Fashion Club attends the Global Fashion Capitals

by Kay Kim, staff reporter

Fashion Club visited the Fashion Institute of Technology to attend the Global Fashion Capitals. The trip was on October 13th.

“This [fashion show] is an experience not everyone goes through. We got to see how fashion works all over the world. We got a chance to see beautiful artwork that designers probably spent hours on,” fashion club president Nicole Stemmler said.

A fair opened up the event. Designers and fashion corporates from China, Finland, Spain, Argentina, Germany, and Japan attended it.

“This [Beiñ] is a consultant business company. We work to help develop and grow fashion industry to emerging designers,” founder of Beiñ Gloria Lopez said.

According to Lopez, she works to help small designers in Spain to enter the international market. This is done by creating a business-to-client relationship such as, a pop-up store. Another relationship is business-to-business relationship, which means partaking in fashion shows, or fashion trades.

Another representative of the fair was Jonathan Newman. He is the founder of élé Insiders. This company creates slip-on insiders that can be worn anywhere.

This design was inspired by an Argentinian woman. She sold them only in Argentina with the original name of “Floripondias.” Newman wanted to bring these shoes to the world.

“This [Floripondias] was a tiny micro company. Maybe several hundred stores to be exact. Cooperation can bring it [insiders] to the world,” élé Insiders founder Jonathan Newman said.

According to Newman, he modified the original quality to have a sturdier sole. It also has memory foam in it. It is specially packaged in a clear, cylinder tube. Special packaging is to grab the attention of the buyers. It also lets the consumers know it isn’t like all the other shoes that are hung on a hook.

These shoes will be released later this month. A pair of these shoes will cost $48, which includes tax and shipping. The boots design that come up to the ankle will be priced at $56.

A fashion show took place after the fair. Designers from Seoul, Berlin, Istanbul, and Mexico City took part in the fashion show.

Lie SangBong from Seoul showcased a white themed collection. He used techniques that are used to create traditional Korean dresses. His collection was inspired by a Korean song. His clothing showed a visual representation of the lyrics and the Korean letters.

Designer from Berlin had a flowery and pastel colored theme made from 100% leather. According to the designer, her roots were from Austria. Therefore, she molded 8,000 leather flowers to give a flowery and Austrian culture effect. The clothing was very feminine.

Arzu Kaprol from Istanbul had flashing red colors. Kaprol uses new materials to create a strong tailoring effect. This collection was made from optic fibers.

Ricardo Seco from Mexico City carried a color scheme of arctic blue with symbols of Mexico. A sweater had a scorpion embedded into it to show how fierce and quick Mexico is. The collection was inspired by Mexico’s childhood game, Lotería.

“I thought it was actually really interesting to see fashion all around the world. The expression in the clothing stood out to me. It was fun to see stuff you don’t see everyday,” junior Elena Szymkiewicz said.

Next on schedule was a panel discussion. The hosts were Ariele Elia and Elizabeth Way, curators at The Museum at FIT.

Designers, themselves, or a representative of the designers participated in the discussion. The hosts asked questions based on the inspiration of their artwork, the economic, political and/or social connection the collection had to their country, etc…

“I really liked the trip because it helped me realize that there are so many options for me to explore, especially since we live in New York. We have so many opportunities around us that can help us realize what we want to do, what our skills are, and what to improve on. The trip was a great experience that I was glad to be a part of,” sophomore Yasmine Mohamed said.

Click here to view the fashion show and the panel.