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

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.

Updates

Hello! I haven't updated my blog in 10 days and if I start to write all the things that I'm thinking about right now I would be doing it forever. Unfortunately I don't have much time this moment.

Anyway, a quick update would be: I spent all of last week in São Paulo, buying the fabrics for my end of year show. It was a life changing experience... I even visited heaven!! Yes, heaven. My super friend Fabiana (thanks again!!) took me to a lycra (yes LYCRA not liquor) store and I haven't been the same since. You have NO idea of the lycra you can get in Brazil... damn… I remember being totally in awe... I actually couldn't think in there, it was overwhelming (yes, lycra is that important to me). And well, I went from heaven to hell when I had to decide which lycra to take. Oh my god, that was VERY stressful... I swear I couldn't think, seriously, there was too much to choose from... I'm starting to realize maybe I didn't buy the right type of lycra, I should have gotten other different textures, but well, I'll have to improvise (that's what I do best anyway). And here I am, back to Uruguay, with some colorful lycra and my life changed...

I have already started to improvise and produce the collection. In a few days we will be taking pictures of one look for a small magazine we will be printing to spread out the word about the runway show. We hope it will be packed with people. Once I have the pic, I'll see (yes, I’m not guaranteeing) if I post it here.

Also, I haven’t talked much about my boyfriend Gaston (merchant marine), but he is finally coming back soon! We haven’t seen each other for the past 6 months! He is somewhere in Africa and could be coming anytime now… We will only speak if he has the opportunity to call from the airport. I’m thinking he is probably going to surprise us... but really, I don’t know what to think anymore, I’m just getting really impatient, so if you talk to me in the wrong moment I may yell at you. Sorry.

Also, my brother is coming this week with my BEAUTIFUL nephew and sister in law. Obba!!

And in mid November I will be in Miami for John’s and Paula’s really important wedding with Gaston(cito)… My amazing friend Louise (from Fortaleza currently living in Texas with her husband, Ryan) is coming to see my other amazing friend Cecília (from Fortaleza, currently studying in Miami) and I. And I will be seeing all my beautiful Miami friends! AND I’m going to the beach!!!

So there are a lot of important things happening at once, it’s all really intense.

I’m ready to jump! Are you ready to jump?

Oh, one more thing, I bought the new Justin Timberlake cd in São Paulo, and I have to say: he is HOT! Well, I really want to put his "My Love" video here, take a look, it deserves your time, the dancing is AMAZING! If you want, just fast-forward the long 1:42 minute intro... then the song really starts and maybe you'll understand me.



Muah!

Madonna - Jump

I'm really feeling conected to this song right now.

Please note that I go through moments and keep constantly changing... So what I'm feeling today or in this moment in my life, is not necesarily what I will feel in a few months... I'm costantly changing (like many things in the universe), moving and living life as if everyday is a special day, every moment is a special moment...

JUMP

[Written by Madonna, Joe Henry and Stuart Price]

There’s only so much you can learn in one place
The more that I wait, the more time that I waste

I haven’t got much time to waste, it’s time to make my way
I’m not afraid of what I’ll face, but I’m afraid to stay
I’m going down my own road and I can make it alone
I'll work and I'll fight, Till I find a place of my own

Are you ready to jump?
Get ready to jump
Don’t ever look back, oh baby,
Yes, I’m ready to jump
Just take my hands
Get ready to jump

We learned our lesson from the start, my sisters and me
The only thing you can depend on is your family
And life’s gonna drop you down like the limbs of a tree
It sways and it swings and it bends until it makes you see

Are you ready to jump?
Get ready to jump
Don’t ever look back, oh baby
Yes, I’m ready to jump
Just take my hands
Get ready to, are you ready?

(Spoken:)
There’s only so much you can learn in one place
The more that you wait, the more time that you waste

I'll work and I'll fight till I find a place of my own
It sways and it swings and it bends until you make it your own

I can make it alone(my sisters and me) (repeat 7x)

Are you ready to jump?
Get ready to jump
Don’t ever look back, oh baby
Yes, I’m ready to jump
Just take my hands
Get ready to jump

Are you ready to jump?
Get ready to jump
Don’t ever look back, oh baby
Yes, I’m ready to jump
Just take my hands
Get ready to, are you ready?

