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03/15/2003 Entry: "Megastars in their own right"

Megastars in their own right

I’m staring at my pack of Marlboro Lights and its staring right back at me. Smoking is Addictive, it says, in big black letters on the front of the pack that you can’t miss. I give a mental shrug and light one up. I have it down pat, flick of my lighter, cigarette poised, a quick drag. Inhale, exhale. The semblance of that and breathing crosses my mind but I ignore it.

My trip down to Wellington with my Graphics for Fashion class has been nothing short of amazing. Our magazine crew (Jo, Steve, Jay, Nichola, Lai Min, Ryan, Wennie, Daniel, Andrew, Greg, Jenny, Tim and me) left our school meeting at 11:10am after sitting through a briefing of the new OS we’re using at the labs and headed straight down in a van that says ‘Hire-It Wanganui’ in bad type and corny red and yellow stripes down both sides.

Our first appointment was at Megalith to familiarize ourselves with the pre-press process. Megalith has amazing equipment, including a drum scanner that costs half a million dollars and gigantic machinery whose purpose seems to elude and confuse me because there were so many of them.

Next stop, CPL. Printing process. Brilliant place, amazing equipment and really interesting clients. After half an hour there I noted that most of the printing machinery comes from Germany and most of their staff from Scotland. George, who was operating the guillotine found my fascination charming, and because of that there are now 20,000 Steinlager labels and 4,000 Stella Artois neck labels die cut by me. All of it automated and done just at a push of a button. I scored a stack of aluminum coated strips left over from the guillotine and made a bunch of stars which seemed to fascinate everyone. We left the place with a star each and lots of interesting ideas.

We had a late lunch at AMBA, 21 Blair St. that turned out to be a liquid one for me. Jay*, the very attractive Malaysian-born, New Zealand-raised Vietnamese bartender turns out to be a genius at making pretty strong Margaritas that tastes really subtle at $13.50 a pop. I had three, and got him to let me in behind the bar. The guys had Stellas, and we all marveled at the labels because we saw how they got printed.

We left AMBA for Scotties, a place that Jo our tutor claims is the best fashion design store in the universe. It is, to a certain extent, because they stock top labels like Issey Miyake, Comme des Garcons, Yohji Yamamoto, Ann Demeulemeester, Dries van Noten and Marni. An Adidas sneaker that bears the signature of Yamamoto was going for $670 and these really cool screen-printed 8mm thick felt postcards were selling for $33. I wish I had money to splurge because they were having a sale and this Marni ribbed sweater was going for $180. It was cashmere, rich red, the color of sunsets tinged with beige. Settled for a Dries van Noten scarf instead, something I need and in my price range. Winter’s just around the corner and I’m not looking forward to it in the least.

Checked in at Trekkers at 5:30pm to drop our bags and head out to forage for some food. We had five minutes to find our room and meet at the lounge, and I spent the best part of it refreshing my make-up and frantically searching for the communal toilet.

We ended up at Catch, a sushi place in Courtenay Place for dinner and I went crazy seeing all that sashimi going round the conveyor belt. I grabbed the first seat, between Greg and Daniel and grabbed four plates of salmon. We had a great time in there. I introduced both of them to the art of eating raw fish, and in return they gave me a stitch in my side by making me laugh so hard I almost couldn’t lift my chopsticks. Greg’s now known as Squid, because no one dared to try the baby octopus and I just about force fed him.

Lai Min, Ryan and Wennie left for Expressoholic for a second round and I dragged Greg there after I finished my dinner. Expressoholic is a uber cool café just across Saatchis which features graffiti walls and a great atmosphere.. not to mention huge portions of food. Jo and the rest left and we arranged to meet up in Matterhorn on Cuba St. for a drink at 9:30pm.

