I know this event, Fashion Evolution, has already passed and I know it was held in Dublin, but that does not diminish the importance of the topics that were discussed. The event was put on by Re-dress. It was the first for the organization, but I don’t expect it will be the last.

About Re-dress:

Have you joined Gen Art yet? What are you waiting for. Gen Art is the leading arts and entertainment organization dedicated to showcasing emerging fashion designers, filmmakers, musicians and visual artists. Gen Art produces over 100 events annually, ranging from a week-long film festival to massive star-studded fashion shows, live music performances, art exhibitions, multimedia events and much, much more.

They have many levels for becoming a member. With your membership comes tickets to their upcoming events they host many major cities across the US. I hope to see you there.

Smashing Darling designer Lara Miller has been involved with Gen Art events in Chicago and NY.

I would love to hear from you if you attended Fashion Evolution or know more about it. If you have been to a Gen Art event or are a member I know the rest of the community would love to hear more…

Keep me posted about other companies to keep our eye on that are changing the way we look at and wear fashion.

Todays interview is with Steven Shaver, jewelry and furniture designer. He never imagined that the career direction he would ultimately choose would take him down an artistic path of creating functional art, furnishings and awards made from car parts and other recycled industrial artifacts. Please feel free to leave him a comment or ask more questions. I Bet we could get him to answer more.

SD: When and how did get into jewelry design?
SS: I just got into jewelry design last month so its a new venture for me. I’ve been creating all kinds of things for about 15 years - mostly clocks, lamps, furniture and awards made from car parts and other industrial objects. I had a box of defective conveyor belts from a factory and they were sitting around for about a year in my shop before I decided to make jewelry with them. I liked the colors, textures and flexibility of the material as a change to designing with hard, greasy car parts that I usually work with. This led to also looking for vintage tags, small car parts and other industrial items to utilize as jewelry.

SD: Describe for us your creative process? Is it the same you use for furniture?
SS: My creative process is similar for all items make. It’s like solving a puzzle, but starts from being inspired. If I am creating something for a company or event, then the process involves finding the right parts and materials based the theme of the occasion. On the other hand, if there is no occasion then I might go on a treasure hunt to a salvage yard, search Ebay or call companies to get their recycled parts and then figure out the artistic purposes that suit the found objects. Sometimes I’ll render a design on the computer if a client needs to see something, but usually I just start tinkering around with the found objects in hand until I figure out a design direction. I try to work with the inherent characteristics and form of the found objects and not alter that too much. I don’t weld, but use adhesives and nuts and bolts and hand tools and machines for drilling and cutting. I’m usually roaming the aisles of the hardware stores looking for the right stuff and the store staff knows me all too well! As for the process of generating ideas, I get ideas when I least expect them and in the strangest places. I’ve created enough things that I have gained the confidence and knowledge to make it some how come together successfully before the final hour - particularly when there is a deadline for a project!

SD: What is your favorite item you have designed?
SS: Probably the trophies I created from chrome car parts and Swarovski crystals for the 2006 ESPN GM “King of Bling” celebrity car show or the gift I made from Mercedes car parts for Hugh Hefner at the Playboy Mansion. I was also fortunate enough to get to attend the celebrity events!

SD: If that item could talk, what would it say?
SS: The item(s) would say “you were a king for a day”.

SD: What inspires your designs?
SS: Finding interesting and otherwise unnoticed recycled parts and materials with history and story to tell - particularly vintage car parts or anything mechanical - and the challenge of figuring out what new artistic purpose I can give them inspires me. When I get something into my hands the ideas begin to come to life. I am branching off into many areas of recycling and upcycling so there is no limit to what I can be repurposed! I am also designing t-shirts inspired by my interest in bicycles and everyday symbols. On a personal level, if I am creating something specifically for someone, it really inspires me when I know about their interests and that it will have meaning for that person who receives it.

SD: Are you self taught designer if not, where and what did you study?
SS: I am a self taught designer. I have a B.A. college degree in International Business, which helps on the business side of things. I’ve also completed a few design and art classes along the way.

SD: Do you find the trend to recycle and reuse for the health of the planet a big influence, or do you think you would have the same passion for making art out of found objects without this urgent trend?
SS: I started using recycled car parts for making art about 12 years ago before recycling became an urgent trend for the health of our planet so I already had the passion for making art from found objects. Before I was mostly interested in how cool the recycled part or material was as a potential art piece and the story behind it, but now the importance and impact of recycling and reusing to help our planet is a big influence.

SD: What does your average day entail?
SS: On an ideal day, I am working on a couple of different custom projects that I am doing for companies or events in addition to fulfilling orders from different websites and stores where I sell my art. After breakfast and coffee, checking my email and making calls I am usually in the shop working on something. I try to go exercise at the end of the day and enjoy the evening with my wife. No matter what, I try to make something new or at least come up with a new idea each day.

