Fashionista

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

Nina Garcia

Wednesday July 18th, 2012

Fashion News Roundup: Designers Dish About the Target/Neiman Marcus Collaboration, Heidi Klum Calls Project Runway Contestants ‘Cowards,’ and Louis Vuitton Still Has a Hangover
Fashion News Roundup

Fashion News Roundup: Designers Dish About the Target/Neiman Marcus Collaboration, Heidi Klum Calls Project Runway Contestants ‘Cowards,’ and Louis Vuitton Still Has a Hangover

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The designers involved in the massive Target and Neiman Marcus holiday collab dish on their goods. Is it too soon to start a wish list? {Style}

Who did Heidi Klum call “cowards” on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon? You’re not excused ’til you’ve been Auf’d. {HuffPo}

Vans is teaming up with cool Parisian brand Kenzo on a second line of sneakers, exclusively for dudes. {Refinery29}

Nina Garcia is partnering with JC Penney to be its “Style Voice and fashion collection curator.” {Nina Garcia’s Tumblr}

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Published at 1:45 PM

Friday May 4th, 2012

Fashion News Roundup: Lauren Conrad Covers Her New Beauty Book, Kim Kardashian Launches Her First ‘Luxury’ Fragrance, and Beyoncé Gets a Writing Award
Fashion News Roundup

Fashion News Roundup: Lauren Conrad Covers Her New Beauty Book, Kim Kardashian Launches Her First ‘Luxury’ Fragrance, and Beyoncé Gets a Writing Award

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Kim Kardashian is releasing her fourth fragrance, a “luxury” scent called True Reflection. A Lord & Taylor rep said the perfume will reach a more mature audience who can “share in Kim’s experiences in reflecting on what she’s gone through.” Right… {WWD subscription required}

Here’s the cover of LC’s new book– aptly titled Beauty– as well as shots from her summer lookbook for Kohl’s. {ONTD}

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London will open its “Ballgowns” exhibit in a fortnight (a term we might actually use if we were located anywhere remotely geographically close to attending this amazingness), which will include gowns worn by Beyoncé and Bianca Jagger. {Vogue UK}

Because Beyoncé is literally good at everything, now she’s getting a writing award. {HuffPo via ONTD}

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Published at 2:04 PM

Friday April 13th, 2012

Solange Knowles, Garrett Neff and More Fete the Re-Opening of Salvatore Ferragamo’s Flagship
People & Parties

Solange Knowles, Garrett Neff and More Fete the Re-Opening of Salvatore Ferragamo’s Flagship

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Salvatore Ferragamo celebrated the re-opening of their Fifth Avenue flagship last night with a highly-spirited party attended by industry players and celebrities like Nina Garcia, Frederic Fekkai, and Solange Knowles. Guests navigated a floor filled with freshly-ice-luged drinks and a Ferragamo gelato cart as the model brand’s newest male face, Garrett Neff, was dispatched about the crowd to chat with VIPs and generally make all the ladies feel a bit giddy. [UPDATE: Neff told us he was the new face of the brand but Ferragamo's PR has confirmed that, well, he's not. Don't lie to us Garret!]

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Published at 5:14 PM

Tuesday January 31st, 2012

Get to Know Pinterest: Here Are 10 Fashion Pinners You Should Be Following Right Now
Slideshows

Get to Know Pinterest: Here Are 10 Fashion Pinners You Should Be Following Right Now

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If you haven’t hopped on the Pinterest bandwagon yet, you should get on it, pronto. Founded in March 2010, image-based social networking site Pinterest made waves in the start-up world, garnering over 11 million total weekly views in December 2011 — a 4000% increase over six months.

The site allows users to follow other pinners and re-pin (re-post in Pinterest terminology), “like,” and comment on content that others have posted or pinned. Pinners create boards that fall under categories like Art, DIY & Crafts, Home Decor and Women’s Apparel, modeled after thematic mood boards used by magazines and fashion designers for inspirational and organizational purposes. Users can follow all boards created by a user or select individual boards to follow, filtering out pins that aren’t relevant or don’t interest them.

