NEW YORK NEW YORK

Hi all!

Sorry I have been MIA for the past three months. The fact is, I am currently living in New York, interning at the amazing Alexander Wang! When I first received the acceptance email, a friend said to me: Kara, dream come true. And it really is. Life is pretty amazing here. I still cannot believe that I am walking on Bleeker St, Hudson St, Fashion Avenue everyday, the streets that I see in movies and TV shows, rushing downtown in sleek coats and wool scarves, rubbing shoulders with busy working New Yorkers on their morning commute. At the end of that daily journey, I get to enter the headquarter of Alexander Wang - the designer of our generation. 

The fashion industry is very different to what I know back home. The companies are larger, business is extremely fast paced, and people are very serious. Internships are the same. They are programmed, planned and interns have to meet certain expectations. Work hours are usually from 9:30 - 6:30, but the days are longer the month before runway. However I really cannot complain as I am surrounded by amazing talents and very hardworking people. It really puts into perspective that a successful collection is never just the work of a great designer. It is undoubtedly a team effort. Behind the great designer, every department has to work together seamlessly, on schedule like a swiss-made watch. It is not an easy industry, it is an industry of passion. 

As much as I want to call Chelsea home and dub myself the title of A New Yorker Who Works In Fashion, my time here is ending and I will return to Melbourne at the end of March. However it is not all bad. You can expect to see my collection on the runway of L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Week on 23rd of March, and in the Woolmark Exhibition at Sydney Fashion Week in May.

If you haven't got tickets for LMFF yet, hurry and hit book now!

In the mean time, here are just a few glimpses of my life in the Big Apple :)

SOUS ACCESSORIES

Hi all :)

Today I present you, the accessories of Sous Collection. This is the humorous side of the collection, embossed content purses and embossed strap shopping tote, no need for further explanation :)
I am also taking custom orders for embossed purses, you can choose from the ones shown at MSFW or have your personalised embossing :) email if you are interested :)

x.

MSFW & NEW WEBSITE

Hello :)

Sorry for the super long gap in between posts. I've been quite busy with my honours year at uni and all the other things that comes with it. I recently showcased my graduate collection at Melbourne Spring Fashion Week's RMIT Student Runway, along with my 29 fellow students who are all so talented. It was an amazing experience working with with the MSFW team, the stylist, producer, sound and choreography, etc. Hectic, but so much fun. It just goes to show how much work goes into producing a runway that only lasts 40 minutes. Here are some snaps from the night if you were not able to make it. You can also view other students work on fashionising.com.

Also, my new site is up and running, jump on and have a look at www.karaxliu.com :)

x.

    

KARA IS GOING ON CARGO

View my complete portfolio, both design and illustrations on : 

http://cargocollective.com/karaxliu

THE SPINNING DRESS

I've got a little project for Fashion Dissemination at uni that requires us to present a series of 10 images or a short 30 second video of our design ethos. My next collection is currently in the process of coming together, and I wanted to keep it a surprise until it is finished. So I looked into my past projects for resources and inspirations. Since most of my past imageries are already up on this blog, I decided to go out of my comfort zone and make a short video (really way out of my comfort zone, I like things still in general...) I found the folder of photos I took for the A Study of Perception (2011) poster. As I hung the cube dress' various cubes and corners up I recorded the different stages of the dresses. It is like a documentation of its transformation from something ordinary into something amazing. It actually captures my design ethos quite well - I don't think things have to be loud at first sight. It is no fun to give away everything at the first time. I much prefer to create things, objects, garments that are beautifully subtle, a little understated at first sight, but as it draws you closer, you then discover its amazing sophistication, character and intelligence in design.

and here are a few images from other artists and designers which also reflects and sums up my design ethos: a simple idea executed with intelligence, sophistication and elegance

ZOE ECONOMEDIS STUDIES PERCEPTION

Last week I did a wonderful collaboration with the talented photographer Zoe Economedis. She is a magician with her camera. I left everything in her control (which is usually hard for me to do because I tend to micro-manage), but I am super happy with the results. Here are the photos, enjoy :)

IT'S A WRAP!

The Ex[ie]perimental Collective Exhibition, part of the L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival has officially closed today. A big thank you to everyone who has supported and helped us, especially our sponsor AXF Group whose generous support made it all possible. I hope you have enjoyed the exhibition and if you didn't have time to make it down to Von Haus, here are some images :)

Cube dress of A Study of Perception collection and selected garments from the Scrap collection / Kara Liu (me)

photography credit: Helen Pappas

EX[IE]PERIMENTAL COLLECTIVE

A selection of my work will be exhibited in the upcoming EX[IE]PERIMENTAL COLLECTIVE Exhibition, part of the L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival Cultural Program. Curated by the wonderfully talented Christina Exie who is also an RMIT graduate, the exhibition will be open to public from 22/03/2010 to 28/03/2010 at Melbourne City's Von Haus. So come by on the opening night, have a drink and enjoy the art and fashion. :)

Program Synopsis written by H. Pappas

Ex[ie]perimental Collective is an exhibition that unites five of Melbourne’s newest conceptual fashion designers and their practices. The focus of this collective is to emphasize the importance of clothing and its potential for innovation through research and process. Emma Boseley, Katia Di Crescenzo, Christina Exie, Kara Liu and Helen Pappas met through their studies at RMIT’s Bachelor of Design in Fashion. Yet all have developed their own dynamic styles as designers, tailors, jewelers and collagist, making this exhibition a dynamic fusion of techniques and construction as well as individual concepts. Each of the works in the Ex[ie]perimental Collective showcases an array of methodologies and textural elements. By exhibiting segments throughout the design process, this exhibition gives an insight into these designers’ initial questions as well as the final artifact. Three-dimensional patternmaking, sculptural leather molding, collage, and jewelry techniques, creates a poetically combined display intriguing the viewer for further curiosity. As a young designer collective, this is their initiation into the Melbourne Design scene, and a contribution to the diversity of Australian and Melbournian talent.

LIGHT READING

The Scrap lookbook and system book are here :)

FROM NOTHING TO...

This was an experiment I did at the end of the design development process in 'A Study of Perception'. I changed a few variables, using non-self-supporting fabrication, blowing up the scale of the cubes, and separating the cubes into different seams instead of having them conjoined in the previous garments. Originally I planed to keep the various sized cubes hanging and have the dress as a drape piece in juxtaposition to the previous structured pieces in the project. However out of curiosity I wanted to see if gravity wasn't a factor, what would the dress look like, And it transformed, from something subtle, into something grand; front something opaque, into something translucent, from something flat, into something three-dimensional; from something ordinary, into something magnificent. And all I did was opening it up. :)