A VISION IN FASHION

Sharing some of my favourite fashion designers and their talks about fashion and philosophy. Featuring Alessandro Michele (Creative Director of Gucci), Olivier Rousteing (Creative Director of Balmain), Rick Owens, and Jason Wu. 

Alessandro Michele, the creative director of Gucci, loves creative confusion and the palace in Rome he works in. Grab the embed code for this video at Times Video: http://nyti.ms/1WjfMCa Produced by: JOPPE ROG and JORDAN FULLER Subscribe to the Times Video newsletter for free and get a handpicked selection of the best videos from The New York Times every week: http://bit.ly/timesvideonewsletter Subscribe on YouTube: http://bit.ly/U8Ys7n Watch more videos at: http://nytimes.com/video --------------------------------------------------------------- Want more from The New York Times?

Olivier Rousteing, the creative director of Balmain, wants to make the French fashion house relevant to a new generation - and his 4.6 million Instagram followers are paying attention. We take you inside his Paris studio. Subscribe on YouTube: http://bit.ly/U8Ys7n --------------------------------------------------------------- Want more from The New York Times?

Rick Owens chats with Vanessa Friedman about how his creativity used to thrive on chaos before he transformed his five-story building in an upscale Parisian neighborhood into an open ascetic space.

Jason Wu chats with Vanessa Friedman about his evolution from a doll clothing designer working out of his living room to an established fashion designer with a sizable and sophisticated showroom.

A FAIRYTALE FUCKING TOWN, BRUGES

I always wanted to go to Bruges for Christmas because of the movie "In Bruges" I watched back in 2008. I fell in love with the town as much as I fell in love with the movie. It is really a fairytale medieval town. Definitely worth visiting.

EXPERIENCE THE TRIP VIDEO

Music Credit: Carter Burwell-Prologue, Medieval Waters, The Little Dead Boy, The Last Judgement, Save the Next Boy, Ray At the Mirror, Walking Bruges The music comes from In Bruges movie, played by Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes. Fell in love with the Bruges town after the movie. It was a fantastic one!

Music Credit: 
Carter Burwell-Prologue, Medieval Waters, The Little Dead Boy, The Last Judgement, Save the Next Boy, Ray At the Mirror, Walking Bruges
Music all comes from In Bruges movie, played by Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes.

LONDON LONDON

Song Credit: JimBuffy Prod. By Taylor King *Help Yourself*

New single "Renaissance" music video, filmed in front of the Buckingham Palace, London.
Explore The New Renaissance Collection.

MY FAVOURITE CAMPAIGNS

Design is not what we think like anymore. I'm sharing some of my favourite campaigns featuring brands such as Gucci, adidas Originals, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton

GUCCI

The Alchemist's Garden: an anti-modern laboratory. Creative Director Alessandro Michele presents the first unified women's and men's fashion show for Fall Winter 2017. Coming today in Milan at 3:00PM CET.

Lucia Mesegeur's minimalist collage mixes the familiar and the strange, creating eclectic pop art constructed from body parts and household objects. Playful arrangements of anatomical impossibilities-a row of faces peering out from behind a fashionable figure's back, stray arms and legs adding gesture to static objects-give the Spain-based collagist's work a quirky, edgy personality.

Winnie Chi's raucous illustrations and animations capture the energy of contemporary Shanghai: fast-paced, vibrantly colored, more than a little absurd. A Harbin native, she followed her love for drawing and animating to study in the UK, then returned to stake a key place in China's emerging street art scene.

Sammy Slabbinck's collage mixes vintage photographs with contemporary compositions, creating a new kind of nostalgia. Slabbinck's retro stylings pair perfectly with the #GucciAce. He casts the shoe as the star in an animated travel montage drawn from the mid-century, with a vintage voiceover looping over Technicolor shots of planes and airports, interspersed with bee and flower embroidery.

Mixed-media artist Rita Zimmermann smashes together references from different worlds. Her intricately layered collage images blend of high and low cultural references that challenge our notions of taste and perception. Born and raised in Warsaw, now based in Australia, she got her start as a fashion photographer.

