Seoul Story 2: Garosu Gil
Filed Under Fashion, Food, Korea, Street, Travel, restaurant | Leave a Comment
After a long day of fitting and all with our vendors in Seoul, Daniel, Amy and I headed out to Garosu Gil in Seoul. Garosu means “Trees that are lined up on the side walk” and Gil means the Street. Garosu Gil is a small area in South side of “Han River” that has many cafes, Restaurants and small boutiques that reminds of Nolita in NY. Bit Young, lively, bohemian and somehow also bit polished.
Here a home style cooking Korean Restaurant, “Modern Bapsang”. You will find many places that are literally residential property transformed into a lovely small businesses in Seoul And I like it for it’s approachable warm attitude. I love the pink wall against the green along the rustic wood paneled passage way. You pass the small alley then you will hit the open yard staging the open door restaurant filled with people dining. It’s very Lovely!
One After another plenty of open door restaurants are lined up along the Garosu here in Garosu Gil. It was a Monday evening but it seemed like it did not matter to anyone here. Hustle an bustle, the night is just not long enough!
A open kitchen Japanese Restaurant.
A sake house.
Sorry I didn’t pay attention to the name of this place, but You can’t miss it! This hugely open rustic modern coffee shop is quite fantastic with a roof top as well. The street becomes the coffee shop and the shop becomes your street.
Here’s another good example of a private residency turned into a lovely Italian restaurant. Every inch between the building has been used up for outdoor space business here in Garosugil.
This little and very much old school ” Oden” house is epitome of bohemian soul of Koreans. Just right amount of space and your perfect friends sitting right next to you chatting and sipping. I find this place superbly designed thinking of your tired soul in mind.
Any Second floor offers just important business opportunities as the ground floor in Seoul. Just like in Tokyo it’s a big metropolitan city that needs endless space for endless ideas.
After bit of wondering, here we sat down and had some street food with a modern twist at ” School Food”. It’s a restaurant where offers all the street food that every Korean had grew up on during the school years. Above pic shows 9 flavor mini kimbap ( korean style maki roll)! Can you see the Squid ink rice maki with spicy squid inside? The rest futures toasted baby anchovies, kimchi, tuna with fresh sesame leaf, bulgogi ( thinly sliced bbqed sirloin) and more. Yummy!
This Ttuck bocki will put your tongue on fire! The #1 street food for all the students in Korea. Rice cake simmered in spicy chili broth with onions, cabbage and oden bits. Water please!!
Here some of cute shops on Garosugil. This shop called ” Happy Lady” had some great soft tops at reasonable price.
If you are visiting Seoul one day, Garisu gil is a place to check out. You will have fun strolling!
Seoul!
Grapes and Snake meets Junka Nabay at P.S.1 MOMA!
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A talented Rising Designer, Alexander Campaz meets a talented film maker Carlo= “Grapes and Snake” is participating Janka Navay concert event in Moma P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center 22-25 Jackson Avenue. They are selling their freshly designed Nabay and Snake’s cool tees at Moma Store of P.S.1!
Today, July 2nd, Saturday. 2-9pm. Moma P.S.1 Queens. Junka will be performing along with Delorean, Glasser, John Talabot and Korallreven
Go check out the concert and grab a tee!!
www.alexandercampaz.com
www.grapesandsnakes.com
www.lacasapark.com/la/2010/05/a-hidden-gem-alexander-campaz/
Sexy Back! :Paul Smith Men’s Spring 2011
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First of all, it all comes with holistic styling. I know there are these men out there. The Sexy ones. They are real men. I see them standing out from the boring crowd. Scruffy but not dirty. Relaxed but not lousy. Don’t get confused this confident flare with something else! Bit flamboyant and great eyes for the sharpest accessories. Love him!! The rich hippies! Mod Rocks and Rolls!!
I’m sure you have heard something like this: from your tip of nose to end of the finger tips measures about a yard, or the circumstance of your neck pretty much dictates the measurement of your waist measurement in half. So I was cleaning my closet out during the Memorial day weekend, and I was surprised to see I still had this self experimental anatomy project using a old pair of Gap jean during my first year of F.I.T.
