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subscribe to style file blog via RSSJ Brand, The Erdem (And Kane, Pilotto, Nicoll, And Meadham Kirchhoff) Way
September 8, 2010
What works in New York won’t always work in London, but fair to say that collaborating with some of the city’s hottest young designers on limited-edition denim is good business here and across the pond. So following J Brand’s Proenza Schouler jean collab, CEO Jeff Rudes decided to extend the work-together spirit in England, too. The 5×5 project calls upon five of London’s best designers and labels (Christopher Kane, Peter Pilotto, Richard Nicoll, Meadham Kirchhoff, and Erdem) to put their spin on J Brand’s wares. Kane went camo (hey, we’ve been feeling that print, too!), Nicoll put in leather panels, Meadham Kirchhoff patched a rough-and-tumble boy-cut pair, and Pilotto got powdery, and Erdem—for his first denim design—chose soft blue florals. Each pair is available at a single London retailer (from Harvey Nicks to Browns), but stateside admirers can get them at Jeffrey New York and Intermix Online this Friday.
Pictured above, clockwise from top left: Jeans designed by Christopher Kane, Meadham Kirchhoff, Peter Pilotto, Erdem, and Richard Nicoll.
tags: Christopher Kane, Erdem, J Brand, Jeff Rudes, Meadham Kirchhoff, Peter Pilotto, Richard Nicoll
A Magical Start To New York Fashion Week
September 8, 2010
To make your party stand out from the rest during fashion week, it helps to have a few tricks up your sleeve—and A Small World chairman and man-about-town Patrick Liotard-Vogt certainly had one last night, in the form of magician David Blaine. All eyes (most of them very, very wide) were on the prestidigitator’s lightning-quick hands at the rooftop soirée, which raised funds for Liotard-Vogt’s F Cancer charity and had Blaine bending coins and performing other Jedi mind tricks for the likes of Maria Cornejo, Devon Aoki, and Anouck Lepère. “I know it’s all sleight-of-hand, but I can’t stop giggling like a little schoolgirl,” Waris Ahluwalia (left, with Blaine) admitted.
“If he could transport me to September 17, that would be the best trick,” suggested Lorenzo Martone, whose very busy coming week includes hosting after-parties for Ruffian on Thursday and L.A.M.B. on the 16th, and a Fashion Night Out fête with Carlos Miele. Really, Lorenzo, you’d want to skip all that? Consider us skeptical.
tags: Anouck Lepere, David Blaine, Devon Aoki, Lorenzo Martone, Maria Cornejo, Patrick Liiotard-Vogt, Waris Ahluwalia
We Don’t Look A Day Over 3
September 8, 2010
We may not look our age, but Style.com is celebrating a big anniversary this fashion week: ten years of being the ultimate online home of fashion. To celebrate, we’ve taken a look back at our decade-long history, from the top ten collections to the ten fashion headlines that shook the world, the ten hottest models, the ten It-est accessories, and many more. To see the complete top tens, click here.
We’ve also tapped a few expert friends to give their two cents, too. Tim Blanks weighs in on the top ten menswear collections of the decade. Tavi Gevinson provides her own decade in review—never mind that she was only 4 when it started. The runway mixmasters Frederic Sanchez and Michel Gaubert provide their decade in fashion tracks. And with an eye to the future, Opening Ceremony predicts the ten things we’ll be talking about over the next ten years.
Happy birthday to us—but the present is coming from us to you. Keep your eye on this space for more about our very special tenth anniversary collaboration, coming soon…
tags: Frederic Sanchez, Michel Gaubert, Opening Ceremony, Tavi Gevinson, Tim Blanks, Top Ten
Catwalk Watch: Barbara Pfister
September 8, 2010
Before a model hits the runway—and before she snags her first editorial, her first ad campaign, and her first billboard—she’s got to make it past the sharp eyes of fashion’s casting directors, who are tasked with finding the perfect girls for designers’ exacting visions. In our new fashion week series, the industry’s top casting gurus share their thoughts on who we’ll be seeing this fashion week—and beyond.
Barbara Pfister casts VPL, Gary Graham, William Tempest, and Mandy Coon, among others, in New York this season. Below, she weighs in on a few of her favorite new faces.
