New Zealand fashion and lifestyle blog

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Highlights of Semi-Permanent Auckland 2014

I had a fascinating, inspiring day at the 10th Semi-Permanent design conference; so much creativity across the fields of photography, graphic design, fashion, and film, that my mind is full and I came home for a cuppa and ate jaffas to recover and brew on it all.

Here are just a few of my highlights of Semi-Permanent Auckland 2nd May 2014 with some of the memorable soundbites, photos I shot, and some top Tweets.

A highlight for many was Ian Wharton, a creative director at the Global Ideas and Innovation Agency AKQA. “He who asks, is a fool for 5 minutes. He who doesn’t ask, is a fool for a lifetime.” “A mind denied of challenges switches to autopilot.” “We forget how to play.” ““Do whatever our imaginations demand of us. Learn forever. Play.”

With its shocking – yet sensitive- portrayal of the effects of war on families and society, the photo journalism project, Bedrooms of the Fallen, by Ashley Gilbertson, for NYC Times depicted bedrooms of men and women who had died in Iraq. You go to a design seminar expecting to be inspired, but you don’t expect to cry. There was hardly a dry eye in the house in this incredible moving segment.

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Te Radar interviews Ashley Gilbertson

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It was a hard act to follow such an emotionally-powerful talk, and perhaps should’ve gone after the fashion talk, suggested some. Gilbertson replied to my Tweet on it.

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Each year there’s somewhat of a fashion representation; there’s been Karen Walker, Stolen Girlfriends Club, and PAM Perks and Mini. This year, the European label Augustin Teboul designers spoke. They began the label in 2011 as “traditional craftsmanship in a modern context.” It’s pretty much all in black. The label covers ready-to-wear to couture, “avant-garde to rock n roll” and is priced around 1000 Euros for dresses that only 30 or 40 are produced in each style. “You can start with zero Euro and build a luxury fashion brand!”

They confront their dislike of contemporary fast-fashion with the challenge of using making a modern garment using traditional techniques such as crochet and embroidery. “Nobody knows anymore how much time is involved. The food industry is the same.”

The women, who met at design school, started with a project together that related fashion to surrealism. “With fashion, the difficulty is you also need to sell it as a product; it must be worn, and fit the body, and last for years” Teboul says.

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Below: Te Radar chats with German-born Annelie Augustin and French-born Odély Teboul of Augustin Teboul.

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Matt Willey – “Being Senior Editor involves sitting around, getting drunk, and coming up with ideas.”

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Golan Levin – Every machine made product has been assembled by hands in factories; it’s actually handmade. Below: Open share bricks made on a 3D printer to enable all brands of building blocks to work together.

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Abbot Miller- “Goes into into a trance-like mode, thinking about type.” “A letter is worth a thousand fonts.” “To me, letters carry culture.” “A book is a movie you hold in your hands.” Below: Font fanatic, Abbott Miller.

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Below: The Rogue Society New Zealand dry gin van in Aotea Centre foyer.

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See our Streetstyle at Semi-Permanent here.

Some top Tweets about Semi-Permanent @semiglobal #SPAKL

keely O’Shannessykostheory all killer no filler today at Semi-Permanent. Every speaker was outstanding.

A Little InkALittleInk An exhibition is a room with a plot; the story is the engine; design is a measure of energy. A Little Whoa!

D Henjyojidhenjyoji abbotmiller ‘I was learning about storytelling through visual images.’

Golan’s Scratchpadgolancourses The NeoLucida by golan + prgarc : neolucida.com

The Big Idea, NZthebigideanz Matt Willey’s redesign of The Independent an exercise in simplicity. Great to see the creative process pic.twitter.com/0BdXFWHFcr

Transformer Designtrnsfrmrdsgn Bravery is putting your ass on the line to tell the honest story. Respect, Ash Gilbertson

Leah Suryntleahsurynt I definitely didn’t come to spakl prepared to cry during a talk. Such a powerful talk from Ashley Gilbertson.

Jaya Mangalam Gibsonjaya_gibson ianwharton quoting wise philosophy RE: creativity. “He who asks is a fool for 5 minutes. He who doesn’t, is a fool for a lifetime” spakl

Shanshan Zhou@shanz_mddn Thanks @ianwharton for reminding me of the amazing and brave years we had at school of design. #spakl

A Little Ink ‏Best 1st Speaker ever semiglobal spakl Youthful thinking, embrace the ridiculous with Ian Wharton

2nd May 2014
Megan Robinson


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