In celebration of New York’s Fashion Week (February 12–19), we’re so thrilled to query special guests Yoon Chang and Dorit Landau, the creators of Fashion123, a fantastic fashion design and illustration program for school-aged kids based in New York City. Not only did they share some answers, but they treated us to some amazing student work as well!
3 & 1/2 Questions: Fashion123
The pretty pair met while designing for Cynthia Steffe, and after becoming parents, decided to share their passion with budding fashionistas. Most of their classes are held in local schools, but they can also bring the fun to you with their art-based fashion parties. Here’s a bit about them and their teaching:
Do you have any tips for drawing the fashion models? (Is there typically something that the students have trouble with, for instance?)
The proportions of the fashion figure is much longer and taller than the average person (8-10 heads tall vs 6-7 heads tall) because clothes tend to look more elegant on a taller figure. The challenge is to get our young designers to elongate and exaggerate the poses which makes them more dynamic. We tell them to imagine that the figures are made of plasticine and can be pulled and stretched out, especially the arms, which often end up looking like they belong on Tinkerbell 😉 Another great way to break down the figure is to imagine each body part geometrically such as ovals, rhombus, rectangles etc—these are great visual tools for the students.
It was a revelation for our model drawing students to realize the difficulty of drawing from a live figure, especially one in motion—quite different than from drawing from your imagination!
What is the best thing about teaching fashion and drawing?
The enthusiasm and passion that these young people possess—we love witnessing their creativity being unleashed into clothing designs!
What fashion or design influences did you have growing up?
Yoon: I grew up in an artistic family—I was surrounded by art, interesting people and was constantly drawing, sculpting and styling myself and friends in Canada. My passion led me to a scholarship at Parsons the New School for Design (New York City), which gave me the opportunity to study a year abroad in Paris—experiences I will never forget!
Dorit: Growing up, I always knew that I would end up in an artistic field but wasn’t sure exactly which one. Always inspired by colors, shapes and composition, I was drawn to the field of textile design and found my passion in designing fabrics. I enjoyed walking through the process of designs from yarns to textures, fabrics and then a final garment or home textiles. This all fascinated me! In the end, I chose to specialize in knits. It seemed the obvious path for me into the world of fashion.
Please complete this sentence: “I like to draw__.”
Yoon: …EYES! They are INDEED the windows to the soul!
Dorit: …Fabric textures as this process of rendering is truthful to its own distinct details and properties…it’s a form of meditation for me.
Please find out more about Fashion123 by clicking here and don’t miss the stylish Fashion123 Student Show in our Gallery. They’re also teasing a secret special project which we hope they’ll share with the world in 2016—wonder what that could be? Thanks again for sharing the beautiful work!
All images courtesy of Fashion123.
