Archive for September 2010

Fashion Week

Timo Weiland Just Keeps Getting Better

When I visited Timo Weiland’s studio to interview them for How I’m Making It, they told me of their Spring ’11 collection, “You know how in the ‘90s, the ‘70s came back for a little bit? It’s like that.” I thought that was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever heard and the end result, presented yesterday at The Box at Lincoln Center, was ten times better than I could have imagined.

First of all, they didn’t entirely play it safe (as many designers have this season). There were bright colors, unusual prints and more quirk than ever, but the shapes were classic and there were a ton of separates that would fit seamlessly into any girl’s wardrobe.

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Reviews

Tailor Made at Preen

Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi played with tailoring for their Spring/Summer 2010 collection. Sure, they sent down some straightforward ’70s-style menswear-inspired pants suits, but they also took the waistbands of those pants, exaggerated them, and slapped them on dresses and skirts. Mod-ish shift dresses were cut out in the back and a-line skirts had bold pleats on the front.

Preen had fun with texture too, adding volume to skirts with neoprene (neoPreen?), honeycomb pleats to silk tops, and eyelet to blouses and the tops of skirts. What with all the deconstructed tailoring and mix of textures, Thornton and Bregazzi decided to keep it simple and muted when it came to their color palette. Looks were pale grey-blue or putty so as not to compete with all that inventive tailoring.

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Fashion Shows

Derek Lam: Art and Luxury

In college, my best friend interned at Derek Lam, where her bosses would let her borrow from the closet for special events.

I hated them for it.

She always looked amazing, and I couldn’t compete. Derek Lam reads luxury even to those so removed from fashion they can’t tell an Alaia from an A-what-a. While he doesn’t scream in blinged out crystals and lames, Lam definitely whispers wealth, in quietly perfect cuts and politely rich fabrics. But the result is the same: clothes that are expensive, and look like it.

On Sunday, as Lam sent yet another collection of luxe looks down the runway, I found myself selfishly relieved that my best friend’s no longer able to pilfer that closet. Seeing my BFF in Lam’s swoon-worthy LBD would honestly just make me jealous. So too would standing next to her in any of the gorgeous trench coats, which like the LBD, were flanked with peplums that added rich volume to an otherwise traditional silhouette.

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  • Natalie Matthews
  • Monday, Sep 13, 2010 / 4:30 PM
  • 1 Comment
Fashion Shows

William Tempest’s Siren Song Works Its Spell

If you don’t know William Tempest, you soon will. He’s a baby-faced 24-year-old Englishman with an amazing pedigree (stints at Giles Deacon and Jean-Charles de Castelbajac) who already counts Emma Watson, Kate Moss, and Victoria Beckham as fans. After his first collection debuted three seasons ago, he was compared to a young McQueen.

This is his first season showing in New York. I asked him what he found different about showing in New York vs. London and he told me, “The energy’s just really different. I was excited to do a presentation here so that I could actually meet editors and buyers in person.” He’ll also be showing in Milan this season. His clothes are clearly ready for their international close-up.

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Fashion Shows

Porter Grey’s Pretty Pop

Porter Grey’s spring 2011 collection is one for a girl’s girl. Feminine blouses, skirts, and frock–the muse seemed to be that perfect girl that everyone wants to be best friends with in high school. Presented in the High Line room at The Standard Hotel, guests were greeted by gentlemen divvying out free champagne. Indeed, the preview felt more like a party with friends than a serious fashion gathering, as the models on the platform swayed back and forth to a musical mix of girlish songs like The Tom Tom Club’s “Genius of Love” and Prince’s “Kiss.”

As for the clothes, there were loads of pleated skirts, both maxi and knee-length, in flowing chiffons and even one in gray leather, which seemed to have the whole crowd a-buzz. Easy and comfortable separates to accompany a handful of standout dresses–most with cutouts in the back–the collection is something you could stock your closet with and not ever have to worry about lacking something to wear. With flat leather sandals and not a single accessory in sight, each look was effortlessly cool and flattering to the figure.