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Published at 6:20 PM

Thursday January 12th, 2012

Moda Operandi’s Founder Talks Strategy, Taylor Tomasi Hill, and Average Transaction Price Per Customer (Hint: It’s Over $1000)
Shopping

Moda Operandi’s Founder Talks Strategy, Taylor Tomasi Hill, and Average Transaction Price Per Customer (Hint: It’s Over $1000)

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Moda Operandi, the online trunk show that allows shoppers to buy straight from the runway, burst onto the e-tail scene last February with plenty of buzz. It was a totally new concept in online retail–place orders for designer looks immediately after they’re shown–and an answer to the flash sale sites that were on the wane. Of course, it didn’t hurt that the site was founded by socialite and Voguette Lauren Santo Domingo and ex-Gilt Group exec Aslaug Magnusdottir–two women with all the fashion connections and experience you could hope for in launching a new fashion venture. And when the company closed their second round of funding with $10 million from venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates, it was clear they were getting something right.

In the last few weeks Moda Operandi has poached names from the top of the masthead of major fashion glossies (Marie Claire‘s Taylor Tomasi Hill is the site’s new artistic director and Nina Garcia is a new addition to the advisory board) and established retailers (Roopal Patel of Neiman’s and Bergdorf’s). No question about it, Moda Operandi is growing like crazy and we wanted to know why. So we chatted with co-founder Magnusdottir to find out the site is doing, what they’re planning to do with all these new hires, and why people want to shell out for designer clothes online.

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Published at 4:18 PM

Monday December 26th, 2011

Fashion News Roundup: Kate Middleton Wore Plum on Christmas, Louis Vuitton Is Suing The Hangover 2, and Nina Garcia Takes a Post at Moda Operandi
Fashion News Roundup

Fashion News Roundup: Kate Middleton Wore Plum on Christmas, Louis Vuitton Is Suing The Hangover 2, and Nina Garcia Takes a Post at Moda Operandi

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Kate Middleton’s Plum and Wine Christmas Ensemble: The Duchess was a sugar plum (in the best possible way) personified on Christmas morning as she attended church services with the royal family. {Mirror UK}

Burberry Has 10 Million Facebook Fans and Counting: Compare that to Louis Vuitton which has about 6 million fans and Prada who has 829,000. Let’s hope Burberry doesn’t start playing Farmville and cluttering up everyone’s feed. {Facebook}

Louis Vuitton Is Suing The Hangover 2: LVMH is suing Warner Brothers because of a scene in which Zach Galifianakis’ character says of his bag, “Careful, that is a Louis Vuitton.” Except it’s not. The bag is a counterfeit produced by a company called Diophy, which LVMH is also currently suing. The luxury goods company claims there could be “consumer confusion.” We’re definitely confused. {WWD, subscription required}

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Published at 11:37 AM

Tuesday November 15th, 2011

ELLE‘s Kyle Anderson To Replace Taylor Tomasi Hill as Accessories Director At Marie Claire
Magazines

ELLE‘s Kyle Anderson To Replace Taylor Tomasi Hill as Accessories Director At Marie Claire

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Ever since we found out Taylor Tomasi Hill was leaving Marie Claire for Moda Operandi, we’ve been wondering who would fill her (designer) shoes over at MC. And now we know: Kyle Anderson, formerly ELLE‘s Senior Accessories Editor, will be taking over as Accessories Director at Marie Claire, starting next week.

“I think after six years of working in the accessories department at ELLE, now is the right time to move on to a position where I can contribute more to the look of a magazine,” Anderson told us in an email. “And for me, working for Nina Garcia again and Marie Claire is the ideal fit.” Nina gave Kyle his start at ELLE six years ago and since then the two have remained close–back in August Kyle told Smart Chic Style: “I owe everything and all of my last six years of experiences at ELLE to [Nina] for taking a chance on me.”

