OCTO B ER 2010 | Vo l. 2
SCCoop. A MONTHLY NEWSFLASH FROM CRAFTYCOUTURE
the
A MONTHLY NEWSFLASH FROM CRAFTYCOUTURE
SCCoop. the
A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER FROM CRAFTY COUTURE CC Summer Camp | Session I girls, Halli G and Noelle L from the House of Dior backstage before the end of the session Fashion Show!
OCTOB ER 2010 | Vol. 2
LETTER FROM THE EDITORS taking a look back We (heart) this season. From the fabulous fall styles we have been patiently waiting to wear, to the designer shows featured at the Fashion Weeks in New York and Milan, to the crisp, fresh air, to the changing colours of the leaves.... sigh. We just LOVE the Fall.
We also love reminiscing about the times we dressed up for that extra special night at the end of October (or even more recently during our Theme Days at camp!!!) We recall having so much fun getting creative with our costumes. In this issue of the SCCOOP you can get inspired with our Halloween DIY project and our classic POTM! (Project of the Month) Try your hand at these crafty ideas and send us a pic of your creations! We know Nikki Watson, our One-on-One featured CC Designer is busy creating her Halloween masterpiece and getting her craft-on all year long. Even with the cool breeze of Fall blowing our way, we can't help but take a look back to the warmer days at CC Summer
DayCamp. In Vintage CC we revisit The Designer Studio, where our CC Designers took Fashion Illustration by storm! Read about our favourite Fashion Illustrators and take notes on some amazing resources to help you try
your hand at this beautiful art form! We even included a link to our own Croquis Template that you can download, print off and design away on! And make sure you check out the SCCOOP Launch article to find out how you can get involved and contribute your style and ideas to our fab mag! So, besides the cool weather and falling leaves this month, what else is in the "CC Forecast", you ask? Read all about our brand new one-of-a-kind program Fashion U in Style School is Now in Session. If you’re a girl going into Grades 8-10 this is a must read! It’s all about taking you on the road in Toronto and learning first-hand what this Fashion Industry is all about! We both share our stores of how we navigated that ride to carve a spot in this Art and Fashion world for CC! This issue of the SCCOOP also gives you a sneak peak at our inspiring CC LIT program coming up next summer season in Follow the Leaders. This is no ordinary Leaders In Training Program so make sure you check out the article to learn all about it! It’s a more colourful, bigger and better issue this month. We hope you enjoy! Send us your feedback at info@craftycouture.com and let us know what you want to see in the November issue of the SCCOOP.
Keep it Crafty!
Jodi + Tahsin
THE DESIGNER STUDIO
VINTAGE CC
Fashion Illustration is not just the first step in creating clothing, it is a form of art! Fashion Illustration is luxurious, bold and vibrant to the eye. Every hand, as we say at CC, creates a different line and every illustrator creates their own unique style! Today we can see Fashion Illustration in magazine ads, adorning book covers, amazing artwork, on clothing and more!
taking a look back
A CLOSER LOOK AT FASHION ILLUSTRATION
Walking through the doors of the Designer Studio at craftyCOUTURE DayCamp you are immediately hit with the bold colours of fabrics, patterned papers, textured frottage surfaces, inspiration boards, colour charts, croquis and pastel dustings. The Designer Studio is where Fashion Illustration brings young girls’ design ideas to artistic life! Our CC Designers love The Designer Studio and their passion for Fashion Illustration can be seen in their beautiful final works displayed at our CC Exhibition at the end of each session. Our campers learn the process of Fashion Illustration from the ground up starting with how to develop their croquiswhich is like a mannequin. They then learn how to draw inspiration from real life, sketching using the model of the croquis, and how to make their illustrations more life-like with form, shape and value. To make their designs vibrant they then learn how to use techniques such as pastel dusting, water colour, collage, and frottage. The result is always a larger than life fun exaggerated image and always one-of-a-kind style!
Although some our campers may be new to Fashion Illustration, did you know it has been around for nearly 500 years! Ever since clothes have been put into production there has been a need to put an imagined idea to paper. This is the first step when any Fashion Designer is creating a new line. But
It’s definitely a versatile form of art and one that we LOVE! Some of the Illustrators that CC hearts are Prabal Gurung, Kathryn Elyse, Stina Persson, Doo.Ri and Phillip Lim.
DIY RESOURCE GUIDE Whether you walked in the footsteps of a Fashion Designer at CC this past summer, or have never dabbled into Fashion Illustration at all, here are some resources for you to take fashion into your own hands!
