Bespoken - Fashionista

Bespoken

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Style

Happy Thanksgiving! Designers and Other Fashion Folks Put Their Spin on Paper Hand Turkeys

The holidays are all about nostalgia and one of the things we've been nostalgic about lately is hand turkeys! You know, that childhood arts and crafts thing where you trace your hand and make it look like a turkey? To be honest, we aren't all that crafty anymore, but our fashion friends, like Erica Domesek from P.S. I Made This for example, are like the craftiest people ever, so we asked them to help us out with this little project and they obliged. Erica helped us assemble hand turkey-making kits, which we then sent out to some of our favorite designers, editors and other fashion peeps who then created some of the most impressive hand turkeys we've ever seen (we are super thankful for all of you!!). Click through to see them and find out what these brilliant artists are thankful for this year, and have a very happy Thanksgiving (or just a nice Thursday).

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Fashion Week

The Fashionista 15: New York Labels To Watch

New York Fashion Week has officially begun and as we've learned, more designers are showing than ever before. New York seems to breed new talent at an alarming rate compared to other cities. And while that may irritate established designers and make our schedules that much more insane, we love nothing more than being surprised and blown away by a name we'd never heard before. Still, it can be tough to filter out the real talent from the ones who will fade into the background. All it takes to show a collection is time and money, but to show one that makes us want to see more--that takes something special. So, for the second year in a row, we've handpicked 15 relatively under-the-radar designers showing this week who we think are worth paying attention to. Click through to learn about each one and why we think you'll be seeing a lot more of them for seasons to come.

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Bespoken Fall 2011: Seagoing Sophisticate

One of the most pleasant surprises of last spring’s collections was Bespoken’s jaunty and yet natty collection of prim British suits, shirts, and the occasional croquet mallet. For A/W 2011, they’ve followed up with another exceptional venture, inspired by an old photo the boys (Bespoken is made is made up of two sets of handsome brothers: James, Sam and Liam Fayed; Paul and Carlos Goncalves) found depicting their great grandfather on a naval supply ship during World War II. The collection it inspired is sartorial naval-themed, replete with English culture, heritage and tailoring without ignoring modern needs. This is a heavy (but not bulky), refined, gorgeous collection, replete with harris tweeds, supportive cottons, raw edges and unstructured pieces. The boys went deep into the Turnbull archive (the brand is associated with Turnbull and Asser) to source their textures and wools. They turned to some of the oldest weavers and yarn suppliers in the UK for their materials, like JC Rennie, which has been providing yarn since 1728.

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Bespoken's Natural Charm

The best thing about fashion week, like Christmas, sex, and vacations (or any combination thereof) is the surprises, and I could not have been more pleasantly surprised to stumble upon Bespoken’s Spring/Summer 2011 collection, creatively presented in the yard next to the Soho Grand. Sam Fayed has designed a collection for “a chap on the road,” and this is a chap you’ll want as a traveling companion. This chap is probably the son of a land-rich, cash-poor lord, a naughty, well-reared gentleman, getting out of London for a spell before he takes a job at a bank, and real life begins. Whether he’s sitting next to you in coach, ordering champagne for the both of you, or leading you by the hand into the oldest church in Tuscany; he’s a young man with a plan, and you’re just happy to ride along on his traditional British coat tails.