F L A V O R P A P E R / Brooklyn

While enjoying a cappuccino in Bogotá, the capital city of Colombia, I read about Flavor Paper; and vibrant colors popped up into my head,… after almost a year here I am… at Flavor Paper in Brooklyn.

Narciso Rodriguez's Fall 2011 Show

AURORA PELLIZZI-EXHIBITION AT JF+SON BOUTIQUE

Aurora´s Lips don’t lie. I can really assure it as I attended the grand opening of her latest collection in the JF+SON boutique on Kenmare Street.  A delicate and perfectly tailored collection, “Lips by Aurora”, was showed to a selected group of people, interested in traditional handcrafts juxtaposed with contemporary designs and cuts. As the show went on, everyone was amazed with the contrasting of high impact colors with neutral ones, energizing the entire place around. 

Aurora Pellizzi, a Mexican-American artist and textile designer, was influenced by traditional Mexican techniques of painting and weaving as well as the unique, New York style. Working by the hand of Travis Boyer in a special project series at JF+SON called MFT (My favorite things), both having a strong interest in fine arts, textile traditions and crafts, they worked together in this unique collection.

“We used a series of twenty-three lips-shaped paintings of mine to apply to fabric using traditional and contemporary techniques. We created a variety of textures and surfaces that resulted in expanding and contracting fields of color and adornment,” said Aurora about the concept and inspiration of the collection.

Using lip-shaped embroidered accessories as complementary wearable objects to garments and silk-digital printing was used as an innovative way to express through fabrics their story.

Aurora is currently based in Bogotá, Colombia looking to study the practices of craft and textile design, both traditional and contemporary, with the desire to incorporate new forms into her practice.

Interview

LD:  How has been the experience of working and developing a collaboration project by mixing inspirations, and styles, with JF+SON?

AP: I have been extremely fortunate to work with a company that shares my interest in natural fibers, traditional craft, and innovative design. JF+SON has a studio in India with excellent craftsmen, who can fabricate just about any idea, image, texture, shape, or form. The talented and creative individuals behind JF+SON have created an expansive community of artists, musicians, performers, and designers, both friends and collaborators, of which it is great to be part.

LD: Why are you interested in working with handcrafted and traditional techniques of beading, embroidery? Does it have something to do with your cultural backgrounds, or any special taste for simpleness?

AP: As an artist, I am invested in making images and objects with my hands, so it is natural for me to trust and value the innovation inherent in craft. I grew up exposed to both the handcrafted traditions of Mexican painting, silver-smithing, and weaving, as well as to the freedom and originality of NYC.

LD: For you what does ‘looking forward clothing’ mean; is there any environmental consciousness involved?

AP: I believe in clothing that looks in all directions. The past is really important to me, because I believe in preserving tradition and putting it to good use.

LD: As a fashion designer and label, what has been your biggest challenge, besides competition?

AP: My biggest challenge has been considering the problem of translation between the different cultures and visual traditions that I am fluent in. I have had to develop a personal cross-cultural visual language in order to communicate with my different audiences.

  

LD: How can you describe Aurora Pellizzi and what makes you different from the rest?

AP: I approach fashion, not from the perspective of trends, sales, or markets, but rather from my interest in color, texture, and surface. I am interested in traditional methods of production and the intelligence inherent in them.

LD: How would you differentiate NY from any other fashion capital city like Paris or London? Is there a unique difference for new and young designer?

AP: New York is a city of immigrants with a growing Latin American community. It is made up of both the Old and New Worlds. In New York you have influences from all around the world, but you don’t have any tradition of decency and there are no dress codes to be broken. Anything is valid, and sometimes the results can be extraordinary.  

LD: What would be your advice for students and young designer dreaming about making their fashion projects a reality here in NYC?

1)   Travel.

2)   Draw every day.

3)   Collect fabric.

4)   Create a blog.

