kvn

Two years ago, as I was sitting in my French class at school at about 12 pm (pretending to pay attention), my classmate leaned over and whispered " PSSST...you look like a fashion blogger...Fashion show. Tonight. You down?"

My first thought: "YES."

My second thought: "I HOPE THERE'S AN OPEN BAR."

My third: "WAIT. I DONT HAVE A BLOG."

By 2 pm, I rushed back to my apartment, conjured up a sneaky, devilish plan (it's not actually that sneaky or devilish, but for dramatic purposes, let's pretend it was 100% conniving), and quickly started working.

With my friend at my side translating this horrible, foreign HTML/Java script language for me (which I still do not understand today), and we made up a fake fashion blog. Yes, fake. I changed a couple dates, posted some old photos, threw in my old designs, splattered some blah's and yadda-yadda's through some posts, and by 5 p.m., my stealthy visade was up and running.

Afterwards, we quickly drove to LA, got our press passes, watched the show, and left in a very good mood ( and not as sneaky as earlier in the day).

Fast forward by two years and I was back. I was still trying to get as many drinks from the open bar as possible, socializing, enjoying the atmosphere, and soaking up all of the great energy at this years GenArts Fashion Show with my NO 15 photographer and dear friend, Angela Cole.

I often times read reviews and hear people go on rants about how LA shows are a joke, and how people there are just a hoard of snobby "wannabes." In some instances (usually, most instances), I would agree. However, this time around, I was actually very excited (secretly) to go again, and mainly due to personal reasons. The 2009 show unexpectedly turned into the start of a "timeframe" that I set up for myself myself which I often do a lot. It's always unsettling yet compelling to hit the end of your allotted time and to get strange feelings of déjà vu. I started asking myself "what have I accomplished so far," "how much haven't I accomplished"," "how much more do I need to accomplish?," and "what the f*** did I waste so much time on?!" Back in 2009, I had no idea of what I wanted to pursue after college. Sewing and designing were just a silly hobby, blog-writing was out of the question, and my main focus was being buried deep under my biochemical studies (believe it or not). Watching the models glide down the runway, the clothes flowing smoothly with their every movement, hearing the loud energetic music blast through the crowded venue, and hearing the crowd chanting and cheering when the lights dimmed down yet again was a great reminder to myself to stay focused, driven, and committed.

Coming from someone who wants to pursue a career in design, I found the show quite inspiring. It was nice to see how happy the designers were as they took their bows after presenting their blood and sweat (probably 6 months worth), in a 3 minute show.

Thanks, once again, GenArt for your kind invitations.

kvn

VOL II

GenArt 2011