T A S K T W O

T H E B R I E F

The brief, as per the folk at 1000 Heads:

Week two is all about fashion. We want your take on Sydney as a style mecca, rather than the age old cliche of cork-hanging hats and drizabones. Basically, we're asking you to create an outfit that screams 'I'm all about Sydney'. Whether it's inspired by Collette Dinnigan frick, or some particularly eye-catching Hot Tuna beachwear, mock it up in whatever way you fancy... Hand-stitched, elegantly sketched or charity shop purchased - it's up to you!

Good times.

[Ha ‘drizabones’]

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D I A R Y – T A S K T W O

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Having got to grips with this task far better than the previous one [I like to think I’ve got myself in to some sort of a routine] my typically late admission [hell I’m busy], was more to do with pulling together pretty documents than having my idea in on time. I refuse to present my idea in an any less grandeur manner than I would any other piece of work, hence the longwinded, if rather pretty, document [again].

I quickly deduced that this task was as much about the research, insights and the mood board leading up to the final product, and quickly set about garnishing support from the several forward fashion thinking individuals that litter my several social applications, with the enormity of the task somewhat relieved by the fantastic help I got from my network, whether it was the guys over at seminal fashion magazine Super Super [cheers Jayga], or my supporters on my Facebook group and Twitter.

There was a quiet expectation bubbling up to this task, with several grandeur ideas being thrown around, several surrounding the creation of an outfit I had come up with. I even had a designer lined up and looking for material, but, alas, time was not on my side, and, without wanting to be obscenely late, I chose a different route to present my ideas – namely pretty pictures, a few choice outfits and perhaps a descriptive line or two. My heads still been a tad mushy I’ve got to say, possibly because I’ve been trying to juggle far too much for an ordinary human being to even attempt to entertain – I’m most definitely ordinary and I’ve found that the juggling balls are dropping to the floor quicker than I had hoped

I’ve got my blogging game back on and I’m now in full flow attempting to reach as many people as possible, whilst bringing people into contribute towards my involvement. I’ve attempted to begin a little Twitter movement, jumping on the back of Elle’s #sendmetosydney tagging, whilst I’ve kicked off a Facebook group that is around 150 strong all supportive and ever eager to help. It’s good to know I’ve got people supporting me, I’m not sure whether I’d get through this without the support and kind words of my associates, friends and assorted member of ‘my community’...

F A S H I O N A U S T R A L I A

I’ve been aware of Sydney inspired fashion for a while, with the huge street wear culture out there accentuating my own level of interest in the city. Both themselves and Melbourne regularly battle it out over new trends and fashion sophistication. Brands such as Tsubi, Mambo and Insight have emerged from down under, whilst the seminal sneaker aficionado's hand guide to trainers ‘Sneaker Freaker’ emerged from the sparks of creativity flying across the vastness of the Oz. The huge streetwear following [the largest outside of the US and Japan] has given birth to a huge amount of Australian led initiatives and ideas, developing into the countries own independent movement that has led to stores such as Sydney’s seminal Supply, with events and product launches often centering around the young, cool crowd that gather there.

I’ve mentioned previously the role sport plays in Sydney’s fashion - the incorporation of sport into day to day styles something that demonstrates the huge role it plays within the Australian, and Sydney specific, culture. Mindsets often shift to merge the cultural divide between fashion and sport [look at the perseverance of Nike in this position], yet this has seemingly happened organically in Oz, with brands such as Billabong integrating seamlessly into Australian youth culture due to it’s authentic links to their lifestyle, and an understanding of their mentality.

Sydney, however, is also home to a rather more high ordered end of the fashion spectrum, with the elegant whims of high end fashion laying low many a bank balance – without the innovation of London, the ‘chic-ness’ of Paris, the hard elegance of Milan or the energy of New York, Sydney still offers what is most definitely a wonderful fashion experience, the celebration of fantastic clothing accentuated by such beautiful surroundings, and people. High heels and an artsy presence is behind the fantastic fashion that brings the beauty of Sydney based females to the forefront – presentation is the key. With beauty being displayed so thoroughly through a dependence on external presence by the women that grace the Bondi Beach [amongst other places], fashion led males are much the same, basing their look on easy going rugged beauty and a dependence on the clothes working for them and not the other way round.

Style however, is a completely different form of expression from that of fashion. Style is in the ability to wear the garments - the architects which inform the way that clothing is worn and worked. Those who follow style are contrastingly different to those who follow fashion [think the super cool urban kid, and the uber cool Topshop girl].

S Y D N E Y A N D F A S H I O N

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“I'd love to see Australian designers see the romance of their own city...”