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Published at 4:45 PM

Sunday September 11th, 2011

Christian Siriano Spring 2012: Coral Fixation
Fashion Week

Christian Siriano Spring 2012: Coral Fixation

by Elana Fishman

There’s no doubt that “fierce” former Project Runway winner Christian Siriano has done an admirable job of working his flair for the dramatic and utter quotability (not to mention that reality TV recognition) to his advantage. In addition to earning celeb fans like Victoria Beckham and Christina Hendricks and rolling out shoe collections for Payless, the pint-sized mogul was one of the first designers to master the Twitter game. But despite his likability, many of the intricate evening dresses for which he’s known are, in the words of his Runway mentor Tim Gunn, “a lot of look.”

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Published at 2:48 PM

Saturday September 10th, 2011

Project Runway Finale Spring 2012 : Um, What’s the Theme?
Fashion Shows

Project Runway Finale Spring 2012 : Um, What’s the Theme?

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Do people still say “hot mess” anymore? If not, it should be resurrected for the purposes of reviewing the Project Runway season nine finale show I saw yesterday. But the collections are not really why one attends Project Runway shows, is it? Of course not…it’s for seeing Michael Kors, and all the random celebs who show up.

This year delivered Jennifer Love Hewitt, wearing an unfortunate orange bandage dress, and Andie MacDowell, looking rather radiant and sure of herself. It’s always fun to see who they dig up as a guest judge, with Jessica Simpson–clothing line doyenne and worst-dressed list inhabitant–doing the honors last year. This year they went with an actual designer, the amazonian L’Wren Scott, who makes me want to wear even higher heels. And then there was Heidi, who was completely stunning in a sparkly, backless black jumpsuit.

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Published at 10:30 AM

Thursday September 8th, 2011

We Shopped Missoni for Target Last Night: Here’s What Fashion Industry Insiders Bought

We Shopped Missoni for Target Last Night: Here’s What Fashion Industry Insiders Bought

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Last night we got a chance to shop the Missoni for Target collection and boy were we excited. In fact, we were so excited that we arrived 10 minutes early so we could get first dibs on some of our most-drooled-over items.

Unfortunately, it seems like every other fashion insider had the same idea, because by the time we got there the temporary pop-up shop had become a temporary madhouse, with some of the items already sold out (don’t worry, they will restock today).

See what fashion industry’s superstars–from Nina Garcia to celebrity stylist Jennifer Rade and ex-Real Housewife Kelly Bensimon–were toting at the checkout.

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Published at 5:00 PM

Friday August 26th, 2011

10 Questions for Project Runway
Entertainment

10 Questions for Project Runway

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1. Running shoe fashion– what better way to appeal to the generalized American public?

2. Who knew that a scraped knee could make someone pass out?

3. Joshua, how’d you finally learn to channel your sass into constructive comments? You had many good one-liners this week, though the best one? “Her demographic is 40 to death.”

4. Becky why are you upset that people on the show are acting cliquey? All we can say is, Welcome to Fashion!

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Published at 3:30 PM

Friday August 19th, 2011

10 Questions for Project Runway
Entertainment

10 Questions for Project Runway

by Misty White Sidell

1. (Question for Bryce’s query, “Did you ever think you’d be able to speak to a fashion editor from a major magazine?”) Bryce, did you actually ever plan on becoming a real designer? That kind of interaction kind of goes with the territory

2. Is it really possible, like actually possible, that two people would get the same fabric from Mood. yeah….no.

3. Cecilia, are you sure that Mood has yellow lighting? Sure it can be a bit dark in its weirder corners (aka: home to all the neon faux fur), but yellow is not the way I’d describe it. Perhaps you should see an ophthalmologist, you may be colorblind.

4. Viktor’s using muslin?! There’s real design procedure going on?! oh wait…here comes the glue…

5. Nina, how can we get a hold of your Preen shirt? And how does it look better on you than it did on the runway? That almost never happens.

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Published at 3:10 PM