Ingrid Mwangi

The art of Ingrid Mwangi.
The collective's three solo shows last year were titled "Collective Desires", "Trophies" and "Man of War". The three theme exhibitions point towards the main issues that the artists' are dealing with currently: Firstly, questions and difficulties, on a global, collective level, of living together and overcoming cultural discrimination within the traumatic circumstance of historical and current injustices. Secondly, the use of the artists' body to generate imagery relating to these themes, the body being utilized as an interface between knowledge and insight. Thirdly, the omnipresent topic of living in a world ridden with violent conflict, destructive human action and the negative impact of media information - a desperate state which calls for attention.

C' mon

For those of you who are reading my blog, I know what you might be thinking o gosh, fashion oh c'mon. Like I said its about the stuff that rocks my boat. Just think about something that you are really passionate about, something that you do because you like to not because someone wants you too. Even better something that will makes you
wake up early on a saturday morning. Yes thats it... now we are on the same page.

Absolute creativity

Christian Dior 2007 haute couture collection

Aha!

Looks like something I have envisioned. Giles autumn/winter 2007/2008 collection
best of London fashion week.

Fashion week in India

Sonam Dubal autumn/winter 2007/2008 collection
I like his use of color and fabric, rich colors and textures very refreshing.

Analyzing business plans

I found this great blog...fashion incubator, she is serious about her stuff, I found this bit of advise inspiring it stirred me up inside, answered some of the questions that have been bogging me down so I am keeping it here for future reference, thanks whoever you are...

Based on the comments from visitors to part one of this series, I realize I should have I recommended that you read Factoring invoices: financing a fashion line and Financing fashion: 10 mistakes designers make as well as part one of this series. You may also wish to read about a bare bones but modest and simple business plan in How to start a clothing line. Picking up where we left off in the sample business plan, the bulleted list of long term goals are:

Long-term goals:

* Develop a leading market position
* Begin foreign sales in markets such as England, and France
* Sustain the commitment to the quality of the end product through quality fabric, workmanship, and design.
* Increase sales beyond the $1 million mark by 2011

I don't think it's very productive to scrutinize these goals because it's the long term goals that change the most and we all know it. How many of us even had a plan when we started? It seems that anybody I know who's succeeded -success is a process, not a goal- has fallen into it. It's rarely planned. Still, assuming we'd had business plans, would the long term goals we would have written yesteryear resemble anything like how things turned out? It's doubtful. Accordingly, I'm analyzing the long term goals in matters of form and cognition, rather than questioning the viability of the ideas.

The line reading "develop a leading market position" doesn't mean anything to me so I'll pass. Selling in foreign markets is just dandy. Most US citizens tend to be leery of shipping off shore. It is far away and it's scary. I think it's great if people look to develop relationships abroad. After all, the best way to practice what you preach is through commerce. That renders the longest lasting social change. However, I don't think I would have itemized England and France specifically but rather, would have referred to the EU . There's not much difference in selling to France than there is to selling to most countries within the EU. Saying so makes us look less provincial.

The point on committing to product quality, I really don't know what that means either, other than that in the long term, the commitment to quality will be sustained. One would hope this would be the case so I don't know that you need to say so unless you were planning to actually increase product quality by some easily communicated standard. Say, a goal to go from producing mid range sportswear up to bridge or something like that. I'd include that but otherwise, I'd leave it out. Add another bullet point of marketing mumbo-jumbo if you need to fill some whitespace because I agree that a 3 point bullet list looks kind of wimpy. You have to put in something; everyone's uncertain of the long term and resists writing it down lest we be tortured by posterity.

The last line though (increase sales beyond $1M) deserves an aside; not to say that a million in sales isn't doable because it is. It's worth discussing in another way, that the numbers in your plan must all agree. I realize this isn't a spreadsheet but even soft numbers have to be in agreement. For example,

* the short term goals list first year sales of $125K
* the mid level goals list an annual growth rate of 25%
* the long term goals list sales of $1M in five years.

