subscribe to style file blog via RSSbe prepared, courtesy of yigal azrouel
September 4, 2008 3:15 pm
It’s a testament to the success of Yigal Azrouël’s youngish brand that this season the designer finds himself staging not one but two runway shows. Whereas in the past Azrouël has managed to fit both his men’s and women’s collections onto a single catwalk, for Spring ‘09, he felt the time had come to give each label its due. And perhaps as a sign of the expansion of Azrouël’s brand yet to come, his womenswear show tomorrow will boast a robust selection of accessories: laser-cut leather bags, jewelry produced in-house, sandals representing Azrouël’s footwear debut, and a wider range of the designer’s signature scarves. But according to Azrouël, there’s only one truly “must-have” accessory for Spring—or, fingers crossed, sooner. “Women need to be prepared,” the designer explains of his condom collaboration with Planned Parenthood. “I wanted to make a set of condoms that women would feel happy to carry around with them.” It must be noted that while Azrouël says all this with a blush tinging his cheekbones—which is sort of gallant, in fact—his Proper Attire project betrays no such embarrassment. Not only will Azrouël be gifting Proper Attire (”Required for Entry”) condoms at his shows, he’ll be selling packs of the condoms at his shops, along with exclusive Proper Attire T-shirts agreeably priced at $60 a pop. All the proceeds will go to Planned Parenthood. Azrouël pretty much demurs when asked how he got interested in working with the legendary family-planning organization. “I’ve got sisters,” he says. “I know.”
tags: Yigal Azrouel
