nothing else matters, you have to want it bad enough that your willing to do CRAZY things to get to the point you dream of. And that is EXACTLY what he did, that is why there is a documentary.
The other part to why I like Mr. Brainwash, is although some people say “he’s not REALLY an artist because he doesn’t make his own work,” I feel like, if people only knew how much of art the artist does not actually make. Take ANY designer you know, Marc Jacobs, DNKY, ANY of them, the top person who gets all the credit does not physically make most of the garments. I mean, most great artists even in history who are known as masters didn’t do all their own work. The bigger you get the less of the art your physically responsible for.
There are just not enough hours in the day to be big and be doing everything yourself, so there has to be a team of people one person directs to make it all happen. Mr. Brainwash is the creative director of graffiti/Andy Warhol looking awesome artwork that will inspire generations and generations of people. His documentary just admits a truth that anyone working in the art or design field figures out sooner or later in their career.
Anyway that is my rant about Mr. Brainwash, design and fashion, I feel like I HAD to say it! Back to the last part of my day: with a bounce in my step I walked, and walked, and walked. I walked until 9:30, then took the tube home and called it a night because Saturday was a Zandra Rhodes work day, and I needed to be ready to do some Karate Kid house work.
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