☀ ♥ ✎ ✈♫ ♻ ☆ zaidibirindilindilindilandia ☆ ♻ ♫ ✈✎♥ ☀: italia-FIRENZE

A couple of summers ago, coming home from class, I took the subway with a friend and I told her I was trying to start a blog... then I also told her how time consuming and addicting it had become, and that I was wondering if it was something worth doing... she laughed and asked me to let her know when I was done and give her the"link" so she could read it. Then she left and I kept thinking...why? why should I do this ?

Technology has taken us to a new level and we are now, able to "publish ourselves"! PUBLISH OURSELVES however we want to; if you want to be yourself, transparent and out in the open, or even if you want to pretend to be someone else... YOU CAN! Now you can blog and share your thoughts and experiences with people without having them "altered" by the editors, or "chosen" because of how cool or marketable they are...

This space is for us to share; zaidibirindilindilandia-my own little world, my ingenious- and your thoughts!

welcome, and thank you!

contents of this blog are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Showing posts with label italia-FIRENZE. Show all posts

Friday, April 27, 2012

Mellina+Co's homepage!

Back in February (right after TGFC) I helped and lent my pieces to the lovely Melanie Guardino from Mellina+Co for a photo-shoot. The pieces (from the CALAFURIA collection) were to be used as a complimentary element to her line of BIJOUX!

We had so much fun shooting together at Rex Café in Florence, and really got some nice shots!
So much so that she is using one of them on her website/web-shop's HOMEPAGE!!!

woot-woot for collaborations!

THANKS MELANIE for the support!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

NEW collaborations with old friends: zagb in Mellina+Co's Spring '12 lookbook

Zaida Adriana Goveo Balmaseda featured in Mellina + Co's Spring '12 lookbook! Yes, that is right!

Mellina+Co & Duccio Cambi's Jewels layed out before the shoot!

After The Green Fashion Competition -in Amsterdam- I went back to Florence for one more week. I was trying to catch up with all my friends, as I knew I wouldn't be seeing them until I went back to Europe.

I had been planning to meet up with my friend Melanie Guardino who I met 08'-09' while we were both studying abroad in Florence, IT through FIT. Melanie is the CEO/Founder of Mellina + Co, "a bijoux jewelry company that was created to fuse classic sensibility with cutting edge contemporary style. All the pieces are hand-made in Florence, Italy and shipped right here to New York."

After graduating from The Fashion Institute of Technology (majored in Fashion Merchandising Management) Melanie decided to start her own company... she currently goes back and forth between The Big Apple and Florence, Italy- and whenever we happen to be in Florence at the same time, we try to meet up and reminisce!
Melanie was super supportive during my participation at TGFC, and when she saw the pictures of the collection on the runway she said she had an idea for a collaboration. I got super excited, as I am a firm believer that we young entrepreneurs and creatives need to work together and help each other... PLUS; Melanie is a doll, and I knew this had to be something good!

The lovely Melanie sporting my CEMENTATION_dress (bottom panel worn as SCARF) she was really loving it!

She was planning a photo-shoot for her latest collection of jewels and asked if I'd be up for lending some pieces from my CALAFURIA collection; I immediately said yes!

Mellina + Co is collaborating with Duccio Cambi a Florentine Designer who makes handcrafted, pieces ranging from Bracelets, Earrings, and Necklaces to Rings. She sent me the "line-sheet" and I immediately fell in LOVE!

Mellina+Co & Duccio Cambi's Jewels I want them ALL!

We were incredibly lucky to find a model (Veronica Bellandi Bulgari), a photographer and a location and plan the shoot right before I returned to NY!

I ended up being the hairstylist for this shoot... just fixing a few things, we wanted it to be as close to PERFECT!

The shoot took place at the famous REX Café, an awesome location with a decor that evokes Barcelona+Gaudí: the central wall, covered with a large mosaic of rich colors, reminiscent of the motion of the ocean, the curved-shaped bar, copper back-lit wall ... just perfect for Mellina's Jewels + my Knits!

Below some pics of the shoot we had with the amazing Riccardo Polcaro.

Make sure you also check out his blog!

Veronica is wearing the TAFONI_jkt +TAFONI_pants + Bamboo Ring Gold 2 + Dangling Bamboo Gold

Veronica is wearing the TAFONI_jkt +TAFONI_pants +Rocky Situation + Rock Combo + Pizzo Earrings

Veronica is wearing the TAFONI_cape/skirt+ TAFONI_pants + Mystique Spheres Silver necklace +Glitz Me+ Dazzle My Flow

Veronica is wearing the CEMENTATION_dress + Neon Flow Circle+ Got Flow Circlebracelets + My Circle Girlearrings

Veronica is wearing the CEMENTATION_dress + Neon Flow Circle+ Got Flow Circlebracelets + Ms. Argy's Balancenecklace

Monday, February 27, 2012

new chapter + UPDATES!

Returning to New York has been -as always- a bit strange.