SD: What is the one item in your wardrobe you can’t live without?
SS: Probably my shorts.

SD: How would you describe your personal style? And who or what influences that style?
SS: My personal style is kind of casual or minimal. I am a t-shirt, jeans and shorts guy since I live near the beach and work in the shop. Black or blue are my favorite colors of choice to wear. I guess an occasion or being comfortable influences my style.

SD: What is your fashion obsession of the moment?
SS: I don’t have one for myself. However, right now looking for the right maternity clothes for my pregnant wife will be a 9 month fashion obsession! Then comes the baby clothes obsession!

SD: If there was one designer on Smashing Darling that you could ask a question to who would it be and what would you ask them?
SS: I would ask any of the designers on Smashing Darling who are successful with their art what are their keys to success.

You can view his jewelry here and his trophies and furnishings here.

Today Steven lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife Ana and his creations have been featured in major newspapers and magazines, shown on television and made for some of the best companies and CEO’s including Mercedes Benz USA, GM, Volkswagen, Honda, Red Bull Racing, IBM, Wachovia Securities, Texas Instruments and the San Francisco Environmental Dept.; and presented at upscale events to celebrities such as Hugh Hefner, Jay Leno, Nicolas Cage, Dwayne Wade, Snoop Dogg, Ludacris and Cedric the Entertainer.

Again, please leave a comment or ask Steven more questions. Like don’t you want to know what he presented to Hugh Hef or Jay Leno?

For awhile now, we’ve been on the subject of taking better photos because it is so critically important to making sales online. Beginning with next week’s post we thought we’d try something new, and we’ll need help from everyone.

Trish and I occasionally receive emails asking “why hasn’t my store been on the homepage yet?” The simple answer is almost always due to the quality of photography.

The long answer is that we want more than anything to give everyone a chance to be on the homepage, but we also have to bear in mind that this is precious real estate. The images we show here represent not only the individual designer, but our community as a whole. No ifs ands or buts about it … they’ve got to be top-notch photos!

SO…

Here’s our plan to help get every store on our homepage at least once.

• What are we going to do:
Critique one store’s images each week.

• What we need from you:
1. Comments and constructive criticism about the store’s photos. Would the images hinder or help you in making a purchasing decision? What could this designer do to improve photo quality (and get on the homepage more often)?
2. Suggestions! Suggest someone’s store (or volunteer your own) to be critiqued by emailing me at: julie[at]smashingdarling[dot]com

Next week we will start this post, so send in your suggestions today to help someone (or yourself) snag that homepage spot ASAP!

Thanks for your help!
-The darlings

The first person to comment on the blog and tell me who said or wrote this wins a Student Smash Up item from Smashing Darling.

Who said this?

“An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last“ -?

Now the only thing left to do is go peruse the store to feast your eyes on all the delicious choices and make your selection.

Good Luck!

These 4 are still up for grabs. Check them out and give it a shot.

Quote

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Discarded to Divine Fashion Show

Donated clothes transformed into one-of-a-kind
couture creations auctioned to help the poor and homeless.

Saturday, April 26
Fashion Show & Auction l 7pm
Academy of Art University

601 Brannan St., San Francisco
General Tickets: includes cocktail and hors d’oevre reception - $45 Advance l $55 Door
VIP Tickets: includes premier seating at live auction, VIP after-party, gift bag and express checkout
$75 Advance l $90 Door

Review: Mercury Fashion Show

Here is the review for Smashing Darling Designer Erhart from the Mercury Fashion Show.

And for all the posturing (whee! it’s a fashion show, back that ass up), you might have missed that Chelsea Erhart’s bloomer-y hot pants are unbelievably fierce…fashion geeks unite and check the mini-pleats. Erhart collaborates with Eastside screenprint label Foyer to do jersey tops and bodycon dresses for girls as well as the only menswear of the eve, of the hoodie variety. Click here to read more.
I would love to hear from others who were there.

It has brought to my attention by the lovely girls at Compai that a button factory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn was demolished with all it’s beautiful contents of ribbons and buttons still inside. The site is a graveyard to thousands of buttons. It really is too bad that no one considered contacting anyone in the indie design community to come collect the contents, clean it up to use it or donate it. There are lots of organizations out there that would have loved the donation.

New York’s premier reuse center

Scrap

Encouraging creative expression in the arts
and promoting a greater understanding of environmental issues

Here are some cool designers that embrace recycling to check out from Smashing Darling.

