Valerie Jaquet by Valerie Jaquet

How long have you been in the fashion industry & how did you start?

I have been in the fashion industry since I was 14 year old, back in France (Paris), doing modeling jobs.

How would you describe your design aesthetic?

Elegant, edgy, classic chic.I design and make stylish garments for the sophisticated Australian woman.

What is your goal in the industry?

I was born in Madagascar, grew up in Paris, and now based in Sydney. I am passionate about Latin American culture and music.I would like to take the Australian fashion industry on a journey around the globe with my label that mixes edginess, elegance and classic chic with the exotic. My goal is to create a “one stop label” that reflects a multicultural society.

What next for you?

I am currently working on a new collection that I will showcase at the White Party on the 4th April at the Ivy. It is a Spring/Summer collection inspired from the event theme “Amazonia”. So expect to see a “Tribal Couture” Collection. Come and see what Valerie Jaquet is all about

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Sophia Lodere  by Sophie Loader

How would you describe your design aesthetic?

Capturing the wearers inner beauty by showing it in a dark and seductive way.

Who or what inspires you?

John Warwicker’s new book “The Flooding World” is capturing. The technique and lay-out of text and photos brings out his thoughts in a beautiful.

What next for you?

Next for me is taking part in the Australian Wool Fashion Awards in April and finishing my Fashion Design degree in Canberra.

Israeli packaging designer, Tal Marco, has re-invented the ancient South East Asian practice of wrapping food in banana leaves and pitched it to the eco-conscious US market.

Launching his die-cut banana leaf packaging design at Designboom’s “Dining 2015” competition as an alternative to the petroleum-based packaging products most commonly used in the fast food industry. A flourishing area of research and development, attracting huge investment from the FMCG industry, ecological packaging designers are becoming the cool kids in town.

Marco says, “Using banana leaves as a new material to create new ecological packages for take away. Banana leaves are a by product which exists in many regions around the world This material has a wax-like surface which is ideal for wet and greasy foods. It is flexible and therefore can be adapted to many types of packaging. The leaves last long after they are cut off the trees. The packages are cut to form using die cutting technology. No glue is used. The unique qualities of this material allow packages to be opened simply by tearing the banana leaf along its natural perforation.”

The design does have commercial promise but it’s not as simple as swapping a styrofoam box for a vegetable leaf. Vietnam exports tonnes of banana leaves to the US each month but what is the carbon footprint of this agricultural industry?  Responsible packaging design requires a big picture focus.

The Alliance Francaise French Film Festival is back for another year, its 21st Year!!! This year’s list of films programmed for the Alliance Francaise French Film Festival features a number of the finest productions released by the French film industry in the past 12 months.

With many of the the films receiving or been nominated for many prestigious awards it’s definitely not an event to be missed.

One of the great movies featured at this event entails the intense love affair between two creative giants; Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky.

Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky

Paris 1913, Coco Chanel is devoted to her work and madly in love with the handsome and very wealthy Arthur “Boy” Capel. At the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Igor Stravinsky premieres his Rite of Spring. Coco attends the premiere and is mesmerised. But the revolutionary work is too modern, too radical: the enraged audience boos and jeers. A near-riot ensues. Stravinsky is inconsolable.

7 years later. Now rich, respected and successful, Coco is devastated by Boy Capel’s death. She meets Stravinsky again – now a penniless refugee living in exile in Paris after the Russian Revolution, The attraction between them is immediate and electric. Coco offers Stravinsky the use of her new villa in Garches, so that he will be able to work, and he moves in straight away, with his children and consumptive wife. And so a passionate, intense love affair between two creative giants begins.

Lesley Bourne is an Adelaide based graphic and web designer. In recent years, she has developed a keen interest in photography and collage. One of Lesley’s photographs was recently showcased in the Design Federation’s ‘Friends of the Federation’ exhibition in Sydney.

Lesley was fortunate enough to have one of her photographs selected in the Corbis ‘Creatives Behind the Lens’ competition in November 2009. The photo was displayed in an exhibition, held for one night only at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, as well as nationally in 2010. Lesley has also had a collage piece featured in Blanket magazine 2010 February/March (Issue 20 – ‘I Think I Can Fly’).

www.noise.net/lesleybourne1

The up and coming fashionistas who exhibited at our Friends of the Federation party in February are definitely ones to watch out for in the future. Below are mini interviews with 4 of these rising stars;  Sheila Man, Amy Hungerford, Amelia Huang and Amy Oram

ONE
By Sheila Man

How long have you been in the fashion industry & how did you start?
My mother is a fashion designer and my father is an architect and interior designer. I grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina and was inspired by the mix of cultures that surrounded me. I’ve been studying fashion design and clothing production for the last 5 years.