I love Ali Stepka at IMG (left) for her uniqueness and her never-ending legs. She has a very unassuming quality, like Shalom had in the early nineties, but when she turns to you in front of the camera there is a depth to her beauty that is very captivating. Her eyes are slightly Eurasian and gorgeous, and the mere fact that she is from Oxford reverberates a quality of subtle intellect.
I’m a big fan of So Young at Marilyn (center), too. She’s so elegant, and what a great name!
Caroline Brasch Nielsen from Elite is a girl you just can’t stop looking at. She is so fresh, and has an air of confidence but is equally sweet. She’s a stunning beauty with an ethereal Vermeer quality, but equally modern. Timeless, I suppose. And Ilva Heitmann with Supreme (right) is of the same ilk as Caroline, but even more silky and delicate and utterly ethereal—just otherworldly.
tags: Ali Stepka, Barbara Pfister, Caroline Brasch Nielsen, Ilva Heitmann, So Young
Fashion In Session
September 8, 2010
If fashion was graded on a sexiness spectrum, then on one end would be runway shows and Brazilian supermodels and on the other…well, legal advice could take the prize. Aside from watching reruns of Law & Order, fashion folk and attorneys aren’t usually found in the same circles. But for an early start on the unofficial first day of New York fashion week, guests from both groups came together this morning to celebrate the opening of the Fordham Fashion Law Institute. Headed up by Professor Susan Scafidi (left) and with the support of the CFDA (the organization donated $50,000 that was then personally matched by CFDA president Diane von Furstenberg), the institute is the first of its kind in the world. The relatively new field of law won’t be only fighting Louis Vuitton knockoffs; it’s a much broader scope (though, for those interested, Scarfidi’s book, Counterfeit Chic, is being published next year). “Fashion law includes the legal issues that can arise at any point in the life of a garment,” she informed the audience, one that included designer Charles Nolan, Saks Fifth Avenue CEO Steve Sadove, and Doug Hand, Rag & Bone’s attorney. “That could be anything from manufacturing to import-export issues.”
Despite employing over 200,000 people in NYC, fashion law is still a relatively small movement. That may be because it takes a certain kind of legal eagle to deal with fashion’s personalities. “As a designer that has been around a long time, I can tell you a lawyer who knows fashion is really rare,” Diane von Furstenberg noted on the podium. “For a young designer, it’s so important to have a good first contract. It’s like a blueprint for a building; you want a good foundation so you can grow stably.” Part of that good foundation, of course, includes a designer’s own name. “I think the most important thing as a designer is first protecting your name,” Nolan said. “I think it would be just absolutely horrible if you lost the right to use [it].” Lucky for young designers in the city, protecting theirs early on will soon be much more affordable—the new institute will pair those unable to afford pricey legal services with students in the curriculum.
Fashion’s Next Frontier
September 8, 2010
Style.com’s new iPad application just launched on iTunes. Building on the success of our iPhone app (750,000 downloads and counting), we’ve reimagined the experience for the iPad, with enhanced navigation; the addition of details, front-row, and backstage beauty photos; increased video content; and more. This just may be the most convenient, elegant, and compelling way to see fashion shows, period—it’s certainly more comfortable than sitting on those spindly chairs lining the runway.
Download the Style.com iPad app now.
tags: iPad
Shop The Row Without Even Pressing “Pause”
September 8, 2010
The Row may be one of the hardest invites to score at New York fashion week, but Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s e-commerce-enabled Web site is open to all, and the young duo is at the forefront of innovations in online retailing. The designing sisters have given Style.com an exclusive preview of their first-ever shoppable video, which goes live on www.therow.com later this week. Shot by photographer/director KT Auleta backstage at their Fall show in February and produced in collaboration with the digital agency Moving Image & #38;Content, the clip is enabled with click-to-buy technology that, as its name implies, allows users to shop the video. Want Sasha Pivovarova’s ivory corset and low-slung trousers? Tap the mouse and they’re yours. “We’ve always believed in the power of video to communicate a brand’s message,” Ashley explained. “A few years ago we created a short film to introduce our first holiday collection and it has close to a million views on YouTube. We like the fact that this new shoppable video allows the viewer to engage in the content as well as the product.” Mary-Kate elaborated: “Women today are so busy; we want to make the shopping experience seamless and easy for them.” Anyone who doesn’t get a ticket to the Olsens’ Spring show on September 14 can assuage themselves knowing that their next click-to-buy opportunity will arrive early next year.
tags: Ashley Olsen, Mary-Kate Olsen, The Row
Catwalk Watch: Natalie Joos
September 7, 2010
Before a model hits the runway—and before she snags her first editorial, her first ad campaign, and her first billboard—she’s got to make it past the sharp eyes of fashion’s casting directors, who are tasked with finding the perfect girls for designers’ exacting visions. In our new fashion week series, the industry’s top casting gurus share their thoughts on who we’ll be seeing this fashion week—and beyond.
