Reported by Laura Wood – Thursday, Feb. 9, Milk Studios, NYC
This season the guys had a lot of prints [for them] using their eco-friendly airdye technology. The first look came out and I knew that I was at a Costello Tagliapietra and I felt that although the colors were strong, they would suit a lot of colorings. The plunging V-neck and flutter sleeve were easy-sexyand that’s what you go to C.T. for.
Look #5, the Costello Tagliapietra fall'12 Runway Show
Look #5 was an easy transitional reversible coat in chartreuse and orange, perfect for when you can’t just go out in your dress and meet even extend to chillier summer days.
Although some of the prints included editorial eye-popping colors, Laura loved the sophisticated print of look #8. The skillful construction minimizes what you want to hide and maximizes the curves you want to highlight.
Costello Tagliapietra Look # 8 The Perfect Dress
Costello Tagliapietra Look #9 - the Medieval Hooded Theme
In look #9 they address the hooded theme of the season.After looking at this coat, we can’t wait to throw-away our hats. The hoods are reminiscent of the ones people wore in Medieval Times which were a hooded cloak, not to be mistaken with a sweat shirt hoodie.
Although Vivian loved the skinny pants we agreed that #15, the high waist park pleated trouser is a necessary wardrobe staple whether you’re a size 2 or 12.
Costello Tagliapietra Look #15 The Essential Bark Pant
They offered five evening gowns, and our favorite was look #26 – a lavender sheath with beautiful draping and just enough sheen to be glamorous without being overdone.
Costello Gown Look #26, Our Favorite Evening Option From The fall '12 Collection
Spanish fashion designers just don’t get enough play in New York – plain and simple. A few years ago, Agatha Ruis de la Prada had an event in Soho during fashion week and I trekked down there [nothing much else going on there that evening]. I had two reasons to do so: 1. I was thrilled that a Spanish designer was on the Calendar for the New York shows.
2. Lisa Silhanek, who I really like, was doing Agatha’s PR.
Years before that, when I was still at Michael Kors, Miguel Adrover was the golden child of fashion. The top zine editors couldn’t get enough of him. He creeped me out a tad as he had a long black beard and reminded me a bit of the fanatic, Rasputin, who helped betray the last Czar and bring about the Russian Revolution. Last I heard, Mr. Adrover was out in Spain on the Costa del Sol DJ-ing, or something like that.
For now, the main player from Spain is without question, Custo Barcelona and the designer behind the brand, Custo Dalmau.
Here’s what we know about the upcoming s/s2012 collection, so far.
The name and inspiration of the s/s 2012 collection is “GABONGA” – a word coined to describe something new: a collection beginning with graphic fabrics and flowing garments, and ending with more body-conscious pieces that enhance the figure; with superimposed and contrasting lengths to highlight femininity.
Just WHAT does that mean? There’s nothing like hearing it directly from the designer’s lips.
“We try to create a universe based on sensations, mixing colors, graphics and materials, exploring the smallest details to the maximum.” – Custo Dalmau
Below, some specifics for those of you who crave design details.
Silhouettes: Lots of loose-fitting looks including dresses and tunics, with free-flowing silk chiffon, nylon and silk organza, and skirts and shorts matched with voluminous blouses.
Notable Details: sleeves on the blouses include metal stud embellishments that match the graphics. They also include small zigzag elements that have been cut out individually.
The Look: body-con – mostly very tight graphic patchwork dresses = signature Custo Barcelona.
Color palette: fresh and bright, apple green, orangey-pink, beige, nude and coral pink, aquamarine and tropical khaki. Metal tones with shiny Lurex, including yellow gold, copper, gunmetal, white gold and violet.
Fabrics: translucent and free-flowing – meaning, chiffon, silk sating, ultrafine nylon and dentelle, and prints adorned with metal studs.
Something New: trench coats and swimwear –but don’t fret, they’re all in typical Custo graphics, Mr. Dalau does like no one else,in printed nylon, others designed with small kaleidoscopic elements and patches.
Additional Pre-show intel:shorts and trousers with chain-mail embellishments, matched with cropped bomber jackets and masculine waistcoats, over semi-transparent chain-mail openwork shirts.
