Los Angeles Fashion Week The Green Initiative Humanitarian Fashion Showpresented by The Gallery Los Angeles featuring Marymee, ecoSkin and Smart Glass Photos by Frazer Harrison
Last evening the Pratt Institute hosted its annual Legends 2008 Scholarship Benefit at Lighthouse at Pier 61 in Manhattan honoring Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, Takashi Murakami, and Julian Schnabel with host PBS anchor Charlie Rose. Pratt, long treated as the younger sibling of powerhouses FIT and Parson's, has had a chance to shine with the Legends Awards which were conceived in 1999 by the Board of Trustees to celebrate distinguished figures in the world of art, design, and the humanities. The event’s mission is to raise funds to provide financial aid to Pratt students based on need and merit.
Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel was honored for her decades of dedication and advocacy for the arts, design, architecture, and landmark preservation while Takashi Murakami received an award for his achievement in contemporary art. Lastly Julian Schnabel was honored for achievements in just about every area of the arts.
We personally love that while the event is clearly heavily skewed towards the rich creative set that Charlie Rose, one of America's favorite intellectuals, had the host duties. But we suppose with chair Marjorie Kuhn and trustees Kurt Andersen and Amy Cappellazzo there is a bit of the old New York diversity.
Well, at least the Armando Mafud Spring 09 collection actually, you know, attempted to show actual fashion pieces--even if they were sometimes a little hard to swallow. Let's stay positive, it's Friday after all! What we liked about this collection most is that Mafud seems to have something to say about Mexican fashion specifically, and the colors and prints were made exciting because of that. This bright, floral dress however loud, was actually one of our favorites (shown left) and we can imagine it looking quite beautiful on a tall woman with a slicked back bun. No matter if we disagree with the execution of some of these dresses, we have to commend Mafud for the handiwork. Click here and here to see the most fantastic examples and below, check out the entire Spring 09 gallery.
Is it possible that the merchandising teams at Forever 21 had an inkling that old timey Depression era chic would be making a comeback this fall just as the retailer's price points hit their most attractive ? They have created a perfect storm of ironic cheap fashion items just as our consumer class begins to crave a fashion fix. We were hit with a palpable urge to shop this afternoon that just will not quit. Our only desire is to go drop $100 at a fast fashion emporium. But we wonder if, just like after a fast food binge, we will only feel bad after the fact.
We were disappointed to learn that a certain friends and family sale is going to be open to public forcing us greedy hording editors to contend with hoi polloi. Yes we are selfish and prefer to scramble at sales with a smaller crowd. Can you really blame us for living for this singular perk of the job? As more and more of the secrets of the industry get out to the public finding a quiet shopping haven of discounted designer goods has become nearly impossible. Yes, yes please feel bad for us, its horrible we know!
This crowding issue is why we love Gabay's. The still relatively unknown East Village designer surplus shop is know for its impressive collection of unsold shoe inventory from a well known luxury department store. The place is a jumble of hidden treasures for those with the patience to root around looking for a gem. If you prefer a curated easy shopping experience though guess what you still get what you pay for so head to your nearest full price personal shopper. Otherwise, if you are in New York head to Gabay's for a little recession era fun. We know we are craving a little retail therapy.
225 1st Ave Apt 1 (between 13th St & 14th St) New York, NY 10003 (212) 254-3180
Lately, shoes have been our only concern, and today, our discovery of a new street style website and subsequent girl about town, led us to add another Fall 08 shoe must-have to the list. We've picked out four options, two designer and two high street examples, so that you can get this look too. Check out Garance Dore for tons of Paris Fashion Week Spring 09 street style coverage and enough chicsters to send you on a shopping spree by lunchtime.
We can't lay claim to being coffee snobs , heck most days we don't even drink it, but on a tough morning sometimes you just need it. And chances are if you are in dire straights you don't want to make a trip to your local coffee shop. You probably don't even want to deal with the hassle of your $2,000 espresso machine. Thus the food scientists have come to our rescue with fool proof coffee pod options. It may not be the best coffee in the world but its fast, cheap, and you can make it at home.
We're big time fans of chiffon and half expect it from Los Angeles because of the climate, so we were pleased when some of the Amelia Toro designs showed really pretty examples of this fabric. There was red printed maxi dress that was very loud without being tacky, a nude pleated dress that would have been a great day-to-night piece, and a sky blue ultra-feminine dress that would go perfectly with an over-the-top pair of heels. There were some floral prints we could have done without because they looked dated, like Lisa Loeb-era, and also some silhouettes that wrongly evoked the same time period, but aside from that everything was fine. Another nice touch were the striped maxi dresses that we nice a sporty option. Horizontal stripes might scare off some people but in Los Angeles we're guessing they are less likely to avoid such things.
