July, 18th, 2013

TRIESTE (ITALY) | International Talent Suport 2013 | PAULA CHENG | The Beast Within

“When I first attended the ITS Fashion Competition as a fashion student five years ago, I was so impressed by the production of the event and of course the amazing work of the finalists. This was the Gr and Prix of Fashion, and I knew, at that instant, that I wanted to be an ITS finalist one day and show my work on that very runway. Five years later, here I am, in Trieste debuting my collection as an American designer from New York, representing the inaugural MFA Fashion Design program from Parsons the New School for Design.

When I arrived at the ITS location straight from the airport, I was greeted with the ITS crew and immediately I felt welcomed. The crew members were absolutely amazing as they helped us unpack and organize our collections. Barbara Franchin, the direc tor of ITS, came to greet us personally despite of her busy schedule prior to the show. The schedule for fashion finalists was extremely hectic as well; we were very busy and slept very little for the three days we were there. However, all the hard work paid off as we saw our months of hard work walk down the runway, to be greeted by cheers and applause from the audience and the looks of approval from fashion industry professionals.

It all happened so quickly yet the experience is so memorable. Every finalists’ collections were strong indications of their identity and their vision as designers. It feels so unreal to be included in such a talented and elite group of innova tors! No matter if it was sitting on the hotel lobby talking until 3am, helping each other pack up their collections for shipment, or just hanging out at lunch drinking prosecco and taking pictures, I loved every moment of the ITS competition, it is one of the most influential contests for emerging designers and I encourage all fashion students to work hard toward this goal as being a part of the ITS family would only fuel your creativity as designers of tomorrow.

I presented ”The Beast Within“ collection which was inspired by my fascination of man and beast within Greek mythology and their complex relationship as portrayed throughout art his tory. Feared, worshipped or sacrificed, these mythical creatures reflected the culture of the society and the sentiments of the era. Cautionary tales and incredible fables were crafted over centuries to tell the s tories of these creatures. They serve as metaphors to the ideology and the higher thinking of the human mind.This collection intends to explore the symbolisms behind primitivism, sacrifice, innocence, admiration, strength, cruelty and love.

Building this fully-fashioned collection from strings of yarn, to texture, and ultimately garments, I was able to create my own signature yarns by blending different colors of shine and matte with fibers of wool, lorex, viscoes, mohair and silk. The intricate fabric textures were h and-manipulated to mimic the structure of stylized scales and hair of the creatures such as sphinxes and lambs seen in Greek statues. The garments are draped in silhouettes reminiscent of beasts in the Hellenistic art period characterized by strong diagonal axis and a departure from realism. In order to portray the brutality and aggression of a preda tor, I slashed through flatbed knitted panels with an overlock machine and literally claw through the fabric with my own h ands to create the ”destroyed fur“ of a prey.

From experimenting with yarn blending, testing out knit treatments, and draping without a pre-meditated pattern, the collection formed organically from my journey of exploring knitwear, and reflects deeply my instinct to explore, to create and to fashion.

Finally, ”The Beast Within“ is a metaphor for the creature in me, constantly creating and and relentlessly exploring ways of making. It reflects my obsessive personality and my unquenchable thirst to know. From teaching myself how to knit when I was little to underst anding the concept of creativity in my masters, the higher-self in me is always on the journey to find the next frontier.”

PAULA CHENG

About Paula Cheng

Paula Cheng is a New York-based fashion designer. Paula is a graduate of the inaugural class of the Fashion Design and Society MFA program at Parsons the New School for Design, where she specialized in research-based designs, deconstructive knitwear and complex free-form draping. During her tenure at Parsons, she was the winner of the Alex ander McQueen: Savage Beauty competition, and a finalist of the Feel the Yarn Competition in Florence. Her recent work has been featured in the past in Wallpaper, Bullett, and Vogue Italia magazines as an emerging young designer. Lanificio Dell’Olivo, an Italian luxury yarn company, provided exclusive sponsorship for her final MFA graduate collection, which was featured in Womenswear Daily, Style.com and The New York Times. Paula’s past collections have been exhibited worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum in New York, Benjamin House Lon don, and Honda Hair Show during Tokyo Fashion Week. Paula was selected as a 2013 finalist for the International Talent Support Competition, where she will be debuting her most recent knitwear and footwear collection, “The Beast Within”. With professional and institutional experience from Asia, United States and Europe, Cheng’s design style is cosmopolitan, conceptual and always progressing.

About ITS

ITS is a platform for creative minds and has reached edition number twelve. ITS is a state of mind, a lifestyle and a network that comes together during the finals, 12-13 July 2013, that take place in Trieste, Italy. ITS st ands for International Talent Support. The mission is stated in the name: to give visibility, support and a voice to young talent from every corner of the earth and offer the chance to set creativity free through financial opportunities, work placements and the chance to have their work shown to a jury made up of real experts. ITS consists of 4 competitions and offers many prizes: ITS FASHION. The established fashion competition for final year students of fashion design schools and young designers has reached its twelfth edition. The bridge between schools and the fashion industry year after year, giving students and designers exposure and the opportunity for job offers. ITS ACCESSORIES. The only accessory competition in the world embracing all fields of accessories design (footwear, hardwear, softwear and bodywear) is back for its eighth year with a contest dedicated to all types of accessories. ITS JEWELRY. For the third year, an international contest exclusively dedicated to jewelry in all of its diverse forms, from rings to necklaces, earrings and more! Dedicated to all jewelry students and young jewelry designers in the world.

ITS is a real bridge between fashion schools and the fashion industry, and all of the work placements, internships and special projects granted to the finalists after the event prove it. Have a look at the past finalists now page! We collaborate regularly for work placements with br ands like Diesel (of course), An tonio Marras, MaxMara, Armani and Vik tor & Rolf, to mention just a few.

In the beginning ITS was only a fashion competition, and fashion is still a big part of our DNA. It’s also the starting point for the development of the other contest areas. We would have never got this far without the support of major br and DIESEL and Renzo Rosso. They have been with ITS from the very beginning and give us tangible support, also through the assignment of the Diesel Award, an important prize for one of the fashion competition finalists. Eyes on Talents, the online platform used by global design-led br ands and publications to discover and connect with today’s best talent, is pleased to present the Eyes On Talent Award. All ITS2013 finalists will be awarded a profile on the platform and one fashion finalist could be selected for the Eyes on Talents Award. The winner will receive €3,000 and featured profile communication to all Eyes on Talents member br ands. Yoox.com, the world’s leading virtual s tore for multi-br and fashion, design and art, is the Exclusive Online Retail Partner of ITS 2013 and will assign to one fashion finalist the yoox.com Award. yoox.com will offer to the winner special visibility, helping the designer to develop their br and and gain an international exposure through their ecommerce global win dows available in more than 100 countries.

Vogue Talents, the Vogue.it section dedicated to talents, published once a year as a supplement of Vogue Italia in September, is the media partner of ITS 2013 and will offer to an ITS FASHION finalist the Vogue Talents Award. The Award consists of the publication in Vogue Talents within 2013 of a pho toshoot of the entire collection, with an interview to the winner.

POPUPDESIGNGALLERY, an interactive win dow capturing the expressive language evolution of the contemporary designer, offers to the winner of the ITS 2013 Fashion Special Prize the possibility to freely showcase their work for one week with a set-up of strong visual impact.