An email to my real friends...

I don't want to feel limited, I need to feel liberated.

I desperately need a place where I have enough space for dancing and designing... A place I can do whatever I want whenever I want. The idea is to find a large old house and open a design and dance studio, something very “doable” in Uruguay. I hope to do it together with my love. I want to work freelance for companies and other than that, work on my own designs and other projects such as fashion productions, blogs (I’m really serious about this), and practice/share my dancing...

I have a project where I want to video tape my improvisation sessions and put them online in a blog or webpage… I want to add new material either daily, weekly or whenever I feel like (but first I need space). I've been talking to my NY dance friends and we are going to work together... So we are probably going to start a virtual dancing community soon... We'll use the Internet to share our art no matter the distance.

Back on July 8th of this year, 2006, I had the idea and wrote it to Cathy and Jelena, NY dance friends:

From: Monica / To: Cathy and Jelena / Date: Jul 8, 2006 1:41 AM / Subject: I had an idea!
“I had an idea! What about starting a website where people can upload and (maybe) download dance videos... exactly like youtube, but dance only. Maybe there is already something like that, but we could start a dance blog where people can put on the internet, their home made or professional videos of dance experimentation, which could be anything: Monica dancing in her living room, Cathy and Abi performing at the DUMBO festival, Jelena dancing and singing in a musical comedy, Mark taking a Cunningham dance class, a video dance by Hiske, maybe a performance by MCDC etc, etc, etc. That way we could exchange art very easily. Maybe we could also do a section on dance photography (what's more beautiful than photos taken of people moving, dancing?)...”

To start my virtual video dancing career (I have decided I will be a professional dancer my way) I have started talks with my cousin Maria who will be producing and directing my first video... which will be the background in my graduation runway show. So, in the show I will not only be kick starting my fashion career, I will also start my video dancing career. I have to say my dancing is getting even better (thank God!)... The Cunningham technique is still in my body and I'm surprised with the evolution of my movement... Cunningham was the best thing that could have happened to my dancing, so it will be around for a long time in my life and I'm trying to figure out when can I go take more classes...

For clothes the ideas are:
Perfect for dancing/moving and having fun. Freedom of movement. Body consciousness. Strong Personality. Adaptable. Practical. Artistic. Original. Sexy. Smart. I want lycra to be my prime material. I want the fabric to “hold you tight and show you off,” so you don’t have to worry about anything, you don’t need to wear a bra for example… The fabric naturally molds your body, it hides imperfections, it makes you feel beautiful, comfortable and confident. In the future I want to work with intelligent fabrics. Dancewear (for class and practicing sports) is one of the lines I'm starting this year. And of course dance costumes are in my future plans also.

So for now the idea (so many ideas) is that at least for next year I will be here still... There is still "juice" I can take out of Uruguay... Uruguay has its positives although is nothing compared to NY. I'm in a small town here!! But it's given me lots of things... Including the career that will pay my rent. I love fashion and Uruguay gave me that...

So in 2007 I will (all of this is subject to change):
-Continue working for ASICS, which is a great experience... I want to stay at least till the end of next year because by then I will have done three shoe collections and 2 apparel collections, and there is lots to learn from that!
-I also still need another year of serious drawing, sowing and pattern making studies... There is still a lot I need to learn, (but for that I need the space and time for personal experimentation, which I don't have in this moment). I need to be 100% independent and I'm not in the moment... I still need help with my patterns and definitely need guidance sowing.
-Kick start my careers in design, virtual dancing and blogging.

Then after all that I think I will be ready to go back to NY? (at least to stay for a few months and take some Cunningham classes) Maybe I'll go to São Paulo? Stay in Uruguay? Who knows what the future holds! Lets see… Please send me your positive energy.

What about you? What are your ideas? Muuuah!