In the past few years I've been spending some time in Europe, and the more time I spend there, the more It becomes a 3rd home (Puerto Rico my first, NYC my second, and Europe-mostly Italy- my third).

It is always bittersweet, as many of the great opportunities I've been given as an emerging designer have come from initiatives happening in the OLD CONTINENT:

Last year Mittelmoda in Italy, and The Ethical Fashion Show in Paris, and this year The Green Fashion Competition during Amsterdam Fashion Week. Not to mention our latest feature on Mellina+Co's spring look-book which we shot in Florence last month.

I have this never-ending argument with myself, as after graduation I didn't imagine myself being here in NY. I was/am relentlessly searching for opportunities abroad... and every time I go, I want to stay; but this time it was very, very different.

I realized that although the European mindset is one that I appreciate, and that I admire their respect they have for a lot of things (like arts+crafts/ personal+family time/quality of life/social programs)... it will take me twice as long to get things done there, to promote my in-the-works brand, and to excel. The fastness of this city is both what I love and hate, its what makes me want to be here and what makes me want to run away.

HOWEVER...Now that I've started building my company, I think will be here for a bit longer and take advantage of the wonderfully supportive design community I'm part of, the endless and accessible resources and the flexible/versatile/varied- yet intense lifestyle you can have here. If I get tired a few months/years down the line I can always run to my other/adoptive homes in Europe or Puerto Rico for a bit (or a while)...

Anyway, following will be a set of blogposts updating you about the articles where my work has been mentioned, what I've been concocting lately and the very-exciting collaborations we've been a part of.

Hope you enjoy reading:

zaida adriana

The Knitwear Accessories I created with/for Auralis which were at MINTfair in Amsterdam and at CAPSULE NYC during their respective FashionWeeks
Zaida Adriana Goveo Balmaseda featured in Mellina+Co's Spring '12 lookbook
My MANIFESTO_of creativemoulding+criticalweathering collection shot by Michael Butterfin + model Mallory Matoush for MUUSE
The KNITTING PARTY at Rosa Ng's (from Quality Control)
The photoshoot we just had for VNB Magazine's April issue where our clothes will be featured!!!
The launch of my collection on MUUSE.com on March 7th!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

mittelmoda2011_appuntidaunafinalista

mittelmoda_2011

Mittelmoda is an annual international design competition, held in Gorizia, Italy. It acts as a platform for recent graduates and young designers to connect with each other, network and gain some exposure-while presenting their capsule collections- to a jury composed bt some of the most powerful and important people in the Italian/European fashion industry.

I had the honor to be chosen as one of the 17 finalists (out of more than 600 applicants) and I was truly excited to be a part of it: http://zagb.blogspot.com/2011/05/new-horizons.html especially because it gave me a CONCRETE reason to come back to EUROPE!

photo x Jesee Lee

I've been in Italy for a month and a half now, and its been a rollercoaster of emotions.
In fact - I APPOLOGIZE for being MIA, and having abbandoned the blog-

I spent my first week back sleeping a lot, attending a friend's wedding, eating delicious food, and catching up with important people... I needed a breather because the past 3 months had been incredibly tough/crazy- and what was about to come was no piece of cake.

I had to make 4 outfits in roughly 2 weeks. I'm talking about knitted outfits composed of 2+ pieces each- so... lets think= 7pieces.

I went to MILAN and was able to use the labs at the Politecnico di Milano (where I studied abroad x a year) to finish my collection. I was at the lab every day from 9-6pm and then kept going once I went home. I mapped out a work schedule, taking in consideration how much time I thought it would take me to make each garment- but as usual- everything took twice as long.

After many sleepless nights ... the collection was done!
(mind you, i was still burrying ends of yarn on the train ride to Gorizia)

MY backstage rack. photo x kat chen

All the finalists were invited to spend 3 days in Gorizia, IT. It was an amazing oportunity to meet incredible people from all over the world who share the same passion, to discuss, and have a great exchange of ideas.
PLUS... we got to see our collections modelled by professional models, in a real catwalk- AND have nice pictures-
I'm still trying to get some more, in the meantime...
enjoy!

the 3 "graces"! celebrating the 150 of a united Italy.

HERE I GO!...
this outfit opened the show!

photo x Roberta de Min

photo x Jean Kim

photo x Laura Jean Bailey

photo x Jesee Lee

Sunday, June 26, 2011

-2 to Mittelmoda

Its been a couple of crazy days/weeks/months and I PROMISE I will write a long update POST after the 2nd of July (along with pics, emails and pictures to those of you I owe)

THE SCHEDULE:

currently- MILAN (until WEDS)

June29-Jul2 = GORIZIA/Mittelmoda

Jul 2-Jul7= FIRENZE/Pitti Filati

Jul7-Jul19 = LONDON/Miss England

...unknown...

Sept 1-4= (maybe)Paris/Ethical Fashion Show

just some pics of my fun fun time preparing the "collection"