Archive for September 2010

Fashion Shows

Watch Oscar De La Renta S/S 2011 Right Here, Right Now.

By Elizabeth Jaime Thursday, Sep 16, 2010 / 4:30 PM

We’re livestreaming the Oscar de la Renta pre-show and show–tell me what you think in the comments. No doubt I’ll be offering up my opinion!

Reviews

LaQuan Smith’s Over-the-Top Romp Through Versaille, Starring Serena Williams

LaQuan Smith, one of our 15 designers to watch, holds a special place in my heart. I met the 22-year-old designer last year when he was working up to 19 hours a day out of his tiny bedroom in his grandparent’s house in Queens to prepare for his first show. He’s scrappy and works his ass off and he couldn’t be more humble about his success (he’s dressed Lady Gaga, Alicia Keys, and Rihanna).

Yesterday, like last season, LaQuan presented his show retro-style: Guests were seated at round tables (this time in a suite at the Peninsula Hotel), and models sashayed about the room pausing at each table to strike a pose. Only this season, as evidenced by the celeb-packed room, buzz has built around this young designer. While Andre Leon Talley has supported LaQuan since the beginning, for his second show, Talley brought along Diane von Furstenberg. Sandra Bernhard and Common were there (not together), and Serena Williams closed the show (maybe she is back with Common?).

LaQuan’s show was a nice break from the typical runway show. Instead of the standard issue vacant stare, his models engaged with the audience, even flirting with them, eliciting tickled shrieks from ALT himself. They actually looked like they were, gasp, having fun.

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Reviews

I Died at Marchesa. Literally.

On Wednesday afternoon on a quiet Chelsea block, a bunch of people who don’t wait in line waited in line. As they inwardly pondered life’s biggest question, “am I important enough to cut to the front?,” (Elle‘s Robbie Myers had her answer: yes) they outwardly declared war on waiting. Finally, editors, buyers, and stylists found neutral territory on one topic: standing outside Marchesa’s presentation on a sun-soaked early fall day was, indeed, the apocalypse.

To their credit, it was actually a very long line–thirty minutes, which can create some very annoying problems for those on tight show schedules. But those who exhausted their emotional reserves complaining might’ve regretted it soon after. Immediately upon entrance, onlookers were confronted by a gown whose diameter measured no less than 12 feet, and which drew audible gasps from a very crowded crowd. From then on, Marchesa’s spring collection was a true tour de force, a voyage through the Orient that at times seemed to require as much energy to absorb as a real expedition does to travel.

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  • Natalie Matthews
  • Thursday, Sep 16, 2010 / 2:30 PM
  • 8 Comments
Reviews

Jason Wu for Tse and Sophie Theallet: Two of the Week’s Best

It’s the last day of New York Fashion Week, which means its time for reflection. Tonight I head to London to hang out with Nadja Swarovski and attend the city’s shows, so I’ve got little time to look back. But I will say that two of my favorite shows this season, thus far at least, have been Jason Wu for Tse and Sophie Theallet. Lovely how that rhymes.

Wu presented his Tse collection on Wednesday afternoon in Industria Studios–one of my favorite show spaces because of all the natural light. While I appreciate his main collection, I tend to prefer muted, darker colors for myself, which means I’m not sure if I’d actually wear it. Wu for Tse, on the other hand, was most definitely a dream wardrobe. The design used elements of his Spring 2010 collection–the pussy bow blouse, the striped shirt–but translated them into grey, black, cream, washed out navy, and washed out brick red.

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Fashion News Roundup

Fashion News Roundup: Christopher Bailey Tweets, A Theft At Michael Kors, and The Hunt For The World’s Sexiest Shoe

Theft At Lincoln Center: Apparently there was a theft during the Michael Kors show on Wednesday. A photographer and his assistant, who were sitting in the photographer’s pit, were robbed of their credit cards, cash, and metro cards. Soon after, Hollister reported a significant spike in sales at their Soho location. We kid. {Styleite}

Christopher Bailey Tweets: Creative director at Burberry, Christopher Bailey, has taken over Burberry’s twitter. Up until September 21–the day of the Burberry show–Bailey will be tweeting away about the preparations for the S/S 2011 show. Already up? A picture from his walk to work and a picture from inside the studio. {Twitter}

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Fashion Week

From a Flower Shop to the Green Shows: Amanda Pearl and Samantha Pleet

I wish I could say that Amanda Pearl’s presentation featured lots of pearls and Samantha Pleet showed lots of pleating. Unfortunately, neither of these things is true. And the two presentations had nothing in common other than the fact that they both occurred yesterday evening and featured an abundance of cute things that I wanted. Both were also very green, but in very different ways.