Monqui / Moni / Moniquinha / Moniquita / Monquichi / Monica

1+1 = 3

I haven't asked John for his official permission to put part of his email in my blog, but that doens't matter, I'm sure he will be alright

Here it is: John explaining with his own words, the 3 theory. (It's really exciting by the way)

"now on to 1+1= 3 theory. To fully implement 3 theory into design here are some interesting facts to help. 3 is complete balance. think about how if theres 3 legs on a chair it wont wobble, but if you have 4 it will. Think how many primary colors there are, think holy trinity, think molecular structure. Think about my Frizzball toy. 3 balls connected at a center point, when thrown thru the air you have complete balance by centrifugal force. Then go back to 1+1=3 theory. You can actually google this and other people are writing 1+1=3 in other things. 1+1 is 3 simply theorizes that when you add one complete component to another completely different component you dont get two components like 1+1=2, you get a third. Think if you take pure black and pure white and mix them you get a new color. Grey, a 3rd new element. Consider this when you design, consider balance of three ofcourse as well. 3 is also Pi. # has all the answrs you need, which might also be why you work in multiples of 3. Enough said on that."

Thanks John!

PS: Johnsito by the way is an almost famous paintor (soon I will be showcasing his art)! :) He is one of the most talented people I've met and his soon to be wife, Paulita, is one of the most connected people I have ever met... Together we make a perfect 1+1 = 3. I don't know what I was of them in another life, but definitely something because I really really connect with them.

Yes, I do believe in past lives.

And everything in life has a reason... (this is confirmed in my life almost everyday - oba!)

12 looks, 2 hexagrams, 4 trigrams

I will try to organize the brainstorming session I had for my graduation runway show yesterday. Thankfully I was very inspired (maybe it was thanks to my friend Paulita who helped me that day)… it’s all documented in pages of hand written notes…. I still love to hand write notes.

I’m going to start with the whole “Three” thing again: I didn’t mention in the Three post that there are 6 of us graduating this year, in the year 2006… and that we are supposed to make 12 looks for the graduation runway show.

And after so much thinking of the number three, it was obvious I was going to use the number three to organize my thoughts. And it definitely helped.

Here we go (all of this information is subject to change):

I visualized my show like this:

12 looks
2 hexagrams (2 x 6)
4 trigrams (4 x 3)

Hexagram 1: Multi textured. Lycra, denim and "knitted stretch cotton" (don’t know how to call it in English. In spanish I would say something like: tejido de punto de algodón alycrado)
Hexagram 2: Mono textured. Lycra only.

Trigrams 1: Prêt-a-porter
Trigrams 2: Beachwear
Trigrams 3: Dancewear
Trigrams 4: Haute Couture

one two three (Hexagram 1, Trigram 1) (Multi textured, Prêt-a-porter)
one two three (Hexagram 2, Trigram 2) (Mono textured, Beachwear)
one two three (Hexagram 1, Trigram 3) (Multi textured, Dancewear)
one two three (Hexagram 2, Trigram 4) (Mono textured, Haute Couture)
Total = 12 looks, 2 hexagrams, 4 trigrams

I’m thinking of naming my brand “aïa” and the collection “one two three”

There is more infomation but I will write it little by little so it's more clear.

Three

Something interesting is happening… The number three keeps repeating itself in my life.

It first started with my friend John who has a theory about the number three which is really interesting and I have never forgotten… I remember hearing it and thinking: Hum! That makes sense.” I do not remember when I first heard it, if it was in Miami or NY, but I think it was NY. (I’ll ask John to explain it in his words).

After John’s 3 theory, there was Cunningham (again!) with his triplets. Triplets are part of the Cunningham technique. It’s the repetition of a movement three times. “One two three - one two three.” Like with everything in the Cunningham technique, you could go in any direction with the triplets (forward, backward, side to side, diagonally, etc). The point is that that’s really important in the Cunningham technique and something that differentiates him from all of the other techniques I am familiar with (which I know it’s very limited so if anyone knows of another dance technique who uses the number three so importantly, let me know).

