Milano | zaidd'or

January 29, 2014

Theft and Suicide… A Day In Verona

A week ago a friend of a friend had just visited Milan and while we were having brunch on Saturday afternoon we decided that we should go to visit Verona that night and we would be back to Milan the next day at night. We tried calling car rental companies but none were answering or the prices were obscene -As we were sitting next to the Duomo – we went into one of the hotels there and asked if the know a car rental company. We found a car at a reasonable price, then the same hotel informed us they had another hotel in Verona and if we would like to book with them. We were given a great rate and we saw the pictures it looked like a good 4 star hotel. We hopped into the car an hour later and off we went. Driving on the way there we booked at a restaurant called Osteria la Fontanina. Our plan was to get to the hotel, change, and get to the hotel for our reservation. As soon as we arrived to the hotel we were surprised by how the hotel looked so different from the photos. We decided to suck it up and stay a night, after all it was just one night. We got changed, hoped into the car and off we went to Osteria la Fontanina. It was one of the best meals I have ever had I advise everyone thats going to Verona to go there. AFter the amazing dinner we decided to go back to the hotel early. As we were driving up to the hotel we saw a police car, we were worried as why would a police car be at the hotel at this time at night. We asked the officer he informed us that everything is ok there is nothing to worry about. Being assured by the officer we went up to our rooms, but we were astonished by the amount of people standing next to our rooms, walking faster to see whats going on we realized that it was the room right next to ours’. We asked what was going on and they informed us that they were robbed. All their money, bags, and jewelry were stolen. We didn’t even think about it for a second we didn’t even give them a reply we all sprinted into our rooms in order to check if our belongings were still there. Everything was ok thankfully. The next day three of us decided we want to head into town early to go sightseeing. Our fourth friend wanted to sleep in.
We spent the day in Verona visiting both Juliet and Romeo’s houses and seeing the town. While at Juliet’s house everyone was putting locks on her door and they say its a bad omen to put your name with someone you don’t love. I wanted to join the experience though! So I bought a lock and wrote “me, myself, and I”. The three of us were present and we love each other, so whats the bad omen about that? We then headed to Romeo’s house and I had to take a picture of the door. It was flooded with names of Arabs in love. After a few hours we decided to head back to Milan. But we needed to pass by the hotel to pick up our stuff. As we were going in we see fire trucks, an ambulance, and a police car in front of the hotel. We were surprised again saying what is it this time. It turns out a woman jumped of the ledge into the river in front of the hotel to commit suicide, it had a very fast current as it was raining all week.

Ps. The picture are uploaded in the order they were taken in. Click on the images to enlarge them.

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January 26, 2014

Flashback

I don’t know why I haven’t blogged about this before. (Insert slamming my head) I have to actually keep up with my blog I cant keep work taking over like this. Hopefully the next two days will put me back on track.
Well let’s go back in time and talk about the second day of Milan Men’s Fashion Week.
After being able to access the runway shows the day before we decided to try to get into the other shows as well. We ended up going to Ports as well as Etro. The first show we went to was Ports and trust me it was a spectacular day, Ports’ venue was just magical. A small show room that is pure Italian that created this couturier ambiance.
After Ports we decided to go test our luck with going to Gucci, but of course it was tight as Fort Knox and there was no way to enter but luckily I got to meet Scott Schuman aka The Sartorialist.
After the show started we decided to head to the next fashion show event, Etro. We got there early and waited and during the show we saw Anna Dello Russo again and Franca Sozzani. The Etro fashion show was just pure genius, I loved every moment of it as well as sending a signal as they are a multi-generational brand where both old and young models went down the runway together. Sending the message that they are still relevant to the consumers no matter what their ages are.
And like that we ended fashion week, as we had to catch up on so much work we didn’t do during these two days.
You can find the pictures below and stay posted so I can update you about my trip to Verona, discuss the couture shows, and the random people I meet in my life. I hope you enjoy the images!

Ps. Click on the images to enlarge them.

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December 8, 2013

A Week In The Life

So as you may all have known I had finals for the past two weeks and I was tortured by the amount of work I had to get done. I had to submit my collection, fabric book (a personal fabric encyclopedia), discuss fashion history, as well as submitting my own dress, pants, and skirt.

After I was done and I am safe to say I think I did well. I slept for an entire day, explored the city, went out clubbing, went to Bologna. I can finally say I have had a weekend at last after 3 months of working non-stop.

