FORGET THE FOURTH DIMENSION. THE THIRD ONE IS STILL PRETTY COOL

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Hue

Visitors to Shoe Obsession at The Museum at FIT might have noticed some mind-blowing biomorphic shoes that seemed to be made of bone. Like this “Biomimicry” shoe by Marieka Ratsma.

This shoe is dope.
Photograph by Thomas van Schaik

It was made with a 3D printer by Shapeways, a leading company in the business. 3D printing is the next big thing, according to Duann Scott, “designer evangelist” for Shapeways. Scott spoke at FIT to a packed audience on February 26 as part of the Love Your Library series.

He proposed that 3D printing will be an important manufacturing method of the future, because infinite complexity and customization don’t cost extra, there are no start-up costs, and the process results in very little waste.

Scott said that one company, with a 6-by-6-meter printing capacity, is making modular homes.

To create an object, just upload a design, choose a material (options include steel, silver, ceramic, and various plastics), and the item will be shipped in two to three weeks.

Hue doesn’t understand the technical process; it has something to do with layers and maybe lasers.

At posting time, this shoe was still undergoing testing for durability and comfort, but soon, it will be for sale in Shapeways’ marketplace. The marketplace also offers lots of jewelry, figurines, and toys, such as an insanely large $1,600 Rubik’s Cube.

The best news of all? FIT now has a 3D printer and may open it up for student use in the fall.

With all this 3D furor, Hue hopes people still appreciate 2D things; for example, magazines and magazine blogs.

Joshua Harker sold this skull on Kickstarter for $50 each. He made more than $77,000. Photography by Alessandro Casagli.

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PLORY DAYS ARE HERE TO STAY

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Hue

Some people use their January break for a Caribbean cruise. Others catch up on sleep. Not Vincent Quan, associate professor of Fashion Merchandising Management. He researched the malls of Shanghai, surreptitiously photographing storefronts and interrogating sales clerks.

Hue bets he’s lots of fun to travel with.

China sells the same luxury brands as the U.S.—Coach, Louis Vuitton, and gobs of Gucci—but many of the mass-market brands are different. Yet some of the stores he saw look awfully familiar…

These people don’t look Chinese…

The popular brand “E-Land.” Hue wonders what the E stands for… certainly not “End.”

Hue’s favorite is Plory, a horribly misconceived portmanteau. Sounds like a pesky little bird.

Nothing says America like “Plory.”

Quan discovered that many of these stores are Korean brands trying to gain market share by leveraging existing ”American” looks. All the major Korean conglomerates—Samsung, LG, and Hyundai, for example—have fashion divisions.

In addition to Uggs, Quan found Iggs, Jumbo-Ugg, and Uggworld. Because there just aren’t enough Ugg-like boots in this world.

“Mom! I’m the only girl at school without a pair of Jumbouggs! Do you WANT me to be unpopular?”

This unabashed celebration of mistranslation reminds Hue of a popular toy made in China.

Benign Girl, the most inoffensive doll of our time.

After all that shopping, Quan went home empty-handed. Because China’s retail model includes a string of taxes and middlemen, one could get PTSD from the sticker shock. A pair of Allen Edmonds shoes cost $800. A Brooks Brothers dress shirt cost almost $300.

“You’d get a much better value in New York City,” he admits.

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64 COLLEGES AND FIT AIN’T ONE

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Hue

Hip-hop artists will have to add another topic to their traditional repertoire of money, women, and violence: Higher ed.

That’s right, B. Martin, winner of HOT 97′s Who’s Next competition, has released a surprisingly danceable “SUNY Anthem,” an homage to his alma mater, SUNY Albany (where he earned a 4.0, mind you), and the 63 other colleges in the system. And Hue cannot stop singing it.

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Martin has certainly read up on the message points. For example,

My momma is proud that I could hold it down / And picked a school that wouldn’t ruin her bank account.

And:

The student association / Repping the population / Of students on the campus / Making sure they got a say in / Everything from groups and shows and who they sponsor / So let ’em know you want me at your next concert.