I got there at 9pm with Greg in tow because the rest were still eating at Expressoholic. Matterhorn is an interesting bar/restaurant joint on one of the busiest streets in Wellington, with a narrow bar and a courtyard at the back which has an outdoor bar of its own. We didn’t see anyone but spotted a standing table at the end of the bar, so I ordered a Bellini and Greg had another Stella. He’s an interesting person to talk to, and one of the things I like about being here is that everyone in school is pretty friendly, very open and very willing to share ideas. We spoke about our day and life in Wanganui, and concepts for the magazine. He’s not actually in our class, but Jo let him tag along. At half nine I began to wonder where everyone was, and Greg found them out in the courtyard.

We joined them, and more laughs ensued. Jo is such a cool tutor. She knows the coolest people in the design and fashion industry and does the coolest things with us. I finally relented and gave in to a Stella, which wasn’t too bad once I got over the bubbles. I was craving something harder, and ordered two lemon drops for me and Lai Min for old times’ sake. Steve and Greg were really interested in what we were doing, them being typical beer guys, so I ordered a second round and got them to drop the shots with me. We took tons of pictures and they both insist I’m dead evil.

Ryan, Wennie, Lai Min and I left the place shortly after that to go back, but we ended up at Jet Bar simply because I haven’t had enough. The place was packed, and we were about to leave but I wanted to check out the interior because the last time I was in there we were only out the front. I found my way to the back of Jet, only to find a staircase going down. Ooh.

Great minds do think alike, because Steve, Jay, Daniel and Greg were down there. Low ceilings, great chill out music and low lights. Good combination for a lounge, very exclusive-looking and nice padded walls. Steve tells me this is where the industry creatives go after a long day to unwind. I say it’s a good place to drink and catch up on gossip; only my girlfriends are in a different continent. Their Caipirinhas and Daiquiris are really, really good, and kept me there till 3am. We got relaxed after a few drinks and lost our inhibitions. Greg kept making funny faces at the camera and I finally relented by sticking my tongue out to one side and rolling my eyes back up in their sockets. We all looked like prats, but that was the point. Our conversation steered towards more esoteric ideas on the magazine direction which were really good, because that’s when we don’t hold back on the creative juices.

Greg kept analyzing my English, which he claims is really good, and was surprised I knew how to apply the words ‘motor skills’ in a conversation involving his, or lack of it. And he drunkenly proclaimed to Daniel that I was as sarcastic as he was, to which I replied (sarcastically, of course) ‘Oh and you really thought you were special..?’ Greg’s a cool guy.

We had a really good time, and finally went back because Jo said to ‘be home reasonably early.. early wake up tomorrow!’ The early wake up was for an 8am appointment at Starfish, a NZ-based fashion label that exports to Australia and South America. Everyone was shocked at the fact I managed to appear downstairs on time sans hangover and looking really fresh. The wonders of strategically-placed concealer and eyeliner – hah!

Carleen Schollum joined Starfish as a designer 5 years ago and took us through the design process, how materials influence their designs, and how everything is worked out in a fashion design studio. The process is really similar to the graphic design process. Banging out ideas. Continuity. Key elements. Trashing ideas. Production. She spoke about how they worked with graphic designers to produce postcards and promotional items, about costings and what’s involved in producing a show, how ideas get formulated, how a lot of designers will never look in a fashion magazine because they want their stuff to be original and not influenced by another designer. It was all really interesting for me, because I love fashion and I would love to be involved in this as much as I can.

We went to the Purple Onion after that for breakfast and to meet up with Mikee of Loop magazine, a really cool design magazine with a major cult following. He spoke of the mechanics involved in putting together a magazine, his experiences, how Loop came about, and he was just really excited about our project. He offered us a lot of contacts, and even offered to pull some of our work in Loop. All this over coffee, almost perfect Eggs Benedict and a couple of cigarettes. Purple Onion used to be a strip joint run by one of NZ’s most famous drag queens, now arty café with fried bacon strips for specialty.

The Agencie called to confirm our appointment after that so we walked down the block. The Agencie is Wellington’s top model/talent agency and we were there to go through the process of selecting models for shoots, booking a model and learning about fee structures and seasons. I was interrupted by a slightly disturbing call from a good friend in Australia telling me I was really enthusiastic in bed last night in his dreams, but I couldn’t talk much and didn’t have the heart to shout obscenities, because I’m used to him by now and firmly betting my bottom dollar he just likes winding me up sometimes. I have mad friends.

