AlexSandro Palombo, who contributed to our upcoming fashion month edition, surprised me with a blog post and illustration portraying me as the “subway’s fashion queen” with some major cleavage action. Too funny!
Fashion month: It’s baaaaaack
It’s showtime again! During an idle water cooler conversation, a co-worker asked what I had been up to this month. I told her I was preparing for the annual round of international fashion weeks and a grueling month on the road. “It’s time for that again?” she asked. The collections really sneak up on you. Here’s how it generally goes: you’re on holiday for a chunk of August, enjoying the sun on whatever beach and soaking up the last remnants of summer when — BAM! — you come back to the office, more tanned, but with only a few weeks left to send out show requests, plan out preview stories and sort out schedules for the spring shows… which naturally kick off in September. And then life gets crazy, traveling from one collection to another, scrambling to find your seat without falling over someone’s oversized, over-priced, handbag on the floor (because there’s always a handbag on the floor) getting lost trying to find that obscure off-site show (because your cab driver has never even heard of that address in the umpteenth district of Paris), and trying your best to remain upright and dignified on treacherous cobblestones past a small crowd of street style photographers without busting your arse (because even though you know them all, the street style photographers still make you feel like a freshman in high school being sized-up!)
That’s me looking bedraggled at the end of Paris Fashion Week, last season. Notice the frizzy hair and dust marks on the toes of my Miu Mius. I think I had literally tripped right before this photo was taken. Sigh.
And the cycle repeats itself when the Christmas and New Year festivities come around. All is fun and good and then — POW! — a rude awakening to the New Year in the form of a teensy window of time to complete all planning for the autumn shows. You get the idea.
At the moment, my team and I are still stinging from the POW! and wishing that the Christmas break lasted just a little bit longer. That said it should be an eventful show season. And, of course, we’ve got lots of fantastic preview bits coming up.
Categorised as: fashion
Studio visit: Barbara Bui
Barbara Bui has always flown under the radar. Even though she has a decades strong global cult following, she’s never really fit into the fashion world’s “star system” as she calls it, referring to the industry’s tendency to place certain designers (usually men) on pedestals. So it’s ironic that all of the ideas that she’s built her small global empire on — Parisian rock and roll chic, androgyny, leather –are all having major moments for fall due to collections created by some of her male peers.
“I think it can be difficult for women now,” she says over a breakfast of coffee and cigarettes. We’re sitting in her bright, sprawling work studio in the Le Marais district of Paris. “When I began, we had Sonia Rykiel, but I think it’s changed since then. I think women are judged harder,” the French Vietnamese designer admits.
Rather than design heady collections with fantastical, esoteric references like some of her peers in Paris, Bui creates straightforward, garments in rich fabrics that manage to be both wearable and edgy. When you look at a Barbara Bui collection you know what you’re getting, there’s no need for head scratching or interpretation. And that’s perhaps why women love her. She creates clothing that she would want to wear herself.
Bui began designing fashion in the ’80s during her days as a boutique owner. She would create pieces that she wanted to wear, but couldn’t find in stores. ”I wanted something edgy, to counterbalance the feminine part of myself. I wanted it to be a little androgynous but still elegant and sexy,” she explains. In the ’90s she began having a hard time finding trousers in a silhouette that she liked. So she made her own. “The trousers in the ’90s were awful and boring. The cut was all wrong. It was too much about function and this executive woman. I pushed the value of the feminine. Since then, trousers have become an important part of my world,” she recalls.
That last sentence would actually be an understatement. Her precisely tailored pants, best worn with towering heels, became her calling card of sorts and earned a feircely devoted fan club. When I saw an art gallerist accidentally tear the hem of her Barbara Bui tuxedo pants at an opening, she nearly had a meltdown. Bui’s trousers earn that kind of an emotional attachment. Leather, another Bui trademark, also plays a prominent role in her fall collection from skinny jacket and pant pairings to mini dresses.
It’s very of-the-moment stuff. But Bui could care less about being trendy. “The garment and the idea ultimately has to stand the test of time.”
