Vancouver Fashion Week
How I ended up showing my clothing line twice in Vancouver Fashion Week:
When I was in grade 9 I was already an avid sewer. I spent prettymuch all my time in either the art room or the sewing room with my discman blaring(discman!? haha! is that like a record player? lol)
Anyways I designed clothes for a public fashion show when I was in high school.
Anyways I designed clothes for a public fashion show when I was in high school.
Fast forward 6 years or so:
I had just finished my degree at the Fashion Institute Of Design And Merchandising in Los Angeles and was looking for an opportunity to show some of my designs to the world. I googled "Vancouver Fashion Week" and emailed them. The event coordinator organized a time for the event manager to meet with me in downtown Vancouver. I brought my portfolio which back then was a huge black book and everything was hand sketched(haha remember those days?!)
The day we met it was raining and I wore a white eyelet skirt and my glitter ballet flats. I was 20 years old and at that time glitter flats seemed like a solid choice! lol As soon as he walked in I recognized the event manager! He had been the event manager at the fashion show I had shown my designs in when I was in grade 9!!! It was a wild moment! We had such a great time catching up and couldn't believe that life had connected us again! My clothing line was called Brandycandy and he stills refers to me as "His Little Brandycandy". Below is a photo of me sewing(I designed and sewed all the clothes myself). The second picture of the girls jumping is from my fashion show and we did the photoshoot in the historic Gastown. The hours before a fashion show happens are a pure adrenaline rush. A flurry of pins and pink lipstick! I remember being in absolute shock when I walked onto the runway after my second show. The end of the runway was solid cameras. I had only ever seen that in the movies! It was amazing.
Holt Renfrew *Hot Shop* (What's going on)
I get asked a lot about what is trending- colours, cuts, what's selling, what isn't, etc etc.
I started this entry last month and didn't get a chance to finish it until now. I feel everything is still valid though so I thought I would share it with you guys:)
I went shopping and made some notes about what is hot and retailing right now. I went to all the store levels. I always spend quite a long time in Holt Renfrew-my favourite stop. Every time I go in that store it reminds me about why I decided to design clothes- beautiful fabrics, perfect cuts, real passionate craftsmanship.
I took some photos(they gave me permission). I will attach them to this post:)
So here we go!Ready?! Weoooo! Please ignore my grammar haha it's all just in quick note form
I started this entry last month and didn't get a chance to finish it until now. I feel everything is still valid though so I thought I would share it with you guys:)
I went shopping and made some notes about what is hot and retailing right now. I went to all the store levels. I always spend quite a long time in Holt Renfrew-my favourite stop. Every time I go in that store it reminds me about why I decided to design clothes- beautiful fabrics, perfect cuts, real passionate craftsmanship.
I took some photos(they gave me permission). I will attach them to this post:)
So here we go!Ready?! Weoooo! Please ignore my grammar haha it's all just in quick note form
HOT TRENDING BRANDS RIGHT NOW AT HOLT:
Pink Tartan- coral and white story and that fluorescent pink colour. They have a black and white story also. Grosgrain ribbon detailing on crisp white shirts. Also white tee with Boucle but it is a sweater. Black and white story has square perforated leather and black and white stripes. Scuba fabric high neck tee in white. Eyelet woven button up body with grosgrain ribbon. Pleated skirts, princess seam dress, rich navy and fluorescent yellow and green
Other hot brands:
Tory Burch.
Nanette Lapore.
Alice and Olivia-daisy print sweater. Daisies are still trending hard. Most of the junior brands doing the daisy print.
Laser cut tees are trending.
Rag And Bone-boot with high front guard thing(I will try to find a pic for you guys).
Tweed tee body-everything in rag and bone is hot hot hot.
Everyone is using that blanket stitch.
Leather mini skirt still in Paul And Joe-giraffe and deer prints.
Square laser cut out leather trims all over the place including Vince. Soft dressing pant with leather trim.
Zadig and Voltaire.
Woven top body suit with knit bottom- the top of the bodysuit looks like a dress shirt and bottom has crotch snaps.
Pencil skirts are in.
Everyone is doing the sweatshirt or tee body in texture/boucle fabrics. Akris Punto- perforated leather blazer- very nice.
