Ballet and Fashion!

I found this fun little bit of information floating around in various places and thought I would share it because my roommate is a ballet fanatic. It seems that designer Magda Berliner created special costumes for a piece in the New York City Ballet's first annual Dancers' Choice program. The performance was last night, and raised money for the Ballet Dancers' Emergency Fund. The clip doesn't really have anything to do with the costumes, but I thought it was kind of cool.

P.S. S- One of the pieces they did was Gerome Robbins' "Dances at a Gathering."

Qiu Hao

I consider myself to have a very minimal knowledge of fashion, especially since I'm not exactly in the business. So I don't really have a lot of exposure or information about the really emerging designers, because even the designers I am familiar with but the average non-fashion-obsessed person doesn't know of are pretty famous in the fashion world. I'm no Susie Bubble, who always seems to discover tiny little emerging brands or designers fresh out of design school. But I recently stumbled on the designs of Qiu Hao, a Central St. Martins-educated designer from Shanghai. You don't hear a lot about designers from China and, in the East, Japan really dominates as the fashion superpower of the region. But Qiu Hao's designs are interesting because they are a good mixture of wearability and concept. His clothes gently push the envelope without sacrificing wearability and they seem to have great details and lots of subtlety. I found this interesting interview on YouTube. I love when he says that people don't understand his work, because he doesn't do it in a drama-laden, suffering artist way, so it really just makes you pay more attention to his clothes and try a little harder to figure out what kind of message he's sending out through his work. I kind of wish I could go to China and see his clothes now. Feel free to check out the video.

Adorable

It seems as if the super-adorable Phillip Lim hand-wrote his invitations to the opening of his Los Angeles Store. So cute. I adore him. I'm sad he didn't invite me, though. I'm always been a big supporter of his, and am currently in love with one of his dresses covered with fringe in the back. ;)

Triviality

Did you know: The late Yves Saint Laurent was the first living designer to be honored by the Metropolitan Museum of Art with a solo exhibition in 1983.

That's Laughable

The funniest/most ridiculous thing I read yesterday: When someone asked Betsey Johnson what young designers excite her and she replied "Those girls that make those clothes that look like ragged spiders," referring to Rodarte. When prompted with the name, she went on to say "Yes! I relate to them in their great raggy-ness." First of all, she doesn't even know their names. She is obviously out of it. And it is ridiculous that she would relate to them, because Kate and Laura are already infinitely better designers then she will ever be. When I pass by her store, I want to vomit a bit, her clothes are just that tacky. The carpet is hot pink, for crying out loud. The Mulleavy sisters create pieces of art, demi-couture in their intricate craftsmanship and immense creativity. Betsey Johnson makes candy-colored tutus and bags that look like that monstrosity. Good God, woman.

Tribute

Coincidentally, Marc Jacobs' newest resort collection is a bit of an homage to the late Yves Saint Laurent. As he said, it's "Unfortunately, extremely timely." Lots of bows and hearts (some of Saint Laurent's favorite motifs) and modern interpretations of his iconic smoking jacket. I have developed a theory that Marc Jacobs is actually psychic. He always seems to know things. But I am a little peeved because I lost a button on my fairly new Marc by Marc cashmere sweater. Shoddily made, I say. Not a happy camper. Maybe he'll read my mind like he always seems to do every season and send me a new button.

image: source

Inspiration

My newest little bit of inspiration is, surprisingly, John Galliano's Fall collection. Not because John Galliano isn't a great designer, but mostly because his collections (especially this one) isn't really something I would simply assume would inspire me the way I know Balenciaga and Lanvin, etc. would. His collections are usually pretty riotous and loud, with tons of color and lavishness. I don't really dress like that (at least not with that much color). But I randomly decided to watch the video of his most recent show, and I was immediately mesmerized. The models actually seemed to have personalities when they walked, something you don't see much in shows. They actually posed, with attitude, even! There was this one moment where Mariacarla Boscono comes out with this strange, nubby pink hat and hair that is literally huge, glossy, black feathers (kind of like the ones I've been obsessing over), and she pulls her hands across her face in this awesomely unexplainable way that I just loved. There were lots of feathers as hair in the show, and even a whole stuffed raven carried by Raquel Zimmermann. And he was inspired by a poem I love, Kubla Khan. I will have to see how I can incorporate this into my wardrobe.

image: source

CFDA Awards

I was a little (read: very) confused when I read that, of all the accessory designers out there, Tory Burch had won accessories designer of the year. I would have thought that someone with very innovative, creative, accessories would have won. Who knew putting a gold plate on a pair of ballet flats was this year's most exciting fashion creation? Personally, those Tory Burch flats that I feel like I see absolutely everywhere make me grimace a little. But maybe I'm biased. I'm not known for liking girly, preppy flats that I see at least one person wearing nearly every day. Blah. Disappointed.
On another note, Kate and Laura Mulleavy won the Swarovski Award for Emergint Talent for Womenswear. I love a lot of the designers that were nominated, so I probably would have been pretty happy even if someone else had won, but I am so happy that the Mulleavy sisters won. Their clothes are so amazingly intricate and beautiful and artistic. I was absolutely floored by the Spring show and loved the Fall show just as much. Hooray Rodarte!

image: source

Triviality

Did you know?: Alber Elbaz (of Lanvin fame) was born in Casablanca, Morocco.

Yves Saint Laurent Passes Away at 71

The brilliant, legendary Yves Saint Laurent passed away Sunday night, at the age of 71. He was the last of the old guard of fashion. His influence will undoubtedly continue for years to come. He will be missed.