We left the Agencie with even more enthusiasm and a proper height measurement. Lai Min measures 5”6’ and I checked in at 5”8.5’ – strange because I’ve always thought I was shorter than that, but the bar says 5”9.5’ and they took an inch off because I had shoes on. Jacky, the booker, was really friendly, a good sort, and very willing to help us out by supplying free models for our shoots. The ones that are just starting out are willing to do it for a few photographs in return to build up their portfolio. We’re going on location!

We had about an hour free after that so we went to Little Johns to source for material for my packaging class, check out some bookstores and hung around Willis St. before going for our next appointment, which turned out to be the most interesting one of all. Jo was saving the best for last, I think. Jay got left behind so Jo dropped us off at Thorndon Quay and went to get Jay.

Owen Allison is one of NZ’s top fashion photographers and a brilliant stylist. His apartment is amazing, very New York, with high ceilings and metal beams that he claims ‘comes in handy because I can hang backdrops from them and turn it into a studio’. He was really friendly as well; friend of Jo’s and he has worked with the likes of Schiffer and Campbell.

We had a ton of questions for him, and he shared all his ideas. He knows everything there is to know about the industry, having been a model in his 20’s and chose to be on the other side of the camera because he didn’t have any control as a model. He spoke about the girls, about lighting, Milan, and trends. He’s a spokesperson for Sebastian cosmetics as well. His portfolio was nothing short of incredible, and his clients are all very high-profile. He says it took him 4 years of photography before he got established in Wellington, so persistence does pay off. He’s also one of the rare photographers that only does fashion photography and nothing else, no bread and butter stuff other photographers take on for the money. He’s all about passion. He’s really passionate about what he does and it shows. He was just so fascinating.

Yes, cameras do make you 10 pounds heavier. He told us about how thin the models were in real life but they always look really good on film, how top models are top models because they are very professional and know instinctively how to work the camera, how fresh models are always harder to work with. I loved the way he spoke about how models turn into different people in front of the camera, how he loves his work and his expressions and gestures he uses when he speaks.

He agreed to do a spread for us too. Jo wants him to do something really different from his usual work and he’s pretty enthusiastic about it. I like how he’s so willing to help us little people work our way up and how he’s so excited about our project. He’s definitely on the top of my cool people list.

We walked down the block to Bordeaux, a French bakery that Owen told us about, for tea. The pastries were beautiful. I went straight for the chocolate mousse and strawberry delice, and packed a whole load of stuff including some Coq au Vin pies I wouldn’t leave without. My pastry bill came up to $35, but its well worth it. I’ve never enjoyed pastry so much before.

Owen was the last person on our list, so after seeing him, we had some free time and headed to the art galleries. We finally left at 5:30pm, detoured to Jo’s friend Laurey’s place to say hi and to check out her new deck. Her house is a dream. It looks right out to the sea and the coast, superb view from the deck and the house itself has those big glass panels that look right out to the sea. We then stopped at Paekakariki for ‘the best fish and chips on earth’ and went to the beach to eat and watch the sun go down. No more stops after that, got home to Wanganui at 9:10pm and had another meal. I was so tired I slept most of the journey home cramped in the back of the van next to Greg, and both of us being so tall had serious problems with leg space.

So here I am, after a brilliant two days in Wellington, sucking on cancer-inducing sticks, sipping on a homemade Cosmopolitan and trying to recall every detail of my trip. It’s been brilliant, really, and I’m running out of adjectives to describe my trip. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

Yes, I’m definitely posting up pictures, after I reconstruct zone3 because my working files went down with my beloved Maxtor. I’m going to sleep early so I can wake up and go to the library tomorrow morning (and post this, obviously). I have a basketball game to attend at 1pm and a ghetto party at the flats later on, and I’m still wondering if I’m ever going to get on with work.

Good night, if you’ve gotten this far.

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