New Work: Spring/Summer 2007

My newest piece, Spring/Summer 2007, is something I’ve been meaning to do since the last installment, Fall 2003. It’s a fashion show of me’s. Whether or not we know it, there’s a fashion show within each of us. We all have closets and drawers filled with clothing and have assembled and designed our own fashion line from various brands and designers. Within this piece, as with the rest of my body of work, ‘i’ represent ‘you’ or ‘us’—simply, ‘one’—engaging in something that occurs all the time.

Sure, we don’t literally walk on a runway or have a photographer there to snap a picture. However, we take mental pics when we look in the mirror. We check ourselves for the cool factor, and most importantly, the ‘appropriate’ factor. Our personal fashion shows might stretch through time over days and weeks. When you get down to the basics of routine and fashion, those ‘everydays’ are as synchronized as a theatrical fashion catwalk.

Rather than choose just any shirt or any pair of pants, I thought of a concept for the fashion show. Fashion designers always think of concepts that will unify a collection before each season. I’ve watched and read a ton of interviews where fashion designers explain their overall aesthetics for the clothing design that season. My concept for Spring/Summer 2007 is “Christmas in July”. Aside from the obvious Santa Hat on each model, there’s a strong emphasis on red and green—the typical color scheme of the Christmas holiday. With that complimentary color scheme, I added another complimentary color scheme—blue and orange. There’s an emphasis on plaids and shorts—a total summer staple for any wardrobe. These kinds of elements I speak of are elements that you will find fashion designers and critics revealing to the press about a collection. It is really something we all do when we pick and choose what we will include in our personal wardrobes.

Here are some images from the 23-model collection. I hope to have them on my website soon!