Flora Zeta

Designer Flora Zhang Tinai Mixes Latin and Chinese Inspirations To Create the Exuberant Tian Art Collections. Flora Zhang Tinai is a true citizen of the world, with family roots in South America, China, and Australia, and offices in Los Angeles, London, New York, Hong Kong and Shanghai. One of Hong Kong’s most acclaimed and dynamic designers, this former ballerina and actress has created award winning design collections, managed production and artistic direction for events around the world, and consulted on image for clients including Nina Ricci, Conde Nast and French Vogue. Flora had a truly international childhood - attending schools in Hong Kong, London, Paris, Russia and the United States. As a teenager in the street punk days of 1980’s London, Flora’s start designing came when she transformed basic pairs of jeans into her own daring creations to be sold on Carnaby Street. At London’s Royal Ballet Company, Flora studied dance, costume design, stage direction and theatrical production. It was while studying costume design that Flora became enchanted by fabrics, and the art of creating something from nothing.

After dreaming up award-winning costumes for operas including M. Butterfly and Romeo for opera houses around the world, Flora launched her first clothing line, Pavlova, in 1981. Pavlova was followed by the exotic Tian Art label, inspired by her own life and family roots. “As I grew older, I wanted to embrace my Chinese culture - very traditional, yet very bold, so I decided to be daring,” explains Flora. “My life has always been like that – I don’t always follow the trend.” Recognized by the international fashion community, Flora has been honored with awards from east and west including: The Australian Fashion Design Award, the Shanghai International Fashion Week Best Designer Award, the French Chamber of Commerce Award of “Women of the 21st Century, the China International Fashion Week “Grand Master Designer” Award, and the Nokia Design Star Odyssey Award.

Flora’s Tian Art brand encompasses a couture line and ready to wear now available in the United States, England, France, Italy, Germany, Brazil, China and throughout most of southeast Asia. Flora’s creations have graced the runways at major shows in the U.S., Asia, and Europe including New York’s 7th of Sixth, the Mercedes Australian Fashion Week, Hong Kong Fashion Week, along with shows in France, Russia, Germany, and the UK. Tian Art boldly combines Brazilian sultriness and style with the opulent glamour of Chinese inspired fabrics, buttons and colors. Defined by irresistible fabrics, a “a mix n’ match” of patterns, and eye popping colors, Flora’s collections are adored by fashion-forward urbanites from London to Shanghai. “There is not just one look,” explains Flora. “I design based on my styles and beliefs – I want to be really out there”. The madly mismatched items that make up Tian Art are a sophisticated fusion of intricate embroidery, stunning graphics, and sharp tailoring. Her collections feature a mixing and mingling of flirty dresses, relaxed tops and whisper weight skirts defined by glittering glamour, and radical contrasts.

Flora finds her inspiration in people, and the potpourri of fashions seen on the streets of New York’s and London’s SoHo neighborhoods. “Each one of my customers is an individual – each one is so different” says Flora. “I like thinking about what they wear and how I can fill their need to be different. I design for the citizens of the world.’

Funky East

Jun Li Lujan is the owner and founder of Funky East Design. She was born in Dalian, China and immigrated to Untied States in 1994. She is now living in Pasadena California with her husband and young daughter. In 1998, she began importing and introduced very unique Chinese designs to the United States.

Jun Li Lujan opened her first retail store in old town Pasadena in 2001. She loved fashion and felt so passionate about fashion she had an overwhelming desire to create her own line. Jun Li Lujan made a life important decision; she closed her stores to attend AIU School of Fashion Design to make her dream come true.

She launched her own luxury outwear line in 2003, and began to show her creativity, innovation and talent. Her designs are selling all over the world to very upscale stores, boutiques and department stores such as Harvey Nichols (in England) and Bloomingdales.

Funky East furs, leather jackets, and coats give the 21st century women a very stylish and fabulous look.

Olia Designs

As a little girl in the former Soviet Union, Olia was introduced to creating jewelry during a beloved beading class. Olia However, shortly thereafter her family moved to United States and the beads stopped being a priority. She needed to learn English and adjust to a new culture.

Many years later, she found herself working at a Wall Street firm as a financial analyst. As is the immigrant tradition, she had followed a path towards a conventional profession. This brought her neither joy nor creative satisfaction.

On her path towards creating her line of jewelry, Olia became a certified Reiki instructor. This seemingly unrelated field has had a great impact on her designs. Reiki teaches that each object, person and element has a certain vibration, and while we do not perceive these vibrations, they do impact us.

