New York has been full of brights the past week, none more obvious than the shades of orange that have already graced at least two dozen collections. From a single pop (Doo.Ri) to a longer stretch (Kimberly Ovitz), it’s about as attention-getting as a color can be.
They’re bringing out the big guns now. If you head to our complete Fashion Week page, you can revel in the Warholian-prep brights from Tommy Hilfiger, bask in the sunrise glow of Jen Kao‘s Hawaiian prints and Japanese cuts and just try to choose a favorite from Charlotte Ronson‘s mash-up of mod inspirations. It’s just Read more →
Charlotte Ronson has essentially built a career designing for her friends–which isn’t such a bad thing when you consider who we’re talking about here: Margherita Missoni, Kelly Osbourne, Joy Bryant, Whitney Port and Nicky Hilton were among the designer’s pals who came to show support at Ronson’s spring 2012 show. And that’s not even counting the Ronson bloodline, which, with Sam Ronson DJ’ing the event and Annabelle Dexter-Jones walking, was in full force.
But while the celebrities were easy to spot, the actual collection was a bit harder to pin down.
As if Sam Ronson’s hard-working sister Charlotte didn’t have enough on her plate (her I Heart Ronson line for JCPenney sells like hotcakes for the mass market, while her own namesake collection is gearing up to debut at Fashion Week in a matter of weeks), the designer darling is ambitiously expanding to beauty as well. With a tagline like ‘effortless beauty, under any spotlight’, the Charlotte Ronson beauty collection will launch in a Sephora near you this September.
This week, a smattering of Hollywood’s hottest It-girls (and, quite conveniently, Ronson’s best gal pals) including Nicole Richie, Paris Hilton, Nicky Hilton, Rashida Jones, Kidada Jones, Mindy Kaling, Monet Mazur, Drea de Matteo and Lake Bell crowded into Il Sole (one of Ronson’s self-declared favorite haunts in L.A.) to fete the new collection and dabble with the pretty eye shadow palettes, shiny lip glosses and face luminizers on display; while simultaneously noshing on decadent plates of burrata, truffle pasta and dover sole. (Sidenote, we also spied Sam Ronson sneakily ordering off the menu in between courses.)
As for the products, Ronson smartly named several of them after the starlets themselves, which will surely boost sales.
One of the youngest members of the Ronson/Dexter-Jones family, Annabelle also has that effortlessly cool quality that every one of them seems to have been born with. She has great style and an unconventionally adorable look. Her half sister Charlotte Ronson, whose show she walks in every season, has called Annabelle her muse. Aside from that, she’s mostly known for being in Purple Diary a lot and dating French graffiti artist and nightclub owner André Saraiva.
But now, she tells WWD in an article about Saraiva, Annabelle is working on something of her own–a clothing line.
Azzadine Alaia Was Called To Take Over For Galliano: He was flattered but declined (he is in his 70s, after all). However, as the Financial Times observes, given Alaia’s rejection of the industry’s hyper-speed and the accompanying pressures, this may indicate that Dior is looking to change its ways. {Financial Times}
CreatetheGroup Aquires Morpheus Media: The digital media companies, which develop strategy, creative content and marketing on new media platforms, will now operate under the same umbrella. Clients include Burberry and Marc Jacobs (considered fashion’s digital pioneers), Net-a-porter, Louis Vuitton and others. {WWD}
A Woman Went A Month Without Looking In A Mirror: The Daily Mail’s Marrianne Power decided to test studies that show women are their own harshest critics by going a full month without using or looking in a mirror. Turns out, she looked more relaxed, got more compliments and felt loads better about herself . {Daily Mail}
We already knew Vena Cava was designing a capsule collection for Uniqlo–designers Sophie Buhai and Lisa Mayock let that juicy tidbit slip at Fashion Group International’s panel on entrepreneurship back in February. But today brings word that New York designers Charlotte Ronson and Costello Tagliapietra will also be among the nine collaborators taking part in the Japan-based retailer’s Designers Invitation Project (the others are Zechia, Tiny Dinosaur, Suzuki Takayuki, Theatre Products, Nine and Double Standard Clothing).
Each designer will produce a six-piece capsule collection for Uniqlo, with each item retailing for just $29.99 WWD is reporting. Costello Tagliapietra’s collection hits stores on April 21, Charlotte Ronson’s on May 5, and Vena Cava’s on May 12. The collections will be available through May 21.
Ronson’s collection–the only collection we’ve seen glimpses of–has a casual nautical feel that’s making us crave warmer temps.
