By Benjamin-Emile Le Hay 9/17/12 4:44pm

After the Runway

Kara Laricks with Broadway star Montego Glover at her presentation last week.

Fashion Star Winner Kara Laricks on Surviving Fashion Week

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

By Drew Grant 6/12/12 4:18pm

Fashion

H&M gets the Maison Martin Margiela treatment!

What’s That Jacket, H&M?: Martin Margiela Plans Ready-Wear Apparel

In Kanye West’s infamous “Ni**as In Paris,” (made more infamous by Gwyneth Paltrow’s tweetroversy) there is a line that goes “What’s That Jacket, Margiela?”

Surprisingly, Margiela is not  the name of some pretty girl, or even a French slang term for “pretty girl” (as some may originally have guessed), but the name of a Belgium designer Martin Margiela. Mr. Margiela is known for making some pretty weird stuff… at exorbitant prices.

And pretty soon, you’ll be able to stand in line for days for a chance to buy cheaper versions of these designs at H&M! Yes…the latest big-name (or at least, expensive-named) designer to collaborate with a clothing outlet is none other than Kanye West’s favorite: Martin Margiela! Read More

By Daniel Geiger 2/29/12 3:46pm

lease beat

Time Warner Center. (Courtesy Property Shark)

C. Wonder Deal Inked at Time Warner Center

C. Wonder, the preppy apparel and accessories retailer launched last year by designer Tory Burch’s ex husband, Christopher Burch, has signed on for a space at Time Warner Center, according to sources familiar with the deal.

The store, which opened another Manhattan store last October in Soho, will take about half of the roughly 15,000 square feet formerly occupied by the now-defunct bookstore chain Borders on the retail complex’s second floor. Read More

By Daniel Edward Rosen 12/07/11 3:00pm

ICSC

The Flatiron District, one of many suggested "hot" "new" neighborhoods.

Q: The City's Next Hot Neighborhood? A: Take Your Pick

To seasoned retail brokers, the very concept of the next big neighborhood in a city that has been developed several times over is, well, naïve. Still, as The Commercial Observer recently learned, most are still looking for a reason to believe. Read More

By Matt Chaban 10/18/10 8:07pm

Starchitects

Architect Jean Nouvel’s Sexual Obsessions [Video]

In some ways, it is surprising that French architect Jean Nouvel has seen any of his otherworldly designs built, never mind him starring in news segment on CBS Sunday Morning, the show beloved by retirees and still-rolling club kids, which is about as Middle America a platform as a foreign architect could hope for.

Nouvel Read More