Illustrations by Prabal Gurung, Kathryn Elyse
by jodi dennie
100 Years of Fashion Illustration by Cally Blackman WHY IT’S A FAB SOURCE: This book is a collection of over 400 images over the last century. Illustrations vary from more modern techniques to more traditional. This is a great resource to draw ideas and inspiration for your own work! 9 Heads: A Guide to Drawing Fashion by Nancy Riegelman
“I loved Fashion Illustration so much, especially learning how to create a design using a theme and inspiration source.” CC Designer Lauren says that The Designer Studio is her favorite activity at camp because she gets to see the designs she dreams of in her imagination come to life! Lauren isn’t our only CC Designer who adored the art of Fashion Illustration. Take a look at these fabulous works of art from our Summer 2010 Camp Season.
Let’s give it up for our
CC Designers!!!
VINTAGE CC
taking a look back WHY IT’S A FAB SOURCE: This is a great resource for those who have little drawing experience. This book gives you the skills and techniques of drawing the fashion figure. Learn how to draw the human figure, garments, accessories and different fabrics, textures and designs. Figure Templates for Fashion Illustration: Over 150 Templates for Fashion Design by Patrick John Ireland WHY IT’S A FAB SOURCE: This book gives you tons of templates that will help you along with your illustrations. Photocopy them, trace them and use them as a guide to help you create figure in movement, in different angles, poses and views!
The craftyCOUTURE CROQUIS TEMPLATE: Click here to download a copy of our template that we use at CC. P.S This spring look out for our upcoming Fashion Illustration book - complete with templates, fashion illustration samples, a sketchbook and more! Now that you know the history, have seen some illustrators in action and have the deets on some stellar resources, you are ready to turn your room into a Designer Studio and get crafty with your own Fashion Illustrations! Send us some pics of your designs so we can spread your style to our readers!
Illustrations by Unknown Artist, David Dixon, Stina Persson
Fashion Illustration by Fashion Designers by Laird Borelli WHY IT’S A FAB SOURCE: This is a dream book for fashion lovers as it is a collection of original sketches by 50 of the world’s most celebrated fashion designers today! Compare notes on their unique styles and influences and get inspired to draw!
THE SCCOOP. LAUNCH
WHAT IT TOOK TO BRING YOU OUR BRAND NEW MONTHLY NEWSFLASH by tahsin dhirani
VINTAGE CC
taking a look back the information on what has been going on with CC with VINTAGE CC, and what to expect from us in the near future with The CC Forecast, but we also added in a few fun features! Our One on One with.. feature lets us get up close and personal with a CC Designer. We shoot a bunch of random questions at them and find out what they have to say! The Keeping it Crafty Blog feature highlights a blog entry
written by a CC Designer and each month we feature a crafty DIY project in POTM! (Project of the Month!) We got a great response to the SCCOOP’s first issue and are excited for the ongoing evolution of this project! The future of the SCCOOP promises to be even more collaborative and filled with content submitted by YOU! We are looking for features editors (music, style, etc) and writers to add to our newsflash. So if you have something to say or want to contribute then get at us! You could be featured in our next issue!
the SCCOOP. is meant to be a bridge between our CC Designers and us throughout the year, because summer isn’t the only time you can keep it crafty!
This past September CC launched its monthly newsflash entitled the SCCOOP. The idea for the SCCOOP has been in the making for a long time. It started out as a simple and informative email for our parents and CC Designers just after our summer camps season. It contained info on how the camp session(s) went and what to look forward to in the upcoming months. This soon turned into a more structured and content-rich mini “mag” that you saw last month in our Premiere Issue. We continued to maintain
ONEONONE ...with Nikki W.
This past summer we had a chance to hang out with Nikki Watson in Toronto in Session I. Nikki is a CC Designer who really embraces her individuality! She stands out with her excitement and passion for fashion and design. Here is what she had to say about CC and her personal style outlook.