TEAccessories-A new concept of Design+Tea

FREE FLOWING APPAREL: A NEW Emotion

CONSCIOUS WORKSHOP YOGA+ACCESSORIES

CIY Create-it-yourself + Eco-PIYO: Pilates &Yoga Workshop

The DAZA Sisters

We are the DAZA sisters, Carolina and Laura, two artistic Colombians currently educating and training our talents, as well as advancing our goals in New York City. We created CIY+Eco-PIYO, an innovative workshop, by juxtaposing the principles of Yoga, sustainable fashion, and healthy eating for Freshmen students at NYU’s Third North Hall. This project was developed to assess the necessities of a community of NYU students, potentiate their talents and capacities, and inspire their artistic creativity.

As the Fashion and Textile Designer, I (Laura) started the workshop by sharing the ideals of ‘Recycling, Transforming, and Creating’ to offer students the tools to create for themselves eco-friendly accessories from wasted and colorful fabrics. I wanted to share with them artisanal techniques of sewing, folding, plaiting, and pleating.

Some of the questions I posed at the beginning of the workshop were: ‘Is it fun to buy something already made for you without know the Why-Where-When-What-Who made it? Why is ready-to-wear clothing usually the only option in the market? Could we find ways to motivate young students and empower them to create their own functional and aesthetic eco-friendly accessories that can inspire their artistic creativity?

We organized this workshop dreaming about motivating our students to be more conscious about connecting their bodies, heart, and soul, with the environment. Each student sat on their Yoga mat, and immersed themselves into their own hands-on creative world, where they experimented and played with colorful pieces of fabric, and wasted remnants thrown away by a NYC-based fashion company. As the Colombian music played Caribbean rhythms, our students manipulated the scissors, needles, and threads. In one-hour, students were able to create beautiful and unique artwork such as headbands, pins, and belts. The ambiance was full of creativity and energies to begin the magical Yoga practice, led by my sister Carolina.

As a group fitness teacher with more than five years of experience, and a Food Culture graduate student at NYU, I (Carolina) led the Ashtanga Yoga practice. We began in a child pose were students began centering themselves, deep breathing, and opening their hearts. As the flow began, they opened into a Downward Facing Dog, and slowly began energizing their bodies. The breath was connected to the cycles, and their flow to the delicate sounds of Colombian cumbia drums, Bossa Nova, and French contemporary music. As they inhaled, students transitioned at their own pace through basic cycles of upper to lower plank, upward to downward dogs, and standing mountain pose with several basic sun salutations. We open into standing poses, twists, forward and backbends, with the ultimate goal of inspiring students to set an intention for their practice, and bring the connection between their own body, soul, and heart. As students breathe, we build up a community where each one was flowing at his or her own pace, gently breathing from one movement to the other, while keeping their own heart awakened and receptive.

The practice transformed our creative space into the power of breathing, energies, and centering on top of the world. Our sky was full of students’ happiness, dreams, and passions. As the practice advanced for one hour, I began to lower down the pace of our flows, and slowly transition into different backbends. The group began smoother breaths, until gently connecting the palms of the hands into their heart center, and transitioning into their final relaxation. After hugging their knees, rocking side to side, massaging their lower backs, opening their hips, and relaxing each muscle of their bodies, students closed their eyes and laid down heavy on-top of the earth, letting go anything that might have been disturbing their own world of tranquility and wonders, and flowing into the final relaxation.

After the final breaths and the quote I read, altogether we pronounced Namaste, to be grateful with the group, especially for sharing each other’s energies, practice, and intentions with me, and the rest of the group. Each student was advised to bring their own serving cup and spoon, and after our practice, we enjoyed natural plain yogurt, crunchy maple-honey granola with coconut, dried cranberries, and pecans, bananas, strawberries, and Agave honey, amongst other delicious and healthy delicacies. The two-hour long CIY+Eco-PIYO workshop by the DAZA sisters was a community arts-based project with innovative fusions of diverse talents, passions, and dreams of making social change through the artistic creative world. It was a magical and beautiful workshop! Please share your comments or questions at: communityconnectionsnyu@gmail.com