-photos by Tinko Czetwertynski
Categorised as: fashion
NYFW: Donna Karan’s bright outlook in rough times
Donna Karan is more prepared to deal with this economic downturn than most. “I started my company in one of them,” she tells me in her Urban Zen store, which makes a calm, quiet contrast to the busy preparations for the DKNY show happening in her work studio next door. Incense smoke snakes its way through the air, adding to her image as the fashion world’s spiritual queen yogi. But underneath her relaxed, oversized sweater and leotard (she wears one everyday), lies a mogul with a shrewd business sense. She began honing it early on. Her father was a custom tailor, and her mother a showroom model. “I was brought up on 7th Avenue. It’s in my blood. It’s in my character and nature,” she adds. You’ve weathered several economic downturns. Have you noticed a difference in how this one is affecting your approach to Donna Karan Collection and DKNY? I wasn’t even aware of it in the process, but you’ll see that the fall Donna Karan is very reflective of the collection that I did in 1985. And that will be very obvious to everyone. Meanwhile, DKNY, which just celebrated its 20th anniversary, will be more about sophistication and moving forward. We’re catering to another generation. You’ve defined the working woman’s wardrobe for decades. Now, as more women are searching for jobs, have you noticed a difference in what sells among your brands? Not yet, but I do think women are thinking about working again. There was a period where it was about dressing up, but now we’re returning to day and more work-oriented pieces that go from day to night. The idea of going from day to night is terribly important, for garments to have that flexibility. For women who are scaling back on their shopping and trying to decide what to invest in, what advice would you give? There has to be an emotional purpose. And you have to think about what is lacking in your wardrobe. Look for things that flatter the body and make you feel good. The minute I put on one of these pieces [motioning to her sweater], it makes me feel good. It’s not about the garment, it’s about you. But I think that more people should remember the importance of buying in this climate. It’s important because you’re buying to help another human being, to save a job. You’re famously passionate about yoga. How does it affect you creatively? I’ve been doing it since I was 18 years old, so it’s something that is innately a part of my character. I think you see the influence in my clothes and the movement. Every morning I get up and I wear my bodysuit [lifting up her sweater.] I move and stretch. The clothes are all about movement and the body and the ease and grace of the body. Karl Lagerfeld and [Council of Fashion Designers of America president] Steven Kolb said in separate interviews that the good thing about the recession is that it’s making the fashion industry scale back and focus on fashion again. Would you agree with this? Oh God yes. I think it’s a paring down and I think there’s an awakening. Things have been so fashion driven. Fashion seems to come and then it feels like last year’s fashion. It’s good to get back to an idea of seasonless dressing and allowing the consumer to have clothes with longevity to them, while at the same time giving them a reason to buy. And teaching the customer that if sales continue the way they are, there will be no industry. People won’t have jobs. This is not something as frivolous as the world of fashion. It’s affecting everyone the world over. 
Categorised as: fashion
New York Fashion Week: Kai Kühne is up to V-day Misheff
Kai modeling his newly arrived fall 09 bag (you’ll have to read about it and the rest of our date in Tuesday’s paper)
I popped by Kai Kühne’s studio in Manhattan’s garment district today for a sneak peek at his fall collection, which shows on Thursday, and discovered a few things.
1) He’s got a new man. “I’m the happiest man in the woooooorld,” he practically sings to me of his boyfriend, photographer Johnny Misheff. Considering Kühne’s notorious history as a “bad boy” of sorts, his healthy new relationship is a good thing. They’re planning to celebrate Valentine’s Day over a romantic dinner at the Central Park restaurant, The Boathouse. “This is my first Valentine ever. I don’t know why it took so long. It just didn’t happen until now. But he’s the best man in the wooooorld,” adds Kai, the former ThreeasFour designer, whose fans include the actress Chloe Sevigny and singer Björk.
