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It’s been a while since I’ve written a post about fashion; I’ve wanted to write one for quite some time now but life at the moment is throwing these fantastic curve balls. All I want to do is hide away and sleep. The reason why my interest in fashion has picked up again is because it’s been my current distraction (in a positive way). I’ve started getting back into reading fashion blogs again (good old Style Bubble) as well as looking through fashion magazines i.e. me standing there at the magazine racks for about half an hour on my own sifting through magazines like there’s no tomorrow. For the past couple of months I’ve been mulling over Gucci’s past and present collections. I’m in love with the whole aesthetic and it’s been my influence in terms of my wedding look. Unfortunately, I can’t afford to spend £600+ on shoes but one can dream- and dream some more. Talking about dreams, I love the fact that Gucci have gone slightly overboard/eccentricity shines through in terms of creating dreamy retro prints and turning it into something modern and youthful fused with 70’s and 80’s glamour. Throw in loads of sequins, beautiful embroidery, bold and clashing colours teamed with over-sized sunglasses.

I’ve always admired designers such as Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood, Kenzo and Rei Kawakubo who have their own creative vision in that their clothes becomes much more about objects to look at and to admire- almost like a piece of artwork rightly so. Fashion isn’t just about this simplistic idea of wearing clothes for the sake of it (like ‘fast fashion’ for instance), the impulsive need to constantly consume excessive amounts of imitations of things or simply because it’s ‘in’ right now. I’m sorry to say but those massive Fila trainers from Urban Outfitters are awful. AWFUL. Unsightly to say the least.

For me, the art of fashion is about how it can transcend time- going back and forth from the past to the present- this idea that time is stuck in one moment simply isn’t true. The fact that there’s almost no boundary as to where fashion can take you is what inspired me in the first place to dip into fashion illustration. For a long time I used to look through Fruits as a source of inspiration for my work. I think it was the fact that young Japanese folks use fashion as a way to carve out their own identify, their taste in music, other subcultures, the fact that who gives a toss if you don’t ‘fit’ into society.

I suppose I’m getting off onto a tangent here, right? I can see a part two of this post coming very soon!

Gucci has inspired this next series of work which I’m currently work on for a show in May and June. I’ve created three pieces at the moment but I’m planning on making some more for the show. I’ve taken inspiration from the embroidery, patterns and motifs used in Gucci’s clothing. Let’s see where this takes me! It feels great to be making collages again; I’ve pretty much gone and done a circle revisiting old methods I used to use from ten years ago. When I look at my work now it doesn’t look like it’s aged if you see what I mean, as in, it doesn’t refer to any point in time like you see with some styles.

I hope to continue with this theme and I’ll be sharing new work as I’m going.

Thanks again for reading this and I’d love the hear your thoughts on today’s post. Have an awesome day and take care.

Hello there! How have you been? Are you enjoying the blazing sunshine we’ve been getting at the moment? Today when I looked at the last post it was waaaay over a month ago (oooppss!). There’s been radio silence here for the past couple of weeks as I’ve been busy and, literally, had no time to sit down and do a bit of writing. I cannot say much about the wedding venue, but we’re getting that sorted out right now and, OMG, I am buzzing with excitement! All will be revealed once we’ve confirmed both venues and then that means I can crack on with the wedding invites, which by far is the most exciting and fun bit of it- right?!

I did some quick work for my very talented friend Amy Fitz Doyley and if you’ve been following me over the past couple of years her name may ring a bell. I’ve done work for her tin the past and it’s always an absolute pleasure to be able to work with someone who is incredibly talented and sings from the heart.

 

Good luck Amy with your tour! Go girl!

 

Jo x

Hello all! I hope you’re enjoying the autumnal weather (as in the cold, rain, wind…) wherever you are in the world.

I have some rather exciting news that I’ve been keeping quiet for a while; I’m super happy to say that I’m now represented by Advocate Art! I’m looking forward to the next couple of months as to what will happen!

Here’s my profile on Advocate Art’s website: http://www.advocate-art.com/artist.jo-cheung

REPRESENT!

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