Here are pics of the show courtesy of our show photographer, Jeff Elstone. I wish I had more pre-show backstage pics, but there were cameras everywhere so I’m sure they’ll surface at some point.

I apologize for not posting these pics earlier, this week has been beyond hectic. I want to thank everyone who came to the show, who sent me emails of support before and after the show and of course all the generous people who funded the project when they didn’t know me from a hole in the wall. Thank you!

I also want to thank my mom for running 9 big errands for me before the show. My models would have been barefoot and starving if it weren’t for her. And my experience would have been far less special if she hadn’t been there to share it with me.

More thank you’s later, right now I’m leaving you with some backstage pics of the models dressed in the looks, the dry run of the show and me instructing the models on how and when to walk (I think I scared them!).

Arleen, Laura and Silvia, it was so nice to finally meet you. I’m really happy you could make it to the show!

I was supposed to be lounging on a Greek Island today, celebrating the marriage of two of my closest NY friends, Victoria and Elias. Sadly fashion week has no mercy and my show was scheduled 3 days after the wedding. At first I tried to convince myself that I could do both and come back from Greece a day before my show… but then reason and sanity set in and I realized I’d have to miss one of the two. While I’d love to be sipping ouzo in the warm volcanic sand, the truth is I couldn’t pass up the chance to show my work at NY fashion week. So here I am. Partly thanks to all of you. And ironically, partly thanks to Victoria and Elias.

To V&E: all my love and wishes of happiness, health and a long future together! Break a plate for me.

Here is the official invite to the show. If you would like to attend, the rsvp info is on the flyer.
Otherwise I will post lots and lots of pics on my blog once the show is over!

I know… they’re vinyl, not very eco, and I’m putting them up in public spaces (shhh) but I only printed a few – 250 – and I think they’re great marketing for the show! And I love this new technology, even though my 5-year-old phone doesn’t take pictures and can’t read it, I’m hoping others will be less outdated than me!

The code can be read by most phones and redirects your phone’s browser directly to my blog, where I’ll post the invite to the show when it’s time. Download the reader here and scan away if you see one of these around New York City!

If any of you want me to send you some, just email me with your address and I’ll send them out.

One part of designing this collection that I have not written about is the recurring doubt I believe most designers experience during the critical part of the design process. It is accompanied, for me anyway, by terrible insecurity, concerns regarding my judgment, and panic that the collection will be irrelevant or badly received. I’ve come to learn that this is part of the (my?) process and I am much better at dealing with it now than I was 11 years ago when I started designing. Yes, it’s been that long!

That said, it’s never easy to deal with and can become creatively crippling to a designer, which has been my case in the last few weeks while preparing for the show. This morning I woke up to find this link with a message from my adorable boyfriend reminding me that this is how he feels about the project. At times like this it’s so important to have a support system – other designers with whom to share ideas, friends who will listen to you vent, family and loved ones who will support you – to remind you why you do what you do in the first place.

If I haven’t taken the time to say thank you to everyone who has offered words of support, opinions, funding, and many many hugs, then I promise I will do so in person soon. In the meantime, THANK YOU! I couldn’t have done it

To all my backers, thank you so much! I appreciate your support more than you know! Or maybe you do know... I don't know!

Anyway, I'll continue to update on my blog and here regularly until the big show, I just wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your support and encouraging words.

Back to weaving...

I continued weaving last night and starting adding a pattern to the piece. I think it’s going to be beautiful if I am able to finish it on time for the show! It’s really slow and achingly painful on my back because I’m bending over my coffee table to weave each row. Next season I am definitely going to improve on this lack-of-technique.

But on the plus side, while I was taking back healing breaks, I played around with a tube of fabric that I brought home from the studio. It was originally a sewing test to calibrate my machine for another style, but it it turned out well (and was made of a single square), so I figured I’d try to make something out of it. I ended up with a simple organic cotton jersey tube dress with an elaborately knotted strap detail. I’m not sure if I’m going to put it in the show. I showed it to my stylist and photographer this morning and they want to see the whole collection before we can start to edit. I agree.

