Fashionista

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

Steven Kolb

Friday November 16th, 2012

Shop It Now: The CFDA, Vogue and Tory Burch Team Up for a Huge 50% Off Designer Sale To Benefit Hurricane Sandy Relief
Sales

Shop It Now: The CFDA, Vogue and Tory Burch Team Up for a Huge 50% Off Designer Sale To Benefit Hurricane Sandy Relief

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The CFDA team has been pretty busy lately. Tuesday night was the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund event and last night, they feted a huge Sandy relief sale, which is open to the public today until 8pm. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Diane von Furstenberg, Anna Wintour, Steven Kolb, and Tory Burch were in attendance.

Even before arranging the sale, the CFDA put together an online auction, through which you can bid on things like a week long stay at Diane von Furstenberg’s Harbor Island home, lunch with Gwyneth Paltrow and Mario Batali, and attending a fashion show with Anna Wintour and the Vogue editors.

Today’s sale came together pretty serendipitously.

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Published at 3:00 PM

Monday September 10th, 2012

Lessons on Being a Better Fashion Blogger from Rachel Zoe, Lauren Conrad, Leandra Medine and More at Lucky FABB
Events

Lessons on Being a Better Fashion Blogger from Rachel Zoe, Lauren Conrad, Leandra Medine and More at Lucky FABB

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At Lucky magazine’s Fashion and Beauty Blog Conference, bloggers came from all over the country to network and listen in on insight from speakers like the Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren, Rachel Zoe, The Man Repeller’s Leandra Medine, Barneys’ Simon Doonan and reality TV star-turned-fashion designer/blogger Lauren Conrad. Naturally, awesomeness ensued. Here’s the four most important things I learned throughout the course of the day.

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Published at 5:54 PM

Thursday July 12th, 2012

Friday April 13th, 2012

The CFDA’s Steven Kolb Would Like to Make a Magazine Called Hoot About Owls; This Is What It Might Look Like
Fashion Is Fun

The CFDA’s Steven Kolb Would Like to Make a Magazine Called Hoot About Owls; This Is What It Might Look Like

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Earlier this week, at a party for the 2011 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award recipients, NY Mag asked CFDA head honcho Steven Kolb what his magazine would look like, if he were to have a Carine Roitfeld moment. Kolb‘s surprising response? “I would do a magazine about owls called Hoot, because I collect owls and I’m Read more →

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Published at 11:15 AM

Wednesday February 29th, 2012

Five Fun Facts We Learned About the CFDA’s Steven Kolb at Last Night’s Event for Harlem’s Fashion Row
The Business

Five Fun Facts We Learned About the CFDA’s Steven Kolb at Last Night’s Event for Harlem’s Fashion Row

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Harlem’s Fashion Row (HFR) is a 5-year-old organization whose mission is to increase diversity in fashion and to provide support and education for emerging designers within Harlem’s community. Last night Steven Kolb spoke at an event, called “Conversations,” for HFR in Harlem at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (which literary fiends may be excited to learn is also the resting place of Langston Hughes’s remains.) Kolb was interviewed in a one-on-one format by HFR’s founder, Brandice Henderson. The evening served as an educational forum for those in the audience who have their sights set on design and future CFDA membership. (Not to mention we learned five cool things about Steven Kolb himself. Like that he used to play football. Seriously.)

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Published at 7:25 PM

Tuesday February 14th, 2012

The CFDA’s Steven Kolb Is ‘Disappointed’ That Ford Is Still Using Underage Models
Models

The CFDA’s Steven Kolb Is ‘Disappointed’ That Ford Is Still Using Underage Models

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While waiting for the Alexander Wang show to start, I went over and introduced myself to the CEO of the CFDA, Steven Kolb. A truly gracious and nice guy, he thankfully had no hard feelings about us turning him into Kermit the Frog. With that behind us, I asked him about the issue du jour, underage models walking in New York fashion week, and the CFDA’s latest stance.

Last week in the wake of a New York Times article, Ford Models went on the record saying that they used underaged models on a “case-by-case basis alongside a prospective model’s parents.” Here’s what Kolb had to say about Ford’s decision:

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Published at 10:51 AM

Tuesday January 31st, 2012

The CFDA is Moving Their Offices Downtown–Does This Mean They’re Abandoning the Garment District?

The CFDA is Moving Their Offices Downtown–Does This Mean They’re Abandoning the Garment District?

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Fashion week dates aren’t the only thing the CFDA has decided to move this year.

The Council of Fashion Designers of America, whose offices have been located on Broadway & 39th for over 15 years, have outgrown their Garment District digs and recently signed a lease on a new space about 38 blocks downtown (we’re neighbors!). The CFDA, in addition to supporting American designers, have been dedicated to the preservation of the Garment District and established programs like the CFDA Fashion Incubator (low-rent studio spaces for emerging designers in the Garment District) and a study called “Made in Midtown.” So, not surprisingly, their decision to move out has been met with some disapproval from designers who see it as a snub to them and the district they, too, would like to preserve.

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Published at 10:45 AM

Tuesday January 17th, 2012

Fashion Week Scheduling Conflict Finally Over (For Now): New York and London Confirm September Dates
Fashion Week

Fashion Week Scheduling Conflict Finally Over (For Now): New York and London Confirm September Dates

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The fashion week scheduling nightmare appears to finally be over, at least for now. September 2012 dates for New York and London have just been confirmed, officially, and both cities have agreed to move their dates earlier. New York Fashion Week will take place September 6-13 and London will follow from 14-18, according to a press release the CFDA and the BFC sent out this morning. WWD reports that Milan’s Fashion Shows will take place September 18 through 25 and Paris September 25 through October 2.