In one of super early year of 90’s, I took a pair of over dyed Gap “Bell Bottom” Jean (Yes, Bell Bottom Jean!) and completely took it into parts and re made into a small jacket. A small jacket that fits me perfect. And this was one hell of fun project because I could totally discover that Human Anatomy worked a Magic. The rise just fits perfectly around my neck opening, the leg is just enough to cut into sleeves. The waist is waist, so it’s a perfect waist. Now I do not recall exactly where the band collar piece came from , But I do vaguely remember that the subtle curve of the collar was not my artistic approach, it was what it was. It came from certain part of jean it just fit perfect. Studding I did years after when I was designing Tommy Jeans. I was very much into studding then, I was studding even my check book cover. Certain satisfaction you get after studding to see how much you have done and so on… Anyway, Take a look at them!
The key point is actually one part of body measurement totally works or fits other part of the body. So fascinating…!
Here’s the How to!
Out of Africa: (RED) and FIFA World Cup!
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It’s that time, the World Cup!! What an exciting event! And I feel extra special about South Africa is hosting this amazing world event this year. A few years ago, I had a privilege to visit Cape town and Madagascar in South Africa. Tony Kretten, Michael Jarvela and myself were 3 main designers who launched the (RED) line within the Gap brand as an effort to educate and help people with Aids in Africa along 4 other major world wide partners: Motorola, Amex, Converse and Apple. The (RED) was founded by a lead singer of U2, Bono, and Bobby Shriver, a current mayor of Santa Monica and long time activist with below in their mind.
Here’s the manifesto of (RED): www.joinred.com
(RED)™ IS A SIMPLE IDEA THAT TRANSFORMS OUR COLLECTIVE POWER AS SHOPPERS INTO A FINANCIAL FORCE THAT HELPS THOSE AFFECTED BY HIV IN AFRICA. TO DATE, $150 MILLION HAS BEEN GENERATED AND 5 MILLION PEOPLE HAVE BEEN HELPED THROUGH GLOBAL FUND PROGRAMS THAT (RED) SUPPORTS. WHEN YOU CHOOSE TO BUY PRODUCTS FROM (RED) PARTNER COMPANIES UP TO 50% OF THE PROFIT GOES TOWARDS ELIMINATING AIDS IN AFRICA.
Actual few proto styles of (RED) first Launch Collection back in 1995. INSPI(RED) tee, (RED) jean, hoodies… The bottom photo shows Men’s and Women’s surplus jacket from the sketch book. Below continues on following seasons’ inspiration photos, scribbles, brain storms and sketches. We were all fired up to be inspired by the beauty and the culture of land of Africa itself for continuing seasons to develop the line. Ghana, Namibia, Kassena, Cape Town…
Tony, Do you remember, The Black gold of Sun..?
This was one of my favorite season. I was whole lot inspired by the beauty of Kassena Country of Africa’s Architecture and their most amazing murals.
This Safety pin with one African bead was the Pink ribbon that fights against the AIDS for Gap (RED).
The Town Ship of Cape Town. Where the majority of locals live. Brightly painted Patched wooden walls inspired me to create things that were joined, pieced and stacked with great help of Emily Harris, my long time favorite graphic Artist.
Now Gap’s first 5 years dedicated participation of this amazing journey has been just ended but I hope one day we will re-join the (RED) in bigger and better way. When I was actively designing the RED line such as simple Graphic tees to jeans,woven shirts, sweaters and leather jackets, I was sent along Kim Lim, an amazing woman who really worked her heart out for RED under the Gap brand to go visit all the vendors and factories who were actually doing the production in South Africa. From NY to Paris, Paris to Senegal then finally to Johannesburg then to Cape Town. What a long journey to get there …! And, I was on constant short flights within the South Africa region to visit one of the most prominent Design expo, INDABA( which means ‘ Bringing together’ in South African) in Cape town, and also the vendors who produced all our graphic tees and some of the woven pieces and a few other vendors in Durban and Madagascar as well.