Following a guest into a dance party in a villa outside Florence, the film directed by Glen Luchford captures the contemporary essence of Alessandro Michele's Cruise 2016 Collection. Director: Glen Luchford Music:"She's Lost Control" performed by Alive She Died. Writers:Curtis, Hook, Morris, Sumner

CHANEL

Film directed by Shishi Yamazaki for the new handbag campaign. View the full story on http://chanel.com Soundtrack: Title: Gabrielle !!! By Sachio Yoshizawa Label: Hot Zipang inc.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED FROM WORKING IN GERMANY

I have been working at HUGO BOSS AG in Germany as a designer for almost 2 months and I have to say I've learned a lot from working with Germans every day. It is definitely one of the greatest and the craziest experiences for a new grad student like me. Every day is a different day as we are dealing with so many different things at the same time, working together with many different people from different departments back and forth, and every day is a new challenge that helps me grow. So in this blog, I will be talking about some of the great things I've learned from working at HUGO BOSS AG with Germans.  

TIME MANAGEMENT.

People are quite familiar with what time management is, but what I want to say about this will probably bring you a new definition on what it is all about.  

Just my first two weeks working at HUGO BOSS AG, I already felt that the German style of time management was something that I've never experienced before. The first impression I had on my German workmates was....they actually worked like a machine. Germans in general are very well-organized people when it comes to time management. I've witnessed such German style of time management back when I was interviewing with them. For example, the Skype interview was scheduled at 9:00 A.M. (West Canada time) sharp, so they would not start the interview anytime earlier, not even a minute earlier. They actually started the interview at 9:00 o'clock sharp, not 8:59, not 9:01, either. 

Working at HUGO BOSS AG, such style of time management was really a hard thing for me adapt at the very beginning. Back in school, I was mostly known as the person who was fast in doing everything as well as the person who was good at multitasking. However, I still felt the German style of time management was quite overwhelming at the beginning of working at HUGO BOSS AG. Personally I think such style of time management comes from great time measurement because Germans are very good at measuring their time in order to fit in different daily tasks and deadlines. Germans always carefully consider their time capacity in handling multiple projects at the same time, which I think is also one of the reasons that they are very good at multitasking. However, their way of measuring time is very simple: just carefully take notes of every time slot they could meet on a day, and the best part is that Germans completely respect what has been planned and scheduled ahead.

Honestly, I really like how Germans respect time as their very first priority in working, and the precision of their time management is something that no one could keep up with, at least back in Canada. Another example is that if the meeting was scheduled at 11:30, they would probably not start it at 11:25.  

Actually Time management is not just what I've experience at HUGO BOSS, but also at most government departments such like Rathaus (City Hall) and Auslanderbehorde (Foreigner Authority) when dealing with some government paperworks (Keep in mind, I just speak from my own personal case). Before I came to Germany, I did quite a lot of research on how to deal with those German paperworks which we never have back in Canada, and I found most people were talking about how German bureaucracy gave them headache and pains in going through all those paperworks in Germany, which somehow scared me a lot at that time. But the reality to me was really easy-going as I was in Germany, at least in Metzingen. For example, by the time I got my Anmeldung (residence certificate), I was informed by the agent that I was going to receive my German Tax ID in a week. Then I did receive my German Tax ID in the mail a week after, which was exactly the time they told me. Another example was when I was getting my visa extended, the lady at the Auslanderberhorde told me I was going to receive my visa confirmation letter in the mail 2 weeks after, then I did receive the letter in the mail exactly in 2 weeks. 

EFFICIENCY.

Germans are widely known as their great efficiency in dealing with everything. However, most people in school only heard of German efficiency, but never witnessed it. Well I am very lucky to actually experience the great German efficiency by myself every day at HUGO BOSS.

The secret to German efficiency comes greatly from their time management. You can't do anything fast if you not respect the time enough, while as it turns to Germans, efficiency is something they are all capable of. Till now, I still think Germans in general are really fast in doing things. Not only at HUGO BOSS, but also some other places like supermarkets or government offices, Germans just do their jobs really really fast.  

