Converse CONS Project Toronto: Making and Designing Skate Decks

with the boys from Create a Skate, Lewis Cruise, & Adrift Shop

For anyone who has attended or seen postings around town for Converse's limited edition CONS Project Workshops, they are definitely not one to be missed. These free workshops led by industry professionals, combine skateboarding, music, and art in an unparalleled warehouse setting in Boston, L.A., New York, and Toronto where attendees walk home with a new project they created all assembled with materials free of charge. 

It's actually a steal. This past weekend, I had the great fortune of attending the 5th installment of their workshop series, a Making and Designing Skate Decks focus in Toronto at 358 Dufferin Street at Queen West. 

Building the deck

Codi and Jared Hager, twin brothers and skate ambassadors of Create a Skate demonstrated the fundamentals of assembling a simple skateboard deck. 

Did you know - the most sturdy wood used to assemble decks is found in the Greater Lakes region? That's right, maple trees, known for their density and resilience to cold weather and grown in our backyard are shipped locally and internationally to manufacture your favourite brands of skate decks worldwide. 

Many decks can contain plexiglass or carbon fibre sheets in combination with wood, but the most fundamental, basic template involves seven sheets of maple wood. The sheets will alternate from longrain (where the wood grain will run along lengthwise) to crossgrain (the grain runs along the shorter width edge) to longrain again. These are pressure glued together or can also be vacuum-sealed in a mould that shapes the front (nose end) and back (tail end) of the deck.

Each attendee was given a stack of the seven layers of wood sealed and moulded, and cut-out templates to measure out the desired shapes of the nose and tail end of the deck. In addition, we were each given a tool to measure the wheelbase: the distance between the truck holes for the wheels between the front set and back set. I free-handed and drew a comforting nose and tail end that resembled my current Santa Cruz longboard. These shapes were later cut using a band saw and further smoothed down using an electric sander and sanding paper. 

Designing the deck

Next, Jared from Lewis Cruise skateboards, who specializes in silk-screening amazing and limited edition designs on skatedecks, walked us through the basics of how and what we could use to design our own decks. Provided with spray paint, permanent markers, stencils, x-acto knives, and glue, the warehouse became a creative playground of possibilities. Provided with the sunny spring temperatures (finally), tarps were set out outdoors to enable a spray-painting and drying zone. 

Given the shortened time frame of the day (11AM-5PM for the workshop), I maximized my time by bringing in printed out graphics which I cut individually and wheatpasted onto the deck itself. 

Wheatpasting is a simple and inexpensive process to seal and adhere concert posters and printed advertisements on brick walls, cork boards, and basically any porous outdoor surface. It is simply a mixture of wheat flour, sugar, & hot water that is applied like a paper-mache style of applying a thin coat of paste on one side of the graphic to be pasted down, and another coat on top of the graphic to seal it into the surface. Along with a layer of UV base sealer, my deck was nicely protected. 

The workshop was of great attendance. A number of students, teenagers, yuppies, and professional artists were all present to skate in the makeshift skate ramps, grab some nutritious, catered lunch by Rancho Relaxo Food Truck, and network with freelance bloggers, photographers, and brand ambassadors. Everyone I spoke to was super thrilled to be there, and being the last installment for Toronto, who knows when the next upcoming workshop will be hitting the city?!**

Check out the official Converse CONS Project website to register for more information when more free workshops come through! It's something definitely not to miss!

**(Past CONS Project workshops have included Making and Designing Zines, Making and Designing Skate Parks, Silk-screening, Wheatpasting, and more.) 

PART II: One of a Kind Show

Custom printing, Custom Fabrics, Laser Cutting, & More Sustainable Fabrics!

After attending the OOAK Spring Show on Thursday, I am still surprised at how ingrained, the Uppdoo Water Collection purse stuck in my mind since I first laid eyes on it upon the first 10 minutes of walking into the Direct Energy Centre venue. I still have dreams about owning something that looks anything remotely like it haha. Let's take a closer look at the print.

Upon speaking to the owner, Ricky Shi, he told me he collaborated with another artist, Nicola Kidd of Resurfaced, a custom photo printing service whom were also exhibiting their booth at the show. Upon bumping into Nicola's booth quite randomly, she told me she had met Ricki at another market event and he approached her with the project. That's the great thing with emerging artists and homegrown talent - everyone is always willing to experiment and help one another out. Here's a look at the Resurfaced booth.

They specialize in printing photos on basically any surface - wood canvases, card stock, metals, and now as we can see leather goods as well. They use a high-pressure vacuum that dries the ink immediately upon printing, leaving a semi-glossy effect on the surfaces.

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Vivid Streetwear - I have been following for a few months on Instagram after landing on their photos and seeing their presence all over Toronto's flea and crafts markets. I met the owner, Julia Alimova as she was sewing together what looked like one of her own pocket squares. 

There were a variety of bowties on display for purchase. Some were pre-tied and secured with metal clips, for those not savvy enough to tie their own ties. But there were a selection of ties for any level of tie conoisseur. Many of the fabrics were sourced from international vendors to be made specifically "one of a kind" for the buyers of the show. Julia puts utmost care into selecting fabrics and contrasting, satin underlinings in the bowties and pocket squares.

