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

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Thursday March 8th, 2012

The Best Shoes of the Fall 2012 Season
Accessories

The Best Shoes of the Fall 2012 Season

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We’ve scoured the Fall 2012 collections for the most amazing shoes, and it was easy, because there were plenty. The best part? Footwear options for Fall 2012 are a lot more reasonable than their Spring 2012 counterparts. (Remember those 6 inch Versace lucite wedges?)

Fall 2012 saw lots of wide heels and mary-janes on the runway, and sometimes both simultaneously–like at Prada, Louis Vuitton, and Marni. Knee-high black boots ruled at Alexander Wang, Altuzarra, Givenchy, and Rick Owens, and ladylike pumps could be found at Lanvin, Nina Ricci, and Jil Sander. Of course, if you’re looking for something crazy, look no further than Alexander McQueen’s heel-less fur shoes. Impractical, but so lovely.

Take a look at all the amazing shoes from Fall 2012 and just try to pick a favorite. It’s near impossible.

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Published at 5:45 PM
Tom Ford Is Selling $3,000 Glasses Made Out of Gold and Water Buffalo Horn
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Tom Ford Is Selling $3,000 Glasses Made Out of Gold and Water Buffalo Horn

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We love Tom Ford and his love of luxury and even though it makes us unable to afford anything he makes, we kind of love his penchant for making everything as expensive as possible. The most recent example of this: his new “Special Edition Optical Eyewear Collection.” A single pair of the ’50s-inspired frames will set you back $2,950–about three times the price of your average pair of designer glasses.

Why the hefty price tag? In typical Ford fashion, every last detail and material is impossibly luxurious. The frames are made of gold-plated metal and water buffalo horn and come in a specially designed box that’s just as beautiful as the glasses. To prove we are not making this up, an excerpt from the press release:

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Published at 4:45 PM

Thursday March 1st, 2012

Friday February 24th, 2012

Kanye West Designed the Shoes for Dion Lee’s Debut London Presentation (And They’re Really Good!)
Accessories

Kanye West Designed the Shoes for Dion Lee’s Debut London Presentation (And They’re Really Good!)

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We attended Aussie designer Dion Lee’s debut London presentation over the weekend, and loved the sexy, modern vibe of it. We liked the shoes, too, but didn’t think much about them again, until we saw an interesting tidbit posted on the Daily Pedestrian: Kanye West designed the shoes with Dion Lee.

Dion Lee’s PR representative confirmed that the shoes are indeed by Kanye, as a special collaboration for A/W 2012. We also read that we just missed Kanye at one of Lee’s continuously looping presentations–he showed up for one of the intimate gatherings to lend his support, according to PagesDigital.

Which leads us to wonder, is Kanye hedging his bets with a shoe design career if he can’t get his fashion line off the ground?

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Published at 10:00 AM

Wednesday February 1st, 2012

Fern Mallis Is Launching a Jewelry Line for QVC–Just Don’t Call Her a ‘Designer’
Accessories

Fern Mallis Is Launching a Jewelry Line for QVC–Just Don’t Call Her a ‘Designer’

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When we first heard that Fern Mallis, who ran New York Fashion Week at IMG for almost a decade, was launching a jewelry line on QVC, our initial reaction, we must admit, was: really? Mallis is a fixture in the New York fashion scene, having gone on to host a series of talks with fashion icons at the 92nd St. Y as well as a SiriusXM radio show called “Fashion Insiders With Fern Mallis” after she left IMG. While Mallis obviously knows the fashion biz in New York inside and out, we never suspected she was into making fashion. But she is.

Mallis has just announced that she’ll be launching a jewelry collection for QVC called Fern Finds: by Fern Mallis, which she’ll hawk live during New York Fashion Week (obvi), starting on Friday, February 10 at 10pm (EST). We chatted with the former Fashion Week head honcho to find out just what inspired this move to design, whose style she looks up to, and which of her fashion friends she consulted with before starting her line.

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Published at 4:45 PM

Friday January 27th, 2012

Meet Jason Wu’s New Signature Bag and His Adorable Kittens (Yes, At the Same Time)
Accessories

Meet Jason Wu’s New Signature Bag and His Adorable Kittens (Yes, At the Same Time)

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Target is basically attached to Jason Wu’s name right now: the hype for the February 5 launch of his collection for the mass retailer has reached fever pitch with a celeb-filled pre-shop party that went down last night. The Target buzz it’s almost enough to make you lose sight of the lovely work his does for his eponymous line–that is until he shows his fall 2012 collection next month.

We checked in with Wu to find out what’s going on outside of the Target hysteria. He’s excited about his new “it-bag” called the Daphne which he unveiled as part of his pre-fall collection. We found out why it’s called the Daphne, learned about his design process for accessories, and used this interview as shameless excuse to make him show us his adorable pet cats Jinxy and Peaches (perhaps the inspiration behind Milu, the muse for his Target collection?).