CC | What was your favourite project at CC? NW | Everything at CC was great, but my favourite was The Designer Studio where we did Fashion Illustration. We got to be creative and learn fun techniques. CC | Where is your favourite place to shop? NW | ZARA and Forever21 are equally great. They both have unique and current fashions. CC | What is your must-have clothing item for the fall? NW | Definitely my tall black leather boots! Great with leggings and jeggings. CC | Who is one of your favourite fashion icons? NW | Taylor Swift!! CC | Describe what your first day of school outfit looked like. NW | High waisted Zara skirt with a loose fitted shirt. CC | Are you dressing up for halloween? What is your costume? Did you make it? NW | Of course, I will be the most fashionable ghost out there. I am making my costume out of a distressed shirt and tattered tulle. CC | What is your favourite colour for the fall? NW | Grey is a my fav Nikki W neutral for fall. I love purple for colour. CC | Describe a favourtie DIY project you have made in the past. NW | I just made an apron out of three tea towels and some ribbon. A pretty and useful gift. CC | What was your favourite part about camp CC? NW | My fav part of CC was getting to meet new friends and learning new skills form awesome instructors! CC | Would you recommend CC to your friends? Why? NW | I already have!! CC was so fun why wouldn't I want to share it with my friends. CC | Do you have any fall fashion tips for girls your age? NW | Don't be afraid to have our own style. Even though everyone wears Hollister and Abercrombie it can be more interesting if you wear something unique. CC | What was one thing you learned at CC that you will never forget? NW | How to use many different mediums in fashion illustration to create texture and style.
FOLLOW THE LEADERS!
THE CC FORECAST a look at what’s up next
Thus, this past summer we introduced a specialized Leaders in Training Program that we like to call CC LIT. This program was created to fulfill the request of our growing CC Designers and it sees the girls transition from Teen Designers to Leading Designers through a combination of leadership training, workshops, theoretical and practical teaching skills and of course, good ol’ DIY projects! From team-building games such as the “Egg-Parachute Challenge”, to real-time placements with Specialists and Counselors, to teaching their fellow LIT’s a CC project, these girls had a well rounded experience that is unlike any other LIT program out there. The girls also got to take an active role in the productions of the fashion show with focus on the day-of roles. From setup to backstage production, the fashion would
to say about the program: “The LIT program was great because we made new friends, learned a lot about leadership and teaching, and had a lot of opportunities to work with the kids which I loved!” “This camp is amazingly fun! In this LIT program we were actually taught about
BEHIND THE SCENES OF CC’S INAUGURAL LEADERS IN TRAINING PROGRAM by tahsin dhirani
After running craftyCOUTURE DayCamp for 5 successful seasons we found that we had a lot of girls who had been through our program. These girls grew from being Young Designers to Teen Designers, yet still wanted to participate and come back for more. The only thing is that they wanted their experience to be a little different. Something fresh, and an experience that could stay with them for years to come!
The Egg-Parachute Challenge
“these girls had a well rounded experience unlike any other LIT program out there.”
what makes a good Specialist and Counselor and what they do.” The CC LIT program will be offered again in the 2011 Summer Season in both the Toronto and Thornhill Locations. The program is for girls going into Grade 10 and 11.
not have run as smooth as it did without the help of our CC LIT. The skills and knowledge they gained from this experience will definitely be useful to them as leaders in various environments, be it school, work, the community or even their own social groups. And a big bonus for our Leading Designers is that upon successful completion of the program they received a very personal Certificate in Leadership Training as well as the chance to now apply for a position with the CC Team for the following Camp Season.
CC LIT Liz K getting her ‘fash (illustration) on!
Here’s what a few of our recent CC LIT “graduates” had
CC LIT’s learning a lil’ somethin’ somethin’!!
CC LIT’s Cindy J, Lauren P and Liz K
THE CC FORECAST a look at what’s up next
FASHION U:
will take full advantage of Toronto’s unique fashion landscape and talent. This is truly a one-of-a-kind experience to get a sneak peak behind the scenes and learn from industry professionals + fashion students at such a young age. The goal of this program is to expose you to the many different ways you can get involved in the fashion industry, because there are way more options than just clothing design! We will introduce you to the exciting fields of photography, magazine writing, publishing, editing, styling, makeup artistry, style blogging, fashion marketing, sales, entrepreneurial endeavors, retail, education, drafting, event planning and so much more!!! Even our story is proof that there are so many options and roads to travel in this fashion and art world. When Tahsin and I were in high school (yes, we went to the same high school!) we can remember feeling the pressures of deciding our future careers at the age of 17. With the mainstream enrolling in more traditional science, and business programs, we tried to
STYLE SCHOOL IS NOW IN SESSION TAKING A CLOSER LOOK AT CC’S NEWEST EXPERIENTIAL FASHION by jodi dennie
Is working in the fashion industry your dream for the future? Have your sights set on being the designer of your very own label? Want to be at the helm of a directional and trend setting fashion magazine? Are you excited about your future in fashion but not sure what steps to take in order to get there? With so many avenues the fashion industry can take you to, it can be confusing where to start, or to decide where you fit in. Well, we were once in your shoes and therefore decided to make things a bit easier for you to tread your own path in this dynamic and super creative field! So fret no more, dear fashionistas, because this upcoming summer craftyCOUTURE is introducing our FASHION U Summer Program. This one week program is designed to take you down various fashion career avenues through field trips, hands-on workshops, guest speakers + portfolio prep. We
follow our love for the arts and fashion. I began my post-secondary adventure in kinesiology, but quickly realized that was not for me and switched to a BA where I studied sociology and art. I eventually finished with a Bachelor of Education as a visual arts and social science teacher. Tahsin followed her love of design, art and all things beautiful and went on to complete her degree with a Bachelor of Design from Ryerson’s Fashion Communication program. We both carved out our careers in the fashion world with CC, our “baby”, by combining our passions for art education and design, along with our inherent entrepreneurial abilities.