2) His upcoming runway show isn’t the only production he’s got going on. Last season’s spring ‘09 collection is being featured in performance artist Rashaad Newsome’s show, “Shade Compositions,” at the legendary downtown performing arts center, The Kitchen. It features twenty black women giving all kinds of “cool attitude and strong voices,” he says. Funnily enough, I had already heard about it earlier this week as it’s turning out to be a hot ticket in the art world. Last, Kai’s creating a dress for today’s Barbie 50th anniversary runway extravaganza, which also features clothing by Diane von Furstenberg, Zac Posen and Donna Karan among others, created specifically for the iconic doll. “It’s funny because I usually do things that are connected with the art world. But then I find myself having to do things that connect me with this larger fashion world as well.”
Kai and I doing our “yay he’s going to get some V-day loving” pose
Categorised as: fashion
You asked: Mittens that look more cool than cute
An anonymous, snowed-in reader posted a comment on Monday’s entry asking for snowball-worthy mittens. Well, Mr. or Miss Anonymous (no need to hide your identity here, we’re a friendly bunch) I sent a few emails and discovered Helmut Lang’s puffer mittens, which are warm enough to get you through a snowball fight, and yet cool enough to floss as you go about your day. Added bonus: they’re on sale at Shopbop.
Categorised as: fashion
In the beauty closet
Judging by the looks of Chanel’s new nail color, Dragon, which hits stores later this month, it’s looking like red nails will be about as big for spring as crimson pouts were for fall. I guess that means I need to start searching for the perfect chip-proof top coat (because I still haven’t found it yet).
Categorised as: fashion
Rant: Because saving an entire industry isn’t enough
Michelle Obama in Tracy Feith.
As if the expectations on Michelle Obama weren’t unrealistic enough, she is not only expected to lift the American fashion industry out of the depths of retail gloom, but she is also now supposed to be a poster woman for black fashion designers. Am I the only person to find this WWD article about recent criticism of her only wearing Asian and Latin American designers just a wee bit annoying? A few gems from the article:
-”It’s fine and good if you want to be all ‘Kumbaya’ and ‘We Are the World’ by representing all different countries. But if you are going to have Isabel Toledo do the inauguration dress, and Jason Wu do the evening gown, why not have Kevan Hall, B Michael, Stephen Burrows or any of the other black designers do something too?” [Black Artists Association co-founder] Amnau Eele said.
-”It’s one thing to look at the world without color but she had seven slots to wear designer clothes. Why wasn’t she wearing the clothes of a black designer? That was our moment.”
I mean let’s get real here. Has Michelle not got enough on her plate for progressing black and American history as it is? Can’t the woman just put on a dress because she likes it without carrying the weight of social responsibility? And isn’t the whole idea of America voting the Obamas into the White House totally contradictory to that “our moment” idea? Okay I’ll stop with the questions and the italics. I’m all for promoting black talents in fashion and pointing out to the public when they are being disregarded or excluded (see the series of articles I wrote about the black model issue), but there is no way that I can support this woman’s argument. It just doesn’t hold an ounce of water.
Categorised as: fashion
So Maria Cornejo, how exactly does a designer become a first lady favorite?
It’s 10am on inauguration day and Maria
Cornejo has been receiving calls from every corner of the globe to her New York studio as she works on an upcoming collection for New York
Fashion Week. She’s one of a small handful of designers who has been fortunate
enough to be touched by the glittery, lightning-fast PR magic that is Michelle
Obama’s wardrobe. Ever since the new first lady began wearing Cornejo, Isabel
Toledo, Maria Pinto, Jason Wu, Thakoon and Narciso Rodriguez (who are all, coincidentally,
either Latin or Asian American) on the campaign trail, the world’s interest in
them has jumped in major ways. That might not be a new experience for
Rodriguez, who shot to fame when he designed Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s wedding dress
and is already an A-list favorite, but to the rest of the gang, it’s a big –
potentially business-saving — deal in an economy where designers are shutting
their doors left and right. In the hours leading up to the swearing-in
ceremony, Cornejo fills us in on how Obama came about wearing her clothing for
the inaugural Whistle Stop train tour.
