Fashion News

M.B. FASHION WEEK IN NYC

Mercede Benz Fashion Week began on Friday, Sept. 5. in NYC. So far, dozens of designers have shown their spring 2009 collections. Here are a few highlights and a few of my favorite pieces so far:

Rock and Republic

B. Michael

Betsy Johnson

Nicole Miller

Carolina Herrera

Make It Work

MAKE IT WORK, CARRY ON, HOLLA AT CHA BOY

This week the designers were taken atop a double decker tour bus for a tour of The Big Apple. They each were given a camera and an hour to capture a bit of inspiration from the city for a "night out on the town" look.

What they came up with was interesting to say the least. A lot of surprises in the mix, including the winning dress by Kenley. To me, it looked like a retarded tulip. The judges (which including very-bored looking Sandra Bernhardt) said that it reminded them of an 80s Dynasty Joan Collins look. Big shoulder pads and a weird puff of tulle popping out of the right hip. The judges said it would be great to hide a ... It was a surprise because Kenley says she's so inspired by the 40s and 50s but this was straight out of the 80s. In a bad way. The print on the fabric was absolutely hideous, and I don't think anyone but a model could pull off the look. As Joe so aptly put it, it was a bit "Fort Lauderdale lawn cushiony."

Tanlicious Blayne came up with a neon getup that I thought was the worst of the bunch. The fact that he picked flourescent colors was not a surprise considering his hot pink dress last week and the neon pink sweatshirt he had on during this episode. He taught Tim a new catch phrase: "Holla at cha, boy." It was funny watching Tim try to say it. He said, "Hollar at your boy? Hollar? Hello?" Classic Tim.

No surprise that Blayne had to make his presence known to the camera by visually stalking Kenley while she was working on her dress. He kept saying to her, "I'm gonna eeeat you" and giving her a look like he was a demented bobble head. He's probably hoping Bravo will start selling a Blayne bobble head on their website. Organic Leanne decided to scale back her hyper-creativity and organic-ness and wound up making a gorgeous black layered skirt. I didn't like the finished look all that much because I wasn't crazy about the top, but the skirt was so pretty. Heidi loved it and said she'd wear it in a heartbeat.

We now come to Stella. Oh, Stella. You make me laugh the way Christian made me laugh. Your comments are quickly becoming classics. This week as you banged grommets into your leathah with a hammah, annoying the other desingers, you said, "What a gay little grommet" to the uncooperative remnant and I nearly spit out my dinner. You then followed up with a warning to the other nearly-deaf designers, "If you don't like it, get the fuck outta heeya." But not before you said, "I am rock and roll and I'm gonna die rock and roll." Your finished look was impressive. As someone who knows a little about sewing, I know how hard it is to make a pair of pants, especially ones out of leathah.

I absolutely loved Terri's outfit. She was inspired by graffitti and stret culture, and made a gorgeous open-back dress with black pants underneath. I wasn't crazy about the print of the dress, but overall the look worked beautifuly.

Keith was inspired by a delapitated magazine he found on the ground and made something that Michael Korrs referred to as looking like "toilet paper caught in a wind storm." If it had been more fitted and accentuated his model's shape, I believe he could have made something really pretty. Emily's dress got her awffed. She said she was inspired by "the movement and energy" of New York but she made, as Tim put it, "a black dress with a great big oversized corsage." Tim warned her, but she didn't listen and let her big rainbow-brite prom dress go down the runway. She kept saying how underground she is, but this is something that could be easily sold as a prom dress in JCPenny circa 1989. I also thought it looked a lot like Blayne's blinding dress.


As far as everyone else goes, I loved Daniel's dress (again), and Suede "rocked it" as usual.

Next week we get to see the designers go on a big field trip that will cause what looks like fabric stealing, Beatles-inspired fashion, and slurs against the gay community. Carry on. . .

Fashion Week Wrap Up

Haute for Paris

Haute Couture week opened in Paris on July 1st. The event, which showcased for next autumn/winter, has been a whirlwind of fashion action. Twenty-three couturiers were featured officially alongside dozens of side shows and presentations. Most of the designs showcased will never be worn by the average woman or even be sold in high-end stores because they're more art than anything else. So of course that meant there were a lot of over-the-top gowns shown, especially creations that looked designed for a bride.

"We are never very far from the Renaissance," Christian Lacroix said backstage before Tuesday's show at the Centre Georges Pompidou. Here are a few highlights from the shows:

Chrisitan LaCroix's gothic bride

Gaultier's strappy cage dresses

Givenchy was inspired by Peru

Dior

Elie Saab

Fashion News

YEEAAHHH, BOY

Marc Jacobs' latest controversial ad campaign uses a BOY instead of a girl. Cole Mohr, who beat out a female for Jacob's women's line, does have smashing gams. I'm just wondering what's behind the purse?

GO International at Target

ROGAN FOR TARGET

Beginning May 18, Target will feature a new GO International line by Rogan. From the video I watched on the website, it looks there a few promising peices, but a little too many animal prints for my taste. I guess I'm still an Alice Temperley fan. Check out all the Rogan looks over at FabSugar by clicking here.

