New York New York

The other day, I was covering a pastoral lesson for a Year 8 class, the subject was ‘self talk’. I spontaneously gave my story of self-talk and delighted in telling the students about New york. So I’m going to tell you all through this blog of mine, about my trip to New York.

I’m going to be a 40 something intern at Anna Sui in January. After 20 years of self-talk that ‘Dreams don’t come true’ I’ve stepped out of this lie to believe they do. I asked myself ‘what does your heart want Alex? I want to go to New York, but not as a tourist, wouldn’t it be wonderful to use my summer vacation here in Melbourne to see the world of fashion again. So I sent a presentation to Anna Sui and they said YES.

Now I have that all-important visa I’m more relaxed in talking about it. So over the next couple of months of preparation, I’m going to share the journey. I hope as I had a clap of applause from a class of 14 year olds that whoever reads this blog will be encouraged to change your self-talk and live in a world where dreams do come true.

So Who is Anna Sui and why her?

Fall 2012

"Everyone’s favorite Detroit-born dollybird, Sui’s always been boho to the bone, but in a way that’s more glam than granola. Think Biba-era London, rock-and-roll Victoriana, floppy hats, Empire-line flou, and peacock feathers—all atop the perfect pair of tough-chick boots. Sui started out in the eighties and debuted on the runway in 1991. Today, her patchwork-boudoir aesthetic is instantly recognizable in her clothing, her store design, even in her beauty packaging. It’s a true lifestyle brand, and business continues to boom: She’s got a Soho flagship, 32 boutiques, international cult status (particularly in Asia), a successful beauty line, and the pièce de resistance: the Anna Sui BoHo Barbie®."

While a fashion student, I would religiously purchase Vogue, Elle and Marie Claire every month. On  reviewing the collections I remember musing to my self "wow I love that wow the pattern, the embellishment the look." 

I remember reading that the designers was someone called, Anna Sui and that she was a New york Designer. I was asked at an interview for an Masters at the Royal College of Art, which designers I admired and where I wanted to go with my career. I could easily answer that I liked American Designers, (particularly Anna Sui). But as for what direction I wanted to go in I couldn’t clearly answer. It was this indecision that I was told was why the RCA felt I needed to go out and work first. 

As it happened I did, and twenty years later I’m a teacher of textiles – At the moment. 
Remember As I said at the beginning, since the age of 19, I’d told myself that dreams didn’t come true. What I should have said to the RCA was I want to work as a designer; I have a head full of ideas that I need to get out there. I’m not regretting the last 20 years, particularly the last 10, primarily in teaching because they made me the person I am today. I am a woman who believes in the impossible. A woman who believes that she has a destiny, and is now living it. I don’t know what my time at Anna Sui will bring, but it has brought me one thing already. The reality of believing I can knock on a door and that door can and has opened.

So over the next few months come and follow my preparation
 & adventures in New York.