The Past, Present and Future of legendary fashion icon Iris Abfel.
The first photoshop collage represents Iris’s past. It emphasizes the fabrics that she created during her “Old Weaver Firm” era. The prints resemble Iris’s interior design past and her love for prints. In addition, I photoshopped my own interpretations of Iris’s accessories onto photos of her. The piece alludes to her exhibition at the MET called “Rara Avis” which translates to “Rare Bird.” The present is a photoshopped collage as well. This construction emphasizes Iris’s vibrant personality and love for color and texture. She is 97 years young and seems to keep getting younger as the years progress. I wanted to capture her timeless aura in the piece. The last piece had a cover which is the collage of prints from her Old Weaver Firm. I wanted to create a tactile piece for the last hand-constructed collage. Therefore, I thought it would be appropriate to utilize prints that she created to include a tactile and more analog element to the collage. I wanted the piece to be informative and to stand as an integration of colors, textures and layers. In fact, I wanted all pieces to be informative and symbolic of Iris Abfel and her unique and strategic personality/style. The piece represents Iris’s timeless persona and her impact on the fashion industry. In conclusion, I wanted to capture her essence of timelessness and shine a light on her impeccable style. Due to the fact that her fashion sense is so timeless (she completely created her own style) all of the photos portray her looking the same because Iris will never change.
As a reflection, I had a wonderful time creating these pieces. I truly enjoyed putting the collages together and telling Iris’s story through movement, composition and colors. It was great to see the pieces come together and to be able to create such vibrant pieces for someone who brings a lot of passion into the fashion industry!
