"Hi, sorry, but do I have time to design?"

Several big headlines have been hitting fashion journals and articles over the last few weeks. First, Alexander Wang from Balenciaga, then Raf Simons from Dior and now Albert Albaz from Lanvin. There is a sense of change in the air and it's making everyone waking up at 7am to scan Bussiness of Fashion and its business counterpart Vogue, ask what on earth is going on?

The news of Albert Elbaz's departure from Lanvin was a detrimental development from the breathe taking speech Elbaz gave at the award giving from the Fashion Group International Night of Stars, in which Elbaz was honoured with the Superstar award. The speech in question brought up the realisation of how quick the world of Fashion is moving, and how fast it is accelerating in order to meet design, that designers are feeling hot under the collar with the limit of time in relation to freedom of design. Is it possible that eventually the industry itself will run out of steam and eventually crash?

As a fashion student, we receive, at most, 6 months to develop a collection - that includes time to research and find a starting point, working on the stand and developing design ideas, work technically on our own in the studio or with university technicians, create technical folder's for individual garments, a professional portfolio of the garments, and a photo shoot to exhibit the pieces in an editorial environment. Ah, the luxury of being a student. But a step out in industry, we are jolted with the realisation that in less than three months, a collection is researched, designed, created, styled in a look book, sent out to buying appointments, produced for clientelle and featured in a fashion show - that's not including the time needed to go into production, the amount of emails and meetings arranged to sell and advertise the collection, or even the accounts side and money-matter decisions held. We are given a glimpse of this ever-demanding world by Simons in the documentary 'Dior and I' in which we see a visibly distressed Simon's hurdle through the given timeline of three months, to create a couture collection.

Gone are the days of the reward of time. With the ever endorsing social media, fashion is being hurried up to produce, to show and to sell that in a way, the beauty of feeling the process of design and really being able to feel a theme or idea, is lost in need to make money.

As a student, there is not much that I can do about this, only read the articles that I scroll through at 7am before I go to intern, but its an issue that ultimately, could possibly destroy a young fashion graduates dream of going out alone, the prospect that Fashion Design is no longer the freedom to design what you see in your mind, but a money-making bussiness that will, eventually, give you a month at a time to create an award-winning collection that will sell to vogue the next day, or else, you're out.

Paradise Syndrome, curated by Peana Projects

So this Saturday passed, I was lucky enough to stumble across this magnificant pop-up pandora's box - The installation of Paradise Syndrome, curated by Peana Projects. Located in Williamsburg, 661 Driggs Avenue to be exact, a converted abandoned warehouse had been transformed into a microcosm of art, showing the ever contesting competition of industrialism vs. nature. The given title "Paradise Syndrome" is indeed a condition one feels when at the highest point of paradise - for example, wealth, they feel they can achieve no more.

I have to say, since seeing this exhibition, it has been playing on my mind. As we passed the entrance, we thought it was just an abandoned site, or even some kind of quirky fashion launch that as students, we wouldn't be allowed to enter. However, as we walked in, the sense of peace juxtaposing again the rough, distorting building materials made the introductory experience slightly chilling, but in a way that takes you from your current 'just been for brunch on a saturday' mode to working out the relationship between the greenery and colour against the industrialism and raw materials. It was almost the thought of life against the dead, the idea of paradise (the life in the greenery and calming minimalistic arrangement) against the the 'dead-end' landscape, that stops you in your track. 

It was an incredibly enlightening experience, and the overall achievement of creating an emotion and an atmosphere, aswell as a beautiful and invigorating exhibition, is definitely one I wish to experience in the future. 

(http://www.peanaprojects.com/projects/2015/10/14/paradise-syndrome)