February 2011

Darling dreamwarp… What would you do if you had the opportunity to work with a team to include a visual artist, a documentary filmmaker, as well as an art activist/educator for at-risk kids? You’d be out of your mind excited about the endless inspirations and opportunities, right? Well, darlings, be inspired, because that is exactly what is happening in the emerging fashion community in San Diego. Many thanks to Felena Hansen of FOCUS, and Patricia Frischer of SDVAN, for taking the time to tell us about their project, and for the inspiring work they do. Don’t miss this video below, and read on for all the details.

Get to know the people behind Art Meets Fashion

Darlings: Tell us about Art Meets Fashion…
Felena & Patricia: Creativity is abounding in San Diego. Eleven teams, each including a local fashion designer, an artist, documenter and an educator are coming together to participate in Art Meets Fashion (AMF), a collaboration between the San Diego Visual Arts Network (SDVAN) and FOCUS (Fashion Opportunities Connect US). Teams have selected themes to showcase their collaborative creativity in products that will be featured in team exhibitions in April and May 2011, a VIP fashion show on Thursday, April 28, 2011, and a group exhibition at the San Diego International Airport, which will remain on display through June and a Public Opening at the NTC Promenade at Liberty Station on May 6.

Felena Hansen (FOCUS) and Patricia Frischer (SDVAN)

Darlings: How did the collaboration between Focus and Art Meets Fashion begin?
Felena & Patricia: Patricia Frischer (SDVAN) and Felena Hansen (FOCUS) met at the Se Hotel during a planning session for the fashion show for Little & Large, a promotion involving 41 galleries and 120 sculpture and jewelers in support of the Calder Jewelry exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art. SDVAN has organized this promotion and because of it’s enormous success, and over Veev vodka martinis with FOCUS, decided to continue the cross-pollination with the fashion industry. Hundreds of emails later from all over the world, the plan to form teams was evolved. Asking fashion designers to work with artists was a simple premise, but adding an educator to create lesson plans for at risk teens was suggested by Irene de Watteville, an art activist, educator, and committee member. An exhibition of Show Studio in London, inspired the last team member i.e. the documenter, who is a vital component and is considered an artist whose creations are included in the exhibition. The team, at its best, will be fully collaborative and will mentor each other to create work never before seen, raising the bar for all the participants.

Darlings: How do you think it is going so far?
Felena & Patricia: Amazing! We’ve seen so many wonderful, new ideas come out of these collaborations! The project has grown to include over 35 fringe events, an online competition with the winner in a gallery show, public and VIP fashion shows, and extra exhibitions for the Mannequin project as a special art show just for the artists in the group.

Darlings: Looking into the future, do you see being involved in more projects like this?
Felena & Patricia: We see very clearly the need to continue to create opportunities for people to be inspired. We know that people’s happiness is very much intertwined with how much they collaborate and are encouraged to be creative. We would like to spread the success of these type of projects into the science, bio-tech and high tech sectors of our community. We see this as a win-win for both.

Educator Robin Przybysz and her students from Santa Fe Christian Schools working on full sized paper dolls dresses.

Darlings: Until FOCUS, has there ever been a supportive group helping the San Diego fashion industry?
Felena & Patricia: Yes, Fashion Group International (FGI.org) is also a great organization. However, in the past, they haven’t had programs that reached out to a younger, emerging fashion market, so that’s why FOCUS was born.

Darlings: Do you find there are a lot of young independent designers looking for somewhere to turn for help as they begin their business or try to grow their businesses?
Felena & Patricia: Yes, but they are sometimes shy to reach out. That’s why the FOCUS networking events and education programs have been helpful – see an example at: http://focussd.org/conference. We will be doing more educational programs like this in the future. We would love to engage a group like Fashion Business Inc in San Diego or at least collaborate with them to bring more programming to our market.

Seed dress in Flight, by April Cromer and photo by Jeffrey R. Brosbe, both of team AMF: Elevation.

Darlings: What is one piece of advice you give to fashion designers starting their own companies?
Felena & Patricia: Collaborate with others in the industry – you’ll need the inspiration and know-how from others that have been there before. San Diego is a very close-knit community and there are a lot of opportunities to work together.

San Diego Visual Arts Network (SDVAN)
The San Diego Visual Arts Network (non-profit Public Charity 501 (c) 3 EIN #205910283) has a mission to improve the clarity, accuracy and sophistication of disclosure about San Diego’s artistic and cultural life. We are dedicated to reinforcing the idea that the visual arts are a necessary and vital part of the health of our city. By providing a website with a directory and events calendar and facilitating numerous collaborations on visual arts projects, we hope to not only build the confidence of those involved in the arts, but disseminate information throughout San Diego thus raising the bar on the writing, production and appreciation of the visual arts in our region. SDVAN list 1700 visual arts resources, has 4,000-5,000 unique visitors to our website per month and get over one million hits a year. SDVAN has approx 3,500 on their opt-in mailing list. SDVAN exhibition resume includes: Little & Large, Movers and Shakers, SD Art Prize, New Contemporaries. www.SDVisualArts.net

FOCUS (Fashion Opportunities Connect US)
FOCUS is a fashion industry networking organization for emerging professionals with goals to: Create a community for those in fashion related industries to network, learn, and grow; Generate exposure opportunities for the emerging fashion market – designers, stylists, manufacturers, e-tailers, boutique owners, and other entrepreneurs; Inspire the San Diego consumer to explore the independent fashion scene; Educate – connect with experienced professionals who can share their knowledge with the next generation. www.focusSD.org

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