Shindigger is simply mad about all things Italian: the food, the language, the people, the clothes, the midday naps! And so we had no choice but to jet off to Milano to take in Men’s Fashion Week, one structured cashmere blazer at a time. Shindigger was front and center at shows including Ermenegildo Zegna, Dolce Read More
As we sloshed, caked with snow flurries, into the Mandarin Oriental for the 2012 Phoenix House Fashion award dinner last Wednesday evening, we couldn’t determine whether it was the way-too-early winter outside, the Sandy-forced relocation or the early start after an endless election season, but at first glance, things looked a bit quiet. (In retrospect, we appreciated the venue upgrade, considering it was originally slated to take place at Pier 60.)
“Well there’s Linda Fargo, at least …” we uttered to a weary-eyed publicist as she sashayed passed us in a crisp black sheath dress, before we sauntered downstairs to cocktail hour.
Below, on the 35th floor, the considerably more lively and notable fashion crowd imbibed, heedless of the blizzard-like winds that howled without mercy on the commoners struggling to get around Columbus Circle.
With the exception of Glenda Bailey, this didn’t feel like a typical fashion event; nay, it was considerably more corporate—a bit cliquey, but not necessarily in a bad way. Dashing executives (well mostly dashing) in flamboyant tailored suits sipped scotch and red wine, while a more demure population of women squawked about recent highs and lows. Read More
As New York shovels up the Fashion Week embers around town after the onslaught, The Observer still has a few loose ends. One thing we wanted to know in all the ruckus was how the new comers had fared.
Kara Laricks, the winner of NBC reality show Fashion Star, is certainly a new face in the crowded sea of designers. Under the tutelage design mentors Jessica Simpson, John Varvatos and Nicole Richie, Ms. Laricks convinced the buyers’ judging panel from H&M, Macy’s and Saks Fifth Avenue that her creations were worthy of the $6m capsule collection award. The show was a hit: Nielsen TV Ratings Data reported 4.81 million viewers for the finale, and NBC has already renewed Fashion Star for a second season and begun casting. We caught up with Ms. Laricks after her first presentation at Runway@Pier 57 last week to get all the buzz about her début. Were her masculine-feminine-meets-1920s-Japanese matchbox looks a triumph or did she she fall flat?
What did it feel like to finally present your first bona fide fashion week presentation?
I felt vulnerable! In the past, if my collection was not well received, I was under the protective wing of The Academy of Art University, NBC, Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy’s, H&M … this time, the pressure was all on me. However, there was never any question as to whether or not I would continue designing post Fashion Star and I knew “sticking my neck out there” would be worth the risk no matter what the response. Now that my first collection has been shown at New York fashion week and the reviews are rolling in, I feel exhilarated, proud and accomplished. Can’t wait for the next! Read More
Friday, opening night at pop-up club Chez André at The Standard, East Village, found teenage dandy Peter Brant II and ex-porn star Nick Gruber, who was apparently taking a night off from writing a book and developing a TV show about his two-year relationship with Calvin Klein, on stage. The duo, joined at the mic by Andrew Warren and model Serena Marron, sang and mumbled their way through a live-band karaoke rendition of “Born to Be Wild.” We have the video evidence. Arguably, it is the best version of the song ever performed. Arguably!
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Rooney Mara stayed in character for months after The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo wrapped. Call it method marketing: From the pages of Vogue to Jimmy Fallon, she almost always appeared wearing simple black dresses with severe, skin-baring cut outs—Lisbeth Salander goes to prom.
It made sense that Ms. Mara, blandly pretty in her Social Network days, would hitch her rising star to her character’s signature look. Trish Summerville, the Dragon costume designer, had already capitalized on the best-seller heroine’s appeal with a capsule collection at also-Swedish H&M.
But who would have guessed that when Ms. Mara showed up for the Oscars last month in a lacy cream Givenchy gown, Lisbeth’s weird baby bangs—short, black and severely straight across her forehead—would stay in the picture? Read More
We braced for the worst on the last day of New York Fashion Week, when Calvin Klein (and KCD) sent The Observer this alarming email warning:
“As a reminder, you are confirmed to attend the Calvin Klein Collection Fall 2012 Women’s show today at 2PM. We have been made aware that the Occupy Wall Street Read More
I’ve always been a great lover of fashion. I own a range of ball gowns and multicolor high tops, which can be pressed into duty as day or evening wear. I have at least four pairs of jeans, a few from recognized labels. (Well, someone would probably recognize them.) I even went to Bloomingdale’s last year after watching that Oprah episode and found out my bra size. It turned out I was wearing 36B when I was actually…larger than that. Double-letter larger.
I don’t even own a mirror; that’s how confident I am of my look.
Admittedly, my sense of style is somewhat singular. I’m creative, funky. I pair pieces that the “fashion world,” as it’s called, would label a “Don’t”—but then I’ll wear them for weeks at a time. Who says a $200 black cocktail dress can’t be worn with a lumpy blue grandma sweater, some purple Uggs, and a cape? Who says that maroon doesn’t go with red? People with mirrors, I bet.
Onward Kashiyama! said all involved parties last Thursday, as the Japanese fashion house by that name renewed its lease at 530 Seventh Avenue for three years.
Tokyo-based Onward Kashiyama distributes a number of men’s and women’s apparel lines, including preppy men’s clothier J. Press. The Connecticut-born retailer is perhaps best known for selling sweaters emblazoned with the logo of Skull and Bones, Yale University’s most notorious fraternal organization. Onward also owns top ballet shoe makers Chacott and Freed of London, and designs custom clothes for brands such as Calvin Klein and Sonia Rykiel. Read More
Bruce Weber, the world-renowned fashion photographer, whose ads for Calvin Klein and Abercrombie & Fitch, famously feature everything but, has snapped up some new Hudson Street digs.
Mr. Weber and long-time partner and agent Nan Bush will take 11,152 square feet for 10 years on the 10th floor of 205 Hudson Street. “He’s an internationally Read More
Meredith Melling Burke, the senior market editor at Vogue, tweeted the following at 3:02 p.m. yesterday afternoon: “Shazammed the gorgeous opening song at Calvin Klein and downloaded it – James Blake’s “The Wilhelm Scream.” So moody and pretty xx mmb.” Indeed, just seconds after The Observer took a seat at the Calvin Klein Women’s Read More