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Light & Paper  - What a delight walking past her booth, Ali of Light & Paper is super articulate at laser cutting all her hand-drawn designs and illustrations. She makes coasters, cake toppers, and even clocks out of bamboo wood and a laser cutter that she has in her own possession (Where can I get my hands on my own?!) But seriously, it would be invaluable to have a laser cutter to turn all your 2-D illustrations into usable, pliable art!

Light & Paper cake toppers

I love ornate details like this on this hand-made clock! Seriously, you can do anything with a laser cutter nowadays :) 

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This is J - Super pretty and simple textile designs that have been screen-printed on large format silkscreens decorate infinity scarves/headwraps, headbands, t-shirts, and other apparel at Jaimie Harris' booth. I tried on this super cute teal-printed infinity scarf made of bamboo cotton that drapes incredibly well and is super light-weight. 

Infinity scarf that can be worn 4+ ways

Collection of headwraps in different seasonal patterns by This is J

Like I mentioned in the first post, your first visit to the OOAK Show can be incredibly intimidating and exhausting if you don't have a strategy of how much time to allocate for each vendor you are wanting to invest time in exploring. I definitely gained some great insight for product line expansion. There are a few printing techniques I wanna experiment with to create some interesting textures and textiles with the brand logo! Check out the next blog post for progress on that as I will be updating very shortly! xo

Part I: One of a Kind Spring Show 2015

Check out the show this weekend March 25-29, 2015 at the Direct Energy Centre (Canadian Exhibition Place)!

For the first-time visitor, the One of a Kind craft show can be overwhelming due to the influx of people and strollers, never-ending carpeting, high vaulted ceilings with harsh, fluorescent lighting, and an undistinguished sense of where booth section types start and end. But wondrously, there are guidebooks and maps, a featured artisans section in the middle of the exhibit room, and service staff who can kindly help you make your way around the seemingly vast array of choices you come across as you move from aisle to aisle, or dart from one corner to the next interesting booth of products you lay your eyes on next.

Naturally, I am drawn to a variety of different things - bright colours, dainty jewellery, ornate lace, organic soaps, industrial recycled metals - you name it - I have a knack for a lot of different niches. Of course, I had to stick to my goal in mind: looking for intricate products that could inspire me to design two potential FÅÇÅDE projects, silk scarves and leather/wood engraving or woodprint.

Today, I narrowed down my search for vendors: screen-printers, those that designed scarves, silks, pocket squares, ties, leather bags... then went on a random tangent and spontaneously explored after I had visited the following...

Screen-printing and fabrics

WHITEOUT WORKSHOP

Natasha Patterson (Whiteout Workshop) from Alberta screenprints on t-shirts, infinity scarves, mini pouches amongst other textiles. She also experiments with screenprinting on wooden panels which she stains a variety of tints to give off a warm finish. She has a great theme of the kitschy outdoors (i.e. catalogue cutouts of bicycle ads, trees, birds, cameras) Great use of colours too invokes a warm living room feel of motifs. Miniature rabbits, shelving, and fixtures all decorate her teal-painted booth.

Screenprinted infinity scarves and t-shirts at Whiteout Workshop

Screenprinted Panels(Wood) Whiteout Workshop

Whitespace Workshop Made in Alberta

Whiteout Workshop Packaged Infinity Scarves

HEIDI THE ARTIST

Heidi from Whistler photographs and paints hyper-saturated images onto her textiles - using a sublimation process she uses her own photographed images as the printed visual texture for her set wearables. I was amazed at the similarity in her toques! Double lined with a cotton-spandex mix, and made to be worn inside out! Great minds think very alike :) (I wish I took more photos at the show - I looked at my phone later and realized I only had two from her booth. Hence the product photos from her website)

Heidi the Artist: Leggings in many colourful prints

Heidi the Artist: Pretty silk chiffon scarf

Heidi the Arist: Reversible Pine Cone Toque (from her website)

Heidi the Artist: Lupin Teapot Leggings (from her website)

TANIA LOVE

I immediately fell in love with when I spotted her colour palette from afar - a wash of 'pastel neutrals' - you know sand, bone, flesh, ivory, light grey, lilac - very soft and muted colours that look great on all skin tones! Anyone who knows me well, knows I love the middle of the colour spectrum - all nudes, neutrals, greys, the in between colours as I like to call them. She experiments organically with using walnut as her screenprinting dye, staining her cotton-silk blended fabrics with various tones of brown. She jokingly admitted to crushing up her own iron supplement pills, which creates a chemical reaction of darkening the intensity of the brown colour. Cute, cute. 

Apothecary display at Tania Love

Trying on my favourite Tania Love silk scarf! Super lightweight and pretty

PRINTS AND NEEDLES

I was walking around the Rising Stars & Etsy Creators section and was instantly drawn to Natalie Eldershaw's work as Print and Needles. Her general aesthetic for woodland, third-eye chakras, mandalas, the female hippie figure, and deerheads resonates very closely to my own. (I swear we have never met before or encountered each other's work) She tie-dyes fabric, silk-screens, and sews her fabric all from her own home. I ended up buying a sweet silk-screened change purse from her as well to keep all my business cards collected from the day. 

