Vivien Sin ’06 springs into New York Fashion Week as assistant designer for Marc Jacobs #MJDaisyChain Tweet Shop

Patricio, Melissa A.

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HELIN Digital Commons

A Dream in Full Bloom

DOCS@RWU

Roger Williams UniversityDOCS@RWUFeatured News Story The Week at Roger4-7-2014A Dream in Full BloomMelissa A. PatricioRoger Williams UniversityFollow this and additional works at: https://docs.rwu.edu/weekatroger_featured_newsPart of the Higher Education CommonsThis News Article is brought to you for free and open access by the The Week at Roger at DOCS@RWU. It has been accepted for inclusion in FeaturedNews Story by an authorized administrator of DOCS@RWU. For more information, please contact mwu@rwu.edu.Recommended CitationPatricio, Melissa A., "A Dream in Full Bloom" (2014). Featured News Story. 388.https://docs.rwu.edu/weekatroger_featured_news/388 News ArchiveA Dream in Full BloomVivien Sin ’06 springs into New York Fashion Week as assistant designer for MarcJacobs #MJDaisyChain Tweet ShopVivien Sin '06 stands amid her design; exterior of the SoHo DaisyMarc Jacobs Tweet Shop.April 7, 2014 Melissa A. PatricioNEW YORK, N.Y. – It was a chance discovery that led Vivien Sin ’06 to pursue a degree in architecture.An artist since childhood, she had her sights set on visual arts until School of Architecture, Art andHistoric Preservation Dean Stephen White discovered Sin’s natural talent as she sat in a corner of hisclassroom, hoping not to be noticed.Sin, who had only recently moved to the U.S. and spoke little English, admits she didn’t understand theassignment and was terri ed to be called on. It was then that White noticed her sketches.“I was doing diagramming without knowing it,” Sin says. “Steve saw it and told me I was already at asecond-year level and needed to go to architecture school. It changed my life. I was just a kid trying to gure out what I wanted to do, and he took me in. If not for him, I wouldn’t be an architect right now.”On White’s advice, Sin spent six years at Roger Williams pursuing her Master’s in Architecture beforecompleting a Master of Landscape Architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design. From there, shelanded a job with internationally renowned architecture  rm KPF Associates, and has spent the past  veyears working on projects teams in Shanghai and New York, contributing her design expertise to someof the world’s most leading edge architectural programs.Still, a passion for art has remained in Sin’s heart, so when colleague and friend Albert Cheung invitedher to lend a creative female perspective to an innovative project for the designer Marc Jacobs tolaunch during New York Fashion Week, Sin jumped at the opportunity. The team had just three-and-a-half weeks to scout locations, curate the exhibit and execute the vision for the  rst-ever social mediaadvertising pop-up, featuring the Daisy Marc Jacobs fragrance.“We really had to understand the Marc Jacobs brand, what the client was looking for, and determinewhat kind of experience we wanted visitors to have,” Sin says. “We settled on creating somethingyoung and fresh.”That vision included an interactive set and photo booth where visitors would become part of theadvertisement – instant models, as it were – featuring a backdrop like a  eld with real and fake daisiesfor visitors to pose and play with.“The photo booth is something that was for the girls to have their dream come true. They would be the‘Daisy’ girls and become part of the advertisement,” Sin explains of her vision. “The idea came from meliking to dream about things – as an artist, always wanting to play with things, wanting to touch things.It’s a lot about texture and how people can think about memories; what would capture them.”It also served as the underpinning of the pop-up’s mission: that there would be no exchange of moneyfor goods. Instead, visitors could earn credits (“social currency”) by taking photos and tweeting withthe hashtag #MJDaisyChain; those credits could be used toward merchandise, including the signaturefragrance. The concept caught on quickly over the three days, even earning a nod from The NewYorker, which described the ambiance as, “girly but slightly provocative, sort of like if Lana Del Reycovered a Katy Perry song.”The experience was something of a dream come true for Sin, too, who says she is honored to haveworked with a tremendously talented team of designers and creatives – including the Lion’esqueGroup, LS Group and Mash+Studio – on such a public project. It also helped her reclaim anexperience she had been missing since leaving Rhode Island. As a student, Sin o en dedicated whatlittle free time she had to apply her talents to service projects at her church in Pawtucket.“Those little projects I would do on the side were fun and I missed it,” she says. “So when I started thisproject I was just thinking, ‘what could I do to help people enjoy it and have fun?’”Her time at RWU prepared her well for professional success, Sin says, emphasizing the program’s focuson collaborative design:“I did group projects in almost every studio I took at RWU, and that was unusual and I knew that,” Sinsays. “The group design perspective helped because of how things work in the real world. You neverdo a project on your own, never design a building on your own. You bring di erent strengths into thebuilding, and that’s what makes great architecture.”Sin encourages emerging designers and architects to keep this in mind as they enter the profession.“Sometimes we are so stubborn, we only think our way is the best but it’s not,” she says. Her advice tostudents? “Don’t fall in love with your own work. Step out of your comfort zone – it’s where you start tolearn because you have to survive. Do not be afraid to push the limits and push the boundaries. Themoment they start to do that, they will feel a lot more coming out of them. It’s personal development,and helps you understand who you are, what you’re good at, and helps you grow in general as aperson.”Mentoring young designers is the torch Sin bears as she navigates the professional world away fromRoger Williams, and one she is happy to hold, she says. The positive attitude, passion and willingnessto teach those eager to learn were a signature of her faculty at the School of Architecture – one that le a lasting impression.“Now that I am a young professional, I am learning to share my experience with people and peersbecause, once upon a time, a group of passionate teachers shared their knowledge with me,” Sin says.“I want to be able to do the same with the uprising designers.”

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