Working at HUGO BOSS, efficiency is another big thing to adapt as we are handling many different projects and deadlines from different departments and even some other HUGO BOSS offices from all around the world. To handle all of that, I have to force myself to learn to measure and organize my time in a very precise way, because to Germans, even 5 minutes mean a lot. In addition, at HUGO BOSS, the speed of efficiency is changing all the time depending on the deadlines and requests. Sometimes, there are urgent requests breaking in during the middle of the day, and you have to deal with it by adjusting your time to make a room for that. Sometimes, there are several approvals to go through so you need to carefully arrange your time for many different departments. Timing at HUGO BOSS is really more complicated than in a design agency as we are dealing back and forth with different global departments, but one good thing about this is that we only work for one big brand which is HUGO BOSS instead of many different brands in a local design agency. 

Keeping up with German efficiency, I have to have a really good understanding on my time so that I could deal with some unexpected urgent requests, and follow the project briefs and instructions carefully received from the managers by taking a lot of notes. Normally Germans don't really like to repeat what they said once again because they think you are supposed to take down everything they told you in the first place.  

QUALITY.

Germany is famously known for its high quality standard. It does not only apply to the final, but also the process of how you make things, aka, the quality of the style of working. For example, you need to stay clear about your ideas and get them together in a very organized way so that your team can have a good understanding on what your concept is in the first place before moving forward. Once the concept direction has been approved, Germans don't expect you to change it or alter it easily, unless there is a good reason to. From idea exploration to final design, quality always comes first even you are just making mockups or roughs. In my opinion, quality also means clarity at HUGO BOSS, since you are not just presenting your concept to one person or to one department. 

Generally, quality comes from detailing. Every day, I have to remind myself that I am not just making designs for a local area, I am making designs for the entire international market, and each project, either big or small, it all represents the brand as a whole, so even a tiny detail matters a lot. For example, my first week at HUGO BOSS, I was asked to crop some images for some layout works, and at the beginning I thought it was quite easy to do, but I was totally wrong because my manager literally asked me to adjust a single image pixel by pixel after hundred times of zooming in and zooming out. Even a tiny move on the position makes a lot differences to them.

As the word which I always mentioned: precision, which is important for both prints and digitals. Digging down into tiny details is what people normally do here at HUGO BOSS. I remember there was one time I was talking about my feelings and thoughts about this with two managers, and they thought it as a normal thing because working in such international environment, you can't make any mistakes that screw everything up. Therefore, when there is a final which needs to be sent out for approval, Germans always gather around to double-check over and over again, making sure everything is correct before sending out. 

So far, that is what I have learned from working at HUGO BOSS with Germans. Definitely it is something that you can never experience in a design agency back in Calgary, Canada, and the differences between the two are huge. For example, back when I was in college, every time a grad student who worked in a local design agency came down for a visit to give us tips on how to be a professional designer, all he/she could tell us was to be yourself, work hard and never stop grinding, etc.. I didn't take their words seriously at all because everyone could tell you the same thing even they are not from a design background. Personally, I think creativity does not come from education. In other words, there aint no school that can educate you on how to be creative. Creativity is something that you are born with, which has nothing to do with anyone or anything. 

For me, the only thing I could tell those students in ACAD who are graduating soon is: give a 100% respect to each time, not just the deadline. 

IF HUGO, THEN BOSS

From the time my visa application got declined to me sitting at the Hugo Boss headquarter in Metzingen, Germany, my life was set on a rollercoaster over the past 2 months. Now here is my story of the whole thing....started from the bottom:

I applied for the position at the end of March, 2017...it was a Thursday, and I actually saw this opportunity in an Email sent from VelvetJobs, a job opportunity website which requires a subscription fee to disclose the job description and job apply function. But I didn't pay it, instead, I went directly on the Hugo Boss website and searched for the position, and submitted my application there. (Complicated, eh?)

I heard back from the HR just 3 days after submitting my application and got my interview arranged the beginning of April. I did my interview with 2 design managers from Hugo Boss, considering the time difference, the interview started at 9AM in Calgary time, 5PM in Germany, and it lasted for about an hour. Literally, I prepared for the interview for a week while I was still taking classes at school. 

