Posts Tagged ‘ fashion ’

The things you realize after a while


After being just blessed and just god damn lucky to attend this year’s Teen Vogue U I have come to the realization of one main topic that every designer has said in there little speeches….they have all said to say true to your own artistic style. I always knew that but it has never really been tested until yesterday. As you few loyal readers know that by now (or I can just tell you now) is that I have a very specific type of dress. I tend to have to semi-tailor look to my style with hints of vintage,second hand, and splashes of metal femenine accents. So of course this comes very naturally to me and in my head it is very effortless. Its happens to be just also I buy almost everything n calm and neutral colors so it just lends itself to be just brainless to match in the early mornings of MICA or in this case NYC.

I talk about this since I had an almost insulting yet refreshing encounter to a student photographer. He was going around a photographing people who had “effortless” style during  this Teen Vogue U event. Sure that sounds very typical, a fashion photographer just getting a boat load of pictures. Surely I was not thinking about being photographed but then my fellow friend who was right next to me at the moment was apporached to be photographed for his “effortless” style. I can’t say it was effortless but it was much more urban,trendy, and experimental then what I was wearing. He was wearing a DIY bleach ombre button up with stud detailing on the collar, a gray blazer with polka dot trim on the pockets, dark red skinny jeans and black and white bowling style shoes. In contrasting with me with my all black button up,slim pants, satin skinny fit blazer, accented with a white and black polka dotted bow tie, a Christian Dior gold tags necklace, gold pin on the blazer, then my typical Asos brown leather oxford shoes with printed socks. I can I just say in this situation that I know for a fact that we both take roughly the same amount of time and effort in our outfits but the real contrasting factor of us is the actual style. Him being being more trendy and just more youthful in style where I am just more classic and simple which is accented with ornate details. I can’t just which is more effortless or easy but to tell you the truth mine felt easy to me since I had a very limited color scheme and had a solid base to work from. For him which was much more complicated where there were contrasting patterns,textures, and fits.

So to go off from the word “effortless” I personally don’t think effortless is the right adjective to really say anyone style is. I just think it is a just the sense of age,current trendiness of it…so many more factors that make it look more grunge, urban ,thrown together but the ironic thing is that “throwing” things together is much more difficult then just saying simple and classic. Not saying one is better or easier then the other but I want to make a point of miss using the word effortless. I personally do understand how I can look very put together, posed…and all things both casual at all but saying someone that they are not effortless is just rude. Its basically saying that we have a visual struggle everyday with yourself and how you want to visual represent you as a working person.

For a good day of so I had a identity crisis ( ok,not really but) I began to question myself for a while and does my visual look or style really relate to the public anymore or does it look forced? I talked it through with a fellow friend (Caroline Wimberly Smith who goes to PARSONS!) about this questioning of life and she and I talked it through and I came to the understanding that personal aesthetics and style is who we are as artist and we need to stay with it. No matter what trend (which is currently is rough and tough miss matching…) just do what feel most comfortable and best represents you and or how you feel as yourself at that moment. I thought for a second  that I lost to sense of taste, unique quality of me, just something wasn’t there anyone but really I was just looking in the wrong areas. I’m not youthful, 100% trendy…sure I have elements of that but I’m built on classics and nostalgic styles. Sure that might not appeal to some people and obviously it won’t on style forever but who really cares anymore. I obviously is trying to faze my way out of that now. Thanks to this miss have , I have just became someone who is really beginning to own ones self.

2012
10/21
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I got it! Through the London Fog


I finally got it! I thought of it during my very very late nights surfing the web. The perfect theme for me to center my next haute couture styled collection. Through the London Fog. I want this coming collection to show London’s iconic fashion trends and look through the ages. I also wanted to keep a more mysterious outlook on this wonderful place with its very infamously known fog. I want to highlight the natural weathering of the buildings and landscapes and also how it effects the people lifestyle because of this strange thing that only happens in this place. I was always drawn to the clean,polished style of London along with the very gritty atmosphere that it can seem from an outsider like me. Also I want to highlight the also very lively art scene in London and how it also clashes beautifully with the stable,royal, tailored look of London. Overall I want to create a viewers version of London. I done now. Back to blogging silly stuff. Get ready for a F/W 13 Collection inspired by fog and London. And of course with my personal asthetics too.. like art deco,victorian…..I can’t reveal too much except for UMBRELLAS!

