Fashionista

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

Friday June 11th, 2010

Don’t Worry, Barneys Isn’t Going Anywhere
Retail

Don’t Worry, Barneys Isn’t Going Anywhere

Our favorite struggling department store, Barneys New York, got more bad news this morning: Its parent company, Istithmar, is going to have to pump another undisclosed amount of cash into the debt-ridden retailer. (That’s according the the NY Post.)

Istithmar, a Dubai-based private equity firm, bought Barneys three years ago for way too much money–$942 million–and the value of the retailer has continued to decrease. While luxe department stores like Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman have been able to bounce back (even just a little) from the recession, Barneys continues to struggle.

And it’s not for lack of a great brand and great clothes. The problem still goes back to this: No one is running the business.

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Published at 11:27 AM

Wednesday March 31st, 2010

Tuesday March 30th, 2010

First Look: Steven Alan’s New Handbag Line, Plus Some of His Other Favorites
Labels

First Look: Steven Alan’s New Handbag Line, Plus Some of His Other Favorites

This morning, Britt and I visited Steven Alan’s showroom to examine the designer/retailer/rep’s autumn offerings. Downstairs, we cooed over the Steven Alan plaid button downs, printed smock tops and woolen coats. There were plenty of other great labels around–including Demylee, No. 9 and The Lake and Stars–but what really stole our hearts were the accessories Read more →

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Published at 4:20 PM

Monday March 15th, 2010

Fashion News Roundup: Alber for Chanel?, Altuzarra at Barneys and Gratuitous Grunge
Fashion News Roundup

Fashion News Roundup: Alber for Chanel?, Altuzarra at Barneys and Gratuitous Grunge

Figure Flattering: We’ll never tired of Lara Stone’s body. Or this Alexander Wang sweatshirt. {Fashion Gone Rogue} Alber for Chanel, Take Two: Rumors are yet again circulating that Lanvin’s Alber Elbaz might be replacing Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel. {Grazia Australia} Smells Like 1992: Harriet Walker explores the latest grunge revival. {The Independent} Early Altuzarra: Design Read more →

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Published at 12:21 PM

Friday January 29th, 2010

Wednesday January 27th, 2010

People Are Talking

Sustainable Design Shouldn’t Be an Option, It Should Be a Given

Last night I attended a panel at Pratt Institute featuring Barneys’ fashion director Julie Gilhart, Slow & Steady Wins the Race designer Mary Ping and Uluru designer Caroline Priebe. They talked about sustainable design, but it wasn’t your typical marketing spiel. Indeed, these three women are passionate about design with a conscious. But their cause Read more →

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Published at 10:15 AM

Thursday January 21st, 2010

Tuesday January 19th, 2010

Time Inc. Buys StyleFeeder, Says Farewell To ShopStyle

From Luckymag.com to Style.com, plenty of fashion editorial sites have experimented with e-commerce. Mostly by linking directly to online retailers that sell items hand-picked by the fashion site’s editors. Last year, Instyle.com users bought $10 million worth of clothing, shoes and accessories through ShopStyle, an aggregator of products sold by online fashion boutiques. ShopStyle is Read more →

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Published at 5:34 PM

Tuesday November 24th, 2009

Beauty

When I Wake Up In My Makeup

Genius makeup artist François Nars has certainly been making the rounds to celebrate the 15th anniversary of his line and to promote his new book, 15X15. Not that we’re complaining. Maybe you weren’t able to party with him and Marc and Daphne. But you can hang with François and Simon DoonanThursday evening the 10th at Read more →

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Published at 3:10 PM

Tuesday November 17th, 2009

Slideshows

Live From Madison Avenue

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Published at 10:51 AM

Friday October 30th, 2009

Quote of the Day

“Barneys has a 400 person-long waiting list for the [new version of the] Rocco bag already. We had three samples when we first came up with it a couple of seasons ago, decided off-hand to send one to Mary-Kate, and it’s just crazy. We had retailers calling about it before it even hit the runway Read more →

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Published at 2:10 PM

Wednesday October 28th, 2009