lulu

in the winter of 2008, i accompanied my boyfriend (at the time) to his barbershop.  since he insisted on just a walk-in, rather than an appointment, and it was obviously the fave hair-joint for the local seniors, i was tremendously bored and fervently reached for an outdated issue of W magazine.  I had no idea that one, miniscule feature would change my creative future forever.

lulu at work

flipping through the pages, observing every detail as this was the most engrossing subject matter available, (much better than watching grey locks fall to the floor), i came across one of those pages that gives a quick review of interesting haps, publications, or people in recent culture--aka, my quick pop-history source.  in the bottom right hand corner, almost cut off by the fold of the binding was a photo of the cover of a textile designer's soon-to-be-published book.  it was beautiful and i had to know more.

the designer's name is lulu de kwiatkowski, a parsons school of design BFA (studio art) graduate (holla!), world traveler, textile + wallpaper + artist extraordinaire.  splitting her childhood between the hamptons and the bahamas, she was constantly exposed to vibrant/earthy colors, patterns, and just interesting things.  after her own textile company celebrated its 10th anniversary, it was deemed necessary that the world learn about the creative processes of the artist behind her wildly popular prints.  

i received this book as a christmas gift in 2009 and refer to it on an addictively (i think i just made up this word) regular basis.  you're about to see why.

snippit of the engaging cover

i feel like lulu's anonymous mentor-ee.  she obviously loves yellow, red, pattern, handwriting, collaging, fauna, vintage, intricate drawing, and figures as much as i do.  maybe we're secretly related or something.  all of the above images i took with my camera from her book, as only a TINY sampling is available on amazon.com, excluding some of my favorites.  The book, should you want to look it up, recommend it, or purchase it is entitled Lulu, published by Ammo Books, and is 192 full-color, giant-sized, incredible pages.

Now that you know her artistic side, here is the kind of product you can expect from her design company, called Lulu dK.  these are all fabric prints, prints-in-progress, or print-promos.  i sourced these images from her blog, trailofinspiration.com.  i could have posted 90,000,000 more images, but not only would that start to look sketchy, it's a lot more fun to find it yourself!! go check out her blog, the lulu dk website, or best of all, her BOOK!

and i had to throw in this image of hand-painted owls/butterflies.  she's just amazing.  i want several of these little guys for my room :)

now if you'll excuse me, my paintbrushes are calling.  have a colorful day.

photo sourcing:

i took all "black border" images of Lulu.

lulu working: 'me at work'

sailboats: 'lulu dk homepage'

yellow pattern: 'hand-painted fabric preview'

pastel dots pattern: 'petals petals everywhere'

floral pillows: 'did you know?'

color block fabric: 'voila!'

owls: 'thank you'

how i got here

this is a pretty cross-section of my inspiration for pursuing fashion school.
it's funny to see these images now, because i feel like in 1 year my aesthetic tastes, preferences, and inspirations have changed drastically, but the underlying themes i'd say are pretty similar. we'll see as i progress, i guess.

left to right:
free people
anna sui print
anthropologie print?
free people
lulu de kwiatkowski (last two images from her book LULU--sneak peak on amazon!)


love patterns. love hippy. love flora/fauna.  love collage. love earthy palettes.  love yellow + pink + orange (although i hate wearing pink. ew.)

first mood board woes??

i am exhausted beyond all reason, and i KNOW i'm overthinking this mood board/collage, but i need some feedback!! 


something's missing or should be missing and i can't seem to figure it out.
my 'mood'?? ----> go glam or go home** should feel romantic but with a touch of pretentiousness?

**that's something my boyfriend would've said. he's hundreds of miles away and i STILL talk like him.  he likes to say "go handsome or go home".  it fits. look how handsome that kid is:

photo cred: micah horvath

"schiap" to the lou, my darlin'

i recently had to research the first avant garde designer, Elsa Schiaparelli.  mind you, this was the 1930's. ANCIENT, right??  i had no knowledge of her before, and little desire to research.  but i'm SO inspired from all the time i spent looking at her work.  here's a sampling of some of her more well-known pieces, juxtaposed with the inspiration for each:

Schiap's Lobster Dress vs. Salvador Dali's Lobster Telephone

Schiap's Famous "Bow" Sweater and her Portrait

Schiap's Skeleton Dress vs. Man Ray's Nude

Schiap's Embroidered Blazer vs. Jean Cocteau's Drawing

Schiap's Fingernail Gloves vs. Man Ray's Hand Photo

And naturally we have to compare for the latter half of the century, aka decades in which we were actually present:

So now you know a little bit more.  I could post the actual report, but who wants to read when you can just look!?  So fascinatingly original.  i don't particularly think i would buy or wear many of her things, but they are genuinely works of art, not just clothes.  (AND she's the reason HOT PINK exists. fabulous contribution, right?  i'm a pink HATER and i still lovelovelove hot pink.)

fashion robots.

in art school, they taught us how to draw, but more importantly, they taught us to practice creativity-even if it meant making the ugliest piece ever.  They taught us to think outside the box, take their instructions and filter them through our own processes to make something original, conceptual, and beautiful (yes--preferably all three of these things).  

fashion school is different, at least in the beginning.  we are being drilled with the basics.  sew these seams at least 3 separate times to get an A.  drape the SAME THING 4 times a week, minimum.  re-draw your homework until 2+2=4 (almost an exact quote, btw).  

needless to say, as creative as designers have to be, we can't be creative until we're perfect at everything else. so this is what perfect (yeah right) looks like:

 magazine figures for fashion drawing class.

These are live-model drawings from my fashion industry: design class.  my teacher finds the tiniest things wrong with EVER SINGLE ONE of the figures.  i have started to like them, though. :)

 First page:  just my little obsessive tribute to the great Tavi Gevinson (whom i had the marvelous privilege of meeting at FNO 2010... i'll post my souvenir later!)

Second:  if you ever wanted to know how to draw, there ya go. copied straight from the book.

Third:  the figures i had to re-do for my design class. AND he still wants them fixed MORE. 

And finally, a piece i'm actually super proud of, my entrance exam.  This collage of drawing/internet/magazine represents my fictitious brand's customer profile.  earthy, traveler, philanthropist, animal-lover, flirty, feminine, boho, with a hint of glamour.  really, i think this is just what i would aspire to be if i were a style icon. if only....