Friday January 27th, 2012

Fashion Group International Crowns Rising Stars Wes Gordon, Misha Nonoo and More

by JESSICA GOLD

“Leave room in your life for the unperfected. You’ll have enough time later to refine and to edit, but love lies in the raw. Keep your imagination free of editing.”

These sage words were part of a passionate and advice-filled keynote address that designers Isabel and Ruben Toledo gave to kick off the Fashion Group International Rising Star Awards on Thursday at Cipriani 42nd St. Creativity and spontaneity were a timely theme, considering that many of the event’s attendees are busily preparing for their upcoming Fashion Week shows next month.

That pre-NYFW energy was palpable among the Rising Star nominees and the industry luminaries in attendance, including Project Runway’s Nina Garcia, designer Catherine Malandrino, and GILT co-founder Alexandra Wilkis Wilson.

Vena Cava to Collaborate With Uniqlo

by NATALIE MATTHEWS

Vena Cava‘s Sophie Buhai and Lisa Mayock announced Wednesday at Fashion Group International’s panel on entrepreneurship that they will be collaborating with Uniqlo. It’s a juicy little tidbit of news that we nearly missed because the designers mentioned it so offhandedly (luckily Fashion etc., didn’t and reminded us).

Collaborating with brands is nothing new for Vena Cava. They’ve partnered in the past with Gap, Aqua for Bloomingdale’s and Converse.

The Gap collab was a struggle, Sophie said, because “Vena Cava is not a khaki brand”, and she and Lisa are “pretty far from preppy.” The design duo went on to weigh out the pros and cons of doing collaborations–one the one hand, lower-priced collaborations with big brands are a great way to reach the mass market and a new audience, and bottom line, make money, but they would never want work on a collaboration that wasn’t true to their brand.

The Business

The Folks Behind Vena Cava, Opening Ceremony and Rent the Runway Dish On Their Secrets To Success

by Natalie Matthews

Less than two weeks after showing their fall collection at Milk, Vena Cava’s Lisa Mayock and Sophie Buhai took center stage at the fashion week hub once again as part of Fashion Group International and consultant Karen Harvey’s panel on entrepreneurship. The Vena Cava girls, along with Rent the Runway co-founders Jennifer Hyman and Jennifer Fleiss, and Opening Ceremony‘s Carol Lim and Humberto Leon, came together to share their own “How I’m Making It” stories.

The editors, designers, and consultants who circled back to Milk to hear them speak last night were well-rewarded, not with swag or a tote bag or any of the other requisite fashion event handouts, but with proof that while Milan may be the center of fashion news this week, these determined and ambitious New Yorkers have a lot of knowledge to drop if you’re looking to make your way in the fashion industry. Like how to find a factory, how to tap your customer base as an invaluable (and free!) resource, and why you should trust your gut instincts.

The take-home lessons:

Fashion Group International Crowns Rising Stars

by Leah Chernikoff

Yesterday the fashion elite trudged through the snow, changed out of their snow boots and slipped into their four-inch heels, to attend the Fashion Group International’s 14th annual Rising Star Awards at Cipriani’s in midtown.

While Fashion Group International’s (FGI) annual celeb-saturated “Night of Stars” event tends to grab more column inches and flashbulbs, host Jamie Pallot, Condé Nast Digital’s editorial director, stressed the importance of “Rising Stars” for recognizing emerging talent that needs the exposure more than the established design stars feted on “Night of Stars.” But Norma Kamali, who gave the opening remarks, questioned stardom. “What happens if you don’t become a star?” she asked. “I never wanted to be a star…I’m just my own little constellation doing my thing and I love it a lot.”

Whether yesterday’s winners will become “stars” remains to be seen. But what is clear is that the winners and all the nominees in categories ranging from fine jewelry to interior design to men’s and women’s apparel are talented folks whose careers will hopefully benefit from their nods from FGI. The stars came in the way of presenters–Lauren Bush, Linda Fargo and Catherine Malandrino were all on hand to doll out awards.

So who took home a Rising Star award?

Fashionista

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