5 posts tagged "Intermix"
Model Slash: Swimwear Designer Tori Praver
They’ve got the face, the body, a portfolio full of ad campaigns and editorials shot by top photographers in the industry, and a runway roster to match. But with our new “Model-Slash” feature, Style.com profiles girls whose ambitions and drive extend beyond the catwalk.
Life is a beach for IMG model Tori Praver (pictured), who was discovered at age 12 while shopping with her mom at a local grocery store in Maui, then went on to appear in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues in 2007-2009 (and other publications including Elle, Marie Claire, and Glamour). In 2008, the blonde bombshell parlayed her experience modeling swimsuits into designing them when she launched her own namesake swimwear line, which has doubled in sales every year since. This Saturday, Praver will present her new Resort ’13 collection during Miami Swim Week (which officially kicks off Thursday) with a cocktail party at Laure Heriard Dubreuil’s The Webster. “I love the feeling of being in Miami at this time. Everyone is so excited to show their suits and there is such a good summer vibe everywhere,” Praver, who is showing for her fourth time at Swim Week, told Style.com. She continued, “It’s my chance to show new designs to every major swim buyer and editor in the industry at one time—and it only happens once a year.”
Growing up surfing in Hawaii, Praver had “literally drawers and drawers of bikinis, and always saw herself designing them down the road.” To get things going, however, she needed an extra push. “I was on a Sports Illustrated shoot and told the editor, ‘Well, one day I want to have my own swimwear line,’ and the editor responded, ‘Why wait? You should start it now,’ ” Praver explained. “So I did, and somehow the stars aligned.” No kidding—Praver just so happened to meet the owner of a swimwear factory while vacationing, then before she knew it, she was drawing silhouettes in her down time and churning out samples. “The whole thing has definitely been learn-as-I-go, and I made a lot of mistakes, but it was just for fun and not my main source of income. I never expected it to become a job in and of itself,” Praver said. At this point, it appears Praver’s bathing suit business has, in fact, eclipsed her modeling career—the line is now sold at top retailers like Barneys, Saks Fifth Avenue, The Webster, and Intermix.
Each piece (sold separately) is double-lined, seamless, and often features Praver’s signature, flattering micro-ruching. “The best part is actually seeing girls and, believe it or not, sometimes their moms and even grandmothers at the beach in my suits,” she says. In the future, she plans to introduce a small capsule of ready-to-wear (cover-ups, mostly) and continue to grow her brand organically. And when she’s not on business in New York, Praver makes sure she gets plenty of beach time—let’s call it research? “The L.A. area is definitely more laid-back. That’s where I’m doing most of the actual designing, meeting with my factory, maybe surfing, and definitely a lot of yoga,” says Praver, who considers Venice Beach home (where she lives with her fiancé, pro surfer Danny Fuller, who recently snagged the new Chanel Allure Homme Sport fragrance campaign).
Burton And Blakely In Time, Justin Timberlake On Design, Lena Dunham On Her First, And More…
Fashion in Time: The newsmagazine just released its Top 100 list of influentials, including industry stalwarts Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen (left) and Spanx founder Sara Blakely. Also represented: style icons Duchess Catherine, her sister Pippa, and popster Rihanna. [Time]
Justin Timberlake’s latest brand extension: interiors. The 31-year-old singer turned designer turned SNL mainstay turned actor is adding another line to his résumé, thanks to a new partnership with HomeMint. Timberlake and his friend and decorator Estee Stanley have created a collection for the e-tail site favoring “clean, modern architecture.” The Mint family is no stranger to celebrity team-ups: The company that oversees HomeMint also runs StyleMint, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s fashion site, and JewelMint, Kate Bosworth’s jewelry site. [NYDN]
The entire world seems to be talking about Lena Dunham’s sex life at the moment. So’s Lena Dunham. The Girls actor, director, writer, and producer has contributed an essay on her first time to Tavi Gevinson’s Rookie Mag, alongside Liz Phair, Sarah Silverman, and a few other indie girl heroes. Not entirely safe for work, save for a few first-kiss stories thrown into the mix. [Rookie Mag]
Intermix is on the expansion path. The chain opened its Meatpacking District store, the sixth in NYC, and its first international location in Toronto just last year, and will continue to grow globally. The company’s founder and CEO, Khajak Keledjian, told WWD he hopes to build the store’s presence overseas, with plans to open five to ten new stores in the next 12 months. Keledjian has set his sights on locations in Europe, South America, and the Middle East. [WWD]
One To Watch: Emily Jerome
As a native New Yorker who is currently straddling both coasts, Emily Jerome‘s namesake Jerome line has come a long way since its launch in Spring 2010. After being given the opportunity to debut a small collection in Paris that March alongside Gregory Parkinson, Jenni Kayne, and Katy Rodriguez, Jerome (who counts Intermix and Confederacy as stockists) was compelled to take her designs to the next level.
