What do you feel you gained academically, and professionally from this trip?
The only way that I could answer that question, is by just emphasizing that after I had stepped onto foreign european soil, after my eyes had been in the presence of priceless, legendary, masterpieces, while walking on historic steps that echoed, across the universe...and after being swallowed up by the intoxicating parisian bright nights, under Eiffel light, made me once and for-all be awaken to the possibilities, and true capability of the potential of artistic expression in human beings. Catching myself in that moment In Paris while the world turned, surely signified my balance in it. I had now earned it. Closest I’ve ever been to a near-life experience.
Truly holding my own at the 3 day Première-Vision international convention in Paris was something serious to me. I had be looking forward to it. Learning how to really work that giant orbiting planet, upon which countless people from all corners of the world were flocking to enter...was frightening, but immensely exciting to achieve, and decipher. A giant world infested with the finest accessories, the rarest and most innovative fabrics, pulsing with the fashion industries most ground-breaking and original ideas, avant-garde manufacturers, and artistic trend-setters and observers.
I’ve always been told “Treat talent as a business, if your fortunate to have it... then you must master working hard to perfect that gift, as a lifetime commitment. Hard work equals success,... talent tragically is never enough”. This fruitful sort of mentality was the driving force behind all those at that convention trying to find those diamonds in the rough, and for those showing the world they were one.
That creative drive is what I desired, so I decided to capture it, and bring it back with me. New standards on how I would see the world, and how my academic, professional, and artistic success would now be judged. A personal epiphany. Making deals with legendary manufactures, and really networking to familiarize myself and learn the ropes of this business, the do’s and don’t was the key thing I learned in the professional sense there. Being present, and experiencing first hand the commitment Lesage has in his work to make sure that his production, and reputation are second to none. Enriching and inspiring to say the least. Nothing compares to the acquired knowledge that comes with experience. In lamest terms delivering, and preparing me with the necessary tools in order to carve out a path, and a name for myself in
the enormous mountain I’m still destined to conquer. The constant pursuit of my existence. There are a lot of whom depend on it. It’s surreal to think Paris, was my destiny at age 22.
-BorisOrlando 2009
