Valentina goes to Shanghai!

Hello everyone!

I'm officially back!

Sorry for the lack of new posts of the blog, I have to admit I haven't been writing anything at all because I really needed to take some time off from any kind of work. The last project in uni, the one with Tommy Hilfiger Denim, has been pretty intense and tiring, so decided to take some time for myself and refuel after all the hard work. In the next few days I will write a post about this exhausting yet amazing opportunity to collaborate with such a great brand and show you guys the resulting collection my group and I came up with.

I have been travelling around quite a lot this summer so I really wanted to share some new experiences and amazing photographs with you guys.

Since finishing uni last May, I went back to Italy to see my Italian friends and family and then I flew all the way to China to visit the other half of my family. It's been a pretty good summer and I've been collecting some really good memories, plus I've been taking lot of photos so that I can have material for my Final Year Collection!

So far yet so close, my 3rd Year Collection will start coming to life this year, so I need as much visuals and inspiration as possible. This summer's been great in that sense, cause I've been travelling a lot and that allowed me to widen my horizons and draw inspirational imagery and ideas from many different sources on two different sides of the world. What could a designer possibly want more than the possibility to travel and explore?

One of the most satisfying things was exploring Shanghai in more depth; I've been to this A M A Z I N G city many may times, but never really 'explored' it in the non-tourist kind of way; this year I decided I really wanted to get lost in its alleys, and visit some less known places and areas I had never been to, allowing myself to be a real 'Shanghainese' in a way.

One of the most surprising and interesting places I went to was a place that sold lots of antiques, not really definable as an antique market, but more like a massive warehouse with lots of antiques, varying from memorabilia, decorative objects, bags, clothes to furniture and vintage electronic devices.

Traditional Chinese shoes, with wooden platform and silk upper shoe.

So this was one of the nicest discoveries I've made in Shanghai this summer. I have traveled a lot though, so I will be posting new material in the next few days.

What about you guys, how was your summer? Did you do anything exciting and/or find time to explore some new interesting places?

Let me know in the comment section below,

x, Val.