2012
08/16
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gridded organza by: harry trinh

Backstage with designer Harry Trinh and Assistant Caroline Smith during RVA Fashion Week Finale Show

Well it’s all done and over with. The hype ,practicing, sewing,spray painting,beading, and constant emailing has finally stopped. Yes, what a bittersweet ending to all of this amazing work that me,the RFW team, and the amazing designers…oh the MODELS too. They were absolutely amazing!

So everything was overall very nicely layout as in the fact of the designers’ collections were clearly labeled. Yet, naturally to any big organized event there is a bit of conflict but really nothing the audience can see. Just a lot of running around and making sure things were runway ready. The hair and make-up people were amazing and absolutely helped pull the whole look together. Also I can’t forget to mention my lovely friend and perfect assist Caroline Smith. She really helped and made sure everything look perfect for the runway. I can’t give her enough credit on how much she helped me out. She will be amazing this fall semester when she goes to Parsons School of Design.

But yes, I think making all my models watch the Dior Haute Couture 2011 show really helped them achieve the poses,walk, and emotion that was suppose to go with the collection. At the very end I was just blown away from how everything looked and everything looked almost Dior…hahaha. The added gloves and handbags really gave a more upscale tone to the outfits. Being one of the only high school designers I feel that this was a huge success! Getting my name out there,having a real life experience, and really getting more exposed to people I don’t know really. I am so grateful  that I had this experience and maybe still trying to keep this love of fashion into my college career in MICA. I still want fashion to be a good sized part of my life but I can’t ignore my love for entertainment design and just the overall vision of the show. My greatest hope is to for my senior thesis in college to the build sets that will showcase and work together with my collections and interact with my audience. I am always trying to think of ways to some how work all my loves into one huge project.

Very soon from now I will have full coverage of my collection but for now here is just a taste of it.

2012
04/23
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We are not made the same.


Call me silly to make a whole blog post about this but really it really cranks my brain sometimes when I find a moment to really think about it. Ever since last summer (damn time flies) I met one of my closest best friends at that summer residential. At a glance when people first met  us that thought we were practically the same person with the same style….the list goes on and on. Sure some of it was true, we do share a similar childhood and family background, both are Asian, both artist,perfectionist, and do I dare to say we are both somewhat pretty stylish. But the more we really got to know each other the more we (or I ) found we don’t share in common, which isn’t a bad thing it was just really shocking to me.

Ironically enough we were both working on clothing collections at the same time recently. His entitled “Black and Gold” and mine entitled “Gridded Organza. ” Right off the bat there is stark contrast in titles. His a very direct and gripping and overall a very eye catching title where everyone is fully aware in general what this is going to be.  With mine, “Gridded Organza” its not as direct yet still somewhat of an attention grabber. Not necessarily from the actual picture but the underlying tone of wonder and what is really a “Gridded Organza.”  So point one!: He is more direct and affirmative  contrasting with me with the more subdued and passive sense.

 

Looking a bit closer to each collection, lets start with his. Black and Gold, every viewer is already prepared to have the visual spectacle of metallics and blacks playing up the more graphic nature of the new colors. Seeing just a few pieces of his collection the most striking characteristic of all of it was the very unique play with masculine and feminine elements that were both interwoven within each other, almost blurring what is really masculine or feminine. The play with black flowing satins detailed with very geometric gold patterns plays around with your senses of what is structured and what is fluid. Overall, the hyped up contrast is the prominent feature of this collection and the illusions of form with flat planes curved to the body really gives it a more architectural edge to this collection. Having both the fluid lines of the satins, the Alphonse Mucha inspired scroll details, juxtaposed on to stiff structural elements, and the strong sense of tailoring gives this collection a more graphic sense. Sadly I not aware of his intent or his artist statement to this collection but hopefully I will be able to add that in a later date.

 

Gridded Organza, Not having an over descriptive title the audience won’t really have a clear idea of what this collection is going to be about. The word gridded implies an idea of structure and hardiness and organza gives a sense of more organic, nature inspired imaginary. Having the luxury of knowing more in depth about my collection I can explain more about it. Having the idea of structured softness it really makes you wonder, what in the world is this going to be? The debuts, the dresses are made out of window screening overlayed with delicate lace work which has been hand beaded with pearls adding just a hint of more emphasis of the contours of the whimsical outlines of the patterns. The on the folds of the dress it has been lightly sprayed with metallic  sliver to give it just a hint more depth and form from the very flat matt gray of the window screening. Overall this collection focuses mostly on detail work of each dress and the subdue qualities of the patterns, sheerness of the pearls catching the light and the translucent quality of the dress allowing the viewer just to catch a glimpse of the shape of the body.