Scott Shuman The Sartorialist

A N I N D E P T H L O O K

C A S E S T U D I E S

Maharishi

British fashion brand Maharishi was originally conceived when founder, Hardy Blechman, journeyed through India. He came across craftsman hand embroidering beautiful patterns into woven materials in several places he’s frequented within the country, and thus Maharishi was born.

Inherently British in it’s approach to its designs, the brand takes full inspiration from British history, utilising a vivid heritage. The focus on the beautiful things within the medley of British past, culminated in the creation of several cultural references, signifying a deeper layer of thought within the design. Using military, hunting and particularly colonial references, Maharishi went from strength to strength until it’s recent collapse and buy out by sportswear giants JD Sports in early 2009. It is however still possibly one of the most fondly thought of brands amongst an ever active market, within Britain especially.

Stussy

An inherently American brand, Stussy carries with it the heritage of powerful youth culture and street culture on the west coast – the symbolic scrawl as attractive now, as when it first was created. Beginning as a surf brand, Stussy soon closed the divide between the sport and what was inherently cool, allowing freedom to a host of young rebels in a way that soon became synonymous with the brand. Skate, hipsters and Hip Hop soon followed, as Stussy built itself into one of the truly authentic youth culture forged brands of that era, which, to this day, continues strongly, sticking to the roots of the brands heritage.

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Crossing the divide between culture reference and fashion is clearly what makes the studied brands so successful – with the relevance of these references being absolutely key. Brand building is by no means an easy feat, yet the aforementioned brands have felt great success by sticking to this blueprint. By crafting clothing from the traditions of their respective culture they have engaged their audience on a truer level and this, I believe, is something that will fair me well in this task.

By linking into the Australian, specifically NSW related, culture, a brand not only speaks and relates to it’s audience, but it also represents the background it is built from. Alike Stussy’s inherent place in American streetwear, it similarly references an era in American youth culture that wouldn’t be captured without the deeper, subliminal messages behind the brand and, essentially, the heritage.

I want to create a youthful movement, one that is defined by an energy born from engagement with young people, and shaped by heritage and relevance. Gone are the days of a stuffy Sydney, with it’s cork hanging from wide brimmed hats, khaki shorts and archaic trends and welcome in a new phase of innovation within Sydney’s cool, creative young movers and shakers...

The next few pages shall be image boards, aiding me in my attempt to bring an idea together in an effective, succinct manner.

T H E R E L E V A N C E A N D H E R I T A G E

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A B O R I G I N A L S

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Y O U T H C U L T U R E

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L A N D M A R K S

T H E I D E A

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T H E C U L M I N A T I O N

Incorporating sport, aboriginal heritage, youth cultural and a dash of Sydney I pictured an outfit that was outrageous, powerful and layered. Bringing a raw tribalism to an outfit that has distinctive roots in Sydney whilst standing apart from anything currently seen in Sydney fashion. Utilising colour [born from the clearly powerful tones of the Aboriginals] mixed with the darker, ruggedness of Sydney fashion, I wanted a degree of abstractness in the outfit, with the Sydney Opera House proving to be the exact attempt at geometric dissimilarity that I would wish to cast upon an individual. An Australian presence in the outfit was paramount and the first thing I regarded in my approach to outfits, whilst my own eccentric fashion led taste called for something out of the ordinary – balancing the two was a difficult task to say the least.

With all of this in mind, I reached out to my various fashion sources [from Dazed & Confused to the controversial Richard Shoyemi] voicing exactly wanted I wanted in an outfit and whether they could provide me with it and, thankfully, it pulled through. The image on the next page is as close to what I wanted as possible. Both dark and intensely toned, eccentric yet traceable, with the shape of Sydney so strongly recognizable that the outfit could have been designed for this project. Tight and revealing, the outfit is modelled by a male, yet it could so easily be extended to a woman – the sharp contours neither masculine nor feminine.

It’s powerful to say the least – picturing the eclectic side to Sydney that would potentially lie unseen, hidden within the darker crevices of a city unused to such a deep prying. I wanted something that was inherently Australia – but as far from the current perception as possible. I wanted this outfit to scream Sydney [it does that, if nothing else], and, just as importantly, to be a hard insight into a powerful youth movement delving deep in the Sydney underground scene, building off of creativity, innovation and, most of all, passion for their city.

Ok enough build up – go take a look!

NICE www.whathehellewonders.blogspot.com/

With thanks to the 1000 Heads and NSW Tourism teams for allowing me to participate in this project.

+447508 023 712 Tarik@RubyPseudo.com

Tarik Fontenelle

C O N T A C T

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T H E E N D T H E E N D