What’s more, the nail polish choice–a bright orange hue–really popped against the more neutral looks. It left me dying to know…where can I get that color?

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  • Brittnee Cann
  • Monday, Sep 13, 2010 / 3:30 PM
  • 6 Comments
Fashion News Roundup

Fashion News Roundup: Lady Gaga Loves Meat, Rebecca Minkoff Likes Fashion Toast & Alexander Wang Killed A Cockroach

McQueen’s Final Collection now in New York: Three pieces from Alexander McQueen’s final collection–his Fall/Winter 2010 collection–have made their way to windows of the late designer’s Meatpacking District store. {Racked}

Lady Gaga and Her Meat Dress: Last night was the MTV’s Video Music Awards. While accepting her award for Video of the Year, Lady Gaga came up on stage sporting a wacky meat dress. She also had a matching clutch and and platform shoes that were actually made of real meat. PETA, where are you? {JustJared}

Rebecca Minkoff Likes Bloggers: Rumi Neely of Fashion Toast was noticeably present at Rebeca Minkoff’s S/S 2011 presentation. However, she wasn’t there observing, she was actually one of the models. {Fashion Indie}

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Fashion Week

Carine Snubs Posh for Tom?

A source just tipped us off that Carine Roitfeld skipped out on Victoria Beckham‘s presentation yesterday morning, claiming she was too busy preparing for Tom Ford‘s top-secret show to attend.

Which makes total sense–Ford’s presentation was a huge undertaking. But what’s maybe more interesting is that the formatting of the shows was nearly identical, says our source.

We love Tom and we love VB, and of course we love Carine, so we’re not about to get in the middle of this. But it is an interesting thought–remember what happened last Paris Fashion Week?

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Webvertorial

Shop It To Me Is Our Fashion Week Wardrobe Savior

By Fashionista Monday, Sep 13, 2010 / 2:00 PM

It goes without saying that, as fashion editors, we need to buy at least a couple new pieces for New York Fashion Week. And usually it ends up being more than a couple.

Leah was after the perfect black dress for a party we’re co-hosting for Timo Weiland, and Lauren needed a pair of perfect wool trousers. (Even though, let’s be real: She might be a bit uncomfortable in the 85 degree heat. Anything for fashion, right?)

Luckily, we had the good fortune to be outfitted for Fashion Week by the team behind Shop It To Me, an incredible website that sends you alerts when pieces by your favorite designers go on sale.

Lauren found a long, black crepe skirt from Vanessa Bruno as well as a pair of gray felt wool Michael Kors trousers–both via The Outnet–a Vena Cava dress from Barneys New York, and a swingy tank top by Opening Ceremony. Oh, and a silk blazer from J.Crew. The discounts were deep: 66% off at J.Crew, 70% off Michael Kors at The Outnet, 61% off Vena Cava at Barneys.

Leah scooped up a body-con Vena Cava dress marked down by 30%, a beautiful J.Crew cashmere sweater and a pair of ballet flats, an Alex Wang tee, a 66% discount on Madison Harding lace-up wedges, and a gorgeous, sparkly Loeffler Randall blouse at 70% off the original price.

We had both used Shop It To Me in the past, but this time around, we really got to experience the breadth of their knowledge and vendors. The site narrows down your search by size and brand so that you don’t have to sift through hundreds of items you don’t want. And that made our search for the right items a whole lot easier.

And to celebrate fashion week, Shop It To Me has created an area of the site where members can see all of the New York designers in one place.

The nicest part of it all? There are over 700 designer brands to pick from, and over 100 participating retailers–including Barneys, Neiman Marcus, Saks, Net-a-Porter–so you know you’re shopping the best of the best. Seriously, sign-up. It’s worth it.

Fashion Shows

Tom Ford: A Review From The Front Row

Fashionista contributor Long Nguyen is the co-founder/style director of Flaunt.

