Elvia Gobbo: Fashion Photographer

Last Tuesday in my "Study Tour" class in New York, my professor brought in a guest speaker, Ms. Elvia Gobbo.  Elvia, he said, was taking a hiatus from her fashion design career and concentrating on her passion, photography. She first pursued her interest in photography during a trip to Mexico, where she shot breathtaking photos of humanity and architecture (which I highly recommend you check out at http://www.elviagobbo.com/).  Since then, she has found a new home at the end of fashion runways, photographing not only outfits as a whole, but their intricate details. 

Elvia, an eccentric and likeable middle-aged woman, had an intriguing, loopy energy and didn't come off to me as  the typical "deep and multi-dimensional," artist, but her photos capture these traits perfectly.  I especially like the photo below, which was taken at a Fall 2010 Pierre Cardin show.  I think it is a wonderful photo not only for it's attention to the garments' details, but to the artistry of the composition.  It's so interesting to me that in capturing the model, the audience, and the background, Elvia caught a royal blue and black checkerboard--(with the hat and audience serving as the black "checkers" and the background and jacket serving as the blue "checkers").    

Pierre Cardin, Fall 2010

Below are two more photos.  The one on the left was taken by Elvia of Georges Chakra's Spring 2011 line, Edition, at New York Fashion Week.  I love that it isn't a typical full-body shot, and that it captures the intricate back detail of the model's dress.  It reminded me of the beautiful shot, "Mainbocher Corset" by famous photographer Horst Paul Albert Bohrmann in 1939 (below, right).  He also captures the back detail of the garment and the lovely silhouette of the model.  Both pictures, to me, portray quintessential beauty and grace, some of the fashion world's most precious gems. 

Paying to Play

In class we learned about how ridiculouly expensive it is to put on a fashion show.  After all, there is a lot that goes into them, from designing the clothes and getting the samples ready for viewing, hiring models, hiring and consulting with the hair and makeup artists, arranging for show space, designing the set, determining the music, and hiring the crews to set up and take down the runway and chairs...just to list a few.  


So is the cost and trouble worth it?


Yes.


The whole purpose of Fashion Week is for designers to showcase their latest merchandise, so that guests like large retailers and big couture clients (usually celebrities or socialites) have a chance to check out the latest designs and to place orders.  Fashion shows during Fashion Week are covered heavily by the press, which rapidly gets a designer's brand onto the forefront of frivolous fashion lover's minds.  With the right guests, designers can earn the business of major fashon-forward retailers ($$$), and can also have the chance to sell a design to a big name with a lot of fans. 


All in all, fashion shows get the word out.  Good review or bad review, at least people are talking about you.

 

One example of a celebrity rocking a design from the runway:  Leighton Meeter in a Michael Kors dress from his Pre-Fall 2011 Collection  (at the premiere of her movie, The Roommate)

Fashion's Night Out!

Product Development class-- 6:00pm-8:30pm every Thursday night.  Don't get me wrong, supply chain management and sourcing are important to the fashion industry, but those topics are BEYOND dry when interfering with Fashion's Night Out (no offense Professor Osborne).

Luckily, Professor Osborne (being the good guy he is) recognized he was holding a class full of distracted students hostage.  (I mean, HELLO, we ARE fashion students and of course were eager to attend the biggest celebration of fashion the world knows, especially since the festivities were being held mere blocks away.) 

We hostages were released by 7:30 pm.  Despite the fact Justin Beiber was making an appearance at Dolce and Gabbana on Madison Avenue (tempting), my roommates and I opted to explore SOHO.  Our goals were to see the infamous DJ Pauly D (Jersey Shore is a guilty pleasure of ours) and Kim Kardashian at the Kardashian's boutique, Dash, and to get a picture with the gorgeous Angels at Victoria's Secret.  

Unfortunately, we didn't meet either of our goals, but we still managed to have a fabulous night.  Our first stop was Mulberry.  The party there was awesome (for lack of a more creative adjective), complete with intricate face-painting, raffles for free handbags, and of course, free drinks.

 

 

                                        Me, Lyndsay, and Anna (my lovely roommates) at Mulberry

A few minutes after leaving Mulberry, we ran into the "Dash" crowd.  When I say crowd, I mean CROWD.  Hundreds of eager fans were huddled around the Kardashian's boutique.  We waited a long fifteen minutes among the mosh pit with hopes of catching a glance of Pauly or Kim, but we're pretty sure the best we accomplished was a glimpse of Kourtney's ponytail.  Oh well.

                                              A small fraction of the crowd outside Dash (door on left).   

 

                                                                      Having fun among the crowd :)

After our failed paparazzi effort, we came across GUESS.  Here, we found our luck.  There were beauty professionals giving free makeovers, and, PERFECT TIMING, there was no line (apparently there had been one that snaked through the store the hour before).  Needless to say, we felt like movie stars.

               

 

Finally, we made our way to Victoria's Secret (by this time, Lyndsay was super anxious).  Turns out you had to buy $60 worth of merchandise to see the models, and, of course, the line was ridiculous (emphasis on ridiculous).  So, with a disappointed Lyndsay in tow, we made our way home.

We made sure to stop at Wendy's (ya know, had to obtain the "classy and fabulous" vibe of the night) and even made it home in time to watch MTV's re-run of that night's new Jersey Shore. 

In the words of OneRepublic, "this has gotta be the good life."

Always Remember

 

                                                                      

Some photos I've snapped of the new Freedom Tower. 

 Building hope.

