MHS students herald in the new year with flare! Ms. Jing and students decorated the school with bright red paper lanterns and pictures of roosters. The rooster is the tenth in the twelve year cycle of the Chinese zodiac sign. According to TravelChinaGuide.com, the "rooster is almost the epitome of fidelity and punctuality. For ancestors who had no alarm clocks, the crowing was significant, as it could awaken people to get up and start to work." 1. What/who is your inspiration? My inspiration is a woman who is not afraid to take risks with what she wears. She is confident, outgoing, and secure with her choices of fashion. She enjoys standing out in a crowd and is always on the hunt for that next statement piece to add to her closet. Some fashion icons I draw inspiration from are Rihanna, Grace Jones, David Bowie, Taylor Momsen, and Edie Sedgwick. 2. What drew you to leather as a material? I was first drawn to leather because it was such a masculine material used for jackets and chaps for men who ride motorcycles and I wanted to bring it to womenswear in a more feminine way. The texture and feeling of leather inspired me to create garments that accentuated a woman’s body shape in a flattering way while giving her confidence in what she was wearing. Leather can feel like a second skin and is almost like armor, empowering a woman to feel fearless and sexy in what she is wearing. 3. Do you work with other fabrics or do you specialize in leather? Leather has been the primary material I work with but I have used light weight fabrics for overlays or cut outs like chiffon. My newest fabric choice that I am experimenting with is neoprene. It was only used for scuba suits but now it has hit the fashion world with lots of excitement. It is sturdy and durable and great for form fitting garments. 4. What design are you most proud of? I am really proud of my latest collection that I showed in New York City Fashion Week last September. I used to only design with black leather and this time I challenged myself and used blue leather! The contrast between the black and blue is beautiful. I really pushed myself as a designer with this collection, using new style lines and cut outs to express my inspiration of architecture and negative space. If I looked at this collection five years ago, I would not be able to recognize my own work. 5. When did you graduate from MHS? I graduated in spring of 2008. 6. Did you go to college, and if so, where? I attended Lasell College in Newton, Massachusetts and graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts in Fashion Design and Production. Here I had the chance to study abroad to London and attend the London College of Fashion for a semester where I found myself as a designer and started to work on my aesthetics. 7. What would be your advice for an aspiring designer? Always be true to yourself when designing. Seek happiness in inspiration and work on what gratifies you to become creative and design garments that show who you are as an artist. Art is subjective to every person who sees it and their perspective varies on their ideals of fashion. Some people will love your work and some will hate it but being true to yourself when designing is key. You can't please everyone but you can find your niche market for your ideas and make a lot of people comfortable in and excited for your work. 8. What do you enjoy the most about being a fashion designer? Always challenging and pushing myself to think in new, different, and creative ways. My favorite feeling is when I am at a fashion show and a model has one of my garments on and she can not stop talking about how confident she feels wearing it. That is when I know that I have a purpose for the fashion I am making. Not only models but everyday women who love to wear my garments brings me joy and wants me to create more for them to wear. I love discovering new fabrics or a new sewing technique that enhances my design process and brings my creative thinking in a new direction that produces exciting garments or style lines. Fashion is always evolving and that excites me, fashion is never boring. Being able to do something you love and being creative at the same time keeps me going as a fashion designer. Have you ever picked up a history book and gone: Wow, this would make a great rap album? No? Me neither.
For Lin Manuel Miranda, on the other hand, it seemed like a no-brainer. To him, the life of our first treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton was modern music just waiting to happen. With songs like Guns and Ships, Right Hand Man, and My Shot, Miranda gave us a way to connect to our American roots in an unconventional and frankly genius way. By bringing it to the stage, he pulled the characters from the pages of dusty old volumes and made them new and exciting once again. His masterpiece? Hamilton: An American Musical. Before listening to Hamilton, I knew what everyone else knew about the Revolutionary War. I knew about “no taxation without representation” and General George Washington. I knew about The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, The Boston Tea Party, the redcoats. However, I never really thought much about it. The founding of our country never interested me because I could never connect to it. Hamilton changes all of this. Through 46 songs, the story of our country is illustrated in a way that appeals to a larger audience while still remaining true to the majority of the facts. This is highlighted by the fact that Hamilton is, as of January 6th, number 8 on iTunes list of most sold albums of 2016, over a year after the album was released. The new Hamilton mixtape, a collection of Hamilton themed songs and covers by famous hip hop artists, is number 25 on the same list. As more proof of its popularity, the musical won 11 different Tony Awards, which is just short of a record amount. One record it did break, however, was the amount of Tony nominations the musical had, which was a mind blowing 16! The tale of America’s early years is accessible and relatable in the retelling that is Hamilton. One reason for it being such a popular phenomenon is the fact that the cast is made up of people of all different races. In Lin’s words, it’s “America then played by America now.” This allows us to see the founders of our country in a different way because instead of white men in wigs, we see people that we could pass on the street. The musical also addresses themes that are important in today’s world as well as in Alexander Hamilton’s. For one thing, mortality is a heavier theme that takes its place in the musical, as evidenced by the repetition of the line “I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory.” This theme will always be relevant, because it is an unavoidable truth that all things eventually die, and we as a species will always view the subject with some sort of foreboding. Whether we wonder about it as often as Hamilton did or never really think about it, it is an inevitable fact of life. Another related topic, and perhaps one explored more in depth, is the idea of legacy. Alexander Hamilton was obsessed with what he would leave behind in the world once he had departed from it. To him, it was important above almost all else. A line from the song The Room Where it Happens evidences this. “God help and forgive me, I want to build something that’s gonna outlive me.” Hamilton was an ambitious man. What people thought of him, especially when he was gone, mattered greatly to him. Throughout the show, he proved this over and over. He also proved that anyone can make their way in the world. Hamilton did this by being “non-stop.” He was completely relentless in his pursuit to “rise up” in the world. He did this through writing, fighting, and often a combination of both. They say that the pen is mightier than the sword, but for Hamilton, having one wasn’t enough. He fought under George Washington during the war, took his part in quite a few duels, and wrote about practically everything all the time. This was very true to historical facts. The real Alexander Hamilton left us novels and novels worth of essays, letters, and other documents. Hamilton: an American Musical showcases our country’s story, spanning the years and creating a bridge between then and now. It gives us insight into the lives of our forefathers in a creative and inventive way that is enjoyable for all listeners. By: Sarah Hayward -- Staff Writer |
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June 2019
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