If there were ever a true gathering of fashion’s extended royal family in New York, it happened last night at 845 Madison Avenue at the corner of 70th Street. At precisely 7pm when the guards dressed in black tuxedos locked the front gates, and the light was turned down momentarily, Mr. Tom Ford appeared at the end of the main room of his menswear store, which was decorated with large floral arrangements. About 100 top tier international editors and journalists sat anxiously after a long wait–six years–for his return to womenswear.

“Richard (Buckley) knows that for years when I was at Gucci and Yves Saint Lauren, I had a recurrent nightmare and it would last for a week before the show that the clothes would not arrive, that something went wrong, that the atelier burn down and that I had to stand up in front of all of you and talk for 20 minutes. It’s a tough crowd! I am happy to say that tonight I am very proud. We have, I think, wonderful clothes to show you and we also have I think many of the women–the most inspirational women–to model for us. So I’d like to present to you now my Spring 2011 ’Women’ collection,” said Ford just prior to narrating his entire show, describing each of the models and the specific look they were wearing. And the most fabulous women they sure were.

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  • Long Nguyen
  • Monday, Sep 13, 2010 / 1:57 PM
  • 5 Comments
Fashion Shows

Bespoken’s Natural Charm

The best thing about fashion week, like Christmas, sex, and vacations (or any combination thereof) is the surprises, and I could not have been more pleasantly surprised to stumble upon Bespoken’s Spring/Summer 2011 collection, creatively presented in the yard next to the Soho Grand.

Sam Fayed has designed a collection for “a chap on the road,” and this is a chap you’ll want as a traveling companion.

This chap is probably the son of a land-rich, cash-poor lord, a naughty, well-reared gentleman, getting out of London for a spell before he takes a job at a bank, and real life begins. Whether he’s sitting next to you in coach, ordering champagne for the both of you, or leading you by the hand into the oldest church in Tuscany; he’s a young man with a plan, and you’re just happy to ride along on his traditional British coat tails.

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  • John Ortved
  • Monday, Sep 13, 2010 / 1:00 PM
  • 1 Comment
Fashion Shows

United Bamboo’s Beachy Minimalism

In case you forgot, Thuy Pham and Miho Aoki, creators of $500 cat outfits, design cute clothes for people, too. Not that they want you to forget about their feline obsession–the gift bag included this discount card that looked like a cat driver’s license. However, this cat-free collection did a good job of reminding us to take them seriously again.

United Bamboo’s Spring 2011 collection was inspired by “shimmering green ocean, clean, pale sand, and puffy clouds in an endless blue sky.” The clothes were fit for a tropical vacation. The models walked through an airy two-room gallery space to upbeat west-African – sounding music provided by Brian DeGraw of Gang Gang Dance. It was kind of like Vampire Weekend meets “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid (yeah, my musical references are really sophisticated) and fit perfectly with the collection. The vibe was beachy, minimalist and ladylike.

There were definitely a few instances of seasonal trends we’re already starting to notice, including sheer (and not just on top – it seems that visible panties are on their way to becoming a thing), muted colors, and harnesses. There were also a few of these beautiful floral prints with birds and trees, in the form of silk drawstring pants and dresses. Similar works of art could be found at the bottom of an ombre-ish dress and matching long coat. The prints, which added a surprising pop to an otherwise fairly monotone collection, were done by French artist Pier Fichefeux.

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Fashion Week

Malandrino’s Macramé Causes a Ruckus at Lincoln Center

The prize for most stunning presentation venue this season must be awarded to Catherine Malandrino. Despite an ominous looking sky, she perched her models outside on pedestals surrounding the Paul Milstein Pool, just north of the main tents at Lincoln Center. The presentation was fenced off, but approximately a zillion gawkers swarmed through the area trying to get a peek at some fashion. Or models. Or celebs. There were a lot of all these things.

Hamish Bowles, in a trench coat stamped with images of giant eyes, strolled around the pool. Kelly Rutherford and (I think) Jessica Szohr ran around taking silly pictures with the models, who didn’t seem that amused. Two off duty models in the audience commented, “The girls look really cold standing up there. I hate presentations.” Kristin Cavallari was fending off giggling girls snapping iPhone photos.

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