»Lydia Hearst is guest starring in the season finale of Gossip Girl as Amelia, an interior designer who has a "moment" with Chuck [E! Online] »Emmy Rossum is being dressed by, and brought as a guest of Anna Wintour to the Costume Institute Gala [The Cut] »Bally has a new backer, which hopefully doesn't affect Brian Atwood's position at the brand [FWD]
>> Always the fashion daredevil, although she has more misses than hits, Rinko Kikuchi followed in Mary-Kate's footsteps by donning some Fall 2008 headwear. Rather than wearing the Marc Jacobs headband, however, Rinko gave homage to her dresser, YSL, by sporting her hair Fall YSL-style to the opening night of "La Fille Du Regiment" at the Met.
>> Always the fashion daredevil, although she has more misses than hits, Rinko Kikuchi followed in Mary-Kate's footsteps by donning some Fall 2008 headwear. Rather than wearing the Marc Jacobs headband, however, Rinko gave homage to her dresser, YSL, by sporting her hair Fall YSL-style to the opening night of "La Fille Du Regiment" at the Met.
>> Vanessa Traina: Just your typical, high fashion-loving girl, except, you know, she attends the couture shows every season, and can afford everything she likes. What makes me say she's a typical fashion girl, you ask? Well, what super into-fashion girl do you know that most of these don't apply to? Case in point:
Her top 5 designers: Balenciaga, Givenchy, Alaia, Prada, Proenza Schouler
Her loves: High heels, leather, skinny pants, Tom Binns jewelry, the Spring 2008 Balenciaga gladiators, the Givenchy Nightingale, fashion photography
Her hates: Flip flops
In her apartment: Books by Andre Leon Talley, Diana Vreeland, Terry Richardson, Michael Thompson, Helmut Newton, etc.; Ads from Marc Jacobs, Dior .
>> Vanessa Traina: Just your typical, high fashion-loving girl, except, you know, she attends the couture shows every season, and can afford everything she likes. What makes me say she's a typical fashion girl, you ask? Well, what super into-fashion girl do you know that most of these don't apply to? Case in point:
Her loves: High heels, leather, skinny pants, Tom Binns jewelry, the Spring 2008 Balenciaga gladiators, the Givenchy Nightingale, fashion photography
Her hates: Flip flops
In her apartment: Books by Andre Leon Talley, Diana Vreeland, Terry Richardson, Michael Thompson, Helmut Newton, etc.; Ads from Marc Jacobs, Dior . . .
Her dream vocation: Stylist
Other highlights: She likes to dress up for the day, prefers little to no makeup
Une fille un style, Vogue Paris May 2008: Vanessa Traina
>> Does Roger Federer have some new competition . . . in the hockey arena? There's a new sports man in Anna Wintour's life: New York Ranger Sean Avery, who's spending his summer interning at Vogue.
He'd like to be the editor of a fashion magazine, so he wrote a letter straight to Anna asking for an internship. Maybe it was his love for black patent leather YSL high-tops and Calvin Klein cashmere, or maybe it was his day job (which earns him $2 million a season), but Sean got the gig.
It's anticipated that he'll work with a number of editors, including Hamish Bowles, and maybe on Men's Vogue, as well. But two things are for sure — he gets to do all the glamorous intern tasks (making copies, messengering clothes) and he doesn't have to worry about the pay. No one said fashion was fair.
Get it while it's hot folks, we've a world class reporter who is recapping fashion week straight from Mexico City.
by coutortureGet it while it's hot folks, we've a world class reporter who is recapping fashion week straight from Mexico City. With all of the fashion weeks and trade shows, the capsule collections and designer collaborations, coverage can difficult to negotiate (especially when you're turning over content like you've been asked to cook up 150 pancakes by noontime). The decision is always dependent on whether you're satisfied repurposing content or whether you'd rather produce less but have it either be original or at the very least thoughtful. It's a predicament specific to this exact moment in fashion journalism, and one that we constantly meditate on. That said, when Mexico Fashion Week rolled around we nearly passed on the chance to curate one of our world famous 'recaps'. We remembered then, our friend, Max Gustashaw, who recently moved to Mexico City from New York. Heads were scratched, thought bubbles appeared above heads, we wrote and, what do you know, the devilishly handsome Gustashaw had been perched in the tents in the first place. This week, he'll be rounding up a few of his favorite shows from Fashion Week in Mexico. For his first installment, he reports on the TEAMO show complete with exclusive video coverage.
