OFF TO "HONG KONG" HUNTING DOWN THE FARBIC

12 February 2017

Day 1

Our short fabric-hunting journey started in the morning 5:30am Singapore time to Hong Kong. Together, we are in a very big group with the guidance under two lectures in a limited period of time.

The first day was all about transportation, environment, time schedule and planting. We are all so excited and worried at the same time about the fabric yet to come. We all are slickly nervous about what kind of fabrics we are ending up with and what will the colour story of the collection be like. After all the conversations and sharing of ideas, some of us had a clear mind on what colour they are looking for in the market but some had no idea at all.

After we landed at the Hong Kong airport we all went straight to the hotel and I feeling of worried is back again. For me I was having a fight within my own though on the colour story for my collection. The colour fight was within the red and navy blue. I had three sets of idea in mind; the first though was having navy blue and red mixed together as one collection. Where the second set of mind was having all collection in shades of navy and dark blue, which is a safe colour for menswear. For the last mindset of mine was having all the men in different shades of red where there isn’t any other colour but a total red tone. I always wanted to see a collection of mine in a monotone colour or monochromatic colours scheme. In tints, tones and shades of a single base hue. However, I leaved it to tomorrow.

13 February 2017

Day 2

Everything is about timing, having everyone to be on time if you are late there isn’t anybody waiting for you. On the fast day it is like a toured day to each and every fabric and trims industry on the market that the lecturers are familiar with. We are running around after them and trying to remember which shop is for what purposes and it was a fun afternoon. After the lunch breaks we all end up at a fabric market that, look old but the inside the market was interesting there are a lot of fabrics to look out for. I was there in my confused mind of which color to pick, however as we don’t have much time to waste I just look out for both color but I found more of dark and navy color fabric in the market compared to red fabric at the end of the day.

14 February 2017

Day 3

Time is moving and we all have to move on. I though of showing our supervisor about the 3 color swatches I had arranged last night in the morning of the day but he both end up only seeing the sketch together with all the matched fabric as set only. Moreover, the booking was packed. So I end up having my appointment in the afternoon or we can say at the end of the day. So I have to change the entire plan paring and matching set by set. Paring was tough for me because I wasn’t ready to pick the color so I decided to part them with 3 sets of idea. First set is a mix of red and navy for 8 looks. Second set is a mix of navy and darker which I have enough fabric supply with. For the last set is a total shades of red but there was a problem about red because there isn’t much fabric yet for me at the time. So I end up sharing the first two idea to my lecturer and the first idea was clearly cut out because all the student are having a mix of red and other darker color which seam not to be exciting anymore. For the second idea after a short talk we figure and approved all the materials but the color wasn’t showing any excitement and anxiety of desire at all. As navy and dark color is a normal tone we see in most of the menswear.

15 February 2017

Day 4

After all the thinking and reconsideration I plan to show and talk to both the supervisor again in the morning about how and what I want and what they think of. Not so late we came up with the solution of having all the looks in shades of red. Right after the decision of color I begin my journey on hunting down all the red fabric that are suitable to the collection men in corset. After running around for all the red fabric, the next step is for me pair the fabric according to the look and approval was made finally at the end of the day. The ordering of the fabrics are all made and things are all set before 5pm. After all the fabric we move on to the leather shop to get the red leather for my man corset which will be made out of leather. However, the thinking keeps on going.

16 February 2017

Day 5

It is the day of picking up all the fabric that I placed an order on and gathering will be available at the afternoon 3pm Hong Kong time. Before the collecting time, I was running after all the trim that will be use in the collection. Zipper was the first stop and it was easy because they will help you find everything after you listed down all the length material and color of the zipper on the paper for them. The next stop was the buttons and eyelet materials. And the last and the most difficult things were finding the right look a like leather strip for the lacing. However, it was a problem and time wasting some how because if I didn’t make a way to find the right lacing material I cannot buy the eyelet. So I have to walking around the street looking for the strip and finally I found the right color and lacing material for the day.

17 February 2017

Day 6

It is the last day to the fabric market but it wasn’t a chill day because I still have to look for all the third for normal fabric and the leather that have the same shade of color with the fabric I brought. Buying was an endless journey.

The next stop and the last stop was the wool mark company located somewhere in Hong Kong City in a cool building which could be a dream job to some people in the industry. It was I great experiences with the company where all the clothing and fabric are made out of wool. It was truly amazing to know how to take care of the wool fabric and the correct washing process. Having a great opportunity to know a lot of things and the market of wool in the industry.

At the end of the day, I know that everyone is tired and of cause everyone have the right to be tired. However, I am thankful of having to be under the supervising of both the lecturer and I am thankful to all the good and bad things that I bean through and I hope that we all never give up and keep on moving.