If you project 25% annual sales growth, based on $125,000, the result will not equal anywhere near a million dollars in five years. Even though these are soft numbers, they have to add up. Otherwise, any projections or legitimate research you may have included with your plan will be considered equally suspect. The math in your soft copy matters; if your math is off, your plan doesn't look well thought out or well constructed. And just because you didn't notice it doesn't mean that nobody else won't notice it either. I see this in business plans all the time .

By the way, $1 million in sales is not unreasonable in the fifth year, depending on what you're doing. It helps if you're selling pricier goods. Pushing the upper limits, I wouldn't consider projected sales of close to 3 million in five years unreasonable. I mean, it'd be ambitious. You could do it if you had it together, were growing responsibly (cutting to order) and staying private. By private, I mean growing according to growth rather than pushing it. Some people are tempted to find and take on investors and potential partners but the best advice I ever got was, don't take on partners if you can avoid it. I feel like I've dodged a bullet with all the horror stories I've heard about partnerships. Over half of all partnerships -like marriages- don't survive and you'll have to get a divorce. Again like marriage, some divorces are amicable and some aren't. By the way, divorcing partnerships are a big source of design theft. Maybe not design theft but the ownership of the intellectual property (designs and patterns) is often contested and it's not uncommon for ex-partners to compete with each other (at least initially) drawing from the same well. Not pretty. I'm sure you all have plenty of partnership horror stories too.

Hollywood goes to Africa

Here is a list of movies by hollywood made in Africa a dose of "fiction or "reality" presented through their lenses.

The African Queen UK/USA (1951)
John Huston, takes us on a great adventure navigating a small boat through Africa during WW1. Humphrey Bogart is the ever drunk captain who has to put up with themissionary played by Katharine Hepburn.

The Ghost and The Darkness USA (1996)
This action drama is based on a true story from 1898, when the British were constructing the railroad through Kenya (view photos from Kenya). Man-eating lions killed several workers and british engineers. The movie describes the Africans with the same ignorance as common hundred years ago, but it is still good old-fashioned action. Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas stars in the movie, which is shot on location in South Africa and Kenya.

King Solomon's Mines USA (1937)
The classic story of white hunter Allan Quartermain who takes the job of helping a young woman to find her lost husband somewhere deep inside Africa.

King Solomon's Mines USA (1950)
The best of the Solomon movies. Story is the same: Qartermain falling in love with the woman he is guiding through the wild and dangerous Africa. Starring Deboarh Kerr and Stewart Granger. Filmed on location in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Congo and USA.

King Solomon's Mines USA (1985)
The worst of the 3 versions features Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone. Mainly fails because it tries to copy the style from Indiana Jones. Several script errors, bad dialogue and directing. Some of the film is shot on location in Zimbabwe.

Congo USA (1995)
Directed by Frank Marshall
A silly adventure-action-horror film based on a book by Michael Crichton. The story is actually a modernised version of king Solomon's Mines with a touch of King Kong, Indiana Jones, Jurrassic Park, Aliens and a "talking" plastic gorilla on top of it all! Does it sound bad? It sure is. Parts of the movie are filmed on location in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

Mogambo USA (1953)
Directed by John Ford. A great Hollywood cast of Clark Gable, Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly.

Hatari! USA (1962)
Adventure film with John Wayne, directed by Howard Hawks. A group of men are making their living from trapping animals and selling them to zoo's in Europe and America. A woman shows up. She is a wildlife photographer and questions the mens methods. Filmed mainly in the national parks of Tanzania.

The Snows Of Kilimanjaro USA (1952)
A wounded writer rethinks his life while waiting for relief. Gregory Peck stars in this movie based on the short story by Ernest Hemingway. Not much is actually shot on location in Africa.

The Last Safari USA (1967)
Stewart Granger is onece again the great white hunter. He is hunting a giant elephant which killed his best friend. Filmed on location in Kenya and directed by Henry Hathaway.