Even though this is one of the most comprehensive preview info I’ve ever been provided with, I know that the show itself will be a spectacle well-worth enduring the crushing line for, as Mr. Dalmau is a master showman. Ole!
As always, a little review of past Custo runway hits
Remember the Eighties’ John Hughes movie, “Pretty in Pink”? I hesitate to call it “a cult classic”, because there are just too many of us John Hughes fans out there.
Every time I hear or read the name REBECCA TAYLOR, I’m reminded of this film and how pretty Molly Ringwald looked in her do it yourself pink dress – the marriage of a Mall atrocity and a beautiful vintage gown.
Okay, so Ms. Taylor does not ONLY work with a pink-tinged color palette, but you can always count on her designs to be pretty and to make you feel like the fresh ingenue Miss Ringwald looked back in 1986.
IF this film would be reshot today, and the late Mr. Hughes were still alive, and Molly Ringwald was a teen, she might just wear this pretty ensemble to the prom. I’d put “Duckie” [Jon Cryer] in what else? Duckie Brown, of course.
Below, a few of Rebecca Taylor’s best designs from the past few seasons.
It’s that time again – it’s the week before New York Fashion Week, and the previews are starting to come in and I’m getting an idea of what we’ll be seeing on the runways for spring 2012.
The first women’s preview to come in was from Atelier PR, about the upcoming TADASHI SHOJI spring/summer collection, inspired by the tulip, hence, “the tulip anthology”.
INSPIRATION STATEMENT:
“So, in the tulip, we have a flower of beauty and grace, of charm, refinement, and distinction. It is a powerful flower and it knows it.”
-The Tulip Anthology
“As conveyed by photographer Ron van Dongen, the Spring/Summer 2012 Collection is homage to the enchanting beauty and splendor of the tulip.”
WHY THE TULIP: it’s delicate, but constantly evolving and changing, like good design should.
COLORS AND FABRICS WE CAN EXPECT:
A vibrant palette of flora in shades of fern, magnolia, rosebud, and willow rendered in silk linen, embroidered lace, and draped tulle.
SPECIAL TOUCHES: Hand painted brush strokes that mirror the tulipʼs petal markings and beading, sprinkled like dewdrops on a spring morning.
I’m marking my calendar for the unveiling of what looks to be a lovely collection, with quite a few one-shoulder looks this designer does so well.
Tadashi Shoji’s s/s2012 show will take place on Thursday, September 8th, at 2:0op.m. at The Stage venue at Lincoln Center.
In the Meantime, we’ll have to interpret what this sketch will look like in the flesh. Below, some of TS’s top looks from seasons past to help fill in the blanks.
The SwimWear Anywhere show was not what I had expected, based on the show I attended last year at the Raleigh Pool. It probably wasn’t what PR Deborah Hughes and her team expected either, thanks to a huge tropical rainstorm that actually flooded a section of the check in tent at the Raleigh. The show was scheduled to take place on the Gansevoort’s rooftop but was relocated to the adjacent ballroom, due to the sheeting rain. The bright side was that the show got a nice size crowd due to the delay and an extended cocktail hour.
Click below to see my video with Swim Anywhere’s Creative Director and Co-Founder, Rosemarie DiLorenzo.
On tap for the rest of this week: MORE more more Miami Fashion Week Swim coverage and hot shopping at Tootsie’s – Miami Beach Style, and RAMBO’s Beauty Pick of the week.
Last night, we attended the screening, “The Guts of Duckie Brown”, a short documentary by Lina Plioplyte, produced by Julie Miller.
The setting was the Norwood Screening Room, a cozy space on the 4th floor of a charming West 14th street brownstone/club.
The crowd was composed of fashion enthusiasts. Many have followed the Duckies’ for years. Front row [I didn’t recognize her at first] was fashion heavy weight, Harriet Mays Powell, Fashion Director at NYMagazine. She looked preppy, professional and composed, even though she was wearing black and it was upwards of 90 degrees outside. She also asked some good questions about the men’s market and about the guys’ new Mrs. Brown women’s collection, and how they would roll it out.[Sorry, no runway show until Daniel and Steven deem it “cooked”, like a well-baked pot of beans].
