Fashionista

How to Make It in Fashion: June 21, Dream Hotel Downtown, New York

Wednesday October 20th, 2010

Seeing Pink: A Survivor’s Take On The Marketing Madness of Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Rants

Seeing Pink: A Survivor’s Take On The Marketing Madness of Breast Cancer Awareness Month

You probably know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM). Whether it’s because you’ve noticed the nationwide proliferation of pink, or because you’ve been affected by the disease first-hand and this month serves as a bitter(sweet?) reminder, there’s no question that the campaigns that accompany it are pretty in your face.

I am a breast cancer survivor. And BCAM is undoubtedly an important way to raise funds towards researching its cause and developing new treatments that could eventually eradicate the disease. But lately it seems that the commercialization of BCAM over the past few years has begun to turn the pink ribbon from a symbol of hope into a gimmick that trivializes what it stands for.

It’s extremely difficult for me to sit here and say where companies capitalizing on the “trendiness” of BCAM should draw the line: Herceptin, the drug that essentially saved my life, was only approved by the FDA in 2006, and would never have been discovered if it weren’t for the millions of dollars donated towards breast cancer research every year.

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Published at 4:30 PM
Anna Sui and Anthropologie Celebrate The Designer’s 30 Anniversary With Three Resurrected Dresses

Anna Sui and Anthropologie Celebrate The Designer’s 30 Anniversary With Three Resurrected Dresses

Nope, it’s not another diffusion line (although one of those does exist as well). Anna Sui is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year with the launch of a first-ever retrospective book. In honor of such a milestone, Sui and Anthropologie, who have a longstanding relationship, got a little anthropological and selected three iconic Anna Sui dresses to resurrect and sell exclusively at Anthropologie stores. The dresses are each from a past collection–Fall 2005, Spring 2001 and Spring 2007 to be exact–and were key looks from their respective seasons.

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Published at 3:30 PM
Burlington Coat Factory Ordered to Pay Fendi $10 Million
Adventures in Copyright

Burlington Coat Factory Ordered to Pay Fendi $10 Million

It seems that Burlington Coat Factory actually is “more than great coats,” they’re also former hawkers of knockoffs.

Back in 1986, before many of you were even born, Burlington Coat Factory sold a bunch of fake Fendi handbags. Now, 24 years later, the case has finally been settled. Burlington must pay Fendi over $10 million in damages.

And, kind of surprisingly, the discount retailer seems to have the cash to fork over to Fendi, one of the world’s most powerful luxury brands. Annual sales, as of 2004, were a whopping $2.8 billion. Even if that number has halved since then, it’s still a much bigger business than we ever imagined.

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Published at 2:41 PM
Loeffler Randall Spring 2011: Jessie Introduces Bridal
Market Week

Loeffler Randall Spring 2011: Jessie Introduces Bridal

Loeffler Randall designer Jessie Randall skipped the clothes for Spring 2011. Instead of designing an apparel collection–which is on hiatus–her devoted followers are getting something new this season. Pun intended.

In response to demand from friends and customers, Randall created a bridal shoe collection, featuring several of her favorite designs in cream, blush, satin, and chiffon. (It’s priced between $295 and $625.)

As a Spring 2011 bride, this certainly made me happy. Finding the right pair of wedding shoes is nearly as important as the gown itself. I’m particularly keen on the Noelle and Georgia styles, which mix sheer netting with satin.

Of course, the main collection isn’t bad, either.

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Published at 2:03 PM
Fashion News Roundup: Wearable Airbags, Kelly Osbourne’s Closet and The Return of the Kitten Heel
Fashion News Roundup

Fashion News Roundup: Wearable Airbags, Kelly Osbourne’s Closet and The Return of the Kitten Heel

Attention Bicyclists: Finally, a couple of Swedish designers have come up with solution to protecting your head without wearing one of those lame-looking helmets. Employing the same technology cars have been using for years, the Chieftain wearable airbag hides under your hipstery scarf and deploys on impact. {Fast Co. Design}

James Franco, Contemporary Artist: James Franco puts on makeup again in Allison Chernick’s James Franco as Bruce Nauman, a remake of Nauman’s Art Make-Up video piece from 1967. The film is the first in a series in which contemporary artists are enlisted to star in remakes of art films, “prompting a dialogue between the original artwork and the artist reinterpreting it.” {NOWNESS}

Out of the Closet: The newly svelte and fashion-obsessed Kelly Osbourne opens up her closet in the latest installment of Bluefly Closet Confessions. Her extremely jealousy-inducing wardrobe includes a never-worn Balmain dress, a gorge Chanel dress her dad bought her and a YSL fur-lined coat from the ’60s. {Bluefly Closet Confessions}

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Published at 12:44 PM
Thomas Tait Wins The Dorchester Collection Fashion Prize!

Thomas Tait Wins The Dorchester Collection Fashion Prize!

LONDON–There’s something furtive-feeling about taking public transportation to the Dorchester. The storied Park Lane hotel is more a chauffeur kind of place, you see. But last night, a clutch of East London’s hardest-working young designers looked wide-eyed and happy to have made it there any way they could, as they sipped Laurent Perrier and hobnobbed with Daphne Guinness to celebrate their status as finalists in the first-ever Dorchester Collection Fashion Prize.

Guests of honor included Louise Goldin, Mary Katrantzou, Chau Har Lee, Hermione de Paula and Thomas Tait. It was the judging panel, though, that really brought the star power: there was Guinness, resplendent in a floor-length sequin gown and a cream lace headpiece that she drew across her face like a veil; Yasmin Le Bon in a flippy little Alaia dress; Manolo Blahnik looking natty and correct in a grey suit and evergreen velvet slippers with swimming-pool-aqua bows; and milliner Stephen Jones, wearing a three-piece suit and green cap (dream client: Michelle Obama, because, “she’s not really a hat person”).

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Published at 12:00 PM
J-Woww Forced to Shutter Filthy Couture Line

J-Woww Forced to Shutter Filthy Couture Line

J-Woww launched her Filthy Couture line of lacy, barely crotch-covering mini dresses and rhinestone encrusted midriff-bearing tops just four months ago, but the line has already shuttered.

Threatening law suits are to blame, according to Radar.com.

Apparently J-Woww’s line was infringing on a similarly named line’s copyright.

“Due to trademark issues the company was shut down,” a source tells Radar.

What’s more, even if you managed to place an order for a lingerie-inspired bikini in the past few months, you’re out of luck. According to the same source, “Money needed to be returned to the people who had ordered clothing.”

Sadly, it seems this is the end of J-Woww’s fashion pursuits.

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Published at 9:40 AM

Tuesday October 19th, 2010

Last Night’s Parties: Kenneth Cole’s Digital Getdown and Metallurgy at the Museum of Arts & Design
People & Parties

Last Night’s Parties: Kenneth Cole’s Digital Getdown and Metallurgy at the Museum of Arts & Design

Lauren’s Party
Kenneth Cole is many things: activist, designer, marketing whiz. But one would never call him conservative. Or backward thinking. That’s why it’s no surprise that he’s jumped on blogger bandwagon, inviting a slew of us to view his Spring 2011 collection at the company’s showroom. (Which happens to be the former Astor stables–a gorgeous building.) The invite to the event was a Bloggie video camera, complete with a clip of Cole inviting us to “join his social network.” Pretty clever–and of course hilarious.

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Published at 6:00 PM