All of these were such an eye opening experience for me. One, I knew I underestimated Africa. I mean What did I reaaaallly know about Africa? Hunger? the Aids? then what? Who knew so many haute couture houses such as Chanel and Armani were working together with one of the most highly skilled textile houses and trim suppliers. INDABA expo completely blew my mind. So many artists based in South Africa were already well established working with top interior design firms and brands providing one of kind lamp to artistic pottery, furniture and more world wide. And You know what? They were cutting edge Modern. Also I had met most amazing people with cause ( yes to help and build the South Africa) by utilizing their creativity at the expo. The scene of Cape town also surprised me. Despite of 15 or more Townships (undeveloped and poor urban living towns for non whites in Cape Town), many parts of the city was quite well developed reminding parts of here in NYC.
But then Yes, it is true that majority of locals do live in this poor Town ships with impossible to cure disease. South Africa along the rest of Africa does have a huge problem of AIDS. I mean the factories that I visited literally have to calculate the possible deaths of their workers up coming from having an AIDS into their productivity for their production. All the Airports or many other places that require steady work force in Africa have similar problems. Can you believe such a death is so common that you have to constantly fill in the work force? This causes vicious cycle as follow: the death-new worker-re-training-wasted time over the learning curve -lack of experts in their field-poor quality – death… Ahhh, It breaks my heart..
Typical Township in Cape town.
A local market scenes at Madagascar. I absolutely loved the market! Ton of hand crafts to textile, it’s super colorful. But then this is one of my favorite photo of the market. The Blue sky and quite view. It feels peaceful…
*I thought her look was super interesting in her thrown in together outfit. And of course… the Bare feet. in Madagascar, maybe good half of the population does not own a pair of shoes. Of course the factories where I had visited they did, but on the street it is much easier to spot people without shoes than ones with shoes.
UNESCO built water holes. I heard most of locals does not have water at home in Madagascar. You will see water holes here and there through out the town. There are ton of people living on the street and wash up their clothes and sheets in the small river when it rains and lay them on the grass field off the street to dry them. It was such a humbling experience to see what they have and realize what I have.
Cape town scene across the street from a small Bed and Breakfast where me and Kim had stayed.
Cape town Taxi
A view of Table mountain Cape Town.
I really hope the World Cup 2010 in South Africa will give a healthy financial and mental lift to the land. Mostly for the people who suffers and dying. The Young Generation. Also I hope South Africa government can somehow utilize this opportunity to get some serious attention from the world to help out their social issues-lack of education, poverty and AIDS. So many people live with their myth in Africa. People think AIDS will go away if they can sleep with a virgin or have a connection with their God through a ritual ceremony. We need a constructive education that starts from the womb of a mother for people in Africa and the world. We need a powerful wake up call.
Africa, It’s year 2010 and You are the one who is hosting the FIFA today! I want you to succeed. Succeed in building a better economy, succeed in educating, succeed in healing and succeeding in hosting the World Cup!
And you can help right now by joining (RED)!
A conversation with Two Artists: Fashion! at Metropolitan Museum
Filed Under Art, Design, Events, Fashion | 2 Comments
Back in May, I had an awesome opportunity to give a lecture/discussion at Metropolitan Museum as a related event to ” American Women” Exhibition. The American Women Exhibition was made possible with collaboration between Brooklyn Museum’s Costume Collection and the Costume Institute of Metropolitan Museum.
on June 3, a blog about my lecture was posted on Brooklyn Museum blog site. Check it out!
Quote from the Posting as follow! :
“In celebration of the new relationship between Brooklyn Museum’s Costume Collection and the Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, teen programs at both museums have joined forces to offer fashion related events for teens.
On Friday, May 14, Brooklyn Museum Apprentices visited The Metropolitan Museum for the teen event, A Conversation with Two Artists: Fashion! Also attending the event were other teens from across the city. Jaehee Park, a design director at the Gap, and Andrew Bolton, Curator of The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum discussed their influences and work/life experiences in the fashion world.
Jaehee Park showed off her sketch book and talked about the six t-shirts she designed in conjunction with The Metropolitan’s exhibition American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity. All six t-shirts are now on sale in Gap stores. Andrew Bolton talked about exhibition design and made suggestions for those interested in becoming fashion curators. He recommends majoring in art or design history as an undergraduate and then focusing on fashion history in graduate school.