I have to share these small anecdotes with you about what went on while I was out clubbing one night. My friends and I decided we should go to a club called “Old Fashion” the music was really good. It was very old school, it reminded me of our 6th or 7th grade dance parties. But a disadvantage of the club is how hot it gets in there. So there is this door at the end of the club that opens to the outdoors smoking section, as I was standing next to the door trying to get some fresh air yes, it is an oxymoron catching some fresh air in the smoking section. I was greeted by two random people a guy and a girl (the girl I have seen before somewhere though). They point at me and just scream out “Marangoni right?” I was like “yeah” in a weird way trying to figure out what the hell is going on here. So they ask me which program I am in, I reply, I ask them the same question. Then some other friends of there’s now stood by our side. and they looked at me and said “we see you around in school a lot and we realized that your straight, right?!” I shook my head in agreement. They continued by saying pointing to the other 3 or 4 guys with them “we are the straight group in Marangoni”…. Yes it was confusing I don’t know what they were trying to get to there, I just smiled and said nice to meet you and left. Yes, I am still confused. (But hey if I get noticed in fashion school I ain’t complain’n) On my way back into the club I decided to use the bathroom. While waiting in line this guy who was extremely drunk looked at me started saying in Italian what I understood was “You look like Gesù” and then just looks at me and says “Gesù, Gesù, Gesù” I was so confused thinking in my head was he calling me Jesus?! So I blamed it on my bad Italian and was like that is not possible I probably understood it wrong. Then the people in line also started calling me “Gesù”. Some of them later in the club when I bumped into them even continued calling me “Gesù”. I finally realized that it truly meant Jesus when I asked my Italian friend.

So all I could think of is having to leave before creating some form of cult in a club in Milan, and the fact I had to be up in 4 hours to be on a train to Bologna.

The next day I was off to Bologna! I was in love with it, the food I must admit is way better than Milan! It is also very Medieval due to the castles and churches being in the center of the city. Here are some photos of the trip.

Ps. Click on the images to enlarge them.

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November 2, 2013

Venice

So just a few days ago my friend and I decided to take a one day trip to Venice. Never would have I expected how beautiful it is. As I was telling my friend, I felt like I was seriously walking through a painting. The majority of the trip our conversations surrounded the idea of being transported to the past and being able to live in Venice in the medieval times.
As we arrived there on Halloween we soon went looking for Venetian masks to be able to wear to go out at night. We toured the city, bought our Venetian masks, had dinner and went straight for a night out in town. As great minds think alike, without planning or talking about it we both had brought a full black outfit with us thinking by just adding a mask to the outfit voila we would have a costume.
The next morning we went out sight seeing and toured the rest of the city. Here are some photos from our trip.

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October 28, 2013

My First Skirt!

With so much going on and everything being up in the air, I just realized today that it has been 8 days since I last posted on my blog. Yes days feel like hours to me at this point. Yesterday I had to the opportunity to visit Pavia as one of my friends invited me as well as a few other friends to her home there. I found the true meaning of a small Italian city. I have to visit again soon, as it is only 30 minutes away from Milano.Below you will find pictures of the cathedral and views from my friends balcony. As well as visiting Pavia, I got to execute my first skirt. Please don’t look at the type of skirt as its a basic exercise everyone had to do from a book. Will I be able to give designers a little run for their money? NAHHHHHHHHH I know this is such a short post, but I am swamped with work tomorrow as I have to hand in my sketch book which includes “my aliens” as well as have some of my aliens colored in using Pantone. Ohh the joy of staying up all night, I am pulling more all-nighters than my freshman year at university (which was record breaking for all-nighters)

Ps. Click on the images below to enlarge them

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October 7, 2013

The Day of Changes

Well today it was one of those things that I had to do. I had to create a public Instagram account @zaidfarouki. I will try me best somehow later integrate my Instagram feed into the blog. Well as we all know if social media if used correctly is one of the greatest marketing tools the world has to offer. Because of what I want to do and the work I want to go in. I need to synchronize everything from twitter to Instagram to my blog. Therefore, I have created an Instagram account with the same username as my twitter account, so I will be easier to find on social media. So follow me on both Twitter and Instagram at @zaidfarouki

So after clearing this issue, today has been one of those hectic days, long working hours and getting frightened by my old smoking neighbor that stands between the pots. I think this week our relationship took a new level. We saw each other on the street and greeted each other, I am worried that our relationship is escalating to fast…. So now whenever she sees me she smiles and says “Ciao”. The only conversation that goes on between us is “Bonjourno” and “Ciao” but then she smiles whenever she sees me. Anyways so today I was late to leave my apartment and it was probably the third time I come back from standing in front of the elevator after remembering something I forgot. After I left my apartment for the third time. There she was in black and a grey shawl in between the flower pots smoking and our typical conversation of “Bonjourno” and “Ciao” took place.

Today has been a long day. I woke up early and finished the sketches for my class. And of course the internet limit decides to end today so I had to walk to Vodafone and recharge my account. As this took time there came the lunch hour which every place in Italy closes from 1-3 pm. No one messes with the Italians and their lunch break, So I had to wait around for the art supply store to open again. I met up with a friend for tea afterwards and then I headed off to my pattern making class. So to add even more work to the work. We are supposed to sketch 4 different patterns of skirts and ready by Wednesday and have 1 actual skirt made by Monday. This is going to be a fun weekend. I don’t know whether to be excited or worried.

So below your going to find some sketches that I have made. of course only the presentable ones, not the alien formed ones hahah. Now off to create 2 things on Photoshop and then off to bed because tomorrow is going to be a long day! Classes from 11:15am – 8pm.

Ps. Click on the images to enlarge them.

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Tag: Milano