Kimberly wears a navy blue dress that goes above the knee, and is attached with a black short sleeved crop jacket.
Spring 2008
- A Word From The Editor. Dawson Ko.
- Skip Into Spring. Gemma Campagna.
- Street Styles. Emma Fraser.
- Flower Power. Ly Huynh.
- Sunglasses Mean One Thing, Sunshine! Tracy Tam.
- Fashionable Eye Gallery.
- 10 Minutes With Michael Lo Sordo. Tina Nguyen.
- "Bring On Spring" Say The Experts. Joy Tsai.
- Leave The Lot - You'll Find A Shop. Nastasia Campenella.
- Fashion On Another Sensory Level. Dawson Ko.
- Smashing Ming Vases! (... And Other Wayward Hobbies Of Catfox! Designer, Julian Ngui.) Wenee Yap.
- STOP! This Is How Not To Dress Like A Man. Tomasz Forfa.
- End Credits.
Smashing Ming Vases! ( And Other Wayward Hobbies Of Catfox! Designer, Julian Ngui.)
"The world needs more open minds. And you know, sometimes it's fun to smash things."
Meet Julian Ngui: fashion designer, animator, and enthusiast of the ridiculously cute. At 22, his anime-inspired label, Catfox! boasts three successful online stores drawing fashion-savvy consumers from the US, Europe, Asia and Australia, attracted by his quirky, cheerful, childhood-flashback characters and creations. It's not hard to see why. Named Most Promising Student of his first year studying Multimedia at JMC Academy, his cute characters have an endearing oddness to them. His label, Catfox! specializes in offbeat streetwear and accessories - t-shirts, hoodies, shoes, canvas tote bags, badges, mugs - for both guys and girls, and the young at heart. Each features an original character design. Bestsellers include Kawaii sushi, a perpetually Pollyanna sushi roll, and Meowshroom - half cat, half mushroom, all cute.
Diana poses in a Catfox creation, which is a white T-shirt with print and a pair of jeans.
Constantly imagining new characters and concepts, Julian even takes design requests for new product lines. Right now, he's trekking North America on a shoestring. We catch up with Julian from his Vancouver rental room to talk philosophy, Catfox! plans and Faberge eggs.
Q: Who are Catfox and her friends?
A: The idea behind Catfox and her friends is that they like to help people. Whether it be cheering someone up, or helping open a can of beans, they're always there to happily lend a hand.
Q: What is your artistic philosophy?
A: I think that anyone can be an artist if it comes from a true place. I feel that good art is that in which I can feel the artist coming through the work, regardless of how aesthetically appealing the work is. I mean, I might find a simple scribbly drawing by a 5 year old affects me on a deeper level than a professionally painted piece hanging in an art gallery. I like to put a part of myself in to everything I create. It's pointless to just have a character without some story to them. Otherwise they're just a meaningless combination of shapes and colour. I've found that if I don't get a sense of life from one of my creations, I refuse to use it. It could be by simply looking in its eyes. If I can't sense a soul, then that's the end of that character.
Q: Do you have any plans beyond the online stores?
A: I hope to bring the Catfox label to actual retail stores. The characters also lend themselves well to toys, which is another area I'm really interested in. As well as toys, since the characters have such long backstories, I'd like to be able to write and publish some picture books based on them, or create animations or cartoons featuring them. Ideally, perhaps open up a dedicated Catfox Store or animation studio.
Q: What does the world need more of?
A: Open minds. Nowadays, partly thanks to the expansion of the internet, people are becoming more and more cynical towards and critical of everything. People should put away all these prejudices and cynicism and just enjoy everything that life has to offer.
Designer Julian Ngui wears one of his own creations, a light yellow t-shirt with animal print, and a pair of jeans.
Q: Who inspires you as a designer/character animator? Why?
A: In terms of design style I've not really been influenced by any one particular person. I've drawn my inspirations from all different styles, the most obvious being Japanese Manga, but also I draw a lot from many western influences such as Disney. Doug TenNapel has been a big influence on me, with his very random style of humour and off-beat wit, as well as Miyazaki in terms of the simplicity with depth he creates in all his work.
Q: One of your influences, Hayao Miyazaki, has been quoted saying: "Modern life is so thin and shallow and fake. I look forward to when developers go bankrupt, Japan gets poorer and wild grasses take over." What are your thoughts?
