When I first spotted Fanny Schlichter’s designs, I immediately searched for retailers that carried her pieces in the U.S. Of course, I failed, because Fanny’s fashionable creations aren’t available here. They’re not available anywhere, existing only as a figment of imaginative, virtual exploration.
For a moment I was addicted to Photoshop,” Fanny writes. “Every day, I needed to open it and experiment something new; it was like a game or a distraction.” For this reason, she began cataloging her pattern designs on her Tumblr, Exotic Computer, presenting to the world a sort of virtual collection. Using Photoshop and Illustrator, she explores the intersection of her biggest passions – fashion, photography and nature – without the constraints of scale and placement that often come with “real-life” garment design.
It sounds easy, creating free from limitations. Yet boundaries are so often what force us to be creative, aren’t they? I can’t help but wonder how hard it must be for a creative to ignore the demands of her profession, break all of the rules, and instead, just play. Of course, Fanny’s used to breaking the rules. After earning her fashion design degree at LISAA in Paris, she didn’t create anything for one year. “I needed to take time and think about my personal universe,” she writes.
And as someone taking a step back to find some breathing room, Fanny’s is a sentiment I can relate to. “If you stay connected with yourself and make things with spontaneity and passion, whatever you do always leads to your personal universe,” she advises. “Everything is harmonious.”
Image Credits: Fanny Schlichter
p.s. Just for fun: More photographic-inspired prints from Pedro Lourenco, Von Sono and Marios.
I remember in college we learned similar techniques to mock up garments with prints on the computer. Fanny’s prints are so good!
Very interesting! Your posts always manage to make me think.
Elizabeth of The Corner Apartment
@Elizabeth – Thank you!
It is really hard indeed to ignore the public for an artist, or the buyers in my case. But the more you try (and do it), the more you realize the best of you only comes if you really go after you very deepest self- that’s the best of you could ever show. I guess, like you’re doing with you blog now, just digging into something deeper, your slow blogging that I’m really enjoying and am very thankful for.
@soledad – Ah, thank you so much! That’s such a kind thing to say. :)