First, we stopped by Amanda Pearl’s presentation at Matles Florist.

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Adventures in Copyright

Adventures In Copyright: Adam SS ’11 VS Karen Walker SS ’09

While perusing Adam’s latest collection, someone noticed the striking similarity between this tunic and a Karen Walker piece from…two years ago. They’re pretty much identical–the flower shape in the lace is slightly different (Walker’s is prettier), but everything else – the color, the silhouette, the buttons, the tiers in the middle, the collar–is exactly the same. This doesn’t look good, Mr. Lippes.

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Fashion Shows

Sophisticated Ladies: Tory, Rachel, and Nanette Make Sure You Look Impeccable

Over the last couple days I (along with some Real Housewives of New York), took in the shows of Tory Burch, Rachel Roy, and Nanette Lepore. I think we can agree that these three ladies have a similar customer base. Click through for descriptions and pictures, then get dressed and off to that important lunch!

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Fashion Week

New and IMPROVD: Conceptual Wearables

It’s no secret that neutrals are having their day, which means that the focus is on texture. IMPROVD takes an extreme, in-depth look at this from not one, but several innovative angles. On Tuesday, designer Valentino Vettori presented portraits by Yellana Yemchuk of a “carefully curated sampling of dynamic women” wearing a variety of black, white, and beige looks from the collection.

Guests were then invited to get up-close and personal with the pieces, hung throughout the incredible indoor/outdoor space at The Standard Hotel. The night hit its peak with a special performance by recording artist Sky Ferreira and Daniel Merriweather, following showings of Yemchuk’s film interpretation of the looks in motion on ballerinas. And with texture-heavy textiles like these, motion suits them–the looks were distressed, over-dyed, and much more.

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Fashion Week

Watch Oscar De La Renta’s Runway Show Live!

fter the brand’s successful foray into online streaming with its Resort 2011 show, Oscar de la Renta will once again be offering the opportunity to watch their Spring/Summer 2011 show live at 5pm EST with backstage coverage beginning at 4:30pm EST. You can tune in here to Fashionista at 4:30pm to watch the livestream. After the show, there will be special items that can be purchased right off the runway.

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Fashion Week

Paola Hernandez’s Dress Your Self

Those familiar with Paola Hernandez know better than to cast off any of her collections as “just clothes”– well-thought-out, highly intellectual concepts are the trademark of the Mexico native. Her Spring 2011 line, entitled “Dress Your Self,” was of course no exception. Paola followed up her last collection with what she described as a series of basics that “draw attention to the subject wearing them.” When she and I had last met, she had described her urge to create a collection that, when worn, would set the wearer apart from the crowd even when the viewer was walking behind them on a crowded street.

And, to be sure, some of the items she showed on Tuesday night did include subtle but intriguing detailing on the reverse side. While black was overwhelmingly dominant, I’m certainly not complaining–the entire collection was chic and wearable, and I’m not embarrassed to say that I’m now pining for more than one of Paola’s adorable outfits (can we talk about that cape?!).

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Reviews

Zero + Maria Cornejo Keeps It Clean

Maria Cornejo’s press release for her Spring/Summer 2011 collection seemed complicated and even overwrought. Cornejo said she’d been “exploring the idea of cultural displacement” and the release mentioned the “push-pull of an ocular lense” and “an illusion of structure with plissed angles.” I don’t know what a “plissed angle” is or how clothes can reflect the “push-pull of the ocular lense,” but I do know that when the actual clothes came down the runway, they were anything but complicated and overwrought. They were simple and graceful and classic Cornejo.

When I picture the girl who wears Zero + Maria Cornejo, she is someone I envy. She’s international, probably in the art world, maybe a gallerist with galleries in Barcelona and London, or a sculptor who spends half the year on an island in Greece and the other half in New York. Her style is effortless but reflects her worldliness and creativity and appreciation for art.

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