Investigating Paul Poiret

Cat Power Fashionista

Credits:
Director, Art and Edition: Lechu and Productora Montecristo
Art: Maria Zanocchi
Dancer/Actress: Monica Zanocchi
Music: Cat Power (He War, Speak for Me y Free) - Edition: Pablo Bonilla.
Clothing: Monica Zanocchi, colección "Soy Fashionista"
Sneakerankleboots: Onitsuka Tiger para Zattopek
Thanks to: Pablo Zanocchi, Talli Kilmelman, Eloisa y Heber Vera.

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This is the video used as the background of my runway show. It was done mainly by three people: Lechu, Maria and I. It looks amazing, well worth to see it. Enjoy!

"Soy Fashionista" Collection - Fall Winter 2007

This are the first good pictures I got from the collection. Obviously there are details I wish to change, I was the last one to show the collection that day and had little time to dress the models... For example: I made two big bags and one of them didn't go on the runway... With the craziness, it was forgotten! AAh! But that's okay, things happen and I'm getting more experienced each time. This is my third runway show.

"A" line pattern comfy dress

Silver vest with cranberry baloon short dress

Violet Minimal Wings Dress with gray patterned leggings with tones of violet, fuchsia and silver

This look didn't go on the runway exactly as I wanted. The bag should have been used across the body and the huge collar (which could also be used as a hood) came out looking pretty bad, it can look much better than that. Oversized patterned t-shirt dress, gray leggings, knit violet dress and silver big bag

T-shirt dress, violet leggings and silver parka

Short baloon dress with knots (dress no. 1 - it started here)

This look didn't come out good in the picture, but it is really cute in person! Apart from that, here is where the other big bag should have been used, but was forgotten. Gray minimal dress with godets, knit sweater with hood, gray patterned leggings and (supposedly) velvet big bag

Weird cranberry dress

Dragonfly violet dress with wing

The most important dress of the collection, the "vedet" dress with petals

Me in the end with one of my favorite models, Evelyn Novick

Models: Dahiana Fernandez, Carol Degenez, Romina di Bartolomeu, Valéria Stella, Mercedes Esclavo, Sol Sanchez, Juana Grueber, Miriam Paniagua, Catherine Gonzalvez y Evelyn Novick

I'm back to earth

So it’s been a long long time. I know not a lot of people are reading what I’m writing in this blog, but I insist in using it as a way of documenting what’s going on in my life… unfortunately I haven’t had time to write at all and you will know why in the following posts. I’m just getting back to earth after the odyssey I spent for the past three months…

This is what happened:

Phase 1 - After I got back from the São Paulo Fashion Week (SPFW) in the end of January, three things happened:

1. I had to work a lot for my job after a month of vacation (spent in Punta del Este, Fortaleza, and São Paulo).
2. I decided to apply to a design competition and created a blog as my form of presentation. (www.cosmicdancers.blogspot.com)
3. I prepared a talk of SPFW’s lastest trends seen in the fall-winter 07 collections I saw in January. The talk was a way of thanking Shering, the company who sponsored the award I won in the end of last year (which the prize was a trip to the SPFW).
   

So, I was stressed with a lot of work. There were days I almost freaked out! I was suffering! But I was doing what I love, was learning lots (which is always positive) and was rewarded by being chosen as one of five finalist of the designed competition I applied for with the Cosmic Dancers’ blog.

Phase 2 - Lúmina – “La luz y el Diseño”/“The light and the design,” a Fashion Design Competiton

The Competition was called Lúmina and was sponsored mainly by a shopping mall called Punta Carretas Shopping and by 5 of its stores/brands. These brands are amongst the most important here in Uruguay and by being a finalist we automatically “won¨ a paid internship with them. But my favorite part of the competition I have to admit was the main prize: a trip to go see the fashion week in Madrid! What did we have to do to win that prize? A collection… We had a brief: The collection had to have commercial appeal and was directed to the Punta Carretas Shopping women 25 – 65 years old. wow. I was like: How do I do that? How do I get Uruguayan people to understand me? By saying this I have to explain that fashion in Uruguay is something that is not much of a culture yet. This could be discussed obviously, but it is true that fashion here is a subject that still has to be developed and has a loooooong way to catch up even with our closest neighbor Argentina (country with lots of nice surprises). Uruguay design has potential, there is lots of talent here, but there are lot of barriers and it’s complicated!