California girls reported for duty at Charlotte Ronson’s military inspired show last night. Army green, camel, and charcoal dominated the color palette of tweed shorts, cropped jackets, beanies, and loose fitting fair-isle sweaters.
As always, Ronson infused her laid-back west coast style into the collection. Her soldiers wore printed skirts, hole-y tights, John Lennon-style Ray Bans, ombre cotton shirts, and comfy sweater pants that we definitely want to live in this fall.
And of course, it wouldn’t be a Ronson show without a good celeb spotting (Kim Kardashian!) and an appearance by a Ronson sibling. Sister Annabelle Dexter-Jones smirked her way down the runway in a riding jacket layered over a green silk romper, and then made her exit arm in arm with model Irina Lazareanu.
**All photos by Imaxtree.
Urban Outfitters
Deal: Enter code TAKE10 to receive 10% off online orders
When: Ongoing, through Tuesday, February 4th.
link www.urbanoutfitters.com
Charlotte Ronson
Deal: Up to 75% off the fall and holiday collections, and 50% off resort
When: Ends tomorrow, January 25th at 7pm. Muberry St. between Prince and Spring Sts (212-625-9074).
link: www.charlotteronson.com
Ten Over Six
Deal: 20%-60% off all winter items
When: Tuesday – Saturday, 11am to 6pm;
Sunday, Noon to 4pm. 8425 Melrose Ave.
link: www.shop.tenover6.com
LOS ANGELES–Last night, designer Charlotte Ronson hosted a dinner, sponsored by Belvedere Vodka, for her west coast posse (sis Samantha, mom Ann Dexter-Jones and stepdad Mick Jones, Nicky Hilton, Ashlee Simpson and husband Pete Wentz, Ione Skye and Mindy Kaling included) while her hometown of NYC was hit with a snowstorm. Guests gathered around communal tables at Hollywood hotspot Eveleigh (an eatery that shares its Aussie owners with NYC’s Kingswood) and munched on calamari, butter lettuce salad and braised beef among other dishes, while Charlotte made the rounds.
Despite being in the middle of designing both her namesake collection (Fall 2011) and diffusion line “I Heart Ronson” for JCPenney, the rock ‘n roll scion seemed visibly relaxed. The collaboration with JC Penney’s, she pointed out, is in fact the least of her worries. “It’s really fun because they know their customer so well. You get to really design into it. We do our few pieces, and it’s fun that the line is accessible and affordable. With them you just focus on the design. We do the full techpack but they do all of the production. So, I get to focus on the creative, which is so rare. It’s the perfect partnership.”
And how does it feel to have her name exposed to such a wide, mass market audience?
This past weekend, Teen Vogue invited Zac Posen, Erin Fetherson, Jenna Lyons, Charlotte Ronson, Rachel Roy, and Jason Wu–among others–to speak at its annual Fashion University in New York City. As a high school senior, I was one of the lucky attendants. Here’s what went down:
The weekend kicked off with a Juicy Couture shopping event at the label’s flagship store on 5th Ave. Budding fashionistas lined up around the block and were welcomed inside by male models walking around, offering tasty treats. Indie band The Downtown Fiction performed for a packed store.
The next morning, a camel-donned Anna Wintour gave the opening address, detailing the ups and downs of her career. Everyone in the audience appeared surprised by how honest she was of her mistakes. Wintour gave the impression of having genuine passion for developing new young talent in the industry. She called the fashion world the most charitable industry saying, “No one else gives back their time, money, or ideas like us. There is no competitiveness or back biting.” Her final piece of advice was “Do your time to succeed; you have to start at the bottom to make it to the top.”
Holy ’90s flashback. Charlotte Ronson‘s Spring/Summer 2011 collection was very literally inspired by the mid ’90s. Stuff Rayanne Graff and Angela Chase would have died to wear. Maybe even some stuff Rayanne Graff did wear. And as someone who came of age in the ’90s, the show was a nostalgic blast. Much credit must be given to Charlotte’s sister Sam for providing an amazing ’90s soundtrack for the show that included “Laid” by James and a finale set to Lisa Loeb’s “Stay” (everyone sang along).
Lindsey Wixson opened the show and set the tone in a sheer orange spaghetti strap dress, slouchy knit beanie hat, thin braids towards the front of her straight, parted-down-the-middle hair, and a nose ring. Hoodies were draped in an “I don’t give a fuck” kind of way over models heads. There were long floral print dresses over short-sleeved white tees, cinched at the waist with, duh, a tied flannel shirt. I could hear Cher’s voice in my head, “So, this flannel thing. Is that a nod to the crispy Seattle weather, or are you just trying to stay warm in front of the refrigerator?”
