runway « Fashion Research Institute's Shengri La

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Fashion Research Institute’s Autumn 2009 Fashion Events

October 7, 2009 · 3 Comments

Having threaded our way through New York Fashion week, where CEO Shenlei Winkler spoke about Black Dress Design Studio and the related development of the avatar apparel niche market, we are now pleased to announce our planned fashion events for Autumn 2009.

First, we are pleased to continue to work with our emerging designers, and present their work in innovative ways in our Shengri La Hope region in Second Life. These events enable us to research and prototype new ways of merchandising avatar apparel, with links to our real life colleagues in the apparel industry. We will be presenting three of these events over the next 8 weeks.

Purple Prose is a showcase of jewelry designer Tiffy Vella, whose unique design vision continue to wow her customers. Tiffy has been developing a line heavily influenced by the Art Deco period. An even dozen of her designs will be shown on a dozen gorgeous models at this event, with clothing provided by Debutante. Purple Prose will be held Saturday, October 17th, at 10 am Eastern, in our Shengri La Hope region.

Mainely Men showcases the corporate clothing of Debutante, the Fashion Research Institute’s lab line. A dozen handsome models will present corporate men’s wear in a showcase designed to highlight these garments. Mainely Men will be held Saturday, October 24th, at 7 pm Eastern in the Shengri La Hope region.

Transformation will be held on Saturday, October 7, at 10 am eastern. Transformation showcases the Cocoon line of emerging designer Yoona Mayo, whose unique perspective and delicate touch have created an elegant line of dainty jewelry. Yoona’s work will be presented in a unique interactive display in the Shengri La Hope region.

And of course, our interns will present their work at a final runway show in December, with date and time to be determined.

Departing from Second Life and moving to ScienceSim, Fashion Research Institute will be presenting the first ever virtual worlds-based design conference for fashion design students from design organizations around the world. Threading The Needle will be held Thursday, December 3rd, from 8 am – 5 pm Eastern, with notables such as Beth Harris, Director of Digital Learning at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Fiona Jenvey, CEO of Mudpie, and Elaine Polvinen, Professor of Fashion at Buffalo State University speaking and presenting. This conference will be completely free for design students to attend, and it is aimed at students studying design for the apparel industry. Details to follow, but mark your calendar for this.

Fashion Research Institute will again be presenting its Avatar Apparel courses this fall, with Avatar Apparel being presented from October 27th – November 19th; and two new short courses being offered in October, November and December. Registration opens next week.

Categories: Avatar · Black Dress Technology · Cocoon · Content · Fashion Research Institute · Intel · OpenSim · Shengri La · Shenlei · Virtual World · apparel industry · art · avatar apparel · design · eclectica · fashion · jewelry · tiffy Vella · yoona mayo
Tagged: avatar apparel design 101. event, beth haris, conference, education, fiona jenvey, installation, runway, ScienceSim, threading the needle, vBusiness, virtual conference

Paying Forward: Supporting Emerging Avatar Apparel Designers in SL

September 15, 2008 · 2 Comments

In the first weeks of my Second Life™ experience, I met a generous, warm woman who became one of my best friends in this mad maze of pixels. Lexa Pietersen was an ardent supporter of my early efforts to establish myself as an avatar apparel designer, and her support extended beyond just saying nice things. She went so far as to buy land for me and carry the tier on it for my very first store. Because of her support, I was able to move on from my first 512 meter plot of land in the mainland to become one of the top earners in Second Life with my brand Prim & Proper and ultimately owner of the Shengri La islands and a substantial RL corporation.

It is now time for me to pay forward her kindness. To this end, my company, the Fashion Research Institute, Inc., has developed the Shengri La Vintage Marketplace on Shengri La. We will provide vendor space for 20 emerging avatar apparel designers on our Second Life Shengri La sim for six months free of charge. The designers are encouraged to build their brands, to sell their products through both their vendor prims and through the use of our catwalk system, and to grow their business. We hope that by providing these designers with incubation space on the beautiful Shengri La sims, that they will be able to grow their business to the point that they can acquire an appropriate flagship store elsewhere on the grid when their tenure with us is up.

We are pleased to announce Michele Hyacinth as Curator of the Shengri La Vintage Marketplace for emerging avatar apparel designers in Second Life. Michele is responsible for managing the design selection process and overseeing the marketplace. For more information and details about the program, please contact Michele. You may also visit the Shengri La sims and pick up information from any of the Marketplace boards. To apply, send Michele a notecard with your name and best time to contact you in Second Life. Include a couple of sentences about the work you’re doing or hoping to do, and if you have any snapshots, add those to the notecard too. Then send it along to Michele, and she’ll be in touch!

Best of luck to you, and may your dreams come true!

~Shenlei Winkler
CEO
Fashion Research Institute, Inc.
Acting CEO
Black Dress Technology, Inc.

Shenlei Flasheart in SL

Michele Hyacinth

“Michele Hyacinth rezzed in November 2006. Her first venture into the virtual world quickly led her to ballroom gowns and flexi hair and an immediate hankering for SL fashion. She also soon discovered a penchant for talented people of integrity, whose artistry she greatly admires. She loves sharing SL adventures with treasured loved ones and friends. She enjoys exploring the grid and, of course, dancing and listening to good music. Michele is particularly fond of the hidden surprises in SL…those paths that are less travelled but that contain fascinating finds. In her spare time, she dabbles in photography, blogging, and very minor prim-wrangling (all skills she hopes to develop more fully). She sketches portraits, which she brings inworld and shares with those she loves. Although not rezzed yesterday, she can probably best be described by lyrics from a John Haitt song: “a child of the wild blue yonder.” Michele continues to learn and to grow; to be surprised and to be delighted. She treasures this wonderful opportunity to work with Shenlei, and to collaborate with cherished and like-minded souls in the Shengri La community.”

Categories: Black Dress Technology · Fashion Research Institute · Shengri La · art · avatar apparel · fashion · micronation · secondlife
Tagged: catwalk, design, emerging, fashion show, michele hyacinth, runway, vintage marketplace

Fashion Runway in Shengri La Hope

August 20, 2008 · Comments Off

Are you a new designer or a designer who enjoys designing just for the pleasure of designing? Do you want a beautiful environment with a fully functional catwalk system, in which to show off your work?

The Fashion Research Institute has deployed a completely scripted fashion catwalk in the Second Life (TM) sim Shengri La Hope. The location features two fully functional runways with scripted poseballs loaded with popular modeling poses and a runway walk, and scripted spotlights that follow the model as she walks the runway. Draped canopies and curtains feature a range of draperies from which to choose.

All Grid citizens are welcome to use the runway free of charge on a first come, first served basis. Individual designers may reserve the runway in advance, and full estate management is available with 2 weeks advance notice, and depends on estate manager availability. Estate management includes security, media stream change, estate setting changes, and privacy controls.

Visit Shengri La Hope and pick up a copy of our runway show manual and rules to use the Fashion Research Institute, Inc. catwalk.

Our thanks to Chelsie Goodliffe and Ravenn Darkstone for modelling on the runways of the catwalk.