Apocalypse or renaissance?
We are excited to announce our upcoming, intermediate short course covering editorial styling. The course will be taught by experienced and knowledgeable instructors and will include both theoretical and practical components to ensure that you gain a comprehensive understanding of art direction, discoursive styling, creative research, fashion photography, and set design.
The course will begin on March 5th, run for 4 weeks, and then conclude with a presentation in front of a jury and a small audience at WIP on April 9th from 10 am to 2 pm. Classes will take place on Sundays from 6 pm to 10 pm. You will need to dedicate at least 10 hours per week to the course.
If you wish to submit an application, scroll down to find out more about the course's pedagogical objectives, the learning strategy, the project outline and brief, the calendar, the cost, and of course the tutors. If you are truly interested please click the link below and complete the application submission form by the end of the day on March 2nd. Note that you must provide 4 images of your past work that represents your aesthetic point of view before registration. Your candidacy will be evaluated based on your ability to create highly impactful visual outcomes. Also keep in mind that the ideal participant is a multifaceted fashion creative interested in art direction, fashion photography, video, set design, styling, and of fashion as a socio-political phenomenon. Multidisciplinary teams are more than welcome.
Submission form link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSezFT047gM0qBjrJzpEZYpqSl0TMjw57OVW38iRiWy1emLWgQ/viewform?usp=sf_link
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us via direct message on Instagram or email. We look forward to having you as a part of our course and seeing you in class!
Pedagogical objective
One of the main objectives of the course is to introduce and explain how to integrate speculative/ discursive methodologies within the fashion creative process. More precisely, the participants will gain knowledge of the origins of speculative design and learn how to apply this scenario-building technique in conjunction with secondary and primary research methods such as photo and text-based documentation, observation, note-taking, brainstorming, assembling mood boards, sketching, mark making, deconstructing and many more. The ultimate goal is to help the participants understand how they can elaborate, present and argue a concept for a fashion editorial that has the potential to shape the way people understand and engage with the world, and can be used to influence and support positive social and cultural change. Note that there will be an emphasis on the creation of visuals seeking to uplift and inspire viewers by presenting idealized or aspirational images representing genuine and honest intentions and reflecting true beliefs and emotions as opposed to critical visual strategies seeking to challenge dominant narratives and power structures through confrontation and subversion of expectations.
Learning Strategy
In order to achieve these objectives, the participants will engage in a meaningful, experiential, and hands-on learning experience through the completion of an open-ended, complex project. In addition to fostering 21st-century skills such as creativity, problem-solving, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication, the main goal of the short course is to help the learners gain a deeper understanding of discursive styling by providing them with an opportunity to apply the theories they have learned in the classroom to a real-world situation.
Project outline
As a first step, participants will receive a briefing and theoretical background necessary for creating discourse. Moreover, a variety of research methods will be introduced which will help the participants determine a general topic and collect primary and secondary inspiration. Once enough inspirational information has been gathered, you will learn how to triangulate your findings in a sketchbook so you understand how to develop your initial ideas further into categories based on the different elements of your shoot. This could be categories like color, lighting, composition, wardrobe, hair and makeup, set design, and so on. The creation of a physical mood board will follow, including notes or annotations relating to each image and its relationship to your concept. Next, you will learn how to reinvent your inspiration through primary styling research according to your viewpoint. Then, you will be shown how to refine your concept further through photomontage or drawings in such a way that others can see how your vision will be realized in the final editorial. The last phase of the course will require you to present your research, mood board, and sketches to a panel of esteemed fashion creatives, artists, and academics. At that moment the participants will get feedback. Following all the participants' presentations, the jury members will identify the best three proposals based on the concept's uniqueness and creativity, how well it meets the project goals and objectives, and, of course, the overall quality of the editorial, which includes set design, styling, and performance.
Production of the three best editorial concepts
Following the short course, mentorship support, a budget of 250$, a professional studio space, photography, an HMUA team, and filming will be provided for the realization of the three best fashion editorial concepts. After the fashion editorials are completed, they will be published in LIGNES DE FUITE Vol. 4. In addition, a fashion film will be made and screened at the book launch at WIP in October 2023.
Here is an example of a discursive fashion editorial realized through the LIGNES DE FUITE mentoring program: https://www.lignesdefuite.org/post/screen-fatigue
Apocalypse or renaissance? Project brief by George Fok
"Life continues, but time has somehow stopped." Mark Fisher
Image: SUMMER NIGHTS IN PALERMO ( Saint Laurent )
Are we approaching the absolute End, too far for solutions?
Connected and yet fragmented, divided and polarized, propagated by the ubiquitous social platforms, digital content, and news cycles, the sentiment of post-postmodern permacrisis lingers seemingly in perpetuity. Here we are, forced to stare at the reality of crises that seems like it's here to stay.
What's more problematic is the collective blame and performative anti-capitalism. Like all things dealing with depression and destruction, we do not have adequate language. Instead, we are just arguing over signifiers and technicalities.
We do not want to encounter this traumatic End of imagination for alternatives. But certain pockets of history remind us that resilience can be built and bounce back from a lengthy period of permissive adversity. This "Slow Cancellation Of The Future," no space for optimism of the will, is a low-leverage narrative, an enticing, easy route, and has its effortless appeal.
SALON (Gathering)
In the tradition of the French literary and philosophical movements of the 17th and 18th centuries, a "Salon" is a gathering of people held by an inspiring host "either to please or to educate." During the gathering, they amuse one another and increase their knowledge through conversation. From casual to theatrically formal, stimulated by the ritual of gathering over culinary motifs and nourishment, the dining table conversation is often where new ideas and enlightenments are born.
Dining, Styling & Synthesizing
LIGNES DE FUITE would like to invite emerging talents to participate in this new SALON initiative through active imagination, structural analysis, and creative thinking, the ritual and protocol of SALON: using fashion, styling, set presentation, and performance as the visual narrative, founding compelling stories to make changes through togetherness, vision-casting and future-gazing for a possible better way of the world to come.
Shall we rise collectively above the perpetual downward spin?
The future has only just begun.
Meet the Tutor
The short course is created and led by LIGNES DE FUITE founder Milan Tanedjikov who holds a graduate degree in Design and Computation Arts from Concordia University and an undergraduate degree in Fashion Design from École supérieure de mode, ESG, UQAM. He is currently teaching fashion design at the International School of Fashion, Arts, and Design, LCI Montreal, and at École Supérieure de Mode, ESG, UQAM. He is also a member of the Canadian Arts & Fashion Awards Nominating committee and he regularly contributes to local and international fashion events.
Guest Tutors: George Fok, Raphael Viens and Zoltan Veevaete
Cost: 180$ taxes included
Short Course Certification: Upon completion, each participant will receive a LIGNES DE FUITE certificate.
CALENDAR:
Week 1: Understand and explore
Date: Sunday, March 5th Time: 6 PM - 10 PM Location: TBA ( in person )
Week 2: Explore and define
Date: Monday, March 12th Time: 6 PM - 10 PM Location: TBA ( in person )
Week 3: Define and ideate
Date: Sunday, March 19th Time: 6 PM - 10 PM Location: TBA ( in person )
Week 4: Ideate and prototype
Date: Monday, March, 26th Time: 6 PM - 10 PM Location: TBA ( in person )
Sunday, April 9, JURY CRITIQUE at WIP, from 10 am to 2 pm