![]() ![]() The only rule was that you weren't allowed to have your feet on American soil for the course of the year. Some people were studying alternative cures for AIDS, and I was studying puppet theater. Watson Fellowship, which selects about 40 students around the country and gives them the funding for a year to study a project of their own design. I realized I could really set myself apart in the eyes of this person by doing an amazing job and helping her, and she would reward me by helping me learn how the fashion industry works.Īfter graduation, with a degree in visual art, I did a fellowship called the Thomas J. I learned that you get rewarded when you're an intern by being the hardest-working person in the room. The fashion director there was a really inspiring person. At that time, the fashion department was very small. During my junior-year summer, I was an intern at New York magazine in the fashion department. I've always had parallel interests in art and fashion. I also got excited about the anthropological aspect of puppet theater. I like when you're in a performance context where you believe something that couldn't possibly be true, so when people are creating amazing theatrical performances, you as a viewer get really drawn into the world that they've created. I loved the idea of performance and I loved sculpture. I went to Oberlin College in Ohio, and I studied art and East Asian studies. But there's freedom in, OK, I have $15, let's see how much I can find. Growing up around fashion, it feels a little bit untouchable because everything has a high price tag and it's not necessarily the stuff you would wear every day. That's how I think I got interested in developing my own style. I mean thrift stores like Goodwill and the Salvation Army. When I was in middle school and high school, my outfits were mash-ups of whatever I found at thrift stores. In many ways, it was a strong and heavy influence, but it was also an invisible one, because when you're young, you don't even know the difference between having a creative background and not having a creative background. Art was always a very normal part of my upbringing. ![]() And my mother has worked for Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake since the late '70s. Kanai talks about how her artistic curiosity and willingness to be herself in even the most stressful scenarios have steered her career success.īoth of my parents are creative people who have worked in the world of art and design and fashion. She's also one of the expert judges on Project Runway Junior, working alongside Tim Gunn, supermodel Hannah Davis, Kelly Osbourne, and Christian Siriano to coach and critique the next generation of fashion superstars. Kanai is now the executive fashion director for both Cosmo and Seventeen magazines. She was the fashion director at Nylon, dressing up celebrities such as Ashley Olsen, Michelle Williams, and Sienna Miller, and an independent stylist, working with brands such as Cole Haan, Victoria's Secret, and Virgin Mobile. Kanai began a career as a fashion editor and stylist almost by accident, joining Teen Vogue when it launched with a skeleton crew. Yet her love of fashion never faded - influencing her world travels after college graduation and providing an answer when her performance career ended at 23 and she wondered, Well, what now? She thought she'd be a fine artist, maybe a puppeteer. Raised by a graphic designer and fashion industry veteran in New York City, she juggled interests in fashion and performance art by studying art and global culture (and curating her wardrobe with thrift-store finds). Aya Kanai seemed to be destined for an artistic path.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |