Bowery Hotel + Dominic Louis = Modern Medieval Luxe

Text, Vivian Kelly and Laura Wood

This was the last show of the evening and we almost didn’t go but thanks to the ridiculous self-created chaos at Milk Studio we scrapped our plans to stay for Erickson Beamon, M. Patmos, and John Bartlett. Lucky for us, we’d gotten our interview with John early on – [thanks Ross from the Deborah Hughes team!].

We heard later from Tracy E. Hopkins of Everythingshewants.net that the only way she and her friends were able to stay inside until the 9:00p.m. doors open time was by convincing the security guys who were manning the Libertine show was to let them stay in the building thus avoiding the Studio54-esque lines that extended way past Jeffrey’s.

A cab ride later we entered one of our favorite venues, the ski lodge like atmosphere of the Bowery Hotel’s private party space complete with roaring fire, medieval tapestries, and moroccan tiled floor. The only fly in the ointment was that it was a cash bar but that was offset by the complimentary bobble water bottles.We even posed for them and the bobble is in our bags now at all times.

As far as the clothes – a pleasant surprise; the more we looked the more we liked.  The first impression is how wonderfully the clothes fit with the atmosphere of the venue ie: a perfect presentation. On the way back to the Club, we reflected how these wonderfully constructed clothes would not have have fared as well on a traditional runway. These clothes needed to be examined close-up in order to fully appreciate the detail.

My Contributor, Laura Wood, and Ellen Sears, AAU Online Director of the Fashion School all loved and agreed we would wear the black knit sweater dress. This dress takes into account the idea of season-less dressing which is particularly relevant these days as the weather is so unpredictable. Paired with a a long sleeve top and with a coat, its good to go for a cold 30F day like today. It works just as well in 40-60 degree weather worn on its own with little ballet flats or high sandals.

There were several pieces with hoods for men and women that had were reminiscent of the hooded cloaks worn in Medieval times. A cloak seems like a fresh alternative to a coat. The most spectacular piece was two piece ensemble combined hard and soft. The breast plate-like shell top was intricately worked leather. The more you looked the more of the design you noticed, just as you would a finely carved sword handle. It may be highly “editorial” [translation - not for everyday] but we wanted it anyhow.

Last but not least, we stopped on the way out to admire the art house photogpraphs, especially the one of the fierce guy wearing a ball-gown skirt.

Note to Designers for next season – we’ll go to see anyone who shows here!

AAU’s Spring 2012 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Lincoln Center

Text, Vivian Kelly

Every season, I look forward to Academy of Art University’s student fashion show for a few reasons.

1. I’ve been an on-line teacher there for over 4 years and love it and the opportunity to talk about fashion with like minded individuals 24/7 if I could stay awake as AAU’s on-line courses are asynchronous. Students at Academy don’t find it in the least bit bizarre that I’d be obsessed with the Missoni for Target Collection.

2. AAU’s shows are produced by their Fashion School’s Department Head, Simon Ungless, who possesses that too cool for school  British vibe that has obsessed American editors since the early Nineties, when British stars such as Kate Moss and Grace Coddington were deemed major fashion stars.

Like Grace, Simon’s a consummate stylist – no surprise, being that he’s a Central St. Martin’s Grad and collaborated with the late Alexander McQueen on the first 10 collections show in New York.

Simon Directs and styles the AAU shows, which consistently show student work that is edgy and interesting but don’t look for 3 headed sweaters here. Students are challenged to present work that people will want to buy and wear. Achieving a balance between edgy and commercial is a challenge that the students who show will have met before they go into the work place and have to do just that. Fashion is an art, but we want to sell the clothes, right?

This season, there are eight collections hitting the catwalk tomorrow evening. The one that caught my interest at first glance is The Italian Trade Commission Collection. This is a collaboration of seven M.F.A. Fashion Design students and one M.F.A. Textile Design student, sponsored by the Italian Trade Commission. The ITC arranged for an instructor from the School of Fashion to visit some of the most prestigious Italian Mills [such as Estethia- G.B. Conte of the Marzotto Group and Groupo Ratti S.p.A. The selected fabrics will range the gamut from tropical Melange wool to liquid black satin chiffon, and sueded microfibre nylon. Texture, obviously, continues to play an important part in fashion design. I’m intrigued to see the designs  the eight students who  worked on this segment came up with. Until tomorrow, 8:00p.m., the Tent at Lincoln Center!

Below, a few sketches of designs by students Sun Young and David Doerr.

To learn more about Academy of Art University, visit their website and have a look at their social media outlets on Facebook and Twitter.

ESSIE [Weingarten] on Natural Nails – Why They’re The Best

Essie Weingarten Talks About Natural Nails and spring’s hottest shades

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Text, Vivian Kelly

I love the AAU [Academy or Art University] show as it gives me a chance to see some of the talented students’ designs at the school I’m proud to be an online instructor for.

The show’s always one of the highlights [a full-on post on the latest AAU show coming – later this week].

This time though, I got two shows in one because I finally got my interview with nail Deity, Essie Weingarten, across the runway, front row, with her adorable young friend, Claire, who of course is an Essie fan.

Essie’s “a natural nail girl” – always has been, always will be. Although she sold her company to L’Oreal, she maintains an active role and her enthusiasm for natural nails hasn’t waned the tiniest bit since I met her years ago, backstage at a Ralph Rucci show I was covering as Lucire’s Beauty Editor.

Essie talks about why a mani and pedi can be a girl’s best friend and way cheaper than the other one [diamonds] and advised me on which colors to wear for a warm weather getaway.

On tomorrow’s agenda – a stop by my local nail salon to pick up the 2 shades for my Mexican get-away in April. Ole!