Needless to say, it's a crazy time to be living in New York City.  The streets are lined with police.  People are afraid to ride the subways.  It's sad that we've been forced to live in fear, but it makes us all remember.  I'm thinking of the brave people who lost their lives in 2001, their families and loved ones, and everyone involved in the rescue/relief efforts.  Feeling beyond proud to be an American!  9/11/01 - 9/11/11    

Who Knew?

Today marked the first day of my "Study Tour" class in New York City.  The class, which meets every Tuesday from 9:30am-12:30pm, is designed to expose students to numerous elements of domestic fashion markets.  It will include tours of designer showrooms (plans are in the making for seeing Tommy Hilfiger's!), manufacturing sites, buying offices, etc.  

Lucky for my class, our teacher is R. Scott French, who has experience in nearly all aspects of the fashion industry, from design to retail (Google him...seriously, his resume is impressive!).  He has even shown seven collections on the runways of Bryant Park during Fashion Week.  Quite possibly the next best thing about him after his first-hand knowledge of the industry is his modesty.  Seriously, I had no idea about his credentials until I Googled him after class.  (And his quirky, straight-forward personality is the cherry on the sundae.)

R. Scott French

Anyway, since it's miserably and depressingly rainy in the city today, we held off on a tour of the Garment District and stayed in to learn about how much a typical fashion show in Lincoln Center might cost.

Even though I've been part of major fashion shows at Kent State, I never even considered some of the elements required to put on a stellar, professional production...

To secure the venue alone costs $30,000! Ya...and then you have to throw in such expenses as staging, lighting, photography/videography, models, backstage catering, invitations...it all comes out to be somewhere in the ballpark of $120,000 (and the extra extravagant, larger, big-name shows cost even more!)!

The only two elements of the show where I guessed costs correctly were the music ($500), and miscellaneous expenses ($1,000).

More examples of outrageous prices: Postage of the invitations alone can cost in the ballpark of $1,500.  Creating samples (anywhere from about three samples per about 40 looks in a show), can cost $36,000!

Who knew?

Needless to say, I learn something new every day. 

City Made of Dreams

"I go to Paris,

I go to London,

I go to Rome,

and I always say,

'There's no place like New York.

It's the most exciting city in the world now.

That's the way it is.'"

- Robert DeNiro

I created the above artwork for an independent art project my junior year of high school after having visited New York only three times, each visit being approximately four days long.  Through the project I tried to capture all the city has to offer, from spectacular historical sites (like the Statue of Liberty) to the creative, eclectic energy the city drips of. 

Currently, as a senior in college, I am living in the city for a semester (September-December), am taking fashion classes here through Kent State, and am even participating in an internship for a website called Shoptiques that's launching in October.  I've been here for a week, and I have come to learn that yes, New York does offer all I thought it did, plus more.  Sometimes I struggle to wrap my head around all the facets of the city, to the unique flea markets of SoHo, to the prestige of the Upper East Side, to the interesting characters you cross paths with on the subway, to the suburbia-feel of a walk through Central Park, to the fascinating lights of Times Square. 

My two roommates and I have taken full advantage of our Labor Day weekend in the city.  On Saturday we walked for seven hours, starting our adventure at Central Park and its Belvedere Castle. 



We grabbed lunch at the renowned Shake Shack, which was recommended to us by several people.  A Shack Burger and a Black and White shake, please! Delicious.

We continued our journey by exploring the Upper West and East Sides, making sure to stop in all the shops we can't afford along Madison Avenue.  Somehow we ended up in a gigantic flea market whose vendors knew no English but whose merchandise communicated beauty and authenticity quite clearly.  We stopped for coffee in Trump Tower, and then somehow ended up in Times Square, and from there made our way home to Eighth Ave and 34th St.  The walk from Central Park to home is approximately fifty blocks, and we did not take the most direct path.  Needless to say, our feet hurt.

Our feet did not catch a break on Sunday.  With friends visiting from out of town, we visited the former site of the World Trade Center, and saw for the first time the beautiful Freedom Tower being constructed in its place.  We walked through St. Paul's Chapel, and through memoribilia of the 9/11 attacks on display, reminisced on the devastation and comradery our country has experienced.

Our next stop was SoHo, and after exploring a few boutiques, found ourselves in a maze-like flea market where I spotted the first famous face of our stay, Hilary Rhoda, the model for Estee Lauder.

My roommates and I then made our way to the Harry Potter Exhibition in Times Square (I'm thankful they're both Potter fans too). The line to get in was ridiculously long, but totally worth it.  There were hundreds of props from the movie, all situated in very creative, even "magical" displays.  I managed to snap a few pics, including Harry's robes and Invisibility Cloak, Ron's bed, and my favorite, Hermione's Yule Ball Gown:

We wrapped up our evening with smoothies from good old McDonald's.  Even some of New York's Mickey D's manage to be somewhat glamorous:

Although I'm pretty much as new as any tourist in New York City, I'm feeling more and more comfortable and acclamated here every day.  Braving the subways alone to get to work has been a game that I'm finally winning, and when I walk solo through the streets, I feel a sense of pride and opportunity.

There are SO many people here working toward their dreams, and sometimes you can feel the promise of a breakthrough.  I feel as though my time here is the first real leg of my professional journey, and I can't wait to see what happens next. 

I guess if I wanted anyone reading this to take one message away with them, it's that there is so much more to New York City than fancy lights, traffic, and flocks of tourists.  As Carrie Bradshaw says in Sex and the City, "Some labels are best left in the closet."  New York is indescribably rich with opportunity and bursting at the seams with historical significance.  You can learn so much just by taking a walk and observing the diversity of the people.  I feel beyond grateful to have the opportunity to call New York City "home."

My roommates an I acting like typical tourists in Times Square :)

I can't wait to see what the city teaches me tomorrow...