At that time I didn’t think much of the triplets. I liked them and found them fun to dance (and hard also), but I didn’t analyze it too much… But today I just realized something about the triplets… I finally made the connection which took me sort of long to figure out, but now I think I got it… Will get into this in a minute.

After John’s 3 theory and Cunningham’s triplets, there was the creation of my first men’s collection, which was inspired by my boyfriend, a merchant marine. I used the number three for deciding lots of things because I was at that time “celebrating” having met my boyfriend three years back. I know it sounds corny, but it’s true. If you look in my “Querido Marino” post (in Spanish) you will see that when I was asked to write a short text explaining one look of the collection, towards the end, I write: “The stripes in the sweater switch colors every three rows because I’ve known him for three years.” (I know, it’s corny!) And since that I love using the numbers 3 or 6 or 9 or 12, etc to decide things or make patterns.

After John’s 3 theory, Cunningham’s triplets, 3 years having met my boyfriend in the year 2006 (I met him in 2003 – just realized that), and falling in love with the numbers 3, 6, 9, 12, etc., I started to read a little more of how Cunningham uses by chance operations to create dance because I wish to apply the same concepts to the creation of garments (I still don’t have the methodology very clear, but I’ll get there)… So one of the first things you read about him is that both Cunningham and John Cage were both into zen and used, among other things, I Ching “operations.” So I went to wikipedia and read about it… even posted the definition of it’s title here in the blog. And it is also all about trigrams (3) and hexagrams (6)… It says:

“The text of the I Ching is a set of predictions represented by a set of 64 abstract line arrangements called hexagrams… The hexagram diagram is conceptually subdivided into two three-line arrangements called trigrams”

So I didn’t make the connection at first, but now I’m imagining that this is where Mr. Cunningham got the ideas for the triplets… maybe I’m wrong, but it makes sense.

After John’s 3 theory, Cunningham’s triplets, 3 years having met my boyfriend in the year 2006, falling in love with the numbers 3, 6, 9, 12, etc., and I Ching’s hexagrams and trigrams, I had an encounter with all the dices I took from the gala party I helped organizing for the Cunningham Dance Foundation (I was an intern in their Development department and got there just in time to help organize that event, one day I’ll talk a little more about this experience)… There were dices everywhere and we had tones left in the office… Maybe I exaggerated a bit, but I grabbed some without thinking much (seriously there were tones left over, no one cared about them, I did and should have taken more). Anyway, I LOVE my dices! They are so cute (red with white dots) and I use them for making decisions, deciding by chance and always keep them around… and today I got them all together and realized I had 6 dices. Do you understand? With 6 dices, I can perfectly play with I Ching. Three and three. 2 trigrams, 1 hexagram.



PS 1: I’ve known John and Paula since 1999. Paula and I were college roommates. Later on, both of them were my roommates in Queens, NY and (most of the time in a huge loft) in Jersey City, NJ. They are getting married this year in November.

PS 2: I was in Miami from the beginning of 1999 till the middle of 2003 and NY from the middle of 2003 till the end of 2004.

So 2003 was a year of transition for me and one that has changed my life forever.

In fact, 2003 is a VERY important year… That year I backpacked in Europe for two months after quitting my “nothing to do with me” job and ended up traveling good part of trip by myself (I started with a friend but she decided to come back in Barcelona). My friend Annie said I was never coming back (to Miami) and she was right. I got back from the trip going straight to visit my mom in Uruguay. The SAME DAY I met my boyfriend in a VERY random way; it was love at first sight… That was crazy… and it was at that time that I decided to go live in NY… In August I got back to the States after three months away and left Miami to go to NY. Moved in with John and Paula first temporarily then permanently. I got to NY and the next day I was already working with the Cunningham Dance Foundation… Everything worked perfectly (thank God!). The Cunningham Dance Company was having the opening night for Split Sides, a piece were the music was done independently from dance by two bands: Radiohead and Sigur Ros. If you know them, you know this is not some average thing. I saw the opening night, the only day the bands played live (I think) and that was VERY special. This year I also met very important people like Cathy and Abi… Met the Cunningham Dance technique, got back to dancing after almost 5 years of not taking formal dance classes, etc.

