Client: LVMH, with Parsons
Date: November 2009
Tools & Mediums: Final Cut Pro, After Effects, Photography
Type: Video Editing, Documentary, Motion Graphics, Fashion Design
With Alex Joe, Chichi Agbim, Vivian Graff, & Mary Chin.
“A Stitch in Time” resulted in the collaboration between Parsons and the luxury brand, Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy. The competition was called LVMH: The Art of Craftsmanship, where students were asked to create a documentary on a certain NYC-based artisan and create a garment based on his or her craft. As leader of my team, we made it to the semi-finals (2010).
More about the concept of the project is as follows:
David Munro, a renowned horologist located in Cranford, New Jersey, was originally a fine arts major in Michigan. In art school, however, he found an appreciation for clock making after seeing an antique box clock. Finding newfound inspiration, he decided to go to Bowman Technical School in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. After graduating in 1975 and working as watchmaker for the Hamilton Watch Company, he decided to restore, repair, and design ornate, elaborate, and otherwise pre-20th century clocks in the Tri-State area. He eventually took on an apprentice, Erika Johnson, who Munro had taught both the technicalities of horology and keeping an open imagination in the craft. Ultimately, she left to pursue other careers and start a family, but the truths and concepts Munro tried to instill are ever present.
In “A Stitch In Time,” the focal theme is Munro’s mantra of “keeping your eyes open.” There is a narrative backstory of the so-called “missing apprentice,” played by MFA DT student Whittney Suggs. In “Erika’s” tale, she is running around New York City and literally tearing the fabric of time and space, revealing her connection to her former mentor, David Munro.
The film itself is treated with a soft and sentimental pallor, mixed with a hard and almost dirty texture. In essence, it was the team’s decision to make the documentary look worn, vintage, and handed down – much like the accompanying garment and the idea that a master passes down his or her traditions to the apprentice. Time and tradition, after all, wears down all that they touch, but there is a sense of romanticism and nostalgia in such items.
The music, “El Reloj,” was composed by the Venezuelan indie band, Jovenes y Sexys. The song itself adds a touch of affection and wistfulness to the documentary. Furthermore, there is always a feel of intrigue and fascination when anything aural is spoken in a foreign tongue.
Presubmission:
This is my team’s pre-submission for the LVMH/Parsons competition where we interviewed a luthier, Jason Viseltear. At this point of the competition, I was the team leader, and we were selected as finalists.