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| school students cool sculpture at Sculpture on the Shore |
Red is...
energy,
danger,
revolution,
passion,
port.
Red...
inspires!
Red is the most chromatic and the most saturated colour. It has the strongest hue. (Achromatic relates to a colour lacking hue, like white, grey or black.)
There are so many connotations relating to Red, some are considered to be of a negative nature....like "scarlet woman" or "red light" district, yet the Catholic Church still assigns shades of red (and purple and violet) to mark its hierarchy....so, it can't be that bad! Red has many meanings in many cultural settings.
All colours have a variety of meanings. Let's just celebrate the fact we see colour in our world, because colour is wonderful.
Rei Kawakubo was known for darkness in her early collections. It is considered she made black "fashionable", as she constantly worked with it, and still does from time to time. But, in her 1988 Autumn/Winter collection she came out with Red, which must have been a blast for those lucky enough to go through the experience at the time.
Check out this video.....feel the "Red" experience RK probably wanted to open up to people....remember it's 1988, 26 years ago......and prior to this she had been "Black"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9CNcA52xU8
Now, check out her latest collection, Spring/Summer 2015, an amazing Red concept
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xl2zO_pBMz4
"Roses and blood" are the key words Rei K. used to express this collection. She likes roses, they have often appeared in her collections, in a myriad of creative ways. The entire collection is Red, apart from one black hood and a clear plastic one. Much of the work is patent leatherette, I like how she works in that material. The collection was described as "poppy red" and it made me wonder if there was a connection to this year's commemoration of WW1?
But, RK doesn't do "political", so who would know.
What I look forward to, is how this collection will be delivered in simpler skirts, t-shirts,tops or shirts. Not everyone agrees with that.
There is a very cool aspect of Red Riding Hood in this collection
It takes me to my Year 13 class and the project they worked on this year...'Design and Construct a Small Fashion Collection'...a big ask, because it required at least 2 ensembles. Anyway, Red Riding Hood was the theme for one student's collection and I loved one of the images she placed in her Look Book...The ominous woods scene and the model standing there with the hood down over her face is very effective. The red, white and black of the ensemble are just right in this barren wintry tree scene.
Well done Lydia!
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| The Collections |
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| An image from Katie's Look Book. Her theme was Vintage. |
Let's go back to "poppy red"
Earlier on in the year, I ran a workshop at school concerning "5,000 poppies" A huge field of poppies are being crafted to commemorate the centenary of NZ's involvement in WW1. The concept was started in Australia, and an Auckland teacher, Lisa Wallace has taken the project on board in New Zealand. She believes it is our way to do something creative and memorable for the 100th anniversary of the ANZAC Gallipoli landing. Although it was an Australian project, Lisa decided ANZAC is equally about NZ, so we should have out own display.
I downloaded a simple poppy pattern that was provided on the web site connected with the concept
http://5000poppies.wordpress.com/poppy-patterns/
and got my colleagues cutting and stitching....
They look like they might be having fun!
And some of the results.......
Everyone used the same pattern, yet each one is different. I love how that is always the case.
I am hoping to run a similar workshop with some Yr. 8s, and then I will take all the poppies over to Lisa, so they can become a part of the exhibition.
Here is an amazingly innovative idea for creating a poppy. Ben McBean, a war veteran who was seriously injured while serving in Afghanistan, conceived the idea to turn London into a giant poppy by running around the capital and using a GPS tracker to colour it in on a map.
Ben completed the outline and then called on members of the public to run around the streets and colour it in.
Each time a runner ran down one of the streets within the outline, they painted it red with a GPS app on their phone. The result on Google Maps is so cool
What a brilliant idea Ben!
However, not everyone is happy about the red poppy. The "No Glory in War" Campaign are going to wear white poppies as a sign of their opposition to what they see as a glorification of war.
Check this web site to learn more about this.
Back to my theme.
The heart is a very strong image for red. When I was researching for my "Knits" blog I came across these cool knitted hearts by Kate Jenkins.
Here is my Heart piece, "She wears her heart on her sleeve". It's about "exposing oneself".
As for red spots/red dots
What's one of the most familiar red spot/dot images?
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Japanese civil & state flag
In Comme des Garcons' 2007 Spring/Summer collection, Rei K. used the state flag at the centre of the collection. She considered this flag "the purest form of design in existence" In the collection she had T-shirts created with pertinent words, "radient nature", "simplicity", "nature and beauty" and "grace and nature", printed below the red circles. Skirts and jackets had red circles very effectively formed within the garments. |
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And here is another cool depiction of the red circle
This was prepared for the Milan 2011 International Furniture Fair, which that year was tempered with the knowledge of Japan's nuclear disaster at Fukushima.
The journalist reporting on this exhibit described it as a "most thought-provoking moment...., where a circle of Junya Ishigami's white Family Chairs adorned with a long, one-piece cashmere/cotton garment seemed to hold each other in a group hug. The red circles printed on the cloth covering each chair were potent reminders that part of the rebuilding process of Japan will be from designers reaching out and helping each other with their ideas."
My take, with the Japanese flag for Bexleyheath School Fashion Show
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| CdG's wonderful "flat" coat, with red circles.
I like the idea of screen printing red dots on felt.
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The highly talented Junya Watanabe, has a wonderfully"abstract, graphic and bold"collection for his S/S 2015.
Check out this youtube site to see it in motion
One person described it as, "One bloody good idea, explored deeply with conviction, feeling and an utter disregard for pleasing critics or buyers, just their own feeling of natural instinct and intuition". Heaps of references come to mind. I went referencing, but I think the best is found on this very good site "Irenebrination, notes on architecture, art, fashion & style" She writes about some amazingly cool and interesting "stuff". This site will take you to the references that connect with Junya's S/S 2015 collection.
I am taken with these garments from the collection. Love the red circles.
To start with, it was the astounding T-shirt sleeves, and I thought, hey, I'm going to revamp a T-shirt of mine!
Cut some circles, and stitched them together in preparation for the sleeve insertion
Off came the sleeves of the T-shirt, and on went the circular vinyl sleeves...lots of fun...well, the vinyl was a bit of a challenge to sew!
I used the sleeves I had cut off, to add length to the T. It needed it, to reduce that boxy look..and I like the opposing stripes, adds an interest factor,and I still like that touch of pink around the neck.
Now I'm working on a skirt. The big circle is actually black, not blue as it looks in this image.
Here is a final connection with ANZAC red poppies.
It came from 'Sculpture on the Shore',it's another junior school students exhibit. I loved it.
I'm going to finish with me, wearing my customised CdG Play T-shirt, on the day we went to Devonport, to take in the Sculpture and the "Knitted Tree". It connects with my previous "Knit" blog and Knit Graffiti...and really cool!
E. filmed it in video form, a fun way to view it.
As usual, I haven't quite finished yet......an interesting red image has taken my eye...
and led me to..what is this about!
This is a shot from a rather cool fashion film, Walter Van Beirendonck had created for his A/W 14/15 Collection. The collection was called "Crossed Crocodiles Grow". The felt helmets are a pertinent aspect of the collection. I think it is best told via the film...
...then read this essay....
It is good to expand one's visual horizons!
Now, it is
SLTSLTBsigning off.
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