7 posts tagged "W Hotels"
Designer Diary: Whitney Pozgay’s Postcard from Bali
As a member of the CFDA’s Fashion Incubator program, WHIT designer Whitney Pozgay was sent on an inspiration trip to Bali. Here, she shares the details of her tropical adventure exclusively with Style.com.
As part of the CFDA’s partnership with W Hotels, we traveled to Bali for inspiration and were humbled by the experience and the unending parade of artistry. Drive anywhere on the island and your head will spin—there’s so much to take in. We were joined by our two buds Marcy Roberts and her husband, photographer Greg Vore, who captured some special moments. The godmother of fashion, the CFDA’s Lisa Smilor, was also with us for the first leg of the trip. We began in Seminyak, a bustling beach town with lovely restaurants. On a day trip, we were given a tour of an ikat factory in a small village. It was wonderful to see such intricate weaving being done by hand. Then we shot up to Ubud, the cultural heart of Bali, where we wandered around winding streets, ducking into shops with expertly crafted carvings and textiles. After a relaxing jaunt to the north coast, we met my husband’s sister, who flew in from Singapore, and posted up at a villa in Keliki that was surrounded by rice terraces. We left Bali too soon; we fell in love and can’t wait to go back.
On our first morning, we were up before sunrise to see a temple on the eastern coast and got our first view of rice terraces.
It’s something to see a mass of ducks being herded across a busy highway. They obediently follow a red flag on a stick and spend their days in rice ponds.
Beautiful religious offerings are made daily and placed all around—so many you really have to watch your step. The contents of the handmade boxes symbolize the elements, a token of gratitude to the spirit world, and the hope of good Karma. Continue Reading “Designer Diary: Whitney Pozgay’s Postcard from Bali” »
Lose The Clothes, Keep The Clutch
Accessories designer Reece Solomon likes to keep the stakes high. This time around, with her Spring 2013 short film (made in collaboration with BlackBook, directed by Jenna Elizabeth), she upped the ante with a game of strip poker. “We were intrigued by the proposition of a game, played by a group of people either during or after a party,” the designer behind the New York-based Reece Hudson label tells Style.com. “Strip poker became the obvious choice as it’s fun and stressful at the same time, and the ante of clothing created asexual, moody playfulness as well as an opportunity to showcase a woman’s bag as her most prized possession—the contents of which are so personal to her, that it’s less revealing to lose her clothes than her clutch, for example.” In the film, entitled All In, you’ll spot models Carola Remer, Codie Young, and Jamie Strachan, and actors Brady Corbet and Rebecca Dayan. The short’s other stars: Solomon’s latest bags, including the Bondage Miniaudière, the Rogue clutch, and the Bowery Oversized Zip Top Clutch (all of which land at Barneys this February). Before the film makes its official debut at tonight’s private dinner at the W Union Square (where the film was shot), Style.com has the exclusive first look at the teaser, above.
W Hotels’ Fashion Next: Jenne Lombardo
Jenne Lombardo, the director and curator of MAC & Milk, and the founder of The Terminal Presents, has a new title to add to her résumé: W Hotels’ global fashion director. For the past 12 years, W Hotels has dipped its toes in various fashion initiatives, from collaborations with the likes of Simon Doonan, Michael Kors, and Diane von Furstenberg to its own program in support of rising designers, Fashion Next. The trendsetting hotel is now looking to Lombardo to elevate its fashion program to a whole new level.
“I’m walking into an incredible infrastructure,” Lombardo tells Style.com. “At an early stage in their brand, they were able to identify the need for support and funding in music, fashion, art, and design, and it’s continued to evolve with the right players who are really supporting this growth.”
Now, it’s Lombardo’s turn to make some noise. She hasn’t wasted time making moves. Already, she has selected a promising group of six designers for this year’s Fashion Next program, including Juan Carlos Obando, Nomia, Bibhu Mohapatra, Michael Angel, Rochambeau, and Electric Feathers.
“Right now, it’s in the infancy of what we are going to do,” she says of the W fashion program. “The important thing for us is to understand where the designers’ strengths lie and where they need additional support.”
Already, W Hotels is underwriting the entire cost for the designers’ runway shows, providing funding for hair and makeup and free catering. Lombardo also stressed using the hotels’ stores as distribution points and collaborating with the designers to create hotel staff uniforms, as “W Hotels has done in the past.”
W Hotels is leaning on Lombardo expand its global fashion presence, but the former MAC exec says it’s a symbiotic scenario. “A room at the W Hotel Union Square—it’s my ultimate fashion week survival tip,” she admits. “I have three kids, so it’s nice to have somewhere to go that is clean and quiet to go afterwards that doesn’t have peanut butter on it.”
The W Hotels Scout Out The Next Big Things
For any budding fashion line, finding funding is nothing short of a godsend. “It was the best Christmas gift,” Mara Hoffman raved about being selected for the W Hotels’ Fashion Next program. “I found out in December right before everybody headed off for the holidays.” Along with fellow colleagues Tess Giberson, Mandy Coon, Frank Tell, and Michael Angel, Hoffman toasted their selection in a penthouse last night at the W’s Times Square location. There was much to celebrate: The lucky few won a coveted sponsorship of their Fall 2011 show at the Box in Lincoln Center.
Going two seasons strong, W’s fashion director, Amanda Ross (above, with the designers), once again spearheaded the effort. “We wanted a group where each designer had their own sense of style—it’s a mix of sophisticated and bohemian—but were at similar points in their careers,” Ross explained. Young labels hoping to win Ross’ eye for the next installation will have to catch her hop-scotching around town for New York fashion week. Aside from styling for her friend of 20 years, Gregory Parkinson, she’ll be fitting in “as many shows as she can.” “I just hope there isn’t a snowstorm,” Ross said, half-jokingly. “Otherwise we’ll all have a tough time planning what to wear.”
A slushy winter or not, it appears New York is still the place to be. “I’ve been coming here off and on for the last 12 years,” said Texas native Mandy Coon. “As a young designer, it’s the most comfortable because the community here is open to new ideas.” Would she ever decamp to a designer-luring European city, like London or Paris? “I wouldn’t,” Coon declared. “For me, it’s all about this city. There’s a lot of momentum here.”
A Playlist From A Fashion-World Power Player
The XX. Gossip. Miike Snow. If that sounds like a rundown of the runway music for the last few fashion seasons, it’s no coincidence—those bands, and several more, were all selected for a new compilation by Michelangelo L’Acqua (pictured), who spent the better part of his career helping designers cherry-pick the tunes for their shows, stores, ads, and events. Tom Ford tapped L’Acqua in 1999 to be the music director for Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, and he’s since scored shows for Chanel, Jil Sander, and 6267. The W Hotels recently snagged L’Acqua to be their global music director in the chain’s new fashion-forward push (one that also involved the selection of its first global fashion director, Amanda Ross), and at last week’s Miami Winter Music Conference, it unveiled Symmetry, the first CD L’Acqua curated for the hotels. In addition to the artists mentioned above, it includes tracks from Daniel Merriweather, Sebastien Tellier, and Bebel Gilberto, and is on sale at W Hotel shops and online.