 

To make is clear the true contrast here is his sense of graphic and soft elements working together to create this visually exciting new look that makes you question the qualities of what is structured/geometric vs soft/ graceful ? With mine, it makes the viewer take a second glance at each elements making them exam what it really made out of and how little details can come together to pull a whole united look. As artist we employ totally different elements of design and really play them up to our advantage. We are both very skilled at our craft and both get raging reviews on it but funny enough no matter how similar the reaction we get from our art its absolutely amazing how different they are.

He beckons on the shock and wow factor of contrast and dramatic lighting and occasionally more risky topics but it is counterbalanced with the soft fluid lines and the absolutely stunning gradating colors giving them a calmness in a world of negative impacts.

 

I beckon on the shock value of details which forces you to take a long and deeper look into my art. Also I try to draw a upon the more nostalgic characteristics our past but them making you question it by hidden dark messages within this very idealistic setting.  I am the person who makes you wonder “what is ideal?”

 

Not saying we are totally different people in every way possible but pointing out the obvious then picking it a part really makes you think what really makes you or the other person tick. What about the graphic/ soft contrast that DJ is so drawn into and what does detail and subdue passive ideas do to me?

2012
04/14
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RVA Fashion Week 2012, Gridded Organza by: Harry Trinh


Hi everyone, just wanted to tell everyone about my next show that I am part of. I am part of the honorable RVA Fashion Week 2012. This year I get the lucky opportunity to premiere my latest and last collection of my high school career entitled Gridded Organza. I’m definitely hoping to end my high school days with a bang. Here is a little more about my intent of my collection

RVA Fashion Week, Harry Trinh

Artist Statement

Gridded Organza is a visual summary of our relationship (in art) with the natural world. We as humans throughout every culture and every time period has always been intrigued with the complex yet simple nature of nature. Because of this interest we have always tried to convey the same visual spectacle that our environment shows us everyday.  The flaw within this idea of wanting to convey this beautiful is that for humans we need logic to translate this image . In result we try to push these organic objects into grid patterns (thought process) that we constructed ,to make it fit to our standard of understanding. Showing a resist to our logic we get this byproduct of this sublime tension between us and nature. This tensions gives way to us creating our own version of “organic” by bending our grids into similar shapes that natures creates effortlessly.

For more information of this event please visit http://www.rvafashionweek.com

2012
03/26
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Labels don’t make the fashion


 

What an old idea and who would know that people are still stupid enough to not realize it. As I am doing my usual scroll down my facebook I noticed something that is horribly unsightly. Apparently some of my mutural friends have the money to own several Louis Vittion products, too many overly priced boots, unneeded make-up, and apparently drinks and parties a lot? I won’t judge on the drinking thing but i can say that is not the most flattering thing to post on your wall if colleges are considering you as a future student. Back to my point. As a person who has been exposed to a bit of the fashion design world I understand a bit about the quality work that brand name takes on making there most expensive products. Also I do understand the idea of keeping the type of “quality” people purchasing these items so the company won’t get a bad rep.

Firstly applaud for my friend who is in high school being able to purchase these items. Frankly, I don’t believe in the need for labels so early in life since we are just kids. Kids don’t need expensive brand names, we only need the look. Yet this is besides my point. The point I am trying to convey is the sad combination of expensive things that he thinks is flattering or visually interesting in anyway. Firstly, rule of thumb, layering of obvious labels is an horrible clash. Its the same concept of putting too many patterns on top of each other with no running constant or having a dominating pattern. You are not doing you are your purchases any good if you are wearing it just for the sake of wearing it. If you look closely at most top brand name fashion shows there is little clash of labels on the looks. Usually the pursue, bag….whatever that has the label within the pattern is the correlated with the outfits by the means of style, colors, scale… not by on the sheer fact of that its the same label or something in equal value. Having these clash of things completely canceled the whole worth of it and just makes you look cheesy, cheap, and visually unappealing. Who in the world will be attracted to overly materialistic people who obviously don’t understand the visual consideration of you ,your purchases, and even as far away as other people.

Its the exact same concept as me being a disney fan. You don’t see me wearing everything disney related having a visual clash with everything on me. Or in my art,decor…having things compete with each other for attention. To really showcase anything that prized to you is to really take into consideration of the overall tone of the piece. For me LV is a sign of luxury, glamor, classic, tailored…so with that I would consider dressing in a nice pressed neutral button up, playful bowtie, leather braided belt with rubbed brass details, slim dark pants, and maybe some tougher looking boots. Then having your LV bag adorning your shoulder will look more part of you instead of caking yourself with labels. As a visually active person this is a growing problem for the 1% population.

