Fashion Illustrations for Tangram x Suki Cohen Lingerie Goes to Australia

Strawberry Milk, 2014.
Kitty N. Wong
Watercolour, gouache, pencil and ink on paper.

Turkish Bath, 2014.
Kitty N. Wong
Watercolour, pencil, ink on paper and acrylic on acetate overlay.

As Dorothy Parker once wrote, “I hate writing, I love having written.”
That's sometimes how I feel about making art, I love the process of painting, but what feels so good is having painted, something good hopefully.

Last year I made a series of illustrations for Hong Kong clothing brand Tangram's lingerie collaboration with Colombian designer Suki Cohen. The digital copies had been sent to the designers months ago and the original ink drawings sat mostly forgotten in my avalanche-like paper cupboard. I've been cleaning up and organizing in preparation for my the upcoming group exhibition, Fixation at Town Hall Gallery in Australia and I found these old ink drawings from the collaboration and decided to fix them up with some new coloured backgrounds and the dotted star pattern I've been really into painting lately.

When I was in design school, I used to have this feeling whenever I made a piece I really liked, I  was always afraid that was the best thing I would ever make, that I wouldn't be able to make anything so good ever again. I know now that's not the case, that the more I make the better I will get. But looking at these two paintings I made almost a year ago I can't help but wonder how I made these little light brushstrokes.

And so now Strawberry Milk and Turkish Bath are off to Australia for the Fixation exhibition, along with 16 other pieces. My Cat Marnell painting was even selected to be included in the event invitation! The show will be a part Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival, I'm so excited and honored to be a part of it. Thank you so much for the opportunity to be included by the very wonderful curator Mardi Nowak.

Sketches / Streetstyle at Hong Kong's Fashion Night Out 2013

Emma in a one of a kind Tangram floor length dress with a blue Hawaiian print paired with geometric patterned flats from Square Street.

 The Bumbys.

Guess what! It's Fashion Night Out in Hong Kong again. How fast a year goes by I still remember it like yesterday making needlework with artist Suzie Stanford and eating thrice my share of salted caramel XTC gelato.

The Bumbys were there this year. They are an anonymous performance art duo who will give you "a fair and honest appraisal of your appearance". I hadn't heard of them until visiting the FNO website but immediately upon reading I was seized with jealous for not coming up with the idea myself and vowed to go early to get a glance and a judge. And early I went, at 6pm Friday night my friend and I got into the IFC Lane Crawford and found them, Theee Bummmmbys, tap tap taping away on their 80's style typewriters and so we got in line. But alas, we had misread the fine print and The Bumbys were a with purchase only activity and we were promptly kicked out of line left wondering if our outfits had been good enough for the red duo.

Matching candy coloured dolly outfits.

Blogger Nick Chan.

JJ Acuna, aka The Wanderlister in front of the entrance.

The Moustache Cocktail Bar.

In prep school girl looks: a sky blue dress with beautiful godet detail paired with a cat photo print clutch and a light wash jean jacket. Her friend in a cable knit sweater, raw silk pleated skirt and brogues, naturally.

It was a fun night, I was really happy for a chance to get out of the house and be social again after being sick for so long. And it was a nice chance to meet new friends and see old ones.

Hope you enjoyed the sketches! They're ball point pen (my new favourite these days, so loose and fuss free) and coloured digitally.

Vintage Hawaiian Print Girl and Prep School prints without watermark are for sale on my print shop if you loved 'em and wanna have them in your homes! 

Check out last year's Fashion Night Out post here.