There is no secret that my background is in film production, or at least that's what the three Masters I did say so. Fashion Industry and designers have always been an absolute mistery behind a veil. So when I had the first opportunity to talk and see with my very own eyes the show for the SS18 that Pam Hogg brought to London Fashion Week, a waterfall of feelings invade me: I'm grateful for the opportunity, super excited and after the show I was left mesmerised and extremely happy. The mixture between tremendous excitment and a deep sense of outta place/intruder invaded me. I haven't overcome the feeling, not sure I will ever do. PAM HOGG, was awarded a honorary doctorate by the Glasgow University, in 2016, for her contribution to fashion, becoming Dr Hogg. The London Fashion Week website describes her as " self taught in fashion" that single detail makes me even more intrigued about her processes, both mental (creativity) and physical (how does she manages the workload? Music and film are no strangers to her either, she is a multifaceted artist and with over 30 years of experience, she is so approachable and delightful. According to Wikipedia "her first fashion collection was in 1981. She was, one of the new wave of designers who emerged at the beginning of the 1980s in London. Hogg first sold her designs at Hyper Hyper in London's Kensington and later from her own shop in Newburgh Street, always refusing to ‘sell out’ to the mainstream fashion industry. Her collections bore names such as Psychedelic Jungle (1981), Warrior Queen (1989), Best Dressed Chicken in Town, And God Created Woman and Wild Wild Women of the West." Also the Vintage Fashion Guild has some interesting bits about Hogg "Her clothes are typically tight, loud, and fetish-influenced and are always inspired by the current club scene — her influences have been drawn from punk, the ‘blitz’ scene and, later, acid house. Her collections were always inventively named, from 1981’s Psychedelic Jungle to 1989’s Warrior Queen and including ‘Best Dressed Chicken in Town’, ‘And God Created Woman’ and ‘Wild Wild Women of the West’. Pam continues to design and is also the lead singer in a group named ‘Doll’." COURAGE – Pam Hoggs AW14From the experience of being directly exposed to her creations I believe the classic battle of conceptual art versus technical proficiency is no more, because it finds on the realm of a designer such as Pam Hogg, both work and creativity, the ultimate fire where both concepts melt into one. After decades of being part of the fashion ecosystem, even leaving it and coming back, she has prove herself worth it with incredible talent and an easy going approach. Her designs evolve and develop but the is always extremely wild and naive about them at the same time. Pastel colours soft textures running along with bright fabrics tight to the body.as if she was exploring the human and female complexity in parallel. INNOCENCE – Pam Hoggs SS18After the show, I was so impressed that decided to inmerse myself into methodically research this woman creator, this designer. And bringing my skills as producer, I dare to send her some questions for a mini interview.
On a personal note, if anything, I wish Pam Hogg would find the support to take her brand into yet another level. She so deserves it. Me: Who is Pam? How did your journey within the Fashion Industry begun and when? Could you describe the exact moment when you knew this industry was a vehicle for expressing yourself? Pam: I never knew until i was part of it, Id been making clothes for myself since I was six years old, it just came naturally. It was when i had to dress up to get into Blitz, the best club in London at beginning of the 80s with Steve Strange's strict door policy, that my entering the fashion world began. It was purely because everyone wanted to buy what i was wearing, it went from there, it wasn't at all planned. Me: What where the particular challenges you encountered when starting your career? Pam: It was fairly easy from the start. I emerged just as everyone especially the Americans craved something new and they came with loads of money to buy up everything innovative they could get their hands on. My first collections sold in Joseph Harrods Harvey Nichols Bloomingdale and Bendals and numerous small boutiques around the world. Shop rents were very affordable so i rented one on Newburgh st in Soho and about 6 months later Gaultier opened one at the end of the street. Fashion was exciting and thriving in the 80s Me: Do you have role models, masters of design or any other artist that you admire? Pam: I dont have role models but many I admire including Azadine alia, Theiry Muglar and Montana. Me: How do you understand the fashion industry in terms of consumers, influencers and the volatile landscape of Social Media? Pam: Im quite an outsider in this field as i dont buy or read magazines. I design by feeling, its a more intuitive approach. Me: Tell us a bit more about this season collection, how it started: ie a concept, an image, an experience, a memory? Pam: the title is INNOCENCE, which can be rare these days as in this climate of war the young who generally inhabit the world of innocence are stripped of it before they have a chance. Once I have my Title it sets the mood, then i let the abundance of ideas in my head take over. My only restriction is the fabrics that im able to acquire and the time I have to make everything. Me: Do you believe or are interested in the "agender" concept when it comes to fashion? If so, why? Pam: I don't feel any connection to that at all. Me: How would you describe the people that works with you in your studio? Pam: I work alone as I have no finances to employ. Me: What do you consider the challenges of the fashion landscape when it comes to Business and Marketing? Pam: My main challenge is finding a backer