(Based on designer appearance on style.com)

Good evening, everyone.

Welcome to the third season of Le Beau Monde, Project Designer’s sister fashion competition. If you are walking into this wanting to improve your outlook on fashion and illustrative technique, then I implore you to read this application through.

LBM is a fashion competition for those devoted to fashion and illustration. Many designers who, for whatever reason, did not make the cut for PD join LBM in order to broaden and sharpen their portfolio. To assume that LBM is less difficult a competition than PD, however, is fallacious. Reality check: The competition usually commences with, as opposed to the more selective PD, 25-40 designers. Out of those, let’s say, 33 designers, one wins. When the group is reduced down to six or seven, the competition becomes considerably more difficult, as most or all designers by then develop accurate and idiosyncratic illustrative skills and progressive, believable “fashion” concept. PD designers such as Madstar, Kar-tastic, Thejarc, Chudamerr and Italygermanboy (and myself) honed their skills by working diligently at LBM. We, like many of you, were originally denied admission into PD.

Walk in expectations: submit your work by the deadline. If a prompt calls for one to two looks, the deadline will probably be a week after the date it was assigned. However, if a prompt calls for a collection of looks, the deadline will be assigned accordingly (based on collection size). Though illustrating your look may take some time, it’s always best to post rough drafts for peer review.

LBM is undergoing a metamorphosis in framework. The team and I are conceiving a different way of issuing fashion challenges; something more didactic. LBM, though an eliminatory competition, will focus less on elimination and more on in depth communication, with specific emphasis on improving fashion illustration skills and refining and exploring fashion design theory. This may mean designing large collections at early challenges. We plan on eliminating designers every few challenges (until it gets late into the competition) so each designer can have more than one chance to interact with us and create an impressive look, both in terms of fashion and illustration.

The Thing About Illustration

Designers, let’s face it: Strong illustrative skills are invaluable for any fashion illustration competition. Proper fashion illustration leads to a more accurate, detailed reflection of the look you envision for a given challenge.

Consider the following situation: Designer A decides, for a cocktail dress challenge, to draw a somewhat simple (if not boring) black tube dress. She adds a couple pearls and feathers at the shoulder and lightly sketches the seam and dart placement. The illustration is strong. Designer B decides to, for the same challenge, draw a stunning Grecian draped asymmetrical toga dress he envisioned earlier that day. He has a harder time illustrating and doesn’t know what to do in order to accurately depict drape and gather. Because of that, the dress turns out lumpy and stylized (and possibly even basic) on paper. Designer A triumphs, despite her boring concept.

This demystifies LBM in a sense. Now you know why the judging in this competition cannot possibly, nor logically, detach illustration from concept, for they go hand in hand. So for all you designers out there who can admit that their illustration needs work (though I’m sure your actual mentally-created fashion concepts are brilliant, especially some of you veterans), this anecdote should ring a bell. Before the competition commences, I beg of you to go out and get a pad of tracing paper, trace a couple croquis (example: [link]), and practice drawing clothes on the model (ON the model. She’s wearing it and it envelops her, but it’s not part of her skin. She should look like she’s wearing a jacket, not a super-tight-diva-anorexic skincoat), with specific focus on difficult details (for example, ruffles, or gather and drape). Best to search for and draw some of the intriguing details seen on the runways of style.com. And if you feel that doesn’t seem to work, then you need to refine your concept as so each aspect can be easily illustrated. Additionally, in terms of projecting your look, showing multiple views/providing technical illustrations and flats can never hurt. We like to know why your garment would work in real life.

Hearkening to the aforementioned, style.com is the best way to help broaden your lexicon of fashion ideas and shapes. Remember that progressive fashion doesn’t mean that each challenge should be addressed with a big costumey gown. Sometimes the best submissions turn out to be minimalist looks (Kar-tastic) with a few truly fascinating details. Style.com designers like Francisco Costa of Calvin Klein and Raf Simons of Jil Sander think along that line of design, and are more than likely to add to your interior contemplation of fashion concept. On the other hand, if you are one for the glam, best search for designers like John Galliano and Alexander McQueen. Either way, it’s always important to know which designers are on top at the time, and why. An informed mind in fashion is a happy mind, especially in a competition like this.

And with that, I wish you all the best of luck. Remember that all of you are fantastic designers, each one of you unique and prosperous. If you are going to join, do so by indicating that you have read the application thoroughly and you want in. *However, if I feel that your work is already PD level, then I may note you discouraging from competition.

Thank you ALL for your support.

ADMISSIONS DEADLINE: Sunday, March 23rd, 2008.

~~~





View the work of ~MadStar, winner of Le Beau Monde Season 1, here: [link]

View the work of ~Kar-tastic, winner of Le Beau Monde Season 2, here: [link]