Archive for September 2010

Fashion Week

Video: Prabal Gurung’s Fashion Week Prep

Saturday, Sep 11, 2010 / 8:30 AM

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Which once-hot actor threw a fit when he was refused entry to Don Hill’s on Thursday night? They eventually let him in, but it was as ugly as his current career prospects.

During Fashion Week, there’s only one accessory carried by editors, stylists, and bloggers at every show: the informational pamphlet. It numbers the progression of looks, making it easy to follow along and circle favorites, and details the designer’s inspiration behind the show. (After all, some collections warrant written word. Headbands + ripped denim = “Blair Waldorf does Coachella”? Oh, okay.)

But sometimes the vision is niche, and sometimes it’s not. At yesterday’s Bensoni presentation, the pamphlet attempted to pinpoint the inspiration behind designers Sonia Yoon and Benjamin Channing Clyburn’s collection, but perhaps raised more questions than it answered. A paradox of “grounded and restless, traditional and iconoclastic, serene and daring, elegant and slight disheveled, sensible and spontaneous” it read. Really, what else is there?

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We cannot believe Fashion’s Night Out is really here. Something like a thousand shopping events are actually happening. Tonight. And they all sound amazing and, in New York, whether they’re uptown or downtown, you probably want to go to all of them. While that is simply unrealistic, we are getting some help from Volkswagon, who are providing us with a fancy new 2011 Jetta to transport us and our shopping bags around what in a few short hours will be a total shitshow of a city.

Jealous? Don’t be – From now until 12:00 a.m., shoppers can visit two Volkswagen Style Express locations for a ride uptown or downtown in the all-new 2011 Jetta: 50th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues; and Greene Street between Spring and Prince Streets. If these end up running smoothly and often, it’s probably your best bet if you want to play ping pong at Barneys before getting a manicure at the Soho Chanel store.

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What’s a boy to do after taking home the GQ’s 2010 Best New Menswear Designer award, and signing on to collaborate with a little label called Levi’s to design workwear? If you’re Louisiana-born, Alabama-based Billy Reid, you go back to doing what you do best: making all-American clothes imbibed with southern luxury, down home charm, and downtown hipness. There are soft, but refined cottons here (some blended with cashmere), boots, seersucker, and double-breasted suits.

His Spring 2011 looks were presented on a stage with a series of antique doors (provided by an antique shop in Alabama), with a model standing on each side, and then rotating in a sartorial game of musical chairs (or was it doors).

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According to some well-placed sources, Brit Brit will be performing at Don Hill’s tonight. (Weirdly, there was a joke about this in The Daily, but we hear that it’s actually true.) The venue was recently acquired by Paul Sevigny, which means all the cool people now hang out there regularly. Again. (Courtney Love is rumored to be around there this weekend, too.)

By the time Brit hits the stage we’ll probably be asleep, but to all you early-twenty-something-hot-scenesters, it might be worth dropping by.

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I can’t think of a more surreal experience than being in class at a fashion school, finding out your designs are on the cover of WWD, leaving class to go get a copy and coming back to your professor yelling at you. Exactly one year ago today, this happened to Alan Eckstein, one half of Timo Weiland. If that’s not an indicator of good things to come for a brand new designer, I don’t know what is. It seems like overnight, Timo Weiland and Alan Eckstein–two very young self-proclaimed “fashion geeks” with no technical training–grew a small line of neckwear into a successful full-fledged men’s and women’s clothing line that will show at Lincoln Center on Sunday.

Also an integral part of the team, Donna Kang, the only one with a technical fashion background, is behind the scenes helping to make beautiful things happen. Together, they are unstoppable. We sat down with them in their tiny garment district office/studio to try to figure out how they came together and made all this happen in such a short a mount of time.

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This season Nomia, one of the Fashionista 15, stepped up its game, showing in a cavernous space neighboring Milk Studios. The scene was minimal meets hip with a singular white polygonal structure as the backdrop, to match the Nomia girl’s unembellished, downtown look.

Designer Yara Flinn’s collection was refreshingly icy in the best sense, like a half frozen lemonade in ninety degree heat. (Said heat, thankfully, took a hiatus for NYFW.) The unfettered nature of Flinn’s designs are a breath of fresh air in what can feel like an over-saturated, hyper-sensory streak of shows.

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Dear Chris Benz,

What are you up to on Fashion’s Night Out this year?

Truly, Your Stalker

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Few things can make a girl happier than a Rachel Comey show. The simple mention of her name will bring a smile to any girl’s face, so it was with utter joy that I darted to Rachel Comey yesterday.

Set to eastern inspired violins over mandatory DJ beats, Rachel Comey’s SS11 collection was a delight. Mixing patterns in signature Comey fashion, the look was as easy and summery as it gets, from white eyelet to Rachel’s quirky patterns like geometrics and watercolor plaids.

Always a standout at a Rachel Comey show are the unexpected proportions. Loose, long pants mixed with flowing tops, and voluptuous skirts made the collection unique, though some of the cuts were quite normal for Comey. One look was a white dress with a ballooning skirt and an attached vest of sorts. The volume was stunning, and would look perfect on a summer day.

The star of the show, however, were the square-heeled shoes that inspired envy in every editor and bystander in the audience. Coming in all variations from boot to pump to flat, they were a complete knockout.

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The Newest New W: Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling cover October W, the mag’s second issue since Stefano Tonchi took the helm and it became the “new” W. We love Michelle and Ryan, but we’re kind of getting a flashback to Lars and the Real Girl, as Michelle Williams looks very much like a doll that Ryan is holding in this picture. {Fashion Copious}

Tim vs. Anna: The Saga continues. As you might have heard, Tim Gunn did not paint the most flattering portrait of Anna Wintour in his book Gunn’s Golden Rules, in which he tells the story of Anna being carried down several flights of stairs by bodyguards after a show. Anna, not surprisingly, was not happy with Tim’s comments and now I think Tim and Anna are in the fashion version of a rap war. Tim says, “More than 30 people must have seen it. I’m just the only one brave enough to tell the truth. Lord knows hell would freeze over if I came face to face with her here, but I probably wouldn’t be able to see past her handlers.” {NY Post}

The Situation’s unfortunate fashion situation:
Mike Sorrentino is getting serious about starting his own clothing line, starting with trademarking a name. Sadly, Mike lost the bid to trademark “The Situtation” and to make matters worse, some other guy trademarked Sorrentino just last week. How will he make a name for himself in the fashion world now? {Gawker}

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Fashion Is Fun

Pre-Fashion Week Mad Libs: Jason Wu

Friday, Sep 10, 2010 / 1:30 PM

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