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 :)

KARA IS GOING ON CARGO

View my complete portfolio, both design and illustrations on : 

http://cargocollective.com/karaxliu

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. :)

A STUDY OF PERCEPTION

'A Study of Perception' is a collection based on the principle that everything is relative. Heaviness and lightness can not exist without the other. In the development process of this collection, I explored many ways of creating heaviness out of lightness and vice versa. The end result is an interesting visual deception that is both light and heavy, complex yet minimal. Big thanks to the talented team that pushed through on a very cold, rainy and windy day.

Designer / Stylist / KARA X LIU

Photographer /  Leo Zou

Model / Sam Frew @ Lush International Model Management

Hair & Make-up / Brooke Boseley

 

INSTINCTUAL BEAST

A couple of experiments created in the Instinctual Beast studio, turning something as soft and gentle looking as the floral print silk organza into something that looks a little hostile and dangerous. Some of my friends nicknamed the cubed sleeve jacket the 'Calamari Jacket', and the neckpiece the 'Durian Collar'. :)

A CORSETRY STUDY

I designed this experimental corseted garment in the Corsetry studio lead by expert Tania Splawa-Neyman. It was super interesting learning the history about corsets and how such a little body-binding garment somehow reflected the society and norm of the time. I applied the principles and techniques of traditional corsetry into this modern design made of lamb skin and georgette. All the fitting was done properly on a real life fit model, and the garment is hence custom made to measure. :)

SCRAP PHOTO SHOOT

It was a very long, tiring, but ultimately great day. A big thank you to the most talented team. 

Designer / Stylist / KARA X LIU

Photographer / Henriette Time @ Henriette Time Photography

Models / Helena V @ Chadwick Models / Lucy K

Hair / Lexy Vu @ Kairo Hair Story

 

 

SCRAP

This is one of my most exciting projects so far, titled 'Scrap'. I studied under Susan Dimasi of bespoke label MaterialbyProduct / www.materialbyproduct.com /, focusing on creating a unique minimal waste system that produces garments that embodies unique aesthetic qualities. My system 'Cut and Paste' reinvents classic garment types, typically shirts, and elements, typically collars and pockets, by using a pattern-making system I developed based on the subtractive cutting technique. For example, cutting jets from the body panel to make jet pockets, the jet pockets are functional and the jet cut-outs become decorative. In a nutshell, the system is 'to cut what the garment needs from the garment itself'. What I love about this collection is that there is minimal pen to paper design. All the garments come straight from the technique itself, you don't know the result until it is made! :)

MAPPING DIASPORAS

Starting off with some previous work from 2010. Mapping Diasporas Studio was lead by Dr. Peter Allan, studying and discovering the rich tailoring traditions that migrated from Europe to Melbourne in the last century. This is the experimental tailored jacket I developed in the Studio, inspired by traditional tailoring in contrast with the conceptual shapes inspired by old maps. At the photo shoot I had the luck to work with the wonderful Boseley sisters: Emma the model and Brooke the make-up artist. Here is the shot! :)