For her 70-piece Spring ’12 lookbook, the emerging designer enlisted Charlotte Kidd to photograph her nouveau Western collection against MASS MOCA’s imposing instillations, by artists like Sol LeWitt, Katharina Grosse, and Federico Díaz. “This collection dealt with the familiar ideas of the American West and paid homage to it in an updated way,” Jerome tells Style.com. For the collection, Jerome reimagined Western symbols like the bullhorn and chevron and hippie silhouettes were rendered in sleeker fabrications with richer design details. Instead of doing fringe in conventional suede, she uses silk paired with an equestrian fabric for good measure. “We see suede and fringe jackets in vintage stores all the time, but there hasn’t been a lot of updating of that aesthetic, which was an inspiration behind what I’m trying to do.”
The designer’s bicoastal lifestyle still informs her incessant need to keep things modern. “I started out designing with a single idea, and on this collection, we’re working with five different types of knits, silk jerseys, and so many different fabrications,” she says. “This shoot let me showcase the designs and really speak to the kind of customer I’m trying to target.”
The Spring Collections Are Heating Up—Literally
It was stiff competition to draw the concert-going crowds last night—with the Dead Weather at Don Hill’s, Robyn and Kelis at Webster Hall, and Arcade Fire in Central Park—but Intermix still managed to get a crowd to its own bash at Skylight Studios. English popsters Locksley and Deluka played for a crowd stylish enough for a music video—which, it turns out, was exactly the idea. “I wanted this to be like U2′s ‘Where the Streets Have No Name’ video,” Intermix founder Khajak Keledjian said.
Bono wasn’t on the premises, but Sophomore’s Chrissie Miller (pictured; she also curated the evening’s music), Rag & Bone’s David Neville and Marcus Wainwright, and Jeffrey Costello and Robert Tagliapietra all were. And according to the latter, it was a rare night out. “We have the shades drawn, the windows closed. We don’t know what time of day it is. It’s too hot to do anything, so we’re Googling for inspiration,” Tagliapietra said of the weather-induced lockdown he and Costello are under at their Brooklyn abode. But that’s given them plenty of time to focus on their upcoming collection, which they appropriately describe as “influenced by the gestures of nature”—even down to how the recent heat and sun has affected the flora of their neighborhood.
Miller’s inspiration comes more from a summer past than the summer present—the ’82 cult movie Summer Lovers, to be exact. “It’s the worst movie,” she laughs. “But its style is incredible—Darryl Hannah goes to Greece for the summer and wears amazing, comfy beachy tees. I don’t believe in wearing dresses, really, so it fits my ‘dressed-up basic’ vision well.” Her own summer refuge has been Montauk, where she’ll be hosting a Sophomore pop-up shop at the new Cynthia Rowley store this weekend. “I may do something similar for Fashion’s Night Out.” And then? “Paris for fashion week—I don’t take real vacations!” As working vacations go, that one doesn’t sound too bad.
Blasblog: From Theory To Terry On Fashion’s Night Out
To put it mildly, my Thursday night plans were ambitious. For Fashion’s Night Out (or F-NO! as some of us were calling it), my pit stops would be the following: Theory, Rag & Bone, Intermix, Burberry, 3.1 Phillip Lim, Prada, Miu Miu, Armani, Oscar de la Renta, Missoni, the Vogue Alumni House, Opening Ceremony, and the dance party at the Jane Hotel. Now, looking back on the night, making 10 out of 13 ain’t bad. The night consisted of highs (a beer handed to me by Miss Jessica Stam at Rag & Bone; a private concert by none other than de la Renta himself), and lows (Lily Donaldson kissed me on the cheek from her DJ booth at the Soho Burberry store and commented on my profuse sweating; I tripped down the stairs at Miu Miu right after Alexa Chung dedicated a song to me during her DJ set). But the overall consensus was that the night’s objective—making shopping fun again—was achieved. I even caught Lim and his co-host, Irina Lazareanu, skipping their party to support the Opening Ceremony fête down the road, as evidenced by this picture. However, on the retail front, my biggest shout-out has to go to my first stop, Theory—and not just because they asked me to style a mannequin and put my name really big on the window. While some labels blew the bank on flying in celebs, Theory decided to woo its biggest shoppers, who would be lured into purchasing by endorsements from fashion professionals. Fashion folk from Kate Young to Elizabeth Saltzman Walker were asked to style their looks, as if to create, as Young put it, “The Sartorialist come to life.” The result was big sales at the Meatpacking District store. “We invited our best costumers from all over the city, and even the suburbs,” Theory’s Andrew Rosen explained. “Long Island, New Jersey—we shipped in all the customers we appreciate the most.” Melissa Weiss Gellman, his head of PR, chimed in: “Yep, we sent cars for my mom’s entire bridge club in Jersey. They’re all coming in for the shopping.” I wrapped up my night with dinner at the Bowery Hotel. “I haven’t seen the streets like this since the eighties,” Terry Richardson said. Let’s just hope between cocktails the kids remembered to buy stuff.