Watch this shortie clip for enlightenment on the subject of baked beans.
I’ve had the great good fortune to get to know these two talented men over the past year or so. As such, the film was what I had expected. Daniel is sharp, on his game. He’s the street-smart ex-TV guy.
Daniel also gives some of the best quote in the biz. The only other people I know who can regularly do that are Kaiser Karl [Lagerfeld] and my former boss, Michael Kors.
Steven comes off as quirky, sensitive and dreamy and insanely talented – which he is. What is truly wonderful about these two is that they have the capacity to do a yin and yang and trade places, like only great couples can.
This leads into the topic that really grabbed me, which came-up in the post discussion Q&A.
Actually, there were two topics that are really different parts of one issue.
Topic 1.What is a “real man”?
Topic 2.“How is it possible for a gay man to be homophobic?”
These were acutely interesting to me because I’ve been wondering what the answer to #1 was since I started dating while at Greenwich High. Being the adventurous sort, I’ve made quite a few poor judgement calls along the way.
Question #2 has had me thinking ever since the mid-nineties, when Michel Botbol and Joe Zee [then at W Magazine and at that time, seemingly inseparable] came by the Kors showroom and were discussing a yellow Ralph rain-slicker and whether it “looked gay” [or not]. I don’t remember the verdict, just the weird question as it was coming from two guys who are gay and who are amazingly talented fashion stylists. What kind of oxymoron was THIS?
Also of note was how conservatively Michel was dressed, he could have walked out of a Ralph Lauren ad. The Ralph Lauren man is “a real man”, right?
Prior to working in the fashion business, I’d been a sales assistant at Shearson Lehman. The Park Avenue office was a testosterone pit. The most successful dressed in Brioni. The most successful of the lot, Bob Forfia, and his posse of all-male sales assistants loved to discuss their latest choice of “power ties” and what kind of monogram was “the most manly” and which fabric Bob should have his tailor use to make his next custom suit from.
They prided themselves of being “real men” and I had many eye rolling mornings sucking down deli coffee listening to their a.m. chatter about how great strip club X or Y had been and about how easy and drunk girl A or B had been at the Seaport last Friday night. Ugh.
Once in fashion, I thought I’d left all of that “manly/real-man” stuff behind. Wrong.
I was astonished to hear Michel and Joe – two openly gay editors discuss this topic.
Post screening, Daniel, took both topics on by the horns, citing Steve McQueen, who on the surface, sure looked like a “real man”. He scoffed, ”Steve McQueen was a wife beater.” Little-known fact. The room was uncomfortably quiet.
I’ll add my own faux “real man” to his list – Rock , “the Rock” Hudson. I loved ‘McMillan and Wife’, so much so that I negotiated cleaning the cat litter and cleaning my room duties with my parents to get to watch Rock and Susan St. James once a week.
Years later, we discovered that it was all a sham. My former Mother in Law was devastated. She didn’t leave the house for a week. Rock spent his entire career faking it but to my eyes, at least, Rock finally DID become “a real man” when he very publicly admitted that he had AIDS and that he was gay. That took a tremendous amount of courage.
Next up, the part about homophobia in the fashion industry.
Here’s a clip from Lina’s film, ‘It’s OKAY to wear a floral nylon jacket’.
As far as homophobia in the fashion business, that’s a topic for another day and one I’d love to hear comments from you on before I undertake that one.
I’d like to know, IS homophobia alive and well in the fashion business and in the arts in general?
Since receiving an email from Assouline’s Press Office about a book on- La Mamounia - the legendary hotel, located in where else – Marrakech.
“Embark on a sensuous journey celebrating the refined Moroccan lifestyle—from lush gardens to luxurious hammams—at Marrakech’s famed hotel, whose complete renovation in 2009 has re-affirmed its world-class status.”
Since reading that blurb, I’ve been obsessed with Marrakech inspired designs. I call my new focus “Rock the Kasbah”. Hopefully, this won’t be perceived as “a hideously politically incorrect statement”. The saleslady at the Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft store laughed when I described the black and white Waverly print as such. I custom ordered two yards with the notion that I’d have curtains made up for The Fashion Examiner’s office.
