The Buzz
How awesome is this Elie Tahari vest? I love the layered monochromatic look and its contrasting textures and I nearly jumped with excitement when I saw that it was marked down (gotta love Labor Day Weekend shopping). I paired it over a crushed white cowl neck Michael Kors top, but it could go equally well over something with sleeves come the cooler weather. As for my trousers, I’m completely obsessed with these stretch denim Michael Kors jeans – they are beyond comfortable and they expand with your body should you overdose on Pop Chips or whatever else you may find yourself coming across at Fashion Week-related events.
I’m a big fan of black and white, but a touch of brown was worked into this look via the platform on the Calvin Klein shoes. This is a super versatile look (picked up at Macy's) that can take me from day to night, and that’s crucial if I have any hope of making it to the Electric Room for a Fashion Week party after the shows today.
On the fashion front, the show I’m most excited for today is Kate Spade. Who would have thought? The company has really transformed and I love its quirky aesthetic. It will also be interesting to see what Nicole Miller has in store for us. I’m hoping she sticks with what she does best and doesn’t go overly colorful like she did last spring.
It’s the first day of New York Fashion Week and I’m feeling very erudite so this is my back-to-school look! Though if I'm going to be 100% honest, I wore this near exact outfit last night for a dinner held at the Four Seasons Restaurant in honor of Brian Atwood's new store and ad campaign, which just goes to show how versatile the look is.
I’m wearing head-to-toe Michael Kors from Macy's (can’t wait to see what he has in store this season, I’m dying over his Fall 2012 plaid scarf coats at the moment). Pencil skirts can sometimes be hard to walk in – or at least hard to walk fast in – but this one is nice and stretchy so I can run from place to place as though I were wearing a pair of trousers. The side black paneling also adds a nice slimming touch, while the top, which is slightly sheer, takes the outfit into a more fashion-forward and less severe direction.
Day one of Fashion Week is always one of my favorites because every season it starts off with the BCBG show. As much as I love seeing the likes of Marchesa and J. Mendel – two perennial favorites – it’s exciting when you’re watching fashion come down the runway that you know you will be able to indulge in guilt-free come spring. Another big one today is Richard Chai (will his bestie Phillip Lim be in the audience?) and, of course, I’m excited for Fashion’s Night Out. I'm brainstorming my outfit change for the evening’s festivities already…
Last night fashionistas dressed to the nines flocked to the Alice + Olivia store on Robertson to jam out to 80s tunes, watch slumber party flicks, munch on adorable little bags of popcorn, and most importantly, peep the latest in fall fashion. And all for what? Well, as any devoted trendsetter knows, to celebrate the fourth annual Fashion’s Night Out!
Manicurists from LA-based nail salon Nail Garden were on hand, fancying up shopper’s fingers in eye-popping shades of green, pink, yellow, blue, silver, and more, all thanks to POP Beauty, while glitter tattoo artists from Glittertainment (who, other than the racks of stunning clothes, were arguably the main attraction of the night), blinged out the body parts of cool girls sporting braids, buns, and bright red pouts with glitzy glam tattoos. Hey, you could even get a sparkly Alice + Olivia logo tatted on you if you wanted!
Me? I chose a simple (okay, not so simple) multi-colored flower design and received a mean green mani in less than 10 minutes. Yalk about skill!
All in all, it was fabulous, fashion-filled night worth spending time and money on.
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Though Christian Dior CEO Sidney Toledano stresses that Dior Magazine is “another way to communicate luxury” and “is not a catalogue,” it’s surely more catalogue than traditional magazine. As Melancholybaby wrote, “Contrary to Toldeno’s statement, it looks like this is just going to be a fancy catalogue available in [Dior] boutiques.”
However you want to categorize it, the first issue, fronted by Marion Cotillard, the face of Lady Dior, looks awesome. “I really like the styling, her pose, and most of all her expression,” pixiedust1603 commented. “Her expression adds so much I think.”
Forum members Chanelcouture09 and Thefrenchy guessed that this would be Dior’s version of publications like Chanel’s 31 Rue Cambon, Ralph Lauren Magazine, and Le Monde d’Hermès.