Anyway… We had less then two months, big challenge. 8 to 10 looks. I got nervous… I had to divide myself between work, the collection and getting ready to start teaching!!!! Yes, like if it wasn’t enough, I added teaching to my list of thing to do. I had to prepare the program for the whole semester, and prepare my first classes. I did everything running, stressed, asking for HELP!, It was crazy.

Anyway again, right after knowing the brief of the competition, I had two or three days where I was extremely inspired, the ideas where clear and flowing in my head: I thought “What can I do to connect with people?” Then I realized I already had reached that public with three dresses I designed and were worn in the same party, my brother and sister-in-law’s wedding. I wore a dress I made for a haute couture project in school and designed the bride’s and my mother-in-law’s dresses (I designed something for their styles). It was a total success. I’m talking about real Uruguayans, mostly women, from ages 15 – 70 coming up to me to tell me they loved the dresses. So the light went on, I thought: “Party dresses!” And then I thought: “But how can I mix that with my sportwear style?” (my fashion design graduation “thesis” was dancewear) and then I thought: “Dresses made out of sportlike textures, with sportive accents and sneakers!” “Perfect!” Then I started investigating and reminded I had seen a video with a girl, in a long red dress and nike trainers… The girl was Lilly Allen, who’s style was definitely a referent in the collection.

from whowhatweardaily.com

Lilly Allen more than anything made me realize I wasn’t inventing anything… I started reading about the sport-deluxe trend and was like “obviously!.¨ I realized that what was happening is that I was informed and updated in the fashion mood of 2007, I was being influenced by all the investigation I do on a normal basis, it felt uncoincious, but it was obvious, I don’t know if I can explain myself… I felt like I was in the right place, at the right moment. I felt like I perfectly fit the mood of fashion in 2007! Even Karl Laggerfed was inspired by Lilly Allen’s style and was “convinced her signature style — chav meets couture — is going to be THE look of 2007.” “It’s all about wearing really classy clothes in a different context.” So I knew I had found the perfect way of mixing my ideas of sports/dancewear with my “prêt a couture” side… I started the project with a good and clear idea. Woohoo!

The process proceeded with the picking out of the fabrics which were given to us by the brands that sponsored the competition… This made us adapt our ideas with what was available to us in that moment. The only information I had when I picked the fabrics was that I was looking for sportlike textures, specially jerseys with lycra which were going to be destined to make 10 pretty dresses. I love most fabrics with important percentages of lycra. I love its weight, how it hangs, and the comfort those types of fabric offer. I think lycra will always be a characteristic in my work.

I also knew which colors I was looking for: greys (the most important color of 2007), shades of violets (another trend and color I’m absolutely crazy about) and one color of accent (which originally was acidic yellow, but because I was not able to find anything close to that color, I went for a cranberry tone. I’ll leave the yellow idea for the spring summer collection).

Then the production of the collection started. Because the brief was to do a wearable commercial collection, I decided to work trends and investigated many referents. I was also, without a doubt, absolutely influenced by the things I had seen in Brazil in the SPFW in January; which was still fresh in my head… The main trends I worked were:

• Dresses: in shorter versions, with loose-fit and extreme comfort. Other than being my favorite type of garment and one I will specialize in; in my opinion is the most important garment for women in the moment.
• Loose-fitting Siluet: there is extra space between the garment and the body, which sometimes is controlled or exaggerated (oversized), but never less. A trend seen all over the place.
• Baloon Line and A Line: some of the most important shapes of the moment. Also, the balloon line here in Uruguay is widely accepted and I obviously took advantages of such things… I never forgot I was designing for Uruguayan women.
• Draping and knotting – Things I love to work with, which are very much my style, it’s very “art nouveau” and seen over and over again all over the place: it’s the time to do it.
• Grays and Violets: A personal choice influenced by color trends.
• Metallic Accent / Silver / Futurism – Metallic accents and silver other than being a trend in itself, are also a reference to the futurist trend seen in all over the fashion globe. So, silver to me is my futurist and fashionista accent.
• Big Bag – The silver big bag can’t be more of a trend… And it also refers to two silver big bags I saw of Marc Jacobs; one in SPFW and one here in Montevideo.
• SneakerAnkleBoots – Sneakers (or trainers) were more than important in my collection. But it couldn’t be any sneaker, it had to be sneakerboots, but not any sneakerboot, it had to be a sneakerankleboot. Ankle Boots are THE trend in shoes for this winter. This is a manifesto fashionista, specially the silver ones. Onitsuka Tiger’s Mid Runner model was the one and only, it was perfect for me (I’m a designer for Onitsuka Tiger here in Uruguay).
• Turbants – Refers to the prada turbant effect so discussed in fashion blogs. Some love it, some love it but want to hate it and some definitely hate it. I love it.
• Leggings: Not only is a trend widely accepted anywhere in the world right now, specially printed ones, is also an accent of my dancewear style.
• Synthetic and Impermeable Materials (Silver parka and vest)