This is truly a oneof-a-kind experience to get a sneak peak behind the scenes and learn from industry professionals + fashion students at such a young age.
Fashion U will inspire you and help you to see that anything in the world of Fashion, Art + Design is within your reach! The program will be based out of the Toronto Locations and is for girls going into Grade 8-10.
KEEPING IT CRAFTY the official CC blog.
The Keeping It Crafty Blog is a collaborative effort including features and stories from the CC Directors, CC Team and CC Designers! We post about the trends we see, the trends we want to see, inspirations, profiles, musings... basically all things fashion, art + design and everything in between! In each issue of the SCCOOP. we will be featuring one story from KIC and this month we have chosen a piece written by Savannah Y from Session II. Here is a little taste....
cc hearts | JAR OF HEARTS
Christina Perri went from working at a coffee shop to having a hit song at the top 20 on itunes. This all happened within 2 weeks. Christina’s best friend knew a judge on So you Think You can Dance. The judge was looking for some new music for the dances on the show. The BFF made the connection and the dancers loved the song! Now Christina first song “jar of hearts” is an itunes hit. Christina has a unique voice and great song writing skills. “you’re gonna catch a cold, from the heart inside your soul” is one of her lines. Jar of hearts is just one song from this talented girl and trust me there will be more to come! - Savanna, House of Chanel Click here for the full story and the rest of the Keeping It Crafty Blog!
CC IS ONLINE. COME CHECK US OUT! WEBSITE
www.craftycouture.com
www.facebook.com/CRAFTYCOUTURE
BLOG
www.keepingitcrafty.wordpress.com
www.twitter.com/CRAFTYCOUTURE
HALLOWEEN QUEENS yourself. Grab a bottle of bubbles and start blowing for an added effect. And voila, you’re gaga for bubbles!
SWITCH UP YOUR HALLOWEEN ROUTINE WITH POP INSPIRATIONS! by jodi dennie
Skip the store this Halloween and take your costume into your own hands! Tired of the white sheet ghosts, green faced witches, sparkly princesses and bunny rabbit ears? Why not try to infuse some pop culture into your Halloween look this October by dressing up in your fav pop stars most outrageous outfit. And this season who better to emulate than the two hottest acts on the planet - Lady Gaga and Katy Perry!
THE LADY GAGA BUBBLE DRESS To recreate this look blow up some clear balloons in various sizes. Put on a fleshtoned outfit and tape the balloons around
THE “DICEY” KATY PERRY To recreate this look for Halloween create some boxes out of black and red construction paper. Glue on some dots to look like dice and tape them in a random pattern onto your red outfit. Grab a mic and everyone
will know you’re the coolest California girl on the block! PS. There is no shortage of inspirations from these performers - when it comes to their looks, Halloween is everyday and the rule of thumb seems to be the more outrageous the better!! These two aren’t the only ones with creativity to spare! Our CC Designers came up with some really interesting costumes for our Theme Days this past summer and we can’t wait to see what they have up their dressed up sleeve for Halloween. Send us your pics of the look you created for this fun night of dressing up!
BLOG LOVIN’ WE’VE GOT OUR EAR TO THE “STREET” AND OUR EYES ON STREET STYLE by tahsin dhirani
personal style blog got them a collaborative gig with a huge international chain. It just goes to show that expressing your own point of view, inspirations, and favourite things in a concise and easy to access way, such as a blog, can really be a fantastic outlet in defining your style and getting you places in the “biz.”