who will see my potential and recognise that my abundance of ideas can easily be streamlined into desirable sellable products. Me: How would you describe the science of what you do in one word? Pam: Intuition. Highly recomend, for your own aesthetic pleasure dear reader, to follow her instagram: @pamhoggfashion and her know more about her here: pamhogg.com Richard QuinnWhat an amazing great character! I spoke with Mr. Richard Quinn in a pretty relaxed way, at first I wasn´t aware he was actually the designer (zero on face recognition for me!). If you have an opportunity to talk to him, he is quite cool, I guess I´m also fond of him cause he reminded me of an old friend from Argentina. The thing is I was pretty mesmerized with the items hanging on the rail... oh gosh, those prints... and the dresses had this flair of fifties sixties, big floral patters, heavy fabric... oh how I wish some of them were hanging on my wardrobe... AlzúarrAlzúarr Shock by shoes! There is no other way to describe the situation here. I dared to ask the beautiful lady (think a young and smart dressed Penelope Cruz type of woman here), nearby the amazing collection of shoes, for a moment I wondered if she was indeed the designer and she was!, so I just shot lots of questions, did't want to miss any details. In a nutshell "I create shoes for the poweful woman", and she does, her name is Zeynep Dag. The collection is a luxury for the eyes and each piece calls you to strike a POWER pose in them! Vinti AndrewsI was drawn by the vintage Ralph Lauren suit, repurposed and revisited with the intention of merging the city lady with the urban lady... I think is a fantastic achievement, also suits are one of my very soft spots when it comes to dressing up. Didn't have the chance to actually talk to the designers. This excellent brand is a collaboration between Vinti Tan and Paul Andrews, but, I'm aiming to send some questions and if possible visit their studio in London. They've been around for quite some time and the ethos behing their brand is so very impressive. And as always, be cool, be great, be yourself!
So here I am, London Fashion Week has finished. I'm sad and wishing really hard to be able to work within the fashion industry full time.
But focusing on the positive and enlightening experience the past four days were in a chronological order to my experience. I found that the collection presented by Dr. Pam Hogg, was challenging and disruptive, almost as been immerse in a colorful and exotic cirque, where the bright colors and shapes and textures that crawl onto the models bodies. It's almost like John Waters would create fashion. I just want to finish this post with a phrase from her Ted Talk which I believe sums up her work: "I allow my ideas to collide and take me somewhere I never dream off". As I confess on the post I did talking about her show, it wasn't possible for me to make any photos. But I'm using some from LFW website.
On Sunday I attended the presentation from Steven Tai. Have to admit that deeply enjoyed the censorial experience. There was a "beach like" set up and you could walk around and across the scenario where the models would have a chilled or amused attitude: dancing to the music, snapping photos of the audience and they would change positions across the different spots.
Now, when thinking about the collection, it's filled with light and beautiful elements that put the mindset on an eternal summer state. Stripes mixed with bright colours in asimetric garments, an authentic delight.
ON|OFF Presents...
This Catwalk was so exciting as well. Talented younger(ish) creators, bringing to life spectacular pieces of work. I will allow the art talk by itself, please see the videos below. Just a quick recap, because I also hope to get individual interviews with each designer, to share their creative process here.
Hope you enjoyed this post and please comment on your experience about London Fashion Week or your ideas about this post!
BE COOL, BE GREAT, BE YOURSELF...
I must confess, didn't bring the camera... so lame for a blogger! But anyhow, it was so super amazing! I am very impressed with the collection: a distopian, sexy and colorful style. Below my absolute favourite piece:
Pam Hogg is a very powerful and eclectic creative force, she has an impressive life: fashion designer, musician and filmmaker, in a word she is an amazing ARTIST..
Found some great photos on Getty Images, so check then runway
Hello hello again. It seems I can't keep my promise with ocklo.com, but actually I try really hard. Life and work gets busier and busier. Anyhow passion for fashion does not fade away. Oh how I wish I could be at this year NYFW, it ends today!, not that I have ever attend to it, but hey, I'm glad there's internet and lots of info about it... it doesn't feel like I lost everything. HERE some HIGHLIGHTS on what I've found super interesting: Alexander Wang, I love him, my latest post about him was some time ago. This new season Mr Wang created, I'm sure along with great other people on his team, the #WANGFEST quite a cool way to take the runway out of place, were models made their entrance onto the street runway from a party bus, whilst onlookers watched from behind metal barriers on the sidewalk. New York Fashion Week: First Stage, this is a great initiative to help launch global designers into the international market, I'm super excited about it! Several great Designers had a go this year... my fav are: David Ferreira, Portugal-based womenswear designer JUST IN CASE= Designer Justin, Yu-Ying Chou, brings so much energy. I love his views on street style brought into the runway. Hope you enjoy this post, there is so much more to say and mostly explore about the new season. Would love to hear your comments and impressions about NYFW and fashion and trends in general! :)
Be Cool, Be Great, Be Yourself! |