124 posts tagged "Proenza Schouler"
Shop the Look: Graphic Artist
After the excess of dizzyingly colorful digital prints we’ve seen the last few seasons, Marc Jacobs’ Spring 2013 collection was like a breath of fresh air. Most of his streamlined pieces featured checkerboard, chevron, and striped patterns in a strict black-and-white palette. While we might not step out in a version of look one’s T-shirt and micro boy-short, we are inspired to add a similarly graphic punch to our spring wardrobe. Shop our bold looks from Equipment, Proenza Schouler, Nicholas Kirkwood, and more, below.
1. Equipment shirt, $288, available at www.equipmentfr.com
2. Sass & Bide shirt, $180, available at www.net-a-porter.com
3. Marni skirt, $760, available at www.net-a-porter.com
4. Proenza Schouler bag, $1,725, available at www.proenzaschouler.com
5. Nicholas Kirkwood shoes, $720, available at www.colette.fr
To view more looks, click here.
Wine for Breakfast with Ecco Domani
Nine thirty may seem a little early for a wine tasting. But winemaker Ecco Domani had to serve a little something (specifically, its new Blue Moscato) to toast the winners of its 2013 Fashion Foundation awards. Yesterday morning, the likes of fashion consultant Julie Gilhart, Neiman Marcus’ Ken Downing, and Paper‘s Kim Hastreiter (all of whom helped select this year’s honorees) gathered at the Museum of Arts and Design to fete TOME (designed by Ryan Lobo and Ramon Martin), Ian Velardi, Deborah Pagani, and Susan Woo. Each of the emerging brands and designers took home a $25,000 grant to fund their upcoming Fall presentations at New York fashion week. “There was an exceptional group this year,” said judge Sally Singer, who cited women’s wear label TOME as particularly impressive. “These prizes are intended to support and reward emerging talent, and this really was a new-wave kind of year.”
This year’s designers join the ranks of previous winners like Proenza Schouler, Alexander Wang, Zac Posen, and Prabal Gurung. The latter attended today’s breakfast as a guest speaker. “When you look at the people who have won in the past, it’s not only a huge boost of confidence, it confirms working this hard has been worth it,” said Woo, winner of the Sustainable Design category. Menswear winner Ian Velardi, who will show his collection for the first time at New York fashion week, echoed the sentiment, saying, “This is probably one of the greatest accomplishments in my life, let alone my career.” How does Gurung feel the award affected his career trajectory? “It changed the landscape of my business early on by simply getting people to notice who I was,” the designer told Style.com. The EDFF alum, who debuts his capsule collection for Target next week, did not leave without offering the rookies some sage advice: “Have the vision of where you want to go but don’t lose sight of where you are. Be present and dare to dream.”
Proenza Schouler’s Urban Art
With its tactile skins and techno colors, Proenza Schouler’s Spring ’13 collection boasts a graphic, high-impact edge. So, too, does the campaign, which, lensed by David Sims, debuts exclusively on Style.com. Starring Julia Nobis and Irina Nikolaeva, the ads’ punchy images collage vivid hues, graffiti elements, and surreal forms to highlight Proenza’s Spring wares. Not that they need any help standing out—we bet that once it hits the street, the neon python vest will cause more than a few cases of whiplash.
Karl Lagerfeld Hates Whining, Likes Dallas
This year’s WWD CEO Summit featured candid discussions with fashion superstars such as Marc Jacobs and Proenza Schouler’s Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez. Yesterday afternoon, Karl Lagerfeld gave an interview to Bridget Foley for the conference’s grand finale. The likes of Sarah Jessica Parker, Anna Wintour, and model Brad Kroenig and his son (and Lagerfeld’s godson), Hudson, came out for the talk. Foley began by acknowledging last year’s numerous designer shake-ups and asked Lagerfeld what makes a successful designer/fashion house relationship (he’s been at Chanel since 1983, so presumably he has a good one). “I think the important thing is that you have to be behind the label and not use it as something that pushes your fame,” said Lagerfeld, adding later that his biggest irritations are “people who create complications” and “make things messy” because they think it causes them to seem serious. “This I hate. It’s the worst.” On the subject of Chanel as a business, he boasted that he’s never attended a meeting in 31 years (“Maybe there are marketing people, but I’ve never seen them,” he laughed) and noted that the house’s owner, Alain Wertheimer, never interferes with his creative process.