These days you can get your fashion fix in so many different ways. There’s TV and movies, magazines and stores, but don’t count out the internet and the blogosphere for up to the minute features on new styles, who’s wearing what and our personal fave - street style. This is a new phenomenon where photographers snap not only models, but the real life people who wear fashion in their own way. this new trend has gone off on tangents too and now you can find many a fashionista running their own blog about their own personal style and looks of the day. A few weeks ago one of my favourite cheap and chic shops ran a feature on 5 stylish bloggers who now have their own curated boutiques within the store and online. I was impressed that their passion for fashion, together with a little hard work and dedication to their own
The feature got me intrigued on the different styles and “takes” on fashion that each individual blogger embodied. The girls were described as The Classic Girl, The Downtown Girl, The Sweetheart, The Free Spirit and The Savvy Sophisticate. So I dug a little deeper. I checked out all of the blogs and here are my top three:
theglamourai.com fashiontoast.com cupcakesandcashmere.com
We also love:
thesartorialist.blogspot.com www.garancedore.fr Check them out for yourself and get inspired - by their fashion or even what they are doing about it!
FANMAIL
These are a few love letters we got this past summer camp season. And just so you know, we (HEART) hearing from you! “WOW! For my first summer at craftyCOUTURE its so much fun! The counselors are the nicest, they are full of energy and are the best fashion design mentors. By the end of the fist week we already made so many amazing DIY projects!” - Toby W House of Chanel, Session III “CC is by far the best camp I have ever been to in my entire life! It is so much fun to create all the fashionable items that Jodi and Tahsin and the CC Team think of. One of my favorite projects is definitely the Daria Ring. It is so fun to create the pleats for the floral petals. I also loved making the Anna Skirt with the pockets. The best part is that I can wear everything that I made and it all looks fantastic.” - Kayla D House of Chanel, Session III “At CC we are split into 5 Houses, House of Gucci, Louis V, Dior, Chanel, and the CC LIT. I am in Louis V. My counselor is Karinne. She is so nice and fun to be with. All of the specialists are amazing special shout out to Sam and Vee!” - Allana-Rae B House of Louis V, Session III “When you walk in the door on the first day all of the staff are wearing their own unique version of the “xoxo, craftyCOUTURE” tee. They are all friendly and nice and the camp atmosphere stays like that the whole session.” - Evening K House of Dior, Session II Want to share your love for CC? Well, we want to hear from you! Just email us your letters at info@craftycouture.com
.M! T . O . P [PROJECT OF THE
MONTH]
the karinne scarf by tahsin dhirani Just because it’s Fall doesn’t mean you have to wear drab “fall” colours. One way to stand out from the crowd is to infuse some great colourful pieces to your neutrals and basics. And what better way to do it than to add a colourful layering piece like this super cute and on trend infinity scarf we call the Karinne Scarf. The Karinne Scarf is great paired over a tee and long cardigan for Fall, and it can easily transition into Spring/Summer over a simple tee or tank.
Ciara C looks effortless in the Karinne Scarf she made at camp this past Summer.
This project was born out of a need to do something with all the excess tees we had laying around. Either we grew out of them, they were a little too worn to be “worn”, or they were oversized circa 1999, we had a serious surplus. So we stared at an old tee trying to figure out what we could do with it. After a couple of misses (yes, it happens..), we found this hit! And all it took was a little imagination and creativity. All of our Pics and Vids are online for you to check out. Feel free to comment and join in on This past summer the girls from the the conversation! House of Dior and the House of Louis V SESSION I had the opportunity to learn our tools, camp photos trick and techniques to create this DIY xoxo, cc! staple in Accessorize Me. The girls wonderland photos seemed to loved the project as it was a slideshow popular piece in many a fashion show ensemble.
LINKS TO !! S ID V + S IC P
SESSION II camp photos xoxo, cc! kaleidoscope photos slideshow SESSION III camp photos xoxo, cc! sugar+spice photos slideshow SESSION IV camp photos xoxo, cc! labels+love photos slideshow
The materials you need to create the Karinne Scarf can be found at home or at your local craft store: Old Tee (Coloured, Black or White) Pen Scissors Large Flower Stamp Block Printing Ink Brayer Sewing Machine or Needle and Thread
Send us your pics of your take on this months’ P.O.T.M! You may be featured in the next issue of the SCCOOP. And remember, Keep it Crafty!