Belgian-born Natalie Joos casts Lacoste, Cynthia Steffe, Pamela Love, and Karen Walker, among others, in New York this season. Below, she weighs in on a few of her favorite new faces.
Kirsi Pyrhonen (left) started last season in London and went on to do a few good shows in Paris. She is 16 and is from Finland. She’s never been to New York, so this will be her first season here. She is very striking and unique-looking.
Caroline Brasch Nielsen (center) started last season in Paris. This will be her first season in New York, too. She is 17 years old, from Copenhagen. She has all the elements to make it in everyone’s top list: the right proportions, a great walk, and poise.
Anais Pouliot (right) from Trump has been on people’s radars for some time. She is French and 19 years old. She’s not a part of the elite group yet but I think she’ll do well this season. She is cute and girly, but in an unusual way. I love her pout!
PLUS: Check out Natalie’s thoughts on the casting life from our Behind-the-Scenesters series.
tags: Anais Pouliot, Carolien Brasch Nielsen, Kirsi Pyrhonen, Natalie Joos
They’re All There In Black And White
September 7, 2010
The German artist Robert Knoke has worked in all media and covered most every theme, but he’s got a special affinity for the world of fashion—he’s collaborated on collections, exhibited in stores like Seven New York, and shown up in the pages of i-D and Purple Fashion. With a résumé like that, no surprise he’s picked up a few friends in chic places, many of whom appear—in portrait, at least—in his new tome, Project 00—Black Material, which arrives in New York with a party, of course, just after fashion week concludes. (Call it fashionably late.) Olivier Zahm, Patti Smith, Marc Jacobs, Terence Koh, and Leigh Lezark (pictured) are only a few of the bold names who sat for Knoke’s black-and-white portraits, which are collected in the first in his series of multimedia art books. Of course, no good multimedia-ist is content to rest between two covers, so the project comes along with Knoke-designed T-shirts, too—screened with his portraits of Damir Doma, Koh, the MisShapes, Gareth Pugh, and DJ Spencer Product, and available in limited editions of 500 at Seven, Oak, Colette, 10 Corso Como, and Isetan.
tags: Damir Doma, Gareth Pugh, Leigh Lezark, Marc Jacobs, Olivier Zahm, Patti Smith, Robert Knoke, Spencer Product, Terence Koh, The MisShapes
Rebecca Minkoff Steps Out
September 7, 2010
Though she may design the requisite go-to bag for the Young Hollywood set, Rebecca Minkoff is taking a decidedly more grown-up approach to her next project. “The same fanaticism goes into bags and shoes for me. And people just started asking me [about shoes], so it seemed like the next natural progression,” Minkoff admitted of her latest collection: shoes for Spring ‘11 (set to hit stores February 1). Cue her signature classics-with-a-twist aesthetic that runs through the collection of short animal-print booties, wedges with a mix of unexpected materials, and sandals with buckle detailing imagined in embossed and candy-colored leathers with metallic trims and the occasional studded heel. Coordinating her now three collections (handbags, ready-to-wear, and shoes), Minkoff is keeping an eye on the details. “We’ll use the same approach with the shoes that we do with the handbags. There won’t be an overuse of the hardware, but the leathers and colors will coordinate.” As for the designer’s fashion week plans? After an in-store appearance at Saks alongside fellow handbaggers Katherine Kwei and Joy Gryson, Minkoff is showing her Spring ‘11 collection at Lincoln Center at The Box on Sunday, September 12. “This is the first time the girls will be dressed head-to-toe in Rebecca Minkoff. I keep saying it’s our first real show. It kind of ups our game.”
tags: Rebecca Minkoff
