IFFTI 2008 AT RMIT

 

I recently attended and presented at the  International Foundation of Fashion Technologies (IFFTI) annual conference IFFTI 2008 held at RMIT in Melbourne, Australia.

The name of my presentation was “Is It Virtual Or Is It Real?
The conference it self was very interesting there were many excellent presentations. I felt very fortunate to meet and listen to presentations from many exciting and creative educators and researchers from all over the world. Here is a link to the official abstracts from the conference.

Here is a link to the two fashion programs at RMIT
 
School of Fashion & Textiles
 
 Fashion Program from The School of Architecture and Design

The facilities I visited were at the School of Fashion & Textiles on the Brunswick Campus. The Brunswick Campus is about a 10 minute Tram ride from the City Campus in Melbourne. The campus is very beautiful and the fashion & textile facilities are quite impressive in 4 or 5 buildings. I was told that the enrollment is about 800 students. If you are a college student – make sure you take the opportunity to spend one to two semesters studying here at RMIT, the college, the city and the country will provide a rich and rewarding experience for any student.
 
I had a chance to upload my photos to FLICKR here is a link to the FLICKR slideshow
 
The first 6 images are Storey Hall auditorium where I had one of my presentations – it was at the RMIT City Campus.

Here is a link to Storey Hall – is was really something – like being inside a beautiful work of abstract art. It was built in 1887 as a meeting hall and has a new wing added to it. The hall is original as it was built in all it’s green Irish glory.
 
 

The place we had the cocktail reception was in Federation Square in Melbourne in the Champions: Australian Racing Museum & Hall of Fame.
 
The keynote speakers were: Sue Morphet, CEO, Pacific Brands (Australia)
and Cameron Lamperd, Product Manager, Wetsuits Rip Curl (Australia)

On the last day of my stay in Melbourne, I took a walk around the City Center area. Here is a link to the photos I took on my walk.

• Guide to Melbourne, Australia
• Things to do and see in Australia
• Link to last year’s IFFTI Conference in Toronto post.

IFFTI 2007 Toronto, CA

04.16.07

The IFFTI (International Foundation of Fashion technology Institutes) just completed its 2007 Extreme Fashion Conference at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. The conference was a wonderful experience.

The first evening conference attendees attended the Mass Exodus Fashion Show produced by Ryerson 3rd and 4th year students. The show was excellent, there were a variety of fashion styles but edgy lingerie collections seemed to be a priority for many students.   The Mass Exodus show was followed by an elegant reception that included live costumed models placed around the reception.

The keynote speaker on the first day of presentations was Dominique Lemieux, Costume Designer for Cirque du Soleil: Nouvelle Expérience. Her presentation was mesmerizing. She explained how deeply connected she felt she had to be to the performers to be able to strike the perfect balance between aesthetic beauty and functional and safe costumes.

We attended another reception at the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto. You have never seen so many fantastic shoes in your life. This is definitely the place for the shoe fanatic. Shoes from every culture and from every time. Men’s shoes, women’s, shoes, functional shoes fancy shoes, shoes that go over shoes (carriage mans shoes) and shoes that are for bound feet. Four floors filled with fantastic examples of shoes. You will even see Elvis’s, Elton’s, Tiger’s and Barbara’s shoes exhibited here.

 While we were at the reception, the winners were announced for the International Shoe Design Competition. The winning entries were on display. The top 20 designs were posted on their Website.

 

 New IFFTI post: IFFTI 2008 AT RMIT