Phase 3 – starts now

Spotted by Mr. Face Hunter

Posing outside of the São Paulo Fashion Week (SPFW)

Photo: Yvan Rodic (Mr. Face Hunter)
www.facehunter.blogspot.com

Yvan, Mr. Face Hunter, went style hunting in the SPFW and I had the opportunity to meet him... The cool thing about this encounter in my life and that no. 1, I LOVE HIS BLOG, no. 2, I remember creating the look you see on the pic and thinking "If Mr. Face Hunter sees me like this, he will most likely be interested."Well, it was a really good surprize to see him there... I saw this guy that caugth my attention with his simple but very stylish and updated look and then I have a feeling it is him because I see him looking around for people to take pictures of. He's got very good technique to take the photos. Well, I went to say hello... he wasn't very interested on my looks on day 1 or 2... but on day 3, I decided to wear "the" look and knew he was going to like it... He was like "huum, how colorful! Can I take a picture? Can we go outside where there is color?" :) He's got it so clear! Lots of talent with very special and unique personality.

Oh, and yes, I was having a bad hair day, aah. :) But seriously, I just didn't have time... I never had time to really work on my hair and makeup; I was running around...

Yvan (mr. Face Hunter) posing for me

Cosmic Dancers, the definition

Photo: Christian Rodriguez

Cosmic Dancers are clothes for moving, for special occasions and for extraordinary places. The collection is based in this tripod and the art of dancing as well as the need to generate for this medium an unusual aesthetic conformity. Monica’s motivations for creating Cosmic Dancers – that explores liberty of movement – were to research her artistic side and her relationship with dancing. The main material used is Lycra that presents itself in vibrant and cheerful multicolored ways. This is distinctive of her work, made for the young and active woman, fully complaisant with her way of life. “I belong to the 80’s – says Monica – where dance and liberty predominate, and that exists inside me. Furthermore, I do continuous research and I have observed that it is a present trend. I am proud of the possibility of dancing also be seen through this new visual aspect: design”. The collection is also inspired in Merce Cunningham’s modern dance technique at whose New York studios Monica had the opportunity of acquiring a new conscience of her body and of movement through random chance, a concept that is deeply-rooted in this live dance legend.

Cosmic Dancers, the editorial

The whole process of the production took us exactly 24 hours, with only 3 hours of sleep and 333 km of road. There are three models, three locations and three times of a day (sunset, sunrise and midday); going along my obsession with the number three.

The photos are in the order they were taken.














Credits
Colection: Cosmic Dancers, Summer 2007
Designer: Monica Zanocchi
Photographer: Christian Rodriguez
Models: (1) Augustina Brum, (2) Monica Zanocchi and (3) Stefania Tortorella
Production and Art Director: Monica Zanocchi
Production Assistant: Gastón Molnar (the best ever (and cute too))

Locations: Montevideo y Punta del Este, Uruguay in December, 2006

Cosmic Dancer, the runway show

Backstage

Just got back from being away for a month (including I went to the São Paulo Fashion Week), after the craziness of last year's end of year. Just now I'm being able to post this pictures, sorry how late they are. In today's age, this is already really old news... :) Time in the Internet goes too fast; I must catch up!!

Anyway, without wasting any more time, here you will see some of the best pics of my graduating runway show. Unfortunately, I don't think they came out that good and you will only be able to see half of the total 12 looks. This has nothing to do with the photographers, which are both excellent, it has to do with the lighting (it was a disaster), the disorganization backstage and how the clothes actually went out on the runway, and other variables (such as some complications with the models, etc). Backstage was a nightmare, but I remember feeling different when the models were going out, one by one, to show my clothes. I felt calm, happy, satisfied, full of energy... It felt really special.... I still haven't seen video footage of the show.