Mexico City, TEAMO Fashion Show
"Mexico City's all mixed up," says Rafa Cuevas, who, with Roberto Sanchez, created Mexican design label TEAMO two and a half years ago. "You can be in the most fancy neighborhood and just around the corner is a [poor] neghborhood and just around the corner [from that] is bam, bam, fifties, fifties, futuristic, art-deco." And, of course, the earthquake-bombed. Before these peculiar positionings existed, the city's European architects designed a city of homestyle provenance, and the indigenous population, Quetzal Rangel of fellow design partnership Marvin y Quetzal tells me, interpreted and built upon their plans, creating a distinctly Mexican milieu of imposed and inherited influences that persists and explains, in part, the position from which TEAMO and a handful of their local contemporaries stage their eager sally upon the world.
A few years ago, such a movement lay beyond the reach, and in fact the consideration, of most Mexicans. But just as filmmakers, artists, architects, and musicians have risen, over the past several years, from Mexico's growing middle class to create potent and internationally recognized work, and as urban youth in New York and Los Angeles, Paris, London, and Montreal turn envious eyes and take optimistic grabs at international opportunity here (compare it to Berlin just ten years ago), Mexico City's fashion forward have eagerly taken ownership of a ripe and virulent identity fresh to the outside world and have seized the tools of internet-age populist scene-building such as myspace, Facebook, and the like. As well they have tuned into websites like The Face Hunter (Mexico City has its own--Diario de Fiestas), which have allowed the fashion élite to share their ideas on a worldwide scope, and monthly European, American, and Japanese magazines that just can't put forth enough online fashion content to feed the hungry.
Inspired not just by burgeoning cultural opportunities within their strange and storied city, but by the jungle, fear of the dark, and by love, horror movies, and children's illustration, TEAMO delivered their Fall and Winter 2008/09 collection to a Fashion Week crowd on tenterhooks in an auditorium adjacent to Friday night's most popular Lucha Libre venue, and I don't feel naïve to suggest a shared thread of playful aggression and craft between the two spectacles; TEAMO's expressive pieces, heavily paneled in uniform color, feathered and fured and with subtle animal countenance, spill forth music, illustration, and sarcasm, and explode, at times, with texture and light.
New York City's Garment District is basically a dreamland for fashionistas. Trunks full of buttons, walls stacked with rolls of colorful fabric, leather men and fur ladies, a warehouse that sells billions of little, tiny sequins. If you dig clothes and you've an imagination, this is your hang out. The Garment District is also one of the most dynamic historical neighborhoods in New York City and one that, unfortunately, is in major turmoil. Everything from real estate pressure (see the New York Times piece on Manhattan's flea markets for more) to manufacturing trends (hon, we 'aint makin it in New Yourk anymour) is turning the neighborhood upside down (a topic we'll save for our Garmento series) and causing shops to close every time you turn around. To help you navigate the district, two recent fashion graduates, Joceyln Simms and Victoria Somers, set out to create a user friendly guide on navigating the neighborhood. The task was not a simple one but the result, The Fashion District Source Book, is a sweet, smart reference guide that helps you find everything from bootlace to button. It is perhaps the author's youth and their passion for the industry that make this guide so refreshing. No old school inhabitant of the neighborhood could have seen things so clearly, that is, there's something to be said for a fresh perspective.
What inspired you to write the Fashion District Source Book? Jocelyn Simms: New York City, and today’s world in general, are so full of information and product choices, that without tools that can organize and make sense of it all, consumers are lost when it comes to making a decision. The last thing that a shopping district wants is for the consumer to become so overwhelmed that they consistently revert back to the same, safe, convenient option time and again, or worse, forgo the shopping experience entirely. Unfortunately, this is often what happens. We wanted to create a tool that could quickly inform potential customers what to expect from each store in the garment center so they could spend more of their time shopping successfully, and less time doing research and learning through trial and error. Victoria Somers: It happened more because I went to Jerry to see if he had any side work. He suggested I write this book and to get a friend to help. Jocelyn was the best person for the job because she is so creative. From there we just did a lot of brainstorming, thinking of what people (especially out of towners) need to know about the fashion district. It is something I wish I had when I first moved to NYC. It would have been a huge help when I needed something for a project.
The garment district has such a dynamic history, was it difficult to keep the book streamlined? JS: History aside, the most daunting aspect of the garment district is the number of stores and the amount of merchandise that is offered. We probably could have written a novel- however, the purpose of this guide was not to be thorough, but to create a USER FRIENDLY guide that gives designers and shoppers just enough information to make decisions. Streamlined is what consumers are craving in today’s marketplace. They only have time for quick, easy answers and that is what we tried to deliver. Although I do think the publisher did a bit of secret editing down for us….as I look at it now, I know we weren’t quite that concise. ☺ VS: We put the focus of the book on the present. It changes so much that it was getting difficult. Some stores were closing in the process of just getting the information. So we would get the info, write it up, then someone would point out that the store just put up closing signs. So we did all we could to get everything current in there. But I am pretty sure that even after we turned it in they needed to keep making sure it was up to date before publishing it.