But that’s not to say Lagerfeld is out of touch with the house’s business side. In fact, he embraces his role as a “commercial” designer. Well aware that his Scottish Métiers d’Art show got him “100 million Euros in free advertising” from press, he feels his outrageous sets and locations make Chanel appealing to those viewing the collections online, rather than just to “fashion freaks.” He revealed that his next show stop is Dallas, because, after Coco Chanel reopened her atelier in the fifties, Neiman Marcus and the American press were supportive, while the French were not. “The Texan detail is a little [one], but with a little detail, you can tell a whole story. And I’m a storyteller.”
Couture, according to Karl, is not dead—apparently, Chanel’s couture clientele is up from twenty years ago. And when asked about designers who think the fashion schedule is too demanding—a topic about which he’s sounded off before—Lagerfeld quipped, “Don’t tell me that story. If you accept a job, you know the conditions of the job. After a certain amount of time, don’t start to play the victim…It’s like Olympic sports. You have to keep that level. And if you think it’s too much for creativity, don’t accept. Nobody’s forcing you to do the job. I do it because I enjoy it.” Other notable tidbits included his opinion on French politics (“I pay taxes in France, but I wouldn’t pay a cent more.”), whether technology has tainted fashion (“Oh no, no. We couldn’t do without it.”) his favorite artist (Jeff Koons: “He’s the right spirit of our times.”), and his sources of inspiration (“Everything. I’m a voyeur.”). Foley ended by asking Lagerfeld what his steps to success were. Naturally, this called for a Karl-ism: “A good staircase.”
Proenza Schouler: Dynamic Duo
Proenza Schouler designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez kicked off today’s WWD CEO Summit, participating in an engaging discussion moderated by Bridget Foley. (Karl Lagerfeld wrapped the summit this afternoon. Check back for more on that later.) The interview centered around a number of topics, namely their ascension as one of the most sought-after labels in fashion, as well as their surprisingly successful turn in the accessories business with the breakout of their PS 1 bag. “We didn’t want to put out a bag until we felt like we had something to say,” said McCollough. “It was the height of the It bag moment and at that time, all of the It bags were covered in buckles and hardware and logos, and we wanted to do the antithesis of that in a way, something more stripped down, incognito, easy-wearing. Something that could stand the test of time.”
The pair discussed the reasons behind their meteoric rise, one being that Barneys purchased every look from the collection they made in 2002 during their senior year at Parsons. “It was very much a mixture of timing and talent,” said McCollough. “It was a time when all of the different generations in fashion were shifting. The Calvin Kleins and the Donna Karans, they were the designers of these mega-established brands, and it opened up a gap where people were ready for some new blood in the game.” Foley recalled going up to their apartment to see that first collection before placing it on the cover of WWD. She offered an anecdote about getting off on the wrong floor and finding two men in bed.
The conversation also explored the concept of successful creative partnerships, and how these designers are able to combine their ideas and inspirations season after season. “No one ever works in a vacuum, and we’re no different,” said Hernandez. “When one of us wants black and the other wants white, we do gray.” They also spoke of the benefits of technology, both in terms of intricate patternmaking, and how the “randomness of the Internet” has served as a theme for their runway collections. “Twitter, Facebook, blogs—together all of these images create the feeling of contemporary culture,” said Hernandez. When asked if he ever tweets on behalf of the brand, he laughed. “I think you have to be in your twenties to do that.”