The influence of fashion

All everything fashion...

In the 80s the City of Sydney was a buzz with fashion from my six-year old perspective. My mum would often let me have the day off school and take me with her as she went to work; in the rag-trade. I spent a lot of time as a girl between Surry Hills and Redfern buying clothes, jewellery and fashion accessories. Mum would meet with designers, importers, wholesalers, retailers and production factories. I was always fascinated with the designers, they seemed very cool to me, it must have been their creative minds that drew me in. Mum and I went to the South of France and New Zealand to meet with fashion designers... that had become close friends of the family.

My mum would wheel and deal, seeking the best price and contractual arrangements she could for her business. My mum was (and is) A BOSS and I simply loved it!

As I got older I began to see fashion in a different way it became more than clothes and fun experiences. A cultural fashion phenomena, that I lived through and observed, was the highly controversial imagery used by international brands. Were they using exploitation to sell clothes or highlighting the inequalities and bias of society at large?

How fashion advertising shaped me as an artist, a thinker

As a tween, my favourite brand was United Colors of Benetton. I still remember my bright pink knit outfit from the Italian company when I was 9. I definitely remember Benetton's advertising campaigns, they had a big impact on me.

Benetton was one of the most controversial and provocative brands at that time, if not of all time, in relation to marketing campaigns. Imagery that challenged social narratives and bias would fill the pages of fashion magazines. The main themes during this period was racism, feminism, sexuality, world politics and the AIDS epidemic. Many fashion houses came to the party, yet no brand was as 'in your face' as Benetton.

Marketing Campaigns by United Colors of Benetton

The most controversial advertisement to come from Benetton was of gay activist, David Kirby, the image caused controversy throughout the world. Many accused Benetton of selling clothes through exploiting people. The picture of David Kirby - in his last moments of life; a result of being HIV positive and dying of an AIDS related illness - agitated left, centre and right leaning people. Benetton's advertisements kept pushing boundaries and challenging stigmas including diversity, sexuality, misogyny, racism, politics, Benetton used their international brand to change attitudes and inaction. It had such an impact in pop-culture, JayZ raps 'we a Benetton ad' in his album The Blueprint 3, some 20 plus years after the fact.

Benetton was not just a fashion brand to me, nor a company with an intent to exploit. Benetton was bold, expressing the concerns of young people and bringing controversial issues into public and private discourse. I certainly wasn't having sex without a condom.

Labels like Benetton, Esprit and The Body Shop opened my eyes to the world. I began to see how much the world lived in fear and ignorant bias. It is a way of knowing that has remained a very strong part of my thinking and creative process.

80s and 90s: Fashion & Social Justice

Fashion Production

At 18 I enrolled to study Fashion Production, there is one thing i took away from this extensive course; my artistic, impatient and non-liner mind could not cope with all the detail involved in fashion sewing. I absolutely hated it and haven't sewn anything since doing this course - I have for some strange reason kept my sewing machine, from this period yet never used it!

Fashion Design

At 20, I thought fashion design would be more up my creative alley. I applied to the extremely competitive East Sydney Technical College, (National Arts School). I submitted many drawings and designs with my application. I had an interview and then I got a phone call... I got in!! I was floored and excited.

What I learnt doing fashion design

East Sydney was a fundamental part of how I learnt the basics of art and design.

We painted colour wheels, tones, gradients, complementary colours and much more with gouache.

We drew a lot, particularly the female form, in differing formats and methods, from fashion models to draw clothes on to, to life drawing for a better understanding of the naked woman's body and of course, clothing designs.

My favourite part of this creativity was collage, I absolutely loved it. Through collage we learnt about texture, colour, composition, themes, aesthetics etc The skills I learnt through designing one image by using multiple other images taught me a lot. A lot, a lot.

Of all the collages I have done in my life, this one, designed at East Sydney remains my absolute favourite.

Working in fashion

I had grown up working in my mum's retail fashion stores, I had a good understanding of the customers, what sells, how to sell and visual merchandising. As I began studying all things fashion and moving to Sydney, I supported myself by working in (you guessed it) fashion retail. I was able to express another side of my creativity, through window displays and store merchandising. I loved it and was requested to do the store windows and sales floors in the Paddington and Newtown stores. I got very creative with this and I loved it. After years of working in this industry I could size up a customer as soon as they walked in the door. Quite quickly I could work out how to sell them $100s worth of fashion that they had no intention of buying as they entered the store. Overtime I began to feel extremely manipulative in my sales (as sales people are) and I did not like it, yet it was something I couldn't just turn off, so I left retail fashion and sales forever.

One Saturday when I perusing the Saturday print of The Sydney Morning Herald I saw a job for a fit-model. The printed advertisement gave the required measurements needed for this role ( a perfect size 10), I grabbed the tape measure and put it around my boobs, stomach and butt - I found that my body measurements were the exact requirements needed. I didn't really know what a fit-model was but I applied anyway.

The company was JIGSAW, I knew about this brand, it was expensive. Working at JIGSAW was great, clothes were actually sewn whilst they were on my body, there were rolls and rolls of the best Italian fabrics. A sample would be made and tailored on my body, then sent off to Redfern to be produced in mass quantity. I learnt the difference in design, materials and production methods that separated higher-end brands to run-of-the-mill chain stores.

Fashion's Impact on me today

Growing up in the rag-trade in the 80s and 90s was really cool and I am grateful that I experienced everything I did. My mum ran multiple successful stores. I experienced the entire gamut: from design to pattern making, sewing to wholesale and retail to the buyers purchase.

Years later my mother offered me to take over her retail businesses, I declined, at the time I wanted to finish my degree and take on the corporate world. So my mum sold her stores. In hindsight not wanting to take on my mum's business wasn't a terrible decision as the .com boom began and retail struggled. It would seem only natural that I would pursue a career in fashion, yet fashion production and design did not resonate with me. It was not what I wanted to pursue.

Today I am addicted to fashion. I love clothes, I love prints, cuts, classic pieces and I can spot them anywhere. I'm not too concerned as to the store I buy from but the quality of the garment is always important. Much of my wardrobe is from op-shops and high-end designer brands. I love to match an expensive top with op-shop pants and an $800 pair of shoes then apply my Chanel make-up as the cherry on top! Dichotomy is a large part of who I am as a person.

International social and political awareness is probably one of the most influential thing that I have taken from fashion, thanks to Benetton. A consciousness and compassion for 'the other' and world events has never left and was and is very influential in the work I produce and what I feed my brain.

The other biggest and most utilised skill development was learnt at East Sydney: texture, design, tone and drawing. All of these skillsets have influenced how I approach my work and my favourite thing to draw is the naked woman's body.

~ atuk ~