Prints and Needles Screen-printed Tote Bag

Prints and Needles Screen-printed Clutch Bags (left) and Lunch Bags (right)

Prints and Needles Change Purse with a

Leather Goods and Heavy-duty Printing

UPPDOO

I was drawn to seeking out Uppdoo, after mentally favouriting a limited edition purse they designed for OOAK's Water-Themed Competition. They design and manufacture luxury and custom-made wallets, change purses, and cross-over purses that contain two different components: a hand-held cosmetics bag component in different patterns + a leather casing with a strap to hold it all in, in different colours - black, nude, brown. After speaking to the owner, Ricky Shi, I learned the water-themed purse was printed with a custom and delicate water image by another vendor at the show, Resurfaced (that's teamwork guys!) 

The Uppdoo Water-themed Purse with custom printed leather case

Uppdoo Custom Purse: Choosing a body with a leather casing

Uppdoo: I love it! the tassels and the gold-toned zipper too.

Uppdoo: Two ltd. edition purses exclusive to OOAK. One on the left is made of recycled cork! So cool.

PART II with more reviews in my next blog post. STAY TUNED!

Androgynous Fashion & Models Creating Clarity for LGBTQ Communities

"Transgender" and "Unisex" Blurring the Lines of Runway Standards

Gender norms have long existed on international runways for decades - how much skin female models expose, how high and obtuse their heels should be, the defining body structure and type regarding thinness and curvy plus-sizes, among others. Although more flexibility exists with male models, they too have seen their share of scrutinizing - and for a smaller industry share, have more difficulty maintaining the same high demand and competitive income levels as their female counterparts. But all of this is slowly unravelling and changing well into 2015...Starting with the grey area of identifying as a "female" or "male" model in the first place...

Enter Casey Legler

Former Olympic swimming champ turned Ford model

Thirty-seven year old Casey Legler identifies herself as a female, but hangs with the guys in front of the camera. She has appeared on spreads such as Numero Homme and walked for Michael Bastian in structured and tailored menswear suits and jackets.

 

 Watch her story of her early beginnings here: 

Also, take a look at another model, Andreja Pejic

Formally known as Andrej

Former male model, Andreja Pejic identifies herself as a transgender who underwent sexual reassignment surgery in early 2014, crossing over from both menswear and women's wear with Jean Paul Gaultier and Marc Jacobs in 2011 to appearing at London’s Fashion Week 2015 in women’s wear for the likes of Giles Deacon.

Pejic (left) and Legler (right) seen together

Unisex fashion is also a commonly recurring theme on the runways..

The Fall 2015 collaboration of the Kanye West x Adidas unisex collection also turned heads with some of its flesh-toned, bare bones apparel. It hovered over the concept of the human body acting as a naked canvas - literally where clothing could adorn both a male or female’s body and their clearly defined physiological differences .

As a fan of menswear-inspired fashion myself, I am won over by the popularity, exposure, and growing acceptance of this cross-pollination so to speak - girls wearing boxy, structured overcoats, penny loafers, and fedoras; guys in florals, cropped tops, and platforms just to name a few. Of course the idea is nothing new, each generation brings about the same cycle of trends from an existing decade - but the fact that bloggers, streetstyle photographers, and fashion lovers young and old are embracing it is such a refreshing view. 

What are your thoughts on androgyny, whether in fashion or upon models? 

Is it old or new news? Are there still many misconceptions about "gender" in the fashion world?

Leave your feedback and thoughts in the comments below.

References:

1. http://www.shewired.com/box-office/2013/05/03/15-reasons-swoon-over-casey-legler-fords-stunning-female-male-model
2. http://www.forbes.com/sites/natalierobehmed/2014/11/11/andreja-pejic-and-the-rise-of-transgender-models/

Behind the scenes look at the FÅÇÅDE illustration

This is the original illustration that is featured on the inner lining of the FÅÇÅDE branded toques. It originated as quick sketch of my own face from a mirrored reflection as I was bored one day. I started adding anatomical bones, lace details, flowers, and clockwork, and suddenly was faced with this strange looking creature that I liked the look of. 

I also used tracing paper to create the FÅÇÅDE branded logo from the structure of the girl's face. The more I kept drawing, I more I couldn't stop drawing up different variations! I was hooked.

Next I found a silk-screener in the Queen West neighborhood of Toronto to reproduce my image many times onto sheets of bamboo cotton. I was super impressed with the results! 

Next, to design my first toque prototype, I cut out one of the screen-printed images from the cotton, and pinned the fabric onto the inside of these charcoal, 11-inch toques. A seamstress helped me sew the lining into the toques, and voila! We had a working toque.

I spent a good couple of days shooting and editing a video for Kickstarter, a crowdfunding service to help raise funds in order to produce the first 50 toques. These are some behind the scenes shots as I edit the video. 

A shot in the studio at Seneca College Sandbox with my friend Julia.