Last night I started weaving one of the styles with all the strips of twill tape Yaksitis cut for me last week (thank you, patient intern!). I don’t have a weaving loom – there’s a good idea for a Christmas present if anyone in my family is reading this – so I’m doing it all by hand and scotch tape on my coffee table. I didn’t think it would take me as long as it did to get started. It took me about 2 hours to do what you see in the pic above. I’m hoping I’ll make more progress tonight once I’ve gotten the hang of it.

I’m finally cutting!

It’s time to bite the bullet and cut some of the fabrics to make the actual styles I’ve been working on. Until now I’ve been testing out the shapes in substitute fabrics as some of the actual fabrics I have for the show are expensive and I have very limited yardage in my studio.

But it’s time to stop procrastinating and start cutting. So that’s what I’m doing. And I’m starting with style 001. Easy, all I have to do is cut one square. This one, like most, measures 32″ x 32″ and it’s going to be made into a shrug-convertible-to-a-crop-top. I’m waiting for the organic cotton snap tape I ordered to arrive so I can put together the collar, but in the meantime I can finish the sides, hem and armholes. I can also attempt to dye it tonight using tumeric or saffron to get a bright yellow clr. More on that tomorrow!

Also, a big thank you to all the generous support I’ve been receiving for the fundraiser from Candace, Jen, Preston, Jillian, Miramito, Tanya, Judy & Kristen, Thom, Sasso, Fred, Merry and Nobu!

A few days ago I went over to my friend Sonia’s house to work on the music for the show. And by that I mean I sat and listened to what she had done, and I’m thrilled with the result! Now I just have to figure out the length of the runway and how long it will take each model to walk it. There may be some video footage of me trying to figure this out, so watch this space.

Thank you Sonia!

Now that all the patterns are done and the fabrics have been chosen, I’m starting to make the actual clothing for the show. Don’t take this as adequate timing for most clothing lines, I’m running really, really, really late. But I procrastinated all through college and do my best work when under pressure, so why change that now?

My amazingly patient intern, Yaksitis, spent half the day yesterday cutting lengths of organic cotton twill tape. I’m hand weaving one of the styles and I started putting it together once she was done. I have to do some dip dyeing on the tape tonight before I can weave it all together, so this will be multiple posts. Keep an eye out as the garment is slowly finished. What you see on the pics is the first row that I stitched together. I don’t have a loom so I’m going to tape it to the table to do the weaving. Maybe next season I’ll get myself an actual loom and weave all the fabrics, but that’s a little ambitious for right now.

I used old tees to do some dip dyeing tests at home, and they turned out well so I decided to cut them up and turn them into tanks. I liked them so much I posted them in the shop.

More here: http://4equalsides.com/2009/08/20/hand-weaving/

This little code will be popping up all over NY city soon, and those in the know (ie. you) will be the only ones who understand what to do with it...

You can download the app to read these codes on your phone here: http://reader.kaywa.com/

Basically your web-enabled phone will read the bar code and redirect your browser to my site. Ahhh technology!

After a much needed regenerative day at the beach yesterday, I’m back at the studio with new energy and the motivation required to finish this project, woo hoo!

Last week I met with the very productive team at the KDU. After explaining my project to them, they promptly handed me this book, written by Rem Koolhaas‘ lead engineer, Cecil Balmond. And it’s all about the mystery behind the number 9. A perfect read for this project. Not only is it inspiring me to push the limits of what I’m doing, it’s also helping me see the finer details of the patterns I’ve been making.

Sorry for the obscurity of this post, I’m still a little hazy from all the sun yesterday. I’ll have more concrete images for you tomorrow.

After filling a few new etsy orders today (thank you loyal customers), I started to make the screens for the show tote bags. I’m going to be dyeing these bags later on, but first I wanted to test out the print. The bags are made from 100% organic cotton (naturally) and are from ecobags. I am going to put a limited number of them up for sale on the etsy shop to raise money for the show. The rest will be given away to everyone who has supported me.

I ordered this little screen printing all-in-one phenomenon several months ago thinking I’d use it to print tees, pillows and other side projects. I’ve used it to print bags for the store. It has definitely been worthwhile considering the time and money it has saved me by doing everything in house. My last intern, Kaitlin, hated the thing and I’m sure she cursed me under her breath every time I asked her to prepare the screens for me (though she never made that apparent).