It might be blasphemy to alter one of my grandmother's famous prints, Llama-Llama, but horizontal lines are hard to wear and a headache to cut for garments. I do love my grandmothers original, especially the way each hand-drawn llama is ever-so-slightly different if you look closely enough. I'll bring back the original in the future, but at the moment I'm planning to print shirts and dresses with this design and I want my llamas distributed randomly like a happy herd in the Andes of Peru. With the help of Illustrator and a random number generator I created a design, then altered the edges of my design so that it would repeat seamlessly. I took the image to a local silkscreen...
I'm fresh off the plane from Europe, where I spent two weeks visiting friends and family from Rome to London. One of many inspiring moments of the trip was flipping through my aunt Victoria's modeling portfolio while hearing stories about her from my cousin Phillippe. She's precisely the kind of woman who inspires me to design; strong, smart, and adventurous. She left modeling to become a neurobiologist at a laboratory in Paris. An animal lover, she collected unusual pets including a lizard who made its home in her Paris apartment bathroom.
Queen Bee has revamped its shop and has become Silvania's Portland home. Join me, the Queen Bee staff, and bunch of local design friends to celebrate the new space. You are welcome to check out the Silvania work studio which I share with fellow designer Heather Treadway. Plus, you'll see Queen Bee's Fall collection, enjoy treats from Dragonfly Chai, get crafty and invite your wee ones to get crafty too, and shop the newly expanded offerings of clothing and goodies. More details at the Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/199777106859841/Queen Bee, 3961 N Williams Ave, Portland, Oregon 97227Friday, September 20th from 5pm to 9pm
My grandmother, Silivia, created Silvania Prints in 1958 after falling in love with the ancient artwork left behind by long-gone artists that surfaced in modern Peru as 'artifacts'. Taking inspiration from textiles, ceramics, and the Nazca Lines, she sketched her own version of motifs from relics she found in museums and on expeditions throughout Peru. Her fabrics brought new life to the ancient deities and designs she found, bringing them into the modern world as clothing, curtains, pillows, and purses. I can't believe my luck in having a catalog of her designs; not only can I keep her memory alive by using her fabrics in my clothing designs, but the legacy of precolonial Peruvian artists spanning two millenia! When...
Click here to RSVP. My friend Bobby Bonaparte knows how to throw a party. The founder and creative director behind Portland-based LiFT Label (and, yes, relative of Napoleon), Bobby has an innate capability to conjure cool and a magnetic power to bring great people together. There's no one I'd rather throw a midsummer soirée with. We put our heads together to come up with an amazing event, thanks to a stellar group of friends including Ecotrust, Martin Zarzar, and Las Primas. LiFT Label and Silvania are alike in that they are both social enterprises, meaning social and environmental goals are woven into the fabric of our businesses. That's why our early celebration of Peruvian Independence Day, albeit from the northern latitude of...