2012
02/11
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“Sublime Oxidation” VMFA Teen Stylin’ piece


Photo of “Sublime Oxidation” modeled by :Paulina Eap next to the original inspiration piece  “Bacchante”

Artist Statement:

The inspiration piece was a bronze casting of a Greek Goddness skipping happily with grapes held high above her head in one hand and a child in other. The inspiration I took from this was first the actual material it was cast in (metal.) I wanted to create a similar visual translation which lead me to use the mosquito netting which read as a metal like material from far. The material reacted like it was a stiff fabric but still held it’s shape like it was a metal. Also it reference back to the Greek and Roman mythology I try to recreate the draping loose layers of clothing similar to the typical clothing of the gods. I tried really emphasis each fold and to recreate the more metaltic reflection I highlighted the strongest folds to reflect exactly like the highlights in the skin of the sculpture.

More metaphorically, since this was made in the American Gilded Age I wanted to create a critique of the wealthy society of the time. I wanted to create the idea of the waste of wealth and how the wealthy literally used there money like it was nothing, hence the “dripping” jewels. I wanted to critique the upper society and their selfish waste of money. And to go along ,I want to create of carelessness which is also seen in the art piece. I wanted to create a dress that looked natural, soft, and even a little whorish to refer back to the Greek and Roman gods and how they basically slept around with everyone for pleasure. This idea of easily translate to whore in modern definitions hence the short length,translucent material,and revealing back (not seen in this picture.)  My intent of this piece was to only capture the essence of the art piece and what the viewer could possibly think when viewing this piece.

 

 

Photography thanks to: Curtis Gauntt

2011
12/09
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Withered Opulence Complete Collection


Here it is. Finally, the complete collection of Withered Opulence. Photographed By Chris Muiga. Modeled by: Rebecca Wilson & Mina Nosrati

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2011
06/18
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Maymont Photo shoot part one!


Well, I have gotten some requests to get closer shots of my pieces from “Withered Opulence” since a lot of the pictures I had from the original day was kind of far away so no one could actually see the pieces in detail.

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2011
06/12
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Withered Opulence- The Artist Statement.


This year’s HHS Fashion Show collection I wanted to go deeper then just a pretty appearance. Actually I wanted to gear away from the the clean cut patterns and an obvious strong historical influence. This year I was more inspired by the concept of corruption and how it was cleverly covered up by the surface appearance of the beautiful. Since it is so easy to access to the “insider” story of the corruption or the upperclass now in days I was more interested of the corruption done in the past monarchies of Europe.

Visually, I was inspired by first the French Baroque period and the silhouettes of the clothing with it’s well fitted,tailored aesthetics. With the underlayer (the layer with all the dyed elements); I was inspired by the Flappers’ style and it’s characteristics of the revealing, sex appeal elements. The combination of of both styles I thought would be a interesting clash of morals since during the 18th century, women’s clothing was very restricting and basically forcing them to cover up anything what was thought ” indecent” but with the Flapper era is was a rebel against though ideas. With though ideas in mind I wanted to make a happy medium. Not to modest but not too sexy. Just a perfect amount of both.

The narrative portion- Corruption is shown through first the wire/ newspaper piece (Also was my VMFA Stylin’ piece). That piece was specifically made to represent scandalous, racy side of high class society in this case. The 5 new pieces are the products of corruption and how it can absorb you whole and outcomes a totally different person because of it. Yet, not all hope is lost which is shown through just the nature of the floral lace patterns on the fabric and how much the lace is actually covering up the models which creates a very puzzling look of sexiness but not. As for the “guiding light of hope” is represented with the light-up or Inlight dress which was originally made for the Inlight event in Ricmond. A literal visual translation of a guiding light. All together is creates a storyline in clothing. And thus fulfilling my goal of something deeper then just appearances.

Each dress of specifically made differently to create contrasts and of course express the different natures of each person. Thus representing that everyone is different. Also I wanted to create something different for each of them to stay in style of each different lace I had. If you look close enough you will notice no dress is made by the same piece of lace. Each piece of hand picked by me in thrift stores around town. I hope you guys enjoy this and PLEASEPLEASE add you own comments! I would love to hear what you think of all of this. Do you think this is a strong collection?? you tell me!

2011
05/16
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