I heard back from the HR again a month after the interview (In May), informing me that I was offered the position, and I was so stoked. It was right after the grad portfolio show. I received the contract from the HR a week later, and after signing it, I started to prepare for my visa application. 

I booked my flight 10 days before the visa appointment at German Consulate Toronto and the air ticket literally costed me about $1,000, travelling from Calgary to Toronto. And by the time I presented myself at the appointment, the visa officer declined my application for some reasons, so sadly I went back to Calgary with nothing......literally nothing....it was like falling right from the heaven down to the hell.

Over the past two months, I've undergone one of the hardest moments in my life. Finally I cheered myself up and looked for help and support from the Federal Government of Canada. Thankfully, it is the Hugo Boss opportunity that got the government's attention and they have done their very best in saving this great opportunity from being wasted. Eventually, I got my youth mobility visa issued at the end of July and I got my flight booked on August 8. 

I arrived in Metzingen, Germany on August 9, transferring from Frankfurt and Stuttgart. And the next day after arrival, I applied for Anmeldung (Residence Certificate) at the Rathaus (City Hall). Actually, I had to go through a lot of paperworks in order to legally work in Germany. Before I came to Germany, I did a little research on all of these things, learning that German bureaucracy has come to be the hardest for foreigners like me. But fortunately, things are quite a lot easier in such small town Metzingen, so everything went pretty okay so far. Plus the German efficiency, they were at their best to get my paperworks done. (Send me an email if you wanna know more details) 

August 15 was my first day at Hugo Boss, and among all those new people welcomed by the HR on that day, I was the only non-German person and the only non-European person, which was a little awkward. Since it is the first week, I don't have many big projects coming in, but I already enjoyed working here as a part of the Hugo Boss family. 

Shoot me an email if you wanna know more! 

TEN THOUSAND DREAMS

"All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." 
- Pablo Picasso

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Being an artist or a designer is probably one of the hardest things in this world, yet only a few people know what an artist/designer has been through during the pursuit of their careers. It is almost a common sense that those who studying art/design receive a lot of prejudices from the outside world, either from their family, friends or from those who don't even know what art/design really is.

My family, a typical Asian family, with parents who have a huge doubt on me choosing art/design as my future career. I can't even remember how many times my mom tells me to study law and become a lawyer instead of being an artist/designer. In fact, such thing not just only happens to my family, but also all other families as well. All art/design kids have to go through a lot of shitloads to prove themselves. They are the kids who grow up in a harsh adversity. A friend of my mom used to tell my mom that studying art/design could be a risky thing, and I think most people would agree, they'd rather wish their kids to become a doctor, a businessman or a lawyer.

There is a definite disconnect between artist/designer and outside world. Only artists/designers themselves know how hard it takes them to get to their own places. However, a good artist/designer (or sometimes I call it "sensitive person") could get inspirations from such adversity.... at least, I do. 

Art/design is a powerful thing. It is even more powerful than any kind of the weapon in this world. It is the only thing that can be bigger than the universe. With that, no prejudice should stop oneself from being an artist/designer if he/she really aspires to be one.

TIME IS ROMANTIC

It is been a while but I still can't get my mind out of the Burberry short film released back in 2016, and then I got hit again by this new Lacoste Timeless short film released just two weeks ago. Both of these two short films gave me a strong feeling of being on a time machine, rewinding back to where the history started. Couldn't agree more that Europe has got a greater taste in art, fashion, design, and many more. It is a land made of magic; It is a land made of history. It is the culture which made the land romantic.... and it still lasts.

IN / FOCUS - Lacoste - Timeless Strangers falling in love? Love at first sight? Lacoste Timeless takes us on a romantic adventure and a journey through fashi...

Time could be ruthless thing...but sometimes...time could be romantic. 

Lacoste Timeless, the Making of.

Discover the making-of our new film, Timeless. A story of an epic journey and love at first sight. The hero embarks on a turbulent quest throughout the decades: the style evolves, but the polo maintains its inalterable elegance. Life is a beautiful sport, since 1933.