Shaft in Africa USA (1973)
Starring: Richard Roundtree
Directed by John Guillermin
The third "blaxploitation" movie with Shaft takes him back to the African continent to infiltrate modern day slave business and bring it down. No great film, but funny and interesting if you are interested in how black Americans were portrayed in films in the early seventies.

A Far Off Place USA (1993)
Family adventure/drama directed by Danish Michael Solomon for Disney Pictures(!) Shot in Namibia and Zimbabwe.

Tarzan USA (1999)
The animated Disney version of the Tarzan story. Don't expect to see any Africans in this story. I guess it doesn't need further introduction.

Sheena USA (1984)
This female version of Tarzan was first put on the screen in 1955 and like Tarzan, Sheena was created as a comic book figure. Directed by John Guillermin and starring Tanya Roberts as the orphaned blond girl growing up with an African tribe. Stereotypic, as can be expected, and skinny plot. Some audience (mostly male) will enjoy watching a half-naked Queen of the jungle riding on the zebras and fighting bandits. The story takes place in a fictitious African state, but was filmed on location in Kenya.

Sahara USA (1943)
World War 2 fought in the Sahara. starring Humphrey Bogart, but not very much about Africa.

* Out Of Africa
* I Dreamed of Africa
* Cry Freedom
* White Hunter Black Heart
* Gorillas in the Mist
* Black Hawk Down
* Amistad
* The Constant Gardener
* The Last King of Scotland
* Blood Diamond

Conceptual Style

GENIUS the cloths change, they get longer or shorter depending on time, or altogether disappear how is that for a wardrobe malfuction!

Hussein Chalayan s/s 2007, transformed www.style.com
For his s/s 2007 show presented in Paris earlier this week, Hussein Chalayan astonished the crowd with self-contained fashion retrospectives - garments that transformed themselves to represent styles from chosen eras. The magic was made possible by a collaboration between Chalayan and the team behind special effects for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, who microchipped the garments to perform to the tune of the designer’s vision.

Chalayan is the first big-name designer to inject this kind of technology into fashion, forging the inevitable path ahead. There’s really no telling which direction the industry will take with this first effort. A few considerations regarding the use of technology in garment design with a purely creative intent (apart from functional intents such as RFID chipping for monitoring inventory or theft prevention, nanotech swarms repairing fabric tears and weaving computer and communications technology into the textiles):

1. How will the market respond?

2. Technology of this sort will probably not escape the fickleness of patent law and its stifling of creativity.

3. The possibilities of personalizing clothes are endless, opening up a whole new dimension for bespoke.

Mixed in with the novelty shapeshifting garments in Chalayan’s collection were wearable clothes, appropriate for the s/s season (which deserve mention later). If patent infringement nonsense doesn’t stifle the magic and hinder progress from the example he has set, there will come a day when the integration of technology in garment design will be seamless and practical, and will rightfully be defined as ready-to-wear.

figures

Pan African Film Festival

Its going to be at the Black Arts festival in Atlanta. On 7/20/07 to 7/29/07 at 12:00am.


The NBAF brings the popular Los Angeles-based Pan African Film Festival, the largest event in the United States dedicated to the exhibition of Black films to the Southeast for the National Black Arts Festival.

This festival within the Festival features films from across the Diaspora - the United States, Africa, the Caribbean, South America, Latin America, Europe, the South Pacific and Canada.

The Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) is a magnificant opportunity to move beyond the cineplex and experience the images, issues, imagination, intensity and artistry of people of African descent through this cinematic showcase.

Festival Location
Woodruff Arts Center/Rich Theatre
1280 Peachtree St. NE
Atlanta, GA 30309


7/20/07 to 7/29/07 at 12:00am

kwani

A few people got laid off at work, what happened to job security? It sucks!
I know this is pathetic and so is the nature of the current situation. Excuse the sulking, I need an outlet...It seems like the designers in the London fashion week were having a pathetic time too.