The news comes following more than three months of back and forth between the four fashion capitals after Milan set their September show dates to conflict directly with New York and London and then couldn’t be reasoned with, digging its heels further into the ground as the months wore on. The agreement they seem to have reached is the same one New York and London proposed back in November (which DVF referred to as “biting the bullet”). So then why has it taken this long to confirm?

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Published at 9:21 AM

Tuesday November 22nd, 2011

The Muppets Premieres Tomorrow So We Recast the Movie With the Muppets’ Fashion Doppelgangers
Entertainment

The Muppets Premieres Tomorrow So We Recast the Movie With the Muppets’ Fashion Doppelgangers

by Cheryl Wischhover and Leah Chernikoff

Last night we had the pleasure of attending a pre-screening of The Muppets, which officially opens tomorrow (many thanks to Bliss Spa for the mani and movie!) Anyway, it was brilliant. The producers of this flick are obviously big fans of the Muppets, and they’ve treated their subjects with complete affection, and tossed in a heavy dose of nostalgia (try not to cry during the Piggy/Kermit “Rainbow Connection” duet). The humor is cheesy, but with a clever wink at the audience, and the celeb cameos are inspired. Emily Blunt reprises her The Devil Wears Prada role as the snarky fashion assistant (albeit with wackier hair) to Mlle. Piggy, who is a plus-size editor at Vogue Paris. How controversial. Anyway, we won’t spoil the sweet moments of the movie. You should go stand in line and see it first thing tomorrow.

The protaganists go through a bit of angst in the middle of the film and sing a song called, “Am I a Man or am I a Muppet?” Why choose? We think there’s a little of both in all of us. So, to that end, we present our favorite Muppets and the fashion people who could play them. Or vice versa.

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Published at 6:29 PM

Wednesday November 2nd, 2011

Report: New York Fashion Week is Moving to Hudson Yards (Eventually)
Fashion Week

Report: New York Fashion Week is Moving to Hudson Yards (Eventually)

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New York Fashion Week‘s next home, following a less than well-received tenancy at Lincoln Center, might be a place called the Culture Shed. The Culture Shed, despite sounding like a bad nightclub, will be a “sprawling, modern center” within $15 billion westside development project the Hudson Yards, and it was the subject of a press conference with Mayor Bloomberg this morning.

Coach confirmed their plans to open a global headquarters there, WWD is reporting. According to the trade, the complex will also house “office buildings, residential and retail space, a 150-room hotel, 14 acres of public space and a sprawling, modern center called the Culture Shed, which, according to Bloomberg, ‘will eventually’ host Fashion Week.”

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Published at 10:30 AM

Monday October 17th, 2011

Milan Organizer Calls New York and London ‘Arrogant and Aggressive,’ Stands Firm on Spring 2013 Overlapping Show Dates

Milan Organizer Calls New York and London ‘Arrogant and Aggressive,’ Stands Firm on Spring 2013 Overlapping Show Dates

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The dispute between Milan and New York/London regarding the scheduling discrepancy for the spring 2013 shows got a bit uglier over the weekend as Milan dug in its heels. The president of the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italia (CNMI), Mario Boselli, took a page out of Diane von Furstenberg’s play book and sent out an open letter to journalists, once more stating Milan’s case.

In case you forgot what their case is, it’s this: Milan is keeping the dates as is, and nothing is changing. Boselli reiterated that the “agreement” to start fashion month on the second Thursday in September was a three-year agreement only, Vogue UK reports. He said there is no documentation to prove that there ever was a longer term agreement. Additionally, he produced a press release from March 2010 which announced that Milan’s show dates would be September 19-25, 2012; Boselli claimed that after that press release was sent “no objection had been raised by anyone.”

He sent one last zinger aimed at New York and London:

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Published at 11:01 AM

Wednesday September 7th, 2011

With Over 250 Designers Showing at New York Fashion Week, Scheduling Conflicts Put Designers in a Tough Spot
Fashion Week

With Over 250 Designers Showing at New York Fashion Week, Scheduling Conflicts Put Designers in a Tough Spot

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Every season New York fashion week gets bigger and bigger. When Ruth Finley, who is the keeper of the Fashion Calendar (aka your hard copy fashion week bible) started planning and putting out the New York fashion week calendar 65 years ago she estimates there were, at most, five shows a day, no more than one an hour. This Friday alone, on the second day of Fashion Week, there are 34 shows.

“When [New York fashion week] started there was only one show an hour and now we have almost 300 in eight days,” Finley says. “There’s quite a bit of overlapping and there used to be no overlapping.”

While New York fashion week’s exponential growth is undeniably a sign of its health (and that’s a good thing!), that “overlapping” of shows that Finley refers to–when you have five or more shows crammed into an hour–can also hurt the designers who’ve put in all that effort and money to show their wares. As more designers flood the New York fashion week schedule, it becomes more challenging for designers to make sure their collections are presented the best they can be. Top models and styling teams go to bigger labels with more pull and more money. Editors and buyers–though they might not always look it–are human, and can only make it to a limited number of shows per day.

Designers are feeling frustrated.

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Published at 10:45 AM