“I hope it is along the lines of Le Monde d'Hermès,” MulletProof shared. “The little I've seen from it, it's quite inspirational, definitely makes you value more the entire work, aesthetic and legacy of a house, and what these houses mean in the first place… which isn't just promoting crazy consumerism but encouraging creativity, appreciation, developing an 'eye' for design, etc. The cover is gorgeous. I would normally not be interested in Dior, I wasn't really into the grandiosity of John Galliano's designs, so I have to keep repeating to myself that this is the Raf Simons era (still hard to believe Raf is really behind Dior – never in a million years would I have guessed this 6 years ago). I hope it covers a good part of his conception of Dior, too.”
In terms of reminding us all what the house of Dior is really all about, especially now that Raf Simons has taken the post-Galliano reigns of the brand, the timing couldn’t be better for just such a publication. It feels like Dior is going through a rebirth of its own at the moment, and the road ahead is full of promise.
Image: wwd.com
Carine Roitfeld has been teasing us with gifs and video trailers for her CR Fashion Book, and now we finally get to see the covers of her first issue. Both covers were shot by Bruce Weber and have a maternal theme, with Kate Upton featured on one of them as expected, and the young Audrey Harrelson on the other. Carine can be much loved but a bit polarizing, and that was the case when it came to assessing the cover images. Expectations were understandably high, and some people felt let down.
“So you tease me with a shocking, chilling image of a naked woman walking about in a cemetery draped in lavender sheer fabric… which to me was powerful, hauntingly inspiring, yet provoking then you deliver a cover that looks like Kate Upton's old Fashion Week Showcard…WTF!” posted an exasperated Junee.
“Are they trying to make Upton the next Claudia Schiffer?” HeatherAnne asked. “Ain't working. This whole magazine is so gimmicky and pretentious – though I love her, I would expect nothing less from Rotifeld.”
Rockangel thought the images were “nothing extraordinary for all the hype… forgettable.”
Not everyone was disappointed though. Rigida wrote, “I love both covers! Kate’s cover is beautiful, the other one if funny and cute!”
“I want to see it in person and feel it in my hands before I make any judgments,” Luxx commented. “It is called a fashion book and I want to treat it as such, experience it as such. The covers are fresh and unexpected, I appreciate that. The best and most striking thing for me is that this doesn't look like an old Vogue Paris. I would be disappointed if it did.”
Luxx makes an interesting point. If Carine’s CR Fashion Book turned out to be Vogue Paris under Carine Roitfeld 2.0 then what would be the point? Roitfeld is using this publication and this issue in particular to represent a rebirth for her in the magazine industry. Though the covers are unexpected and maybe even underwhelming, the content within the 340 pages (which feature Stephanie Seymour, Linda Evangelista, and Carolyn Murphy among others) is sure to be striking.
Image: crfashionbook.com
 More proof that Australia’s Next Top Model champions generally find more post-show success than their Northern Hemisphere counterparts comes in the form of this lookbook, featuring Montana Cox in Gary Bigeni’s Spring/Summer 2012/13 collection “Fractured Appearance”. The Cycle 7 winner puts smizing on the backburner and does her best Twiggy-esque 60s gaze for Bigeni’s retro-inspired collection, which debuted at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia earlier this year.
The former Melbourne schoolgirl is a fitting choice for Bigeni’s most recent collection. Both names have consistently proven themselves to be well worth the early hype, with this season marking Bigeni’s most confident collection to date. The designer made a name for himself a few years back when his graduate collection caught the discerning eye of retail heavyweight Belinda Seper, who not only ordered the collection for her cult Sydney boutique The Corner Shop but formed a mentoring relationship with its creator.
Since then, He of the Liquid Draping and Luxurious Fabrics has added to that title with the addition of graphic prints, clean tailoring, and structured leather. All of the above can be seen in the collection at hand, with a blown-up Chevron zigzag print adorning relaxed boyish separates and a graphic aqua item adding texture for the eyes to more feminine pieces. Rigid leather crops up on a great halter top, and a beautiful latticed fabric is a smart take on the cut-out trend that dominated runways at fashion week.
Evidently, we’re not the only ones calling the collection a victory. “Fractured Appearance” drops this week and has been picked up by seven David Jones stores nationwide. See the lookbook in its entirety over at GaryBigeni.com.
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