Note the subtle self-promotion at the end there. We’re on to you, B.

Um, why aren’t the cheerleaders trying harder to reach him? There isn’t a barricade or security guards, ladies.

Bummer that FIT wasn’t mentioned even once! You’d think he might have slipped in a nod to possibly the most prominent fashion-industry school on earth. He’s got scenes of cheerleaders trying to tickle him, kids measuring the circumference of a tree, and a runner nearly collapsing after a poorly attended race, but not a dress form in sight.

“After careful analysis, I have concluded that this is a tree.”

He managed to rhyme “New Paltz” with “sixty-four” and “Cortland” with “walk in,” but he couldn’t slip in FIT? FYI, it rhymes with “dream,” “team,” “free,” and “oh, gee.”

This runner looks tired.

Mr. Martin, might we recommend an additional stanza, just for fairness?

Lest I forget ’bout my kickin’ homies down at FIT / Where design and business students study 46 majors, not to mention PE / Led by Dr. Brown, the school has great renown / And I contracted one grad to make a wedding gown.

Otherwise, bravo.

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BOOTS = HEIGHT x FASHION

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Hue

Hue recently acquired a top-secret video in conjunction with the graduate student exhibition, Boots: The Height of Fashion, running through April 6.

The video you are about to watch, produced for a graduate studies class, has scenes that have been deemed both informative and amusing, and potentially inappropriate for a museum audience. Consider yourself warned.

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Powerful stuff indeed. Hue is still puzzling over the lessons learned. Here are the facts:

Boots are the height of fashion. Given that the word “of” signifies multiplication, boots = height(figurative) x fashion.

Boots make women feel powerful, the corollary being that boots are a danger to anyone in the path of their wearers. In mathematical terms, boots = danger.

The higher the boot, the more powerful the wearer. Making a simple substitution, height(literal) is proportional to danger.

Finally, boots are sex, status, and rebellion. Therefore, boots = sex + status + rebellion.

Solving for fashion, then:

Fashion = boots / height(f)

Fashion = danger / height(f)

Fashion : height(l) / height(f)

From this we can learn that fashion is proportional to the literal height of the boot divided by its figurative height.

Also, height(f) = (sex + status + rebellion) / fashion

Solving for sex:

Sex + status + rebellion = fashion x height(f)

Sex = fashion x height(f) – status – rebellion

In other words, sex is nothing more than the height of fashion minus status and rebellion.

Hue senses a pun in here somewhere.

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FIT ALUMNUS DRESSES MISS UNIVERSE; OR, GLOBAL POWER SHIFTS WEST

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Hue

Each year, the Fashion Design department selects two graduating students to participate in the Supima Design Competition, an interschool challenge to make garments out of Supima cotton. Last year, Kyle Pearson, Fashion Design ’12, was selected. His inspiration for the collection was the global shift of power away from the US.

He did not win. But the stylist for Miss USA (not to be confused with Miss America) was in attendance, and she asked Pearson if the pageant winner could try on two of his gowns.

Kyle Pearson fitting Olivia Culpo, now Miss Universe. “She’s tiny,” Pearson says. “And she’s really young—she’s only 20.” (Courtesy of Supima)

Pearson was initially nervous about the safety of his garments. “Those gowns are built for runway-size models, not real women,” he said. As it turned out, Olivia Culpo, Miss USA 2012, fit into them just fine.

Pearson also offered to make a custom piece, as the gown might be featured in the internationally televised Miss Universe competition held December 19. She wore it to the opening ceremony. Long story short, she took home the crown. Hue can’t help but think the dress played a part.

A custom dress Kyle Pearson made for Miss USA, which she wore to the Miss Universe competition.

Pearson’s parents called to tell him what happened. “I didn’t actually see it, because I don’t have a TV,” he admits.

Miss USA at the 2012 Orphaned Starfish Gala, wearing a Supima dress by Kyle Pearson. (Hue wonders why anyone would want to save a starfish, those bloodsucking monsters of the sea.)

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