I'm missing NY and its freedom.

It's in the air.

Well, I have said in the past (in a post in Portuguese) that I smell in the air my end of year and graduation runway show. That sensation keeps on going and everyday I see something different that confirms that what I am smelling is the right way to go for me… It’s in the air.

An important thing that happened yesterday is that I saw the new Proenza Schouler (summer 08) collection. I felt connected. I saw Lycra looking fabric, loved the silhouette with the accent on the waist and some cute looking skirts that could perfectly be used in a dance performance because of its possibility of movement. The skirt doesn’t limit it. And the designers: Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, whom I feel are smelling the some of the same thing I am, said: “It’s about elevating sporty.” they really hit the spot for me.

Proenza Schouler - Spring Summer 07
Photogralher: Marcio Madeira
www.style.com

Life is so round.

A few days back I had a thought: A good goal could be want to be part of the design team for sports apparel (specially such as dance and tennis) of a mega sports company.

The funny thing about that is that I AM working in one of the most import sports brand in the world, ASICS. Here in Uruguay, I am in charge of their fashion and apparel department, I love the ASICS clean and fresh design and certainly appreciate all the technology… A coincidence? I think not, it’s destiny, it’s life being perfectly round. I really love the ideas of intelligent fabrics and have come to the conclusion that that is the type of material I want to work with in the near future. Technological, lycras, spandex, sports apparel, etc… Unfortunately Uruguay is really going behind when it comes to technological fabrics, but I have seen good lycra and that will work for now. Everything keeps on repeating and by now I am sure it is not a coincidence. I believe everything in my life happens for a reason. (in yours too by the way)

I know I have studied Cunningham technique for a reason, I know I had to come to Uruguay for a reason, I finally realized I had to study fashion and found my career, I know dance will always be part of my life and I understand I will be designing dance costumes.

I really feel that my original idea for studying fashion, which was so I could design costumes for dance performances, is coming true. And now I also enjoy the idea of designing tennis and sports apparel (I remember I almost freaked out when I saw Stella McCartney’s collection for Adidas – spring summer 06 and I just freaked out again cause I saw her new fall winter 06 07 collection, it’s amazing - photos in following post). I think designing apparel is perfect for me.

But I also have my prêt a porter side… where I want to make dresses that mold into the space: the same dress you go to the beach with, you could go to a dressy party with high heels on, a night dancing with sneakers, a dance performance or a charming and sexy dinner with the boyfriend. I like ideas of democratic, intelligent, adaptable, different, playful, sexy, original and artistic fashion with strong personality.

LYCRA

Today, I want Lycra to be my primal material. I always loved lycra and since the beginning have experimented with it. My first “prêt a porter” collection’s main piece was a silver lycra balloon dress that had a large, by chance made print (texture) with all the colors of the collection… It was also inspired by bikinis. So if I think well about it, what is happening right now is that I am going with what I wanted to do originally, I’ve smelled this for a while and I will actually make it happen now.

By the way, I often find that original ideas are some of the most important, after you think about something too much and keep living life you start to change your original idea. I often find myself going back to original ideas.

So I am all about lycra, dresses. Color. Movement. Dance. Sports. Technology. Freedom. Comfort.

I also like tropicalismo and my Brazilian roots. The northeast of Brazil, beaches, drinking coconut water and caipirinhas, getting dirty in the sand, swimming in the ocean, bikinis, lycra (Brazil has some of the best lycras in the world).

I love dance, I love Cunningham dancing, I love the feel of lycra and how it molds in your body, how it holds everything tight, feels comfortable and gives you total freedom of movements.

Love colors and combination of colors that people usually do not put together.

Accessories made of plastic, vibrant colors, different colors.

Large intricate sleeves. Accent on the shoulder and waist.

And I feel like showing legs. (just like everybody else in Brazil and NY).