You’ll be seeing the matching wallpaper in The Fashion E’s weekly “Cutting Edge” video [black and white background].
Fashion and Home Decor are soul sisters. I came to this conclusion after a few trips with my s.s. “D” , a talented interior designer. On a trip to Nantucket, we discovered that we liked all of the same things. Fashion, like Home Decor, is about having the courage to “be yourself” and to allow how you dress/decorate your home to reflect who you really ARE. I’m slowly building up my Tracy Reese Home collection of Marrakech inspired towels, named “Spice Market” and Oggi”. My go-to sites for her luscious towels are Overstock and Smart Bargains.
Clothing-wise, I’m on the hunt for mummus in these same paisly/oriental prints and patterns. Thus far, the only one I’ve purchased is the vintage cobalt floor length one from Another Man’s Treasure. Clearly, It’s time to go back to Jersey City and pay them another visit!
One high end designer who is making just such items that are much more accessible is Mara Hoffman. She has been a favorite of mine since I started attending her shows three or so years ago. This shows the power of Fashion PR companies. I went because Mara’s show was a Kelly Cutrone/Peoples’ Revolution production. I don’t love everything I see, but I DID love Mara Hoffman’s psychedelic designs. SO Seventies. So groovy.
In our FE video, Mara talks about what inspired her when she created her latest collection. I was impressed by Mara. She has been doing “rich hippie chic” all along, whether or not it happened to be trendy. She was just being herself.
Mara Hoffman talks to The Fashion Examiner about her inspiration for her fall 2011 collection
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The prints reminded me of the Parador Hotels [former Castles and Monastaries] I stayed at back then while vacationing with my parents in the South of Spain as a young teen. At one of the Paradores, I could glimpse the coast of Marrakech. We did not make it but I was hooked, and resolved to get there – some day.
I didn’t know it back then, but the most well-known example of “hippie chic” is Patrick Lichfield’s 1969 photo of Talitha Getty, shot on the rooftop of the couple’s 19th-century Le Palais du Zahir, also known as “the Pleasure Palace”.
This image has inspired countless fashion designers long after her death and maybe even the great fashion write-up by Erica M. Blumenthal, “Pajamas Make a Break for It”, which ran in the May 12th edition of The New York Times. The easy slouchy pants in by Rachel Comey and Suo are Marrakech ready.
This is a bold trend to embrace but think about the pay-off when you prepare to take a step on the wild side. Marrakech Chic will add color and texture into your wardrobe and or home. Ease into it- get a pillow and a mummu. Maybe, you’ll find yourself head over heels as stylist Rachel Zoe is about this fashion era and aesthetic.
The Fashion Examiner’s Cutting Edge “Hillbilly Chic” Video
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Hillbilly Chic- love them overalls!
Text, Vivian Kelly
Maybe it was that I was spending the week in the Blue Ridge Mountains, or that I still love jeans. I was on the lookout for something new – comfort without resorting to rapper jeans hanging way below my navel and six sizes too big.
The solution – the old fashioned overall. The idea came to me after reading the following post by Alyssia on Luello’s blog.
The closest town to Camp Rockmont was the tiny town of Black Mountain. We hit Ms. Divine, a consignment shop on the main drag, to have a look. I’d given-up and was walking out when T. held up a pair of washed lightweight denim overalls! Make? Gloria Vanderbilt. Condition? Brand new. Price? $18. They looked cute with the gray Tom’s espadrilles I was wearing.
Sold.
Now the styling challenge began. I went for the casual look for the plane trip back to New York: Navy Lacoste cap, gold rubber Okabashi flip flops, a purple Ralph Lauren polo and a black poncho.
That’s just one look. There are so many different options such as the one on Luello’s site and the ones in Elle Magazine. [you can see the Elle looks on Luello].
l kicked it up a notch and wore them with my Prada spring green thong wedges from The Fashion Exchange, J. Crew plaid shirt, and Lacoste baseball cap.
I’m eagerly awaiting my ideal pair of overalls- by Ralph Lauren, due to arrive via UPS, courtesy of E-Bay sometime this week.
Who makes the best overalls? What’s your favorite overall outfit?