When differentiating between all of the different shops in the district, did you find it challenging to point out the discrepancies? With a million trimmings shops, in other words, how did you find ways to describe them as unique? J.S: As often as we used the garment district stores during college and our internships, most stores had already taken on a very specific identity in our minds. We had the shopping background to pick out the little but important things that aren’t apparent just by glancing in a window. One of my favorite functions of the guide is the organizational/rating system that we assigned to the stores. We flagged certain stores as our favorites and flagged some as having great deals as well. We also specified when a store falls into multiple product categories so its easier to find a one-stop shop for whatever you happen to be looking for. Our personal opinions on quality, pricing, and service, combined with the product assortment of each shop, were plenty to differentiate them from one another. I encourage the user to keep their own notes in the book as well. VS: Although it is hard to tell, they really are all very unique. Even if they offer the same sort of fabrics, they will all have something no other store offers. That could include prices, service, variety, or convenience. If was fun doing the project because we were able to find such unique stores that no one knows about. There is a feather store, for example, that Jocelyn found. And I actually had to use it one day. It happens to be an older man in a room full of beautiful and exotic feathers. It was so interesting to me to know he was creating all the boas all by himself with these colorful feathers from all over the world.
What is one of the biggest rewards of having published this book? JS: I have heard feedback within the industry, from co-workers, and students, and I know it is making their lives easier when it comes to shopping for fabrics and trims. I think that one of the main things the guide has done is to open people up to trying stores that they wouldn’t normally visit or didn’t know were there. It is easy to go to the same stores over and over because you are familiar with the merchandise assortment. This guide makes it safer to venture out to new stores and therefore discover great resources that you would have been missing out on otherwise. VS: Although it is a small guide book, it is still not something I would have thought I would have done by the time I was 21. It is an accomplishment of mine that I am happy I was given the opportunity for. Also, I actually use it as a reference quite a bit. So it really helped me out as well.
What are your future plans in fashion? JS: I am currently an assistant designer for women’s sportswear at Tommy Hilfiger and plan to continue my career in the fashion industry as a designer. However, as a designer it is great to be able to use your expertise in other creative projects, for example the Fashion District Source Book. I plan on being involved in any up-dating and re-vamping that the Source Book may need each year, and look forward to being a part of other similar ventures in the fashion industry as well. VS: I currently was hired at Tommy Hilfiger for design. (Jocelyn actually helped me get the job). So I am very excited to be getting back into design where I belong. I spent the last year at a vintage print archive here in NYC. I learned so much and was given great opportunities with travel, but I know I am meant for design.
Our network partner, So Fash' On, has the exclusive on a new indie shoe designer from Romania. Coca Zaboloteanu's shoes are plentiful, she's putting out everything from jazz slip ons to open toe booties, and can be purchased straight from So Fash' On's blog. The designer's aesthetic is right on target with the color blocking trends we'll see for Spring and Fall 08. Day heels in charcoal have a burst of color at the heel or suede versions, a stylists dream come true, make for blocks of color by way of thick stripes. For sandals, Coca Zaboloteanu has turned out sweet ankle strap versions with detachable bows. The options are abundant and all shoes are priced around $150 dollars. If you fancy a slightly different color variation, you can request made to order variations as well. This, indeed, is one strong example of the power of a network. If a cool indie designer in Romania can sell her shoes through a hip fashion blog via paypal, and that fashion blog is part of a network of 254 fashion blogs via Coutorture, well, that means the fashion swimming pool just went public and there's a cannonball contest at our place. Ladies, jump on in, the water is warm.
Do you own a nice maxi dress? The thing is, the maxi dress 'thing' isn't really crystal clear until you wear one. Many women shy away from the silhouette, and truthfully, it's understandable. A maxi dress, if it isn't a high quality fabric and appropriately sized, can feel like a mumu. But, if you splurge on something really special, it will change your life. Not only is it flattering to almost any figure, it's a classy way to keep cool in the summer. Going out to dinner with your boss? Preparing for a picnic in the park? Accidently get a major sunburn on vacation? A maxi dress is the answer, we cannot stress this enough. The Matthew Williamson Leaf Print Maxi Dress is the perfect example. The initial reaction is 'Whoa, that's a lotta' dress!' but, take a deep breath, imagine it with thin gold sandals, a slick chignon, the most basic makeup, and you'll see the point. It puts all those mini skirts and babydoll dresses to shame, and we promise, you'll stand just a little bit taller as you glide across the room in this leaf print number. For more maxi dresses, see our spread below.