Jewelry-Aztec pointy styles.Styling-short leather skirt with sleeveless blouse tucked in.Heels with ankle straps(thick) are in.Pointy shiny toes still in.Leopard(tiny scale) still in.The shoes with the curvy metal bar across the front are in.Tape yarn at bcbg.Leather jackets.Jumpers are still in.Phew! Ok, there ya go! I will try to get some pics up tomorrow:)xoBrandy
Luxury
Recently I was reading about how there is a trend called painter fingertips which started because of Michele Lamy. Rick Owens and Michele Lamy make couture clothing- mostly make black and white(monochromatic) with the exception of Fall 14 which had sepia tones as well. Michele reminds me of my best friend from when I was 8, Thyra Warburg.
When I met Thyra she was around 85 years old and she changed my life forever. She was full of joy and childlike wonder. Her apartment was literally stuffed with paintings that she had created. She had been a professional ballerina, in the resistance in the war, and she was the happiest, oldest person I had ever met. When I would come to visit her she would stop in the foyer before opening the glass doors and yell, "BRANDY!" and do the splits. She would run across the grass and up the sidewalk in her mismatched socks and give me a big hug. She was a sprite and maybe 90lb including her eccentric clothing. She did 100 stretches everyday in the bathtub. She had a new boyfriend when she was 93. She went to yoga several times a week. She won a handstand contest even though she had a broken arm at the time. She showed up to our pool party in a bathing suit made completely of strings. And she wore red leather pants to our Christmas dinner party haha
We were kindred spirits from the moment we met.
The reason Michele Lamy reminds me of Thyra is because in the documentary Michele speaks about luxury and what it means to her. Michele spoke in the documentary about how luxury is going to the gym and feeling your body, spending time with your friends and family when you really connect with them, and preparing food and enjoying savouring it. Luxury is really the small things-which are the big things. Yoji Yamamoto speaks about this also. He is also a very famous couture designer and he often speaks about how he wants to make something special and important- little things being the big things.
I really want to paint Michele Lamy. She has fascinating eyes. Eyes tell you everything.
Here are some pics of that "painted finger" trend I mentioned Michele started. Now I don't have to wash my hands after I paint! ;) haha
When I met Thyra she was around 85 years old and she changed my life forever. She was full of joy and childlike wonder. Her apartment was literally stuffed with paintings that she had created. She had been a professional ballerina, in the resistance in the war, and she was the happiest, oldest person I had ever met. When I would come to visit her she would stop in the foyer before opening the glass doors and yell, "BRANDY!" and do the splits. She would run across the grass and up the sidewalk in her mismatched socks and give me a big hug. She was a sprite and maybe 90lb including her eccentric clothing. She did 100 stretches everyday in the bathtub. She had a new boyfriend when she was 93. She went to yoga several times a week. She won a handstand contest even though she had a broken arm at the time. She showed up to our pool party in a bathing suit made completely of strings. And she wore red leather pants to our Christmas dinner party haha
We were kindred spirits from the moment we met.
The reason Michele Lamy reminds me of Thyra is because in the documentary Michele speaks about luxury and what it means to her. Michele spoke in the documentary about how luxury is going to the gym and feeling your body, spending time with your friends and family when you really connect with them, and preparing food and enjoying savouring it. Luxury is really the small things-which are the big things. Yoji Yamamoto speaks about this also. He is also a very famous couture designer and he often speaks about how he wants to make something special and important- little things being the big things.
I really want to paint Michele Lamy. She has fascinating eyes. Eyes tell you everything.
Working at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in Los Angeles
When I lived in Los Angeles I worked at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios for a few seasons. It was really wild being backstage! I met a man who used to drape for John Galliano 40 years ago! I also ran into Janice Dickinson haha. I actually have a habit of (literally!) running into people. I once ran into Jude Law in London haha but that is a whole different story which I will save for later!
So, I worked as a backstage dresser as well as various other positions. It's super high energy back there. Incredibly gorgeous models galavanting around, celebrities, and frantic designers. They have this big tray of sandwiches and chocolates and stuff which absolutely no one ate haha I suppose I can admit the adage "don't feed the models" is infact based in truth lol
Funny enough I ended up talking to the designers Mom's quite often. Probably because I am friendly and curious by nature...and they are bored and proud and want to share their excitement with someone. I found out so much interesting stuff. One designer's Mom was telling me about how her daughter often made dresses for Paris Hilton.
