Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 08, 2010
Peter at Hair Expo 2010
Peter was once again approached to do a show for Hair Expo 2010 held at the Darling Harbour Exhibition and Convention Centre. Schwarzkopf Creative Manager, Leesa Smith, and show producer, Sally Clarke, asked him to design the costumes for the Schwarzkopf Essential Looks Gala to be presented at the Hair Expo Awards Night.
Schwarzkopf has taken the key fashion trends from the season and has formulated 5 essential looks in which to market their hair products. The 5 looks were categorized as Uniform, Cyber Sport, Punk Goddess, Boudoir, and New Rebel. They now needed fashion garments to match their hair trend creations.
This was Peter’s biggest challenge to date. He had to design and produce 39 individual garments for the show. He had to do this from Ulladulla, when his suppliers and sewers are 3 hours away in Sydney. When Peter went to the initial meeting with the show producers, he had every intention of declining the job. Instead, he came back all excited about the design possibilities. He also thought of the great opportunity this will give his fashion design students. All the difficulties and obstacles disappeared from Peter’s mind once he got excited about the show.
As usual, I was the one more worried than him. I took it upon myself to create a production budget for him. I wanted to make sure he was left with some earnings at the end.
When he finished the designs and got approval, he only had 4 weeks left for production. Luckily, he was able to convince his boss to run the project through the institute and involve his students. The students were very excited. He also involved his 2 teachers at the institute. Joanne is an excellent pattern maker and sewer. They worked together as designer and technician on the project. They were working till 3 in the morning during the final 2 weeks.
Peter was also driving back and forth to Sydney (3 hours drive one way) to buy fabrics, deliver fabrics to the sewers, meet with the show producer, pick out shoes and pick up the finished garments during this period. He was supervising his students in finishing off the garments, adding trims, scouting around for accessories, styling the look, and making various adjustments.
I accompanied Peter in his various errands around Sydney. One weekend when I was in Ulladulla, we visited his student, Emily, at her home to check out the progress of the New Rebel outfits. Her father owns a company that makes camper vans, and she volunteered to produce the futuristic designs Peter came up with. We spent the whole day working with her and her father, Michael, to produce the shapes out of fibreglass and somehow make them wearable. I was amazed at their commitment to the project. I am not sure you can find this same involvement from a student in Sydney.
On the big day, we were there with all his students and teachers fitting the models and making final adjustments. It was very exciting for everyone.
The show was fantastic, and Peter’s designs looked magnificent on stage accompanied by the lights, screen projections, music and choreography. The students, teachers and Emily’s parents were in awe of the whole experience. I do not think they realised the scale and professional level of the show. This was not just some fashion parade at a mall. Peter certainly earned his street credentials that day.
Schwarzkopf was very happy. They have produced similar shows worldwide to promote their Essential Looks, but one of the directors said that this was the best he has seen.
I am so proud of Peter. It is his best designs ever. He basically produced 5 different collections in one show. He readily sacrificed the budget in order to produce the best outfits. It is not good for the bank balance, but that is what makes him an artist and a designer.
Schwarzkopf has taken the key fashion trends from the season and has formulated 5 essential looks in which to market their hair products. The 5 looks were categorized as Uniform, Cyber Sport, Punk Goddess, Boudoir, and New Rebel. They now needed fashion garments to match their hair trend creations.
This was Peter’s biggest challenge to date. He had to design and produce 39 individual garments for the show. He had to do this from Ulladulla, when his suppliers and sewers are 3 hours away in Sydney. When Peter went to the initial meeting with the show producers, he had every intention of declining the job. Instead, he came back all excited about the design possibilities. He also thought of the great opportunity this will give his fashion design students. All the difficulties and obstacles disappeared from Peter’s mind once he got excited about the show.
As usual, I was the one more worried than him. I took it upon myself to create a production budget for him. I wanted to make sure he was left with some earnings at the end.
When he finished the designs and got approval, he only had 4 weeks left for production. Luckily, he was able to convince his boss to run the project through the institute and involve his students. The students were very excited. He also involved his 2 teachers at the institute. Joanne is an excellent pattern maker and sewer. They worked together as designer and technician on the project. They were working till 3 in the morning during the final 2 weeks.
Peter was also driving back and forth to Sydney (3 hours drive one way) to buy fabrics, deliver fabrics to the sewers, meet with the show producer, pick out shoes and pick up the finished garments during this period. He was supervising his students in finishing off the garments, adding trims, scouting around for accessories, styling the look, and making various adjustments.
I accompanied Peter in his various errands around Sydney. One weekend when I was in Ulladulla, we visited his student, Emily, at her home to check out the progress of the New Rebel outfits. Her father owns a company that makes camper vans, and she volunteered to produce the futuristic designs Peter came up with. We spent the whole day working with her and her father, Michael, to produce the shapes out of fibreglass and somehow make them wearable. I was amazed at their commitment to the project. I am not sure you can find this same involvement from a student in Sydney.
On the big day, we were there with all his students and teachers fitting the models and making final adjustments. It was very exciting for everyone.
The show was fantastic, and Peter’s designs looked magnificent on stage accompanied by the lights, screen projections, music and choreography. The students, teachers and Emily’s parents were in awe of the whole experience. I do not think they realised the scale and professional level of the show. This was not just some fashion parade at a mall. Peter certainly earned his street credentials that day.
Schwarzkopf was very happy. They have produced similar shows worldwide to promote their Essential Looks, but one of the directors said that this was the best he has seen.
I am so proud of Peter. It is his best designs ever. He basically produced 5 different collections in one show. He readily sacrificed the budget in order to produce the best outfits. It is not good for the bank balance, but that is what makes him an artist and a designer.
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