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Published at 6:59 PM

Wednesday January 11th, 2012

Watch: Kim Kardashian Shills a Shoe She ‘Created’ In Honor of Kate Middleton’s Birthday
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Watch: Kim Kardashian Shills a Shoe She ‘Created’ In Honor of Kate Middleton’s Birthday

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It was about time Kate Middleton and Kim Kardashian collaborated on something. They have so much in common: their names start with a K; they’re both in their 30′s; they both got married last summer and they’re both subjects of worldwide obsession. Okay, so technically they didn’t collaborate on anything, but Kim is promoting a Read more →

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Published at 10:30 AM

Thursday January 5th, 2012

Here Are All of Prada’s Drool-Worthy Spring 2012 Shoes and Accessories
Accessories

Here Are All of Prada’s Drool-Worthy Spring 2012 Shoes and Accessories

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As soon as those ’50s hotrod stilettos and colorful boxy leather handbags hit Prada’s spring 2012 runway you could fairly see the wait lists forming, visualize them getting scuffed in the gravel of the Tuileries and photographed by every street style blogger. Even the generally unamused Cathy Horyn was tickled by them, and suggested wearing Read more →

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Published at 12:08 PM

Monday December 19th, 2011

Thursday December 8th, 2011

Click Your Heels Three Times: See Judy Garland’s Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz Right Now at Solange Azagury-Partridge
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Click Your Heels Three Times: See Judy Garland’s Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz Right Now at Solange Azagury-Partridge

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There is arguably not a single pair of shoes that has more legend or nostalgia surrounding them than the famous ruby slippers that Judy Garland wore as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, courtesy of Glinda the Good Witch. They were ill-begotten (the Wicked Witch of the East was smashed by Dorothy’s house), not practical for roaming around a forest full of scary flying monkeys, and magical (or horrifying, depending on how you feel about going home).

The ruby slippers will be available to the highest bidder courtesy of auction Profiles in History on December 16, but you can see them now–up close and in person–at the Solange Azagury-Partridge boutique in NYC (809 Madison Ave). It’s fitting that the jeweler should play host to the glittery kicks–she’s well known for covering her jewelry in rainbow-colored gems (and she even has a rainbow carpet at her store).

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Published at 10:56 AM

Thursday December 1st, 2011

Manolo Blahnik Is Still Trying to Create the Perfect Shoe
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Manolo Blahnik Is Still Trying to Create the Perfect Shoe

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Last night I stopped by Manolo Blahnik‘s 54th Street boutique where the shoe designer was on hand with author Camilla Morton to sign copies of their new book, Manolo Blahnik and the Tale of the Elves & the Shoemaker (Morton wrote it, Blahnik did the illustrations). I only had four minutes to talk to the man whose creations threatened to send Sex and the City‘s Carrie Bradshaw into debt, as the crowd of extremely posh Blahnik-shod women waiting to have the master sign their shoes and books was growing larger by the second.

It makes sense that Morton chose to create a fairy tale of Blahnik’s life since it seems to have played out that way. “Everything in my life is an accident,” he says, downplaying his talent and intense work ethic that has led to his 39-years long successful career. And as the protagonist of a fairy tale, Blahnik–whimsical, witty and utterly charming–fits the bill.

Here’s how my four minutes with Manolo Blahnik played out.

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Published at 6:15 PM
Brian Atwood On Why Platforms are Here to Stay, Working with Miss Piggy, and His New Campaign
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Brian Atwood On Why Platforms are Here to Stay, Working with Miss Piggy, and His New Campaign

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Along with making ridiculously sexy heels that pretty ladies love to wear–from both his main line collection and his B Brian Atwood diffusion line–shoe designer Brian Atwood has entered the mini-movie business. Well, sort of. Unveiled in November, the B Brian Atwood “Vibrant Tears Killer Heels” video basically represents color-blocking through, well, a model crying candy-colored paint tears all over her smoking hot and unclothed body, to finally drip onto a diabolical Resort ’11 platform pump. Now the dishy designer is at it again with a racy new vid promoting another pair of come-hither fringed strappies for his Spring ‘12 B collection.

We were lucky enough to receive an exclusive invitation to drop by the steamy video shoot at Triad, a teeny burlesque-style theater located above a Turkish restaurant on W. 72nd Street (who knew?). We arrived as a very leggy model was in full rehearsal mode, shaking her groove thing in killer heels and lingerie for the directors. All in a day’s work. Then we headed upstairs to the balcony overlooking the action for a nice chat with the dreamy Atwood (honestly, his handsomeness is distracting). Keep an eye out for the completed video in January 2012, but in the meantime, here are the designer’s thoughts on his B line, Manolo Blahnik’s well-documented hatred of platforms, and that notorious Hollywood diva – Miss Piggy:

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Published at 3:15 PM