Recycled by Hyena linen top made from recycled fabric

Angela Johnson ballgown made of recycled t-shirts

Foundling using recycled old Maps

Steven Shaver Designs recycled bobbin Earrings

Go Robot uses recycled acrylic

Other great sites for recycling are Freecycle, and Craigslist. This is all good info to keep in the back of our heads next time we have a things that need to be passed onto their next rightful owner, rather than becoming part of a landfill. Please, leave a comment and share any other organizations that help and encourage recycling.

Let’s face it, we all get tons of email. When you spend your day surfing the web, networking, investigating, writing…many a newsletter is signed up for. I covet my updates from Refinery29. Always a new indie designer to learn about, new shops to check out, samples sales not to be missed, and music reviews to boot! Love it! So when they ask me to show my love, I do…join me, and go vote for Refinery29 for a People’s Voice Webby, and then, spread the word.

We’re proud to report that we’ve been nominated for a Webby for Best in Fashion. Hailed as the “Oscars” of the Internet, the Webby Awards recognize the most outstanding online work and websites, setting the standard for digital media. Recognized along the likes of Style.com and GQ.com, we are thrilled to be included in these ranks

Please show us your love and support by clicking below and casting your vote for Refinery29 (you’ll need to register but it only takes a second). After registering, click on Website then under the Entertainment category click on Fashion and cast your vote for Refinery29.

http://peoplesvoice.webbyawards.com

Thank you. Your vote is much appreciated!

The team at Refinery29

For todays interview I wanted to give it up to Style Observer for getting an exclusive with the designer from Sex in the City, Gilles Montezin. It is absolutely fabulous. Here is the intro. Make sure you click on over there to watch the interview. You’ll love it. I know I did.

catching up with Sex and the City designer Gilles Montezin

Posted by Jean Voute Pratt

As I crossed the threshold into the seven story townhouse, it was like I walked through the wardrobe into the wonderful world of Narnia. The environment was the most magical I had ever experienced. Gilles is upstairs sewing dresses while Andrew, his partner and concert pianist, plays music that soars through the house. The creative energy that radiates from this place penetrates the soul. It’s no wonder that celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker, Madonna, Catherine Zeta Jones, and Debra Messing gravitate toward his brilliant designs. There’s an addictive quality to his clothing. The moment you slip into one of his pieces, you’re hooked. The design, the fabric, the detailing, all make for unbelievable synergy. His collection is currently touring the country, but can also be seen on is website: www.GillesMontezin.com. Words do not do Gilles’ designs justice, so we created a video.

Click here to view the video.

We’ve all seen those dramatic fashion shots. The ones where everything in the shot is so clean and pure white, like a dazzling snowstorm. Or the shot of that hot little black dress, where the darkness just surrounds you like a moonless midnight.

Getting those all-light (high key) and all-dark (low key) tones in your photographs takes a little work, but you can do it. Here’s how:

High Key Example from Tied Up

Low Key Example from Ouvrez La Porte

The first thing to understand is how your camera’s light meter works. When you point your camera at something and it magically comes up with the “correct” exposure, it uses a pretty simple formula. Essentially, it assumes that there’s an equal balance of light and dark tones in the image, and it exposes for the 50% average. Ever take a photo of a white, snowy landscape and have it come out looking gray? That’s why!

Knowing this, what you have to do is trick your camera’s metering to get those high-key or low key shots. To do this, you’ll need to learn a bit about your camera. Many allow you to manually adjust the exposure. If you’re trying to get the white look and everything looks gray, increase the exposure, and if you’re going for the deep black look and all you see is, again, that middle-of-the-road gray, you’ll need to decrease the exposure.

If you have a camera with manual exposure, it can be even easier. Get yourself a gray card at any pro photo vendor. Set up the shot, but instead of taking the exposure values from the light (or dark) products that you want to shoot, instead temporarily put the gray card into the middle of the shot and take the light reading from the gray card and set your exposure to that reading. Remove the gray card from the shot and see what you’ve got … if you’ve done it correctly, you should have your white appear pure white (or your blacks pure black.)

As always, reading your camera’s manual is key … the more you know about how to use your camera the better your shots will look. And the more you’ll be able to get your fashions out there online.

The first person to comment on the blog and tell me who said or wrote this wins a Student Smash Up item from Smashing Darling.

This quote is from the CEO of a cosmetic line that is going green. Who said it?

“I love it,” he says, When nature tells you, Sit down and shut up” -?

Now the only thing left to do is go peruse the store to feast your eyes on all the delicious choices and make your selection.

Good Luck!

Last weeks is still up for grabs. I will give you a hint, it is a sports writer that said it.

Click here and here, these 2 quotes are still up for grabs!
I will tell you they are both sentences from books.
The next clue for getting these two, they were also in New York Magazine.