By Jules Quartly, staff reporter - Taipei Times
Thursday, Mar 23, 2006
The "Twirling Sofi" show at the designer's restaurant/lounge bar in Taipei was inspired by sufism and the dance of the whirling dervishes that is said to represent a spiritual journey to perfection. Isabelle Wen's (溫慶珠) latest spring/summer offering on the weekend was her favored combination of feminine frills and sequins; there was an edge that had observers saying it was one of her best collections yet.
And since this year is the 20th anniversary of the founding of her design company, the collection was an achievement that deserved all the applause it got. The Taipei fashionista has hit a high point in her career and the only problem is keeping up the momentum. But behind success there is sometimes sadness. A brush with a life-threatening illness and overcoming a creative hiatus six years ago has made Wen more appreciative of life's blessings and drove her to reach greater heights. Even so, she said her public image was "a shell."
"Though I may be sick and tired it is my job to make people happy. I don't want them to see just the horrible side of life, it is my job to reveal beauty," Wen said in an interview on Tuesday at her studio and workshop in Shihlin. Wen said her current collection was, to an extent, the result of overcoming problems. In fashion as in art, there is no gain without pain.
"I was listening to a midnight radio station called Ai Yue Diantai (愛樂電台) at my house. There was this music and the announcer said it was from a whirling dervish dance. It spoke to me of religion, prayers, layers of white and spirituality. There seemed to be a rainbow in my mind. It made me forget the pain."
Like the dervish who attains a zen-like state, Wen said the music had helped her put "spiritual and material together" to come up with a concept for her show, "which is a way of letting fabric tell the story."
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Isabelle Wen the fabric speak
By Jules Quartly, staff reporter - Taipei Times
Thursday, Mar 23, 2006
The "Twirling Sofi" show at the designer's restaurant/lounge bar in Taipei was inspired by sufism and the dance of the whirling dervishes that is said to represent a spiritual journey to perfection. Isabelle Wen's (溫慶珠) latest spring/summer offering on the weekend was her favored combination of feminine frills and sequins; there was an edge that had observers saying it was one of her best collections yet.
And since this year is the 20th anniversary of the founding of her design company, the collection was an achievement that deserved all the applause it got. The Taipei fashionista has hit a high point in her career and the only problem is keeping up the momentum. But behind success there is sometimes sadness. A brush with a life-threatening illness and overcoming a creative hiatus six years ago has made Wen more appreciative of life's blessings and drove her to reach greater heights. Even so, she said her public image was "a shell."
"Though I may be sick and tired it is my job to make people happy. I don't want them to see just the horrible side of life, it is my job to reveal beauty," Wen said in an interview on Tuesday at her studio and workshop in Shihlin. Wen said her current collection was, to an extent, the result of overcoming problems. In fashion as in art, there is no gain without pain.
"I was listening to a midnight radio station called Ai Yue Diantai (愛樂電台) at my house. There was this music and the announcer said it was from a whirling dervish dance. It spoke to me of religion, prayers, layers of white and spirituality. There seemed to be a rainbow in my mind. It made me forget the pain."
Like the dervish who attains a zen-like state, Wen said the music had helped her put "spiritual and material together" to come up with a concept for her show, "which is a way of letting fabric tell the story."
Thursday, Mar 23, 2006
The "Twirling Sofi" show at the designer's restaurant/lounge bar in Taipei was inspired by sufism and the dance of the whirling dervishes that is said to represent a spiritual journey to perfection. Isabelle Wen's (溫慶珠) latest spring/summer offering on the weekend was her favored combination of feminine frills and sequins; there was an edge that had observers saying it was one of her best collections yet.
And since this year is the 20th anniversary of the founding of her design company, the collection was an achievement that deserved all the applause it got. The Taipei fashionista has hit a high point in her career and the only problem is keeping up the momentum. But behind success there is sometimes sadness. A brush with a life-threatening illness and overcoming a creative hiatus six years ago has made Wen more appreciative of life's blessings and drove her to reach greater heights. Even so, she said her public image was "a shell."
"Though I may be sick and tired it is my job to make people happy. I don't want them to see just the horrible side of life, it is my job to reveal beauty," Wen said in an interview on Tuesday at her studio and workshop in Shihlin. Wen said her current collection was, to an extent, the result of overcoming problems. In fashion as in art, there is no gain without pain.
"I was listening to a midnight radio station called Ai Yue Diantai (愛樂電台) at my house. There was this music and the announcer said it was from a whirling dervish dance. It spoke to me of religion, prayers, layers of white and spirituality. There seemed to be a rainbow in my mind. It made me forget the pain."
Like the dervish who attains a zen-like state, Wen said the music had helped her put "spiritual and material together" to come up with a concept for her show, "which is a way of letting fabric tell the story."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment