Hello Fabs ! I hope all is well and that you are staying stylish as usual . I have been on a fashion week extravaganza this last month . From New York to London, Milan and Paris it has been a fashion forward February . It's even better when you have fashion week in your own back yard. Birmingham Fashion Week 2013 was last week and it was everything . To see emerging design stars ,rising design stars and established designers all in one week was amazing . I have soooo much to share with you guys so stick with FashionCrushOne.com for all your fashion week news. I wanted to start off with Anthony Ryan from Project Runway but I have a treat . We have two Project Runway stars that presented that night !! Joshua McKinley also brought the flips and the fabulousness to that night as well ! We will spotlight Joshua later this week but for now here is a little bio on Ryan :
Anthony Ryan Auld is a Louisiana-based fashion designer who won the second season of Lifetime’s Project Runway All Stars, along with the title of Fan Favorite. He was also previously featured on the ninth season of Lifetime’s Project Runway. A Louisiana State University graduate known for his unconventional use of fabrics and raw outlook, Anthony Ryan has been recognized nationally for his award-winning designs. He has also studied design techniques in Paris, France, under the creative minds behind Vivienne Westwood, Basil Soda, Elie Saab, Jean-Paul Gaultier, and Anne-Valerie Hash. A cancer survivor, Anthony Ryan is the founder of ROAR, a non-profit foundation that gives voice to those with inspiring stories of survival in the face of adversity. Why whisper when you can ROAR!
With his label Anthony Ryan, Anthony Ryan Auld creates fashion to inspire the modern woman with clean lines, definitive shapes, and bold fabric selections. His innovative use of bright colors and simple forms continues to bring forward-thinking women striking pieces that are current yet amaranthine.
anthonyryanauld.com
Media Outlet : Why do you think it is important to have these typo of events in cities such as Birmingham oppose to the fashion capitals such as New York or L.A. ? (both designers)
Joshua McKinley : I think it really helps to breed an artistic community. I am originally from Ohio, I left for New York at the age of 18. I didn't see much artistic ability in terms of fashion in that location .So I really felt like New York was the place you know there is a lot of theater , art and pottery . I think what's great about situations like this (BFW) and I had the opportunity to do Portland Fashion Week in October. There are a lot of cities popping up and banding together because I don't think there necessarily needs to be one Metropolis that defines what fashion is. We look to these higher -ups , these editors and bloggers even now that are famous for blogging and having an opinion about fashion . To name the few that I love there is Bryan Boy........they have such a vocal opinion that we sometimes take it as... it's good or it's bad . I even found that with the show, you know I think America is swayed by what this distinguished panel of judges is saying and these industry professionals . Times change and things evolve and I think what's great about it is that cities throughout the country that are really taking the time to nurture the talent in that community . Because sometimes not everyone has the ability to pick up and leave the place that they are at , however they still need an outlet to perform and do what they love to do . So I think it's great that Birmingham has such passionate people behind an amazing project . As you can see you know (BFW) it's definitely on a level that's working it's way up and it's (BFW) definitely already there. So it's great to be involved in something like that and to come here and showcase what someone may not necessarily design down here but its definitely something that's happening on a global and national scale.
FashionCrushOne.com : With so many fashion forecast and trends that are given out, do you design according to those forecast or do you go your own route ?
Anthony Ryan : We both go our own route ..I can answer that !!! ( media room bursts in laughter) No..... I will occasionally buy the Vogue Collections Magazine when they come out, it's at Barnes & Nobles for about fifty bucks . That's usually a season or two behind when they actually come out . That's the only ever time I will do any research ...someone asked me the other day " what are some trends coming up " ? I said I honestly have no idea . Because I usually don't keep up with it , I just kinda do what I do . The same with Joshua ..(Joshua McKinley inserts )
Joshua McKinley : I don't think I ever really followed A trend, I think fashion is evolving away from trends. Per say, yes we all may like something like bow ties or belts at one moment like those are trend in terms of accessories or perhaps colors. What I think people fail to understand is forecasting companies are jobs as well . These are people that are paid to sit three to four years in advance of now and they are just.....I would love to know what a fashion forecast is . I've had the opportunity to be in Paris and go to a forecasting agency but these people that are .......it's like playing Roulette . You don't know what color you are going to get ! They just say that's the color a lot of those forecasting agencies they are just books. You know he's (Ryan) talking about a magazine...fifty dollars , showing collections from two seasons pasts or one seasons past . These booklets of colors and swatches and fabrications are upwards of ten thousand dollars just for THE BOOK . Soooo if you want to be the person that is "on trend" according to Danigher Group then you can buy this book for ten thousand dollars and choos the fabrics. I don't think that is having your own creative vision you're almost using it as a crutch. Say someone designs a collection and it's just awful regardless ,the silhouettes are bad you know there is nothing innovative about it but we followed the trend . That doesn't mean it's good it just means you paid ten thousand dollars for a book that you can use for firewood at the end of the day. I think that it's just interesting that its a profession to be a forecaster , you know I think people are realizing that it's just a job as well . It's amazing how a forecaster can sit there and go ..Well I like this ..and I wanna tell everyone else that I like this and I get paid to tell you I like this . Now let's see who responds .
Ryan Anthony : I mean obviously it's important to keep up with what's trending and what's going on but at the same time I think it can hinder what you are doing if you are trying to follow what everyone else is doing . It influences you not always in a positive way . That's why I try not to go with the forecast .
Joshua McKinley : Now for example let's take Louis Vuitton two season ago using this over sized eyelet material ,eyelets have been around since when ..the 1800's . I mean this is stuff we used to embroider . He spun it , does that mean everyone needs to do eyelets ? Or why did he do it ? The thing is a small designer for say from Birmingham could have done eyelets last year or three years ago and say Marc Jacobs , the size of that company has three people that sit at a desk . They look around the world for young and aspiring designers and say Oh I love that , I didn't think of that , but where going to do it but do it better