Oh I also saw Anthony Kiedis, the lead singer of Red Hot Chili Pepper's. He was dating a model at the time. I worked this one denim brand show and all the models had this gold body shimmer spray on. It was so cool. You get really great gift bags at these shows too. Once they gave everyone high heel shoes! It's pretty sweet. Oh and Smashbox Studios has it's own makeup brand so they give everyone tons of makeup. I also once saw Mena Suvari from the movie American Beauty at a show. That was my favourite movie at the time. I love the poetic ending.
At the end of working the shows all week we all piled into my friends little car. We were pulling out of the parking lot and this guy ran over and invited us to the after party. The after party was in this club near West Hollywood. It was smokey and they had those curvy diner seats. I talked to this guy in leather pants for a long time and his girlfriend who had lots of shiny lip gloss on haha
I'll attach some of my pics. Sorry they are a bit blurry. They are from before I had a phone camera lol :) The one of the single model-that is Janice Dickinson. The pic where you can read the label that is St. John. And the one with the stripe dress girls is from the Megan Fabulous show.
So, I worked as a backstage dresser as well as various other positions. It's super high energy back there. Incredibly gorgeous models galavanting around, celebrities, and frantic designers. They have this big tray of sandwiches and chocolates and stuff which absolutely no one ate haha I suppose I can admit the adage "don't feed the models" is infact based in truth lol
Funny enough I ended up talking to the designers Mom's quite often. Probably because I am friendly and curious by nature...and they are bored and proud and want to share their excitement with someone. I found out so much interesting stuff. One designer's Mom was telling me about how her daughter often made dresses for Paris Hilton.
Oh I also saw Anthony Kiedis, the lead singer of Red Hot Chili Pepper's. He was dating a model at the time. I worked this one denim brand show and all the models had this gold body shimmer spray on. It was so cool. You get really great gift bags at these shows too. Once they gave everyone high heel shoes! It's pretty sweet. Oh and Smashbox Studios has it's own makeup brand so they give everyone tons of makeup. I also once saw Mena Suvari from the movie American Beauty at a show. That was my favourite movie at the time. I love the poetic ending.
At the end of working the shows all week we all piled into my friends little car. We were pulling out of the parking lot and this guy ran over and invited us to the after party. The after party was in this club near West Hollywood. It was smokey and they had those curvy diner seats. I talked to this guy in leather pants for a long time and his girlfriend who had lots of shiny lip gloss on haha
I'll attach some of my pics. Sorry they are a bit blurry. They are from before I had a phone camera lol :) The one of the single model-that is Janice Dickinson. The pic where you can read the label that is St. John. And the one with the stripe dress girls is from the Megan Fabulous show.
Going to the Emmy Awards after party in LA
When I lived in LA and was designing clothes I got to go to the Emmy Awards after party. It was around 9pm and I parked just off Hollywood Blvd. I was wearing very high black heels and tight black jeans and this gorgeous Nanette Lepore lace shirt with buttons around the wrists. Love that shirt. Still have it somewhere...
Lindsay Lohan was there with her girlfriend. She was wearing this really beautiful black velvet cape. All the serving staff were really gorgeous and were wearing kimonos, red lipstick, and they served sushi. There were tons of tiny paper cranes hung from the roof and there was a live band playing. It was a really fantastic night. I will attach a pic.
Lindsay Lohan was there with her girlfriend. She was wearing this really beautiful black velvet cape. All the serving staff were really gorgeous and were wearing kimonos, red lipstick, and they served sushi. There were tons of tiny paper cranes hung from the roof and there was a live band playing. It was a really fantastic night. I will attach a pic.
Designing shoes in Beverly Hills
The best job I have ever had was designing luxury accessories freelance for a company in Beverly Hills. They were manufactured in Paris. The man who hired me was one of the most honest and trusting people I have met in this crazy industry that we call fashion.
Every week we would meet in the 1950's style restaurant of a very fancy hotel downtown. I would show him my concepts and he would give me a cheque. He gave me complete free creative range. The only guidance he gave me was that he liked art-deco and to not think about price-just create the most beautiful accessories you can imagine. He didn't collect my drawings until the very end of working together which was a huge sign of trust and integrity. I still hold him in very high regards. People like him give the fashion industry a good name.