How would you describe your design aesthetic?
My aesthetic combines soft feminine lines with a modern fashion forward edge. I aim to produce clothes that make people feel good.

What difficulties have you faced as a new designer?
Marrying innovation and saleability is a challenge! I want to produce unique clothes that appeal to a broad cross section of the market.

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AMY HUNGERFORD DESIGNS
By Amy Hungerford

Do you think the Australian design scene is supportive of new talent?
Yes. There are so many events and opportunities in Australia for young up and coming designers. I have a hard time trying to be involved in them all as there are so many.

What difficulties have you faced as a new designer?
I haven’t had any university or TAFE training. A lot of what I know is self taught. This can be an advantage but also a disadvantage at times.

What’s next for you?
I’m currently working on a collection which I am hoping to sell on Etsy.com a little later on in the year. After that who knows. I’m just putting myself out there as much as possible and trying to get involved in whatever I can.

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MILLICENT RUSSELL
By Amelia Huang

How would you describe your design aesthetic?
Vintage, whimsical, girly

What inspires you?
The glitz and glamour of old school Hollywood and ballroom dancing.

What do you think you bring to the industry that is unique?
I use high quality vintage materials, beads and findings including lace. I think this brings originality and it’s seen as something different to what people get in most of the shops these days.

What difficulties have you faced as a new designer?
Being a one person show. I work full time to support my hobby of designing and I just don’t seem to have enough time to really get my business where it could be.

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TEEKI
By Amy Oram

How did you start in the fashion industry?
Graduated at end of 2006 from St George Tafe where I studied Advanced Diploma in Fashion Design. Eventually I would like to release a range and stock in boutiques nationally but for now I am concentrating on made-to-measure on-of designs tailored to suit my clients style, body shape and occasion whilst I am designing for Running Bare full-time.

What difficulties have you faced as a new designer?
It is really hard to manage your time when you are starting out and have to support yourself with a full time job. I am really lucky to have a great support base that can run errands for me when I need things to be done during the day. But you get there because it is your passion!

What next for you?
Later this year I am entering the Melbourne Cup Design Awards for the 2nd time. Also in discussions with Miss Lebanon 2009 on making her outfit for an event in which Miss Lebanon 2010 is announced.

In recent years, Sustainable Design has moved past its pop-culture status to form a key requirement of any good design process. So, it’s only fitting that the Design Institute of Australia (DIA) devotes one of its most prestigious awards to fostering Sustainable Design practices in the region’s emerging designers.

Now in its 15th year, the Australasian Student Design Awards (ASDA) is a multidisciplinary program that attracts an exceptional range, depth and quality of entries. The 2009 ASDA program saw entries increase by sixty-three per cent on the previous year, a reflection of ASDA’s rapidly increasing profile amongst tertiary design institutions throughout Australasia.

On-line registrations for the 2010 ASDA program are now open at www.design.org.au/asda. The DIA invites educators to register their institutes and nominate their top students’ design projects that reflect design excellence and adopt innovative Sustainable Design principles. These Awards are open to all Australian and New Zealand full time equivalent or apprentice undergraduate students, currently studying or recently graduated in 2nd semester 2009 or 1st semester 2010.

Toast Print, the first Australian online platform connecting commercial printers and designer print buyers, is officially launched today. The web startup, founded by web savvy brothers Jonathan and Andrew Chak, offers designers a web application to streamline the process of finding the right printer, better organize print jobs, as well as easily compare printers and quotations. Toast Print draws on Web2.0 community concepts where designers are encouraged to provide feedback and ratings that contribute towards the merit of printers they have done business with.

When asked about why they felt the need to create Toast Print, Co-Founder Jonathan Chak said that he had come from a Graphic Design background and had learned firsthand how hard it is to find the right printer for the right job, hence, Toast Printed was developed.

So if you are a designer who is often confused about which printer to use or even how to find a good printer, why not sign up to Toast Print.

toastprint.com.au

The ArtStart program from the Australia Council for the Arts provides financial assistance to recent creative arts graduates who are committed to establishing a career as a professional artist. Graduates who plan to earn income or gain employment as a professional artist in the visual arts, hybrid and media arts, performing arts, literature or in community arts and cultural development may apply via the online application process. Grants are provided to fund services, resources, skills development and equipment that help graduate artists to build an income-generating career in the arts practice they have studied.

Well apparently Banksy has made a movie … I wonder who he stole that idea off? Anyhow check out the trailer for his movie Exit Through the Gift Shop , looks like it could be interesting.

WOMADelaide presents music, arts and dance from around the world with over 500 artists from 27 countries.