I’ll clarify later.

The shades not the guy.
You can buy them for me here from the hypnotic twin duo Coco & Breezy. That’s them in the banner.

Like in the Howell Mill, 17th Street, Octane-ish area would be dope!  Right now all we have is Hancock near Lindbergh and Gail K’s off of Cheshire.

While I appreciate Gail K’s variety and helpful staff, I can’t count on it for consistent stock of a particular fabric since they purchase remnant bolts from NY.  And while Hancock’s never seems to be fully stocked of threads and other sewing items and that’s a major headache when you’re working on a project and need to match a thread color and the one you see is just too light and the one right next to is empty and you think “OH NO! that’s the one I need I just know it why are they out my client is going to be pissed and hate me forever fuuuuuuck!!!!!”

There are a bunch of shops near Huff road but those are for upholstery and window treatments and they don’t carry thread.

I’m tired of ordering everything I need online. That takes time and $ and there’s always that little hint of suprise when you get the package in the mail. Is it all there? Is the fabric damaged? I hope the colors match!

Please. Help.

By CATHY HORYN
via
The American fashion industry has been pushing hard over the last four years for copyright protection for its designs. A bill in the House of Representative died in committee after clothing makers argued that protection against knock-offs would only encourage frivolous lawsuits from people claiming they had the idea first. Today, after a year of negotiations, Senator Charles E. Schumer introduced a bill that seemed to satisfy the different sides of the fashion industry — and may provide some protection, too.

The bill, the Innovative Design Protection and Piracy Prevention Act, has the support of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), whose individual members represent the creative core of the industry, and the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), which represents more than 700 manufacturers and suppliers and by its estimate accounts for about 75 percent of the industry’s business. The AAFA had argued that the House bill was too broad and would expose its members to lawsuits.

Senator Schumer brought the two groups together. “In the first go-around there was nothing that gave our members protection,” Kevin Burke, president and chief executive officer of the AAFA said, adding that there was “a vast difference” in the Schumer bill. “It provides the protection for unique design.”

The proposed legislation provides very limited intellectual property protection to the most original design. A designer who claims that his work has been copied must show that his design provides “a unique, distinguishable, non-trivial and non-utilitarian variation over prior designs.” And it must be proven by the designer that the copy is “substantially identical” to the original so as to be mistaken for it. The bill would cover all fashion designs, including products like handbags, belts and sunglasses, for a three-year period from the time the item is seen in public—on a runway, say. Factors than can’t be used in determining the uniqueness of a design are color, patterns and a graphic element.

In other words, the bar is extremely high to determine what qualifies as a unique and distinguishable fashion design. And the burden is on the innovative designer.

A beautiful dress worn by a celebrity at an important red-carpet occasion most likely wouldn’t meet the test. But a jacket that has an original cut — one example might be Martin Margiela’s peaked shoulder jackets from two or three years ago — could easily meet the standards of something unique and non-trivial. The Margiela jacket was widely copied and certainly the knobby shape of the shoulder was original.

Steven Kolb, the executive director of the CFDA, seemed satisfied with the Schumer bill, which has bipartisan support. “The fact that there will be a law in this country, as there are in other developed countries, will make people think twice” before they copy someone, he said. “The law in itself is a powerful deterrent.”

Senator Schumer acknowledged that not every creative designer will feel that he or she is sufficiently protected but he said “the bill is a good first step.” He expected the bill to be passed this fall.

Narciso Rodriguez, who was among the designers urging protection, said in an email: “It’s an important moment for American designers that this bill is one step closer to becoming law. This protection has been necessary for so long and I am happy to see how the fashion industry’s efforts have made a difference.”

Extending copyright protection to fashion has been a hard sell, in part because consumers ultimately benefit from such copying.

In a post this spring on the Freakonomics blog, Kal Raustiala of the UCLA Law School and Chris Sprigman of the University of Virginia Law School pointed to the paradox in piracy protection:

“The interesting effect of copying is to generate more demand for new designs since the old designs—the ones that have been copied—are no longer special. The overall result is greater sales of apparel.”

Perhaps the upside for American fashion is that it will encourage designers to be more innovative.

KANYE WEST | THE PORTRAIT OF POWER from AJANAKU on Vimeo.

Beautiful. Wish it was longer. He said it was a video painting. Indeed. Reminds me of the Sistine Chapel. Very Renaissance.

Captured on set during the cover and editorial shoot for the September issue of Vanity Fair, this is Nick Knight’s latest fashion film for SHOWstudio.com starring the incomparable Lady Gaga in an array of custom-crafted couture from fashion’s finest, including a rather incredible transparent plastic Armani Privé ensemble – a make-believe fantasy frothing with very real smoke.

Nick Knight and Lady Gaga’s full editorial is featured in the latest issue of Vanity Fair, released 4 August 2010

Credits:
Film by Nick Knight
Edited by Ruth Hogben
Music by Lukid
A SHOWstudio.com film

via

So the trip is coming up and I wanted to do something dope for the lining because I have the ability to but just because you can doesn’t mean you should. He’s a pretty chill guy (if you consider a borderline insomniac that produces art, films, books like a maniac “chill”) so I feel the coats should be low key and compliment him not overshadow him (like that could ever be possible… but, you know what I mean.)

When he first told me about his tattoo trip to London it was the first time I had really hung out with him and we spent some time chatting and seeing his works in his studio and my immediate thought was to have his work in the coat so it can be with him for him to display on occasion. But, after spending more time with him and going through the blog I’m rethinking all that. He’s a story teller so he will promote his own work regardless of what I put in there. Instead I should just focus on the quiet strength and power that comes from working with amazing fabrics and beautiful colors.

But then I think of the smile on his face when I told him I wanted to put his art in there and how he said that would be dope. And that’s what I want, for my work to put a smile on the clients face every time they wear a piece I’ve made or work on.

**UPDATE** Just stepped away from this and went back to his blog and found this post which helped answer my question of what to do for the lining:

The reason I walk…
A lot of people [tell] me “Miya, everytime I see you, your walking by yourself” that’s because I walk for a reason…it’s because I’m never in a rush unless I’m tryin to go see a movie or [catch] a flight out of town…I rarely get alone time so this is the perfect way to enjoy “peace of mind” and think of some new art ideas…and [I] really enjoy not hearing other peoples voices….people miss so much of the small things driving… Maybe it’s just my Asheville hippie side but I want to feel the sun… I want to feel the cold.. I want to enjoy each of the Earth’s seasons…

Check out some of his works:

Customer says “Bull eye!”
Creative Loafing says “Best Costume”