Uh Oh...

I kind of really <3 these. Yes. <3 them. There is no other way to describe it. I just...<3 them. And they have my size. And they are on sale. Hmm...

Even M.I.A. Designs Clothes?

I just found out that the awesome M.I.A. designed some form of clothing that is now sitting in boxes at her mom's house. Interesting. I can just see all the hipster high school girls in their American Apparel bandeau tops and neon leggings flocking to have a piece of it. I love her music (I went to her concert last week), but really? Why is everyone and their mom/sister/great-aunt/goldfish suddenly designing clothes?! She says she was "inspired" by her recent Marc by Marc Jacobs campaign. So because she has worn MARC and Juergen Teller has taken pictures of her, that makes her a designer? A bit of a stretch, I think. But who knows, maybe she can make awesome clothes as well as awesome beats.

Fun!

I'm a jewelry designer before anything else fashion-y, so I'm always on the lookout for cool jewelry designs and brands. I just found Sonia Boyajian's jewelry, which is going to be sold at the Comme des Garcons Guerilla Store in NYC. Her site is fun and quirky, just like her jewelry. It makes me smile. Yay jewelry!

The Man Behind the Clothes

Can you believe this is Ricardo Tisci, the (awesome) man behind the Givenchy collections? He doesn't seem gothy or dark at all! It's fun to see how designers dress, because sometimes they dress just like how they design, and sometimes they dress completely differently. Also I like to see them because I admire them so much. A lot of times they're kind of behind the scenes, working their magic on their clothes, so when you see them in real life it's kind of unexpected and fun.

Image: source

Comme on!

When I heard about H&M's newest designer collaboration with Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garcons, my first reaction was to be really, really excited. I didn't buy anything from any of H&M's previous collaborations, mostly because I'm a lazy bum and didn't want to face the frenzy (and also because Roberto Cavalli's collection looked like the cheapest, tackiest thing ever...sorry). I haven't seen what the collection looks like, but I'm looking forward to it. Comme des Garcons isn't a label I get to see very often, and can't really afford much of, but I love Kawakubo because she constantly pushes boundaries and challenges the way we look at clothes. Also, Comme isn't a label that a lot of people know, so opening day might not be as insane (although now that I think about it, Stella, Viktor & Rolf, and even Karl Lagerfeld weren't really household names and they drew huge crowds). In any case, I'm excited to see what she can do with this collection. I hope she doesn't sacrifice innovation or design quality to appeal to the masses (*ahem* Target *ahem*). At this point I'm still optimistic about the whole thing. Hopefully I won't be let down.
(photo from style.com)

Marni FW08

I almost bought a Marni bag this summer while in Milan. It was super awesome. I forget why I didn't get it. Marni is one of those quirky cool brands that not that many people know about and it definitely takes a specific kind of person to wear it. Consuelo Castiglioni has crafted some very cool collections. This one had an almost spring-y color palette, except with furs. Personally I liked last fall's collection better(I am still obsessed with those fur hood/hat things. Augh I wish I could have one of those things). This collection did have some outstanding accessories, as usual. I liked the peep-toe knee-high boots. I've been wanted a pair of peep-toe boots, as impractical as they are. The striped socks and bags were also pretty covetable. Whee.

Bottega Veneta FW08

Someday, when I'm old(er), I want to be the kind of person who can wear Bottega Veneta(not that I couldn't wear it now if i realllly wanted to...but it would be a little strange/expensive). It's one of those labels that doesn't scream its name all over the place going 'look look we are such an exclusive brand!!' The workmanship of the clothes(and accessories) is so beautiful without being over-embellished. As much as I love to play with my clothes and have fun and try all sorts of new things, sometimes you just want your clothes to whisper rather than shout. This is one of those collections.

Prada FW08

I love Prada. Most of the time the collection isn't easy for me to digest, but Miuccia has this amazing ability to innovate and predict. Even when I see a Prada collection for the first time and think huh?? (FW07 anyone?) it never fails to grow on me. But this collection was immediately likeable. The way she treated all the lace was great because it was kind of dark and masculine but didn't even reach the point of being gothic. And suddenly I want blue lace. And there was more of that modern minimalism we've been seeing all over the place. Also I loved the plastic ruffle necklaces. So bold but not in-your-face. I'm a jewelry designer (a rather bad one) more than anything else so I always love to see awesome jewelry on the runway.

Zac Posen FW08

I don't think I've ever told anyone this, but Zac Posen got me into fashion. A little random, I know. But before I had discovered Lanvin, Balenciaga, Prada, Chanel, etc. I stumbled randomly upon Zac Posen's fall 2004 collection. I must have been a freshman in high school. I think it was probably the first whole show I had ever seen, and suddenly I loved clothes. My style has changed a lot since then, so I'm not so obsessed with him anymore, but I have to give him a lot of credit for getting me into all of this. Unfortunately, this collection seems a little out of place to me. It seemed almost too...childish. I've never been a bib-front person, and there were lots of them on the runway, and they made me scrunch up my nose inside. There were some pretty pieces, and definitely some great tailoring. Like most (all?) Zac Posen's collections it was pretty flamboyant, which was kind of not in keeping with the movement towards more simplicity that's been floating around the collections. I'm hoping Zac will catch on a little.

Marc Jacobs?

Soo...the Marc Jacobs show confused me. So this is not a real post. I don't know what to think about it. Do I like it? It does make me feel kind of warm and fuzzy outside, and I can really see how he was thinking about comfort and safety. But I still have to think this one over.