Using semi-precious stones, sterling silver and gold, Olia invokes the principles of Reiki to imbue her jewelry with positive energy. She clears the stones and uses Reiki symbols to enhance the energy of her jewelry so each piece will transfer its positive attributes to the wearer. As a result, each piece of the Olia collection is an original with its own spirit and personality. Olia adds, "I intend for my jewelry to be a source of love, happiness and beauty for me and for the people who wear it."

Olia is all about love and happiness. "The intention of Olia is to manifest love and happiness in my life every day and in the lives of people around me. The jewelry is the vessel for this intention of positive energy. It is a means of transferring this energy to people wearing the jewelry. I also use reiki to imbue the jewelry with love, abundance and peace. I know it sounds ambitious but it has been working so far."

RedReign

Jamal Tate was born with a gift to draw and create images from his mind or by seeing an oject “one time” and drawing it in complete detail from memory. This talent was recognized since he was 5 years old. As all young kids who could draw wanted to pursue a career in “comic books” as a artist. Jamal’s talents gained him acceptance into New York City’s pestigeous H.S. of Art & Design. Where he was shown the grass roots of what it is to become a commerical artist. The best teachers in the school are not the ones who sit behinde the desk but those who are your peers. He learned from everyone gaining every bit of advise, & drawing techinques. As a whole the training he receive at Art & Design already put him on a sophmore & juinor level in any art college. During his Junior year at Art & Design his dream of working for a comic book company came true in the form of an internship program offered at his high school. As the light shined in his favor his was picked to work for DC COMICS in the spring of 1988. Once again his talents showed that he was the “Real-Deal” and took this opportunity very serious. There he was shown by the best artist in the indusrty (Dick Giodano, Micheal Golden, Malcom jones III, Walter Simonson, etc.) how to draw like a professional. He received professional training and lessons in six months that take others years to learn as a working graphic artist. Jamal learned Advance drawing, pen & ink skills, sequectical art (the art of story telling). After his six month intership DC offered him a job as a “Computer Colorist” a new field that DC Comics pioneered in the industry, he was the second person ever to learn this new trade next to the person who started it two months before him. For the next three years he learned computer skills only known buy those in the televison field. Soon DC incouraged diversity and moved him to the artist Production-Department” where he his talents where put to use by drawing or re-drawing artwork, correcting mistakes made by other artist. He maintained this position for three years, and once again he was moved to photo department the “darkroom” where he learned all aspects of photogarphy, photo delopment, film seperations black & white and color, three diffrent types of stat cameras and film shooting for the next four years. But as he grew his love for comics changed as well. He had a worked for DC for nine and a half years. He was ready for a change, this change came in the form of fashion designing. In his final months working for DC Jamal worked a second job for a new company called 1020 BLUES as a designer and graphic artist.

There he worked getting his first real experence in the fashion business. This industry was diffeent than the publishing business. He felt an embrace and acceptance that he did not feel working for DC Comics or the publishing industry. Six months later he left 1020Blues and was hired and the head designer for Maurice Malone in the summer of 1997. Maurice admired his unique styled of designing with combined graphic design. There he learned the “ins & outs” of becoming a designer, garment production, technincal design(spec designer), Color forcasting, etc. jamal gained a wealth of informnation not accessiable through fashion school or working as just a designer at a company. There he started to show others his talents as a serious designer. Jamal left Maurice Malone two years later in the summer. To freelance and start his own company, In fall of 1999 He created a company called SupremeReign LLC that would produce and manufacture his line of unique graphic t-shirst called “RedReign”. In the mist of making really hot t-shirt designs Jamal wanted to create leather jackets instead of denim jeans or sweat suits. So he created his first sample and found the industry’s leading embossing company “Tyca” to create his high quality embossings, with detailed never seen before in an embossing. Soon he found himself making custom jackets for customers per request. As all good things came to halt when a fire burned his house down and he found himself homeless for a year ,Sleeping in his office or at a friends house, his partnership had dissolved and SupremeReign LLc was no more. He took a a job as a children’s designer for a few years working at various Childrens companies till he was drawn again to re-build his dream of creating high end quality leather garments and asscessories with a unique flare of designs that is truly Jamal’s own original style, the unique look of RedReign.

• Graphics Credits Include: Def jam recordings, Atlantic Records, East-West records, Sony LA-FACE Records (OUT KAST), FLAVA-UNIT Records (QUEEN LATIFAH),LETHAL Records (PROF. GRIFF), and BMG Black Music Div.; to name a few.
• Design Credits Include: Phat Farm & Baby Phat, Maurice Malone (MOJEANS & Maurice Malone Mens), M. Hidary& CO. (Russell Athletic & Starter) (Children), Adjmi Apparel, Allure Imports, Hemisphere Worldwide, Karl Kani, FUBU (FUBU Collection) Men & Children, 310 Motoring; to name a few.

Vendage (bio to come)