I also love the idea of going to a wedding on the beach with a beautifully colored dress, which is fun and sweet and perfect for the beach because it is made of lycra. So maybe, if the energy is in the air and the wedding is so beautiful I feel like taking a swim in the Ocean, it would be totally fine because the dress is made out of lycra. I will try this out (““haute couture”” made out of lycra) this November for John’s and Paula’s wedding. My friend Gonza will be making the dress.

So I am proposing making dresses for special occasions made out of lycra. Long gowns for weddings and important parties. Why not a wedding gown made out of lycra?

And I want to end this with saying that another interesting goal would be to maybe one day design costumes for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. Not only a goal, that would be a dream.

mirá Morris!

Colección Primavera Verano 2006 2007

En una dinámica muy interesante, un grupo de alumnos de la escuela integral de diseño de Pablo Gimenez (incluyendo yo) crearon en dos semanas, una colección de 8 looks. El proyecto fue hecho en equipo y muy bien sucedido. Hoy es el desfile. Yo fui parte del equipo de diseño, los otros equipos eran responsables por los moldes y transformación textil. Todos ayudaron en la confección. Los estampados fueron todos hechos a mano. Para algunas prendas, tuvimos la ayuda de talleres y de nuestra increíble profesora de costura, Ilda Fernandez (gracias!!). Hubiera sido muy difícil hacer esto sin la ayuda y supervisión de Gonza (sos un genio).

El resultado final es una nueva tendencia, nuestra tendencia. Un estilo marcado y marcante.

Desfile: en Central, 1:00 am, 9 de Septiembre de 2006.

Querido Marino

El pin es del abuelo Gabriel... Mi abuela también se enamoro de un marino...

Colección para hombres inspirada en mi novio, un marino mercante.

Tuve que escribir 600 characteres sobre mi look principal (el de saco blanco, prenda de punto rayada, camisa azul marino y jeans gastado) y esto fue lo que dije:

“Querido Marino” es una declaración de amor a mi novio, que es marino mercante y estuvo ausente durante todo el proceso de creación de la colección. El jeans representa sus vaqueros que duran años. El gastado fue hecho con elementos simbólicos (como mi celular que representa la tan esperada llamada) o con doblas naturales creadas por mi cuerpo en un tipo de juego donde la intención era imprimir parte de mí en la prenda de él. La camisa es la típica que él tiene guardada de la época de sus estudios en la escuela naval. La textura del saco blanco remite a como son hechos los barcos (varias placas de metal). Las rayas de la campera tejida cambian cada 3 carreras por que hace 3 años que lo conozco. Todo para decirle que lo extraño.

Ai, ai, no es fácil ser novia de marino, pero yo lo hago por que puedo y por que vale la pena... mi amor "es la cosa mas linda de este mundo." te amo.

My first colection "Olhando no Espelho"

I'll try it once again

I’ve always had intention in keeping a diary and never got around to it. I just can’t do it… so I cannot compromise that I will do this always, I have tried in the past and hasn't worked, but I surely know this is what I want to do… I just need to organize my time better. I have a lot of plans but never seem to find the time to do it...

What I do do is every once in a while write HUGE emails to my friends. I disappear for a while and then to compensate I write enormous emails telling them all the news… I could even post some of them… Some of them are really good! I’ve been writing emails since 97 when I left Brazil to go live in the US so I guess that's my type diary… too bad hotmail didn’t keep my sent messages back then, I’m sure I’ve lost real good information and some of the best emails! (I hate hotmail). I guess I just realized that I am an email writer… so I will write emails in my blog.

I decided I'll just talk about the things that I read, or think, or want to experiment with not limiting myself to doing a “fashion” blog… I do love fashion, study and work with it, read a lot about it, but I also have another important passion: dance. And have lots of other interests too, so I will just talk about whatever I feel like. I’m doing this for me, so I can read this later… And I’m writing this for you, if you find it interesting.

Anyway, I just decided to be myself, which is a beautiful thing…

One thing you need to know about me is that I speak three languages all the time and will do the same here… If I have to be me then I have to write in three languages. I am Brazilian, daughter of Uruguayans, lived in the US for almost 8 years and live in Uruguay in the moment.