It sounds like you’ve had a really busy
start to 2009. How did Michelle Obama end up wearing so much Zero + Maria
Cornejo during the campaign?
To be honest, we sell our clothes to a boutique
in Chicago called Ikram. It’s one of the most well-known stores in the area and
Michelle is a client there and had been buying our clothes off the rack. So
then the store owner, Ikram [Goldman], asked us to make a few extra pieces for
her.
Did she go into specifics about what she
was looking for?
She just said to me, ‘She loves your jacket; she loves the sleeves. Just do your bright colors. Make what you think she’d
like.’ So we did several versions of jackets, coats and dresses that we have in
the collection and sent them over to her in November. But the thing is,
we don’t know specifically when she’s going to wear any of it, if at all. We would
just be watching the news and spot it.
When did you create her outfit for the
Whistle Stop Tour?
That was a part of the selection of items we
sent to her before Thanksgiving.
What about your collection do you think
appeals to her so much?
Well it’s great because we try to make
clothes for real women. And apparently she really likes the fact that our
clothes are made in America. The price point is also really accessible and the
clothing is very free and easy. We use a lot of stretch fabrics that are easy
to just throw on. We dress real, intelligent women who aren’t fashion victims.
They have lives.
Her wardrobe choices are definitely a
stark contrast to what first ladies have traditionally worn in years past.
For me it’s great because I can relate to
her life and what she’s wearing. She’s the same age as me, and she’s a working woman with two children.
She’s been credited with giving a shot
in the arm of fashion by supporting such a wide array of American designers. Do you think she has the potential to revive the
industry on a longer term?
I think she will definitely help the
fashion business. Just the fact that she’s one day wearing Narciso [Rodriguez],
and then J. Crew the next. It’s not about being a fashion plate or feeling the
pressure to look like a picture in a fashion magazine. It’s very freeing
because she’s not dressing according to a fashion hierarchy. She picks and
chooses what she wants. And she pays for them. But the fashion is so — the main
thing is that big changes are on the horizon overall as a result of having this
young couple in the White House. It’s new blood, new energy.
Many designers have had to cancel their
shows for New York Fashion Week. How are your preparations coming?
We’re very excited about it. The show will
be on the 16th. We have less than a month to go. And we’re also
opening a new store.
So it sounds like business is booming for you despite the bad economy.
Yeah, to be honest we have been growing
steadily from season to season. But the Michelle thing of course doesn’t hurt.
Categorised as: fashion
And so it begins
Washington D.C. is obviously the place to be today as the town revels in a stream of inauguration festivities. And so we all wait with bated breath to see what the Barack Obama era will mean for our economy, the war and fashion. Yes, I said it, fashion. A New York Times article has already called Michelle “fashion’s one-woman bailout” (could the expectations of her be any higher?).
Rather than take the fashion risk she did with her love-it-or-hate-it, red and black Narciso Rodriguez dress on election night, she opted for a decidedly American chic and modern route (which works really well for her) for inaugural week. She began the festivities in a Zero + Maria Cornejo suit for the Whistle Stop train tour into D.C. and continued the week in a Narciso Rodriguez camel and black suit for the inaugural We Are One concert. Her choice for the big day? A feminine and optimistic yellow ensemble by, Isabel Toledo, an esoteric designer and fashion insider favorite she has worn before. Later that night, she chose a sublime ivory silk chiffon gown, designed by Jason Wu, who is 26 and popular in New York fashion land but relatively unknown internationally. Both are unexpected inaugural choices for an institution usually dominated by boring, staid red and blue Oscar de la Renta ensembles.
It all sends a definite message. “We’re used to seeing women in the White House choosing very safe names, very safe choices. Michelle is adventurous and taking chances. It’s a totally refreshing change for the White House,” says Constance White, eBay’s style director. “But most importantly, her way of dressing is very accessible and relatable to everyday women,” she adds. And the American fashion industry lets out a collective cheer. -Kenya Hunt
P.S. You can view a recap of all of the inauguration happenings through the Presidential Inaugural Committee’s Flickr photostream here.
Categorised as: fashion