This teen event kicked off the T-shirt Design Competition for Teens being sponsored in conjunction with the exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum. Teens entering the design contest must visit the The Metropolitan Museum’s fashion exhibition and Brooklyn Museum’s exhibition, American High Style: Fashioning a National Collection to gather inspiration and design ideas. The deadline for submissions is June 14, 2010.
Other teen events include a teen night at the Brooklyn Museum and a teen festival at The Metropolitan Museum. The Brooklyn Museum’s Teen Night: Focus on Fashion will feature a dance party, performances, and hands-on art making. The event will be held on Friday, June 4 starting at 5:00 pm in the lobby. Teens are encouraged to come dressed in fashions inspired by their favorite period in American history. The Metropolitan’s Teen Festival: From Suffragist to Sirens celebrates the winners of the T-shirt design competition on Saturday, July 17 from 11:00 am-2:00 pm. Hands-on art making activities will be features at the festival.”
www.brooklynmuseum.org/community/blogosphere/bloggers/2010/06/03/teens-unite-at-two-institutions/
Playing my Neon mind : The confession
Filed Under Design, Fashion, Speak my mind | Leave a Comment
So many lights going through my mind now. Neon like glowing lights. Feeling charged creatively yet I struggle not knowing how exactly I should express it. It is opening up a bar buying the corner lot on Washington? Should I start a little line tomorrow? Start the master cleansing today? That would at least re-start my own system. Why all of sudden these neon green looks hot to me? Even the $0.99 garden green and pink neon cups catch my eyes in the dirty sink. Gael is even drawing so called ” Cactus” on his drawing pad. And It looks darn good. Keeping a scrap book is always a good way to get it going. I may have like 15 of them over the years. Analog way of blogging I guess.
Feeling so itch to express it. Yet it feels like bunch of swarming neon lights at my heart and I can’t exactly catch one out yet…
I just shake my head and shrug my shoulders. For now…
Marc Jacobs necklace, Karl Lagerfeld Tee, Gael’s Cactus drawing, Emi’s duct tape collage.
Keeping the cool head 2: Blend Magazine
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Right next block to the busy Empire state building in Manhattan, there is this great Men’s hat shop , JJ Hat Center. But what really attracted me was really the sign of ” Borsalino”, the high end Italian Hat House above the boutique’s sign. Since 1875, Borsalino hats have been loved by many Italian men and celebrities as well we by many others around the world till today. There are about 10 boutiques in Italy through out the country and one in Paris but also many tongue in chick Men’s shops would be carrying Borsalino worldwide. www.borsalino.com
Since 1911, JJ Hat center has been carrying Borsalino’s exquisite hats and other names like Kangol and Stetson, and the boutique still keeps the old fixtures and carries traditional charms. And I love it!!!!!!
Walking in. Tall ceiling and chandeliers do enough of first impression to me. Very nice!
It feels like almost a library. It’s a nice feeling. I feel the beautiful manly vibe in here. Properly dressed Sales Staffs, old posters and hat station for steaming and brushing, 3 way mirrors along the solid Oak shelving. Very cool.
Emi trying one on. What do you think? This one costs about $275.00 Borsalino.
From left: The steamer, Hat molder, brushes…
Borsalino Today.
Feeling all dressed up? Now go eat at 21Club NYC.
Jaehee wearing Alexander Campaz Burn out tank with shot of sueded woven stripe applique cut on bias and Alexander, the designer in his next to come proto: Black and White stripe and checkerboard block jersey top.
Not long ago, I stumbled into Cooper Hewitt Fine Art graduate turn into a fashion designer, Alexander Campaz at Williamsburg, Brooklyn. A fresh line focused on geometry and color blocking for men’s and women’s. Especially knits. Great colors. Black and white to daring pop colors and I really dig them. Each and all of pieces do instant twist and cool.
I bought this baby. Loooove it!!!
My first Sweat Shirt from Campaz. Ohhhh, Don’t mind my silly face, Focus on his awesome Sweat!
All of them are Unisex. Alexander offers full size run on every pieces. Like a magazine shop, like a candy shop. Go find him and support a rising hidden gem!
You can find his line at Artists & Fleas in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Check out artistsandfleas.com
And also check out his awesome look book and more at alexandercampaz.com