A: Honestly, I too look forward to that day. This may sound like a clich袠thing to say, that all fresh-faced designers might, but I'm really not at all doing this for the money. Design, animation, it's all just for the fun of it. As long as I can get enough to pay the bills and eat, that's all I need. I love taking long drives out to the middle of nowhere. Modern luxuries are a bonus, but in truth, do we really need huge plasma screen TVs and fancy cars to be happy? Although at the moment I have my eye on the new Nissan GT-R, but that's different!
Q: Last 5 minutes before the apocalypse. What would you do?
A: Probably start causing wanton acts of random destruction. Of course, no actual harm to anything living, but watch out, Faberge eggs and Ming Vases. I'm not a violent person by nature. Sometimes, it's just fun to smash things.
Q: Favourite Catfox character and why!
A: Bwonk. He's a big, loudmouth jerk who really only has the best intentions for everyone. He's just misunderstood.
Check out Catfox! for exclusive store promos, clothes and photos @ www.catfoxdesign.com
If you're interested in getting involved, joining our facebook/myspace groups or being a part of our next photo shoot, shoot off an email to: wenee@catfoxdesign.com
Wenee Yap
Soccer star David Beckham holds his long hair in place with a black hair band.
STOP! This Is How Not To Dress Like A Man
Almost at the end of another edition of Fashionable Eye, lets challenge our minds with something thought provoking from Tomasz Forfa.
Now I know that you are a man. And you can dress however you want - that's cool with me. For this article I am going to point out the fashion trends men are taking on which have traditionally been associated with women.
Guys have gone to great extremes to impress chicks. Let's be honest, it's the only reason why we don't stay in our pajamas and super hero T-shirts all day. And we're intelligent creatures too (yes we are). We see guys who have women all over them and try to copy what they do. There are men like David Beckham, Leonardo Decaprio and other 'beautiful' men. They have women loosing their freakin minds over them. Why not copy their style?!
Some people may disagree, but if we're really honest, aren't we all a little guilty of this? I know I am.
It has lead to a number of trends which may appear to enhance a man's looks but do nothing for the real matter at hand - his manly appeal to the opposite sex. The way I understand it, the women we want are attracted to men, not other women. But guys have moved to wearing feminine clothes to impress them by looking more 'beautiful'. I'm scratching my head in confusion at this stage.
A young Leonardo Di Caprio.
So, to the related fashion. Let's talk about hair bands and clips. Beckham has done it and he bedded Posh Spice, leg-end. In the included photo he has a black, what appears to be plastic, hair band holding back his medium length blonde hair. It works if you're a superstar running around a soccer field all day and have teenage groupies. It doesn't work if you're a slightly overweight uni student wearing too much cologne. It just looks a bit school-girlish with the hair pined back.
Pink T-shirts, you're next. Apparently real men aren't afraid to wear pink. And real women aren't afraid to grow a mustache, but it doesn't exactly flick our switch.
Whether we like to admit it or not, there are male characteristics which are burned into women's brains through evolution which cause the Tom-Jones-Panty-Throwing-Reflex in most women (I exaggerate for effect and yes that is the technical term).
That's why uniforms are so popular among women. They represent power, confidence, strength and the ability to pick up your women and take her away. A pink T-shirt and hair band doesn't exactly have the same effect - I think you get my drift.
So why do the beautiful men on TV have all these girls? A couple of reasons. Firstly, they're on TV and famous, enough said. This also leads to a common psychological effect where women are attracted to men who are surrounded by other women. It's like these other women have pre-approved the guy as woman-worthy.
Arnold Schwarzenegger looking mighty buff.
Another psychological effect is that in times of economic prosperity and peace women are generally more attracted to younger more boyish looking men. Psychologists explain this by saying that it appeals to their mothering and caring instincts. While during times of economic hardship and political trouble, women move towards more manly macho men like Arnold Schwarzenegger. This is because the man can protect and look after them. This all helps to explain why the 'beautiful' men on TV have been more popular in the last decade.
Enough of the psych and back to the fashion. Pastels have been popular spring and summer colours for men in the last few years. These are the light soft colours such as light blue, pink, yellow and green. However they are not so masculine. Wear them if you like, it's up to you. But remember the ingrained male characteristics which women are almost uncontrollably attracted to - they are not represented by pastels.
Whatever you wear them, do so with confidence and have a great spring!
Tomasz Forfa.
