4 posts tagged "Alabama Chanin"
Southern In The City
New York’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) kicks off this week, and the fashion set is not to be left out. Designer Natalie Chanin of Alabama Chanin, has organized a series of events called MAKESHIFT, to initiate, she says, “a larger conversation around finding the point where the professional worlds of fashion, craft, design, and DIY intersect.” As the Alabama-based (hence the name) Chanin points out, “The important business and brand building parts of the fashion industry can sometimes obscure that initial designer act of making things with our hands.”
Last night, Chanin unveiled one of the main centerpieces of MAKESHIFT—her craft/design pop-up shop with fellow Alabamian Billy Reid at Reid’s Bond Street shop. “Anytime we can work with Natalie, we’re in,” Reid says. “When she proposed the idea of the pop-up shop for design week, it was a perfect fit. We had been working with crafting quilts into jackets so it was a timely item to have included.”
Inside the 20′ by 20′ pop-up, you’ll find one-of-a-kind pieces exclusive to the store, from designers including Gaby Basora of Tucker, Maria Cornejo, Albertus Swanepoel, Susan Cianciolo (a fashion darling-turned-artist)—and of course, items from Reid and Chanin as well.
The pop-up, open through May 25, is located at Billy Reid, 54 Bond Street, New York. To learn more about MAKESHIFT, visit Alabamachanin-makeshift.com.
Bare Legs For The Cause
Late last month, a fire erupted aboard the Transocean Deepwater Horizon oil rig some 50 miles off the shore of Louisiana. The result: thousands of gallons of crude oil pouring into the Gulf of Mexico each day and making its way toward shore, devastating both local flora and fauna and the commercial seafood industry. It’s a crisis that could potentially outstrip the Exxon Valdez spill in damage.
What can you do to help? According to Natalie Chanin of Alabama Chanin, plenty. Chanin is helping to spread the word about Matter of Trust, an eco-activist organization coordinating donation efforts. Not cash, though that’s helpful, too—what they’re after are your old nylons. Apparently, your old stockings can absorb oil (as can hair clippings, strange as that may sound—after all, we shampoo to remove oil). “The spill in the Gulf is growing every day,” Chanin told Style.com. “How staggering to think that our Gulf could be destroyed. I have been swimming in the Gulf almost every summer since I was a little girl. But every pair of stockings and box of hair helps. If folks would tell every hair dresser, every stylist, every person that they know…”
Donation information is available at www.matteroftrust.org. When was the last time you wore nylons, anyway?
Jil Joins The Navy, A Moss Miss, Interview Heads For The Shore, And More…
Jil Sander’s new color for fall: Navy. The label has announced that it will unveil a new, lower-priced line, called Navy after the color of its hangtag. Creative director Raf Simons will design the collection, which will be available in JS stores and select retailers. [WWD]
In case you missed it last week (as, we confess, we did): Take a tour through the Alabama digs of artist Butch Anthony—a.k.a. the significant other of Alabama Chanin’s Natalie Chanin. Chanin’s homespun aesthetic has clearly rubbed off on her paramour (who, by the way, wears one of her shirts in the epic, wish-we-lived-there house-tour slideshow). [NYT]
The bloom is off the, um, Moss. Paris’ Musée des Arts Décoratifs has canceled its planned show celebrating Kate Moss, citing “the current economic situation.”
And here’s the editorial we’ve all been waiting for: Terry Richardson shoots the self-professed guidos of Jersey Shore for Interview (pictured). The spread co-stars Bar Refaeli and an enormous Italian hero. Of course. [Interview]
See NY the SY way: Kim Gordon likes Acne, Prune restaurant, and the gallery that shows her work. [R29]
An Alabama Christmas
It’s often a fashion coup for a designer to get to dress a celebrity. But the latest get for Florence, Ala.-based designer Natalie Chanin of Alabama Chanin isn’t a movie star, it’s a tree. The designer was tapped—courtesy of Chicago boutique owner and unofficial Mrs. O stylist Ikram Goldman, who connected her with Desirée Rogers—to create the tree skirt for the White House Christmas tree. Chanin, her staff, and a crew of Alabama seamstresses worked for three weeks on the hand-beaded, 14-foot skirt, which was donated to the Obamas for the Blue Room tree (above). It took a team of 22 people three weeks to create the skirt’s intricate detailing (below), but, we suppose, when the POTUS calls, you get stitching quick. For the rest of us, a little more lead time is required; Chanin’s team is now taking orders for Christmas 2010. Something tells us she’ll get more than a few.
For custom orders, contact steven@alabamachanin.com