Vintage Photo of the Week

PRE-MADONNA VOGUEING

Dior (in Vogue) 1947

Marc Jacobs' Spicy Ad

BAG IT UP, I'LL TAKE IT

Victoria Beckham is the new face or "legs" of Marc Jacobs. The latest ad shows Posh Spice's legs coming out of a Marc Jacobs shopping bag he had made especially for her.

“I knew this wasn’t going to be Vogue,” Ms. Beckham said by phone from her home in Los Angeles. “I knew I had to put myself in their hands, which could be quite scary.”

She said she had a long discussion with Mr. Jacobs after he first proposed the idea, last September, and a follow-up chat with Mr. Teller, who met Ms. Beckham’s misgivings with a typical mixture of charm and candor.

“I told her, ‘You’re the most photographed woman in the world,’ ” Mr. Teller recalled. “ ‘And fashion nowadays is all about product — bags and shoes — and you’re kind of a product yourself, aren’t you?’ She was, like, ‘Uh, yeah.’ ”

*photo and quotes from The New York Times. To read more about the ad, go here.

PRETTY IN PINK: LAKME FASHION WEEK IN INDIA

It's been Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai. The runways have been filled with gorgeous designs Designer Narendra Kumar Ahmed stunned audiences Monday with a line inspired by the "pink city" of India, Jaipur. Most of his Autumn/Winter 2008 collection was filled with peach, silver, fuchsia, burgundy, and rose colored garments.

"I love Jaipur, it is my romance for the pink city that inspired my collection," the designer said after his show on day three of the fashion week. "The clothes blend Indian and European sensibilities and heavily showcase architecture blends of the mazes and pavilions of Jaipur."
Ahmed is one of 57 designers showcased at Lakme Fashion Week, which ended on Wednesday.

Pretty in pink -- Two of Kumar Ahmed's runway looks.

DAISY by MARC JACOBS
Product Review

Marc Jacob's newish fragrance has been calling me from the shelves of beauty shops everywhere because I love daisies and the bottle is irresistible. I've been spraying it on whenever I find a "sample" bottle, because I'm determined to love it. Initially, the smell is heavenly, but later it takes on that perfumey smell that I can't stand. I don't know how to explain it. It reminds me of my mom's Giorgio perfume. When I was a kid, she would leave clouds of it in her wake and it always smelled acrid and woody.

Check out the fragrance's website. It's one of the coolest little places on the web that I've seen in quite a while. $55 for 1.7 oz.

POSIN' IN POSEN

Now that NY Fashion Week has ended, I've had some time to check out the shows from last week. One of those that stood out immediately was Zac Posen's.

Cheeky, flirty, and fun, Zac's Fall 2008 Ready-to-Wear Collection demanded attention on the runway Thursday. His line had a definite cabaret and ladylike feel to it: Lots of full skirts and sheer layers with hints of lingerie visible beneath. Many of his garments were black, accented by bright touches of red and yellow. The models wore strict hairstyles, lots of bold make-up, and Mary Janes on their feet -- mais oui!

To see his Fall 2008 line, click here. A few of my favorites from the show:


(all photos from style.com)

THE 80s DOMINATE BETSY'S FALL 2008 LINE

Betsy Johnson revealed her Fall 2008 Ready-to-Wear collection in Bryant Park yesterday. The collection looks to be very inspired by 80s rock and new wave. There were lots of garments made of bold colorful prints and decorated with zippers sewn in unconventional places. The models sported crimped hair, fishnet stockings, berets, and fingerless gloves. Like always her line is young, but I'm not sure how fresh the whole 80s thing is. Frankly, I'm tired of it. According to Style.com, Betsy realizes she is straying from her usual look:

"This collection is a real flip for me, in that I'm going very dark, beatnik, black, bold, slim-lined, and leotardic," the ever-bumptious designer said. "It's kick-ass with a harder hard edge, in a Joan Jett kind of way."

Despite the self-proclaimed "flip" I do have some favorites (below). You can find the whole collection here.

ALL BETS ON BETSY

One of my fave designers, Betsy Johnson, will show her fall 2008 collection today at Fashion Week. This marks 30 years in the business for the spritely designer. I'm betting that her fall collection will be fantastic, making me drool and wish I had loads of money to buy her goodies.

But since it's still winter, and fall 2008 seems a long way off, I've been looking at her spring 2008 collection, which she showcased back in 2007. Her collection featured lots of pastels and polka dots accenting ultra-girly dresses with voluminous skirts. It looked like a pastel prom if pastels and proms were actually cool. Here are a few of my favorites. You can view the whole collection here.

FASHION WEEK SLICES AND DICES THE RUNWAY IN THE BIG APPLE

New York Fashion Week kicked off yesterday and will continue until February 8. So far a slew of fashion houses including Baby Phat, Nicole Miller, BCBG, and Erin Featherstone, have shown their fall 2008 collections. I'm drooling over some of the outfits that were showcased on the runway yesterday. Here are a few of my favorites:

BCBG had loads of gorgeous, wearable dresses in neutral tones;

Erin Featherstone's collection was rife with lots of little black dresses and the models wore black wreaths on their heads;

and Baby Phat showed some lovely dresses that were accented with a pretty pear color.