Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week -Chado Ralph Rucci- Spring 2010

What can you say about a master designer? America's only couturier? That at his shows, not a word his heard, not even a whisper. So entranced is the audience by his complex, detailed and almost magical creations, that the only thing heard is the music playing and the sound of fabric swishing down a catwalk.

 

Chado Ralph Rucci showed his spring 2010 collection on Saturday, September 12, 2009 at Bryant Park.

The inspirations for this collection was  a combination of an hommage to the the late Pina Bausch's personal style and her iconographic choreograph,  Sculptor Lynn Chadwick's work, and Lady Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji. The clothing was light, ethereal and practically floated down the runway.

Rucci's creations are delicate works of art. Each season he explores new ways to turn dreams into reality. Many of his items have detailed embroidery. One season he showed an alligator coat with trapunto stitching. Embroidered items this season he used embroidery techniques that borrowed their imagery from the basic ladder. The embroidery as it climbed from the hem into the body of the garment became more and more refined as they inched higher.

For surface decoration, Rucci shredded silk tulle and chiffon, then sculpted them in layers, creating conceptualized flowers and yes, even wisps of smoke. Many of his after five dresses had sheer inserts, and a few of his gowns had cut outs on their sides.  Think sensual elegance, not 80's fly-girl. Colors ranged from stark white, brilliant black to acid yellow and red.

standout looks included a sleek simply tailored black mohair pantsuit , an acid yellow silk gros de longres raincoat (complete with hood) and a matching A-line skirt, a terra cotta double faced wool crepe jacket with horizontal bands of taupe paired with a taupe tulle horsehair skirt, and a taupe empire waisted u-necked, thin-strapped dress with feathers that undulated like sea anemones. Honestly, the list of gorgeous things could go on and on and on....His items are always heart-stoppingly beautiful.

-Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week- AAU- Academy of Art University -Spring/Summer 2010 Show

Seven recent MFA graduates of the Academy of Art University -Marina Nikolaeva Popska, Kara Sennett, Amanda Cleary, Richelle Valenzuela, Brittney Major, Jie Pan, and Sawanya Jomthepmala showed  their capsule collections Saturday, September 12, 2009 at the Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week to a standing room only crowd.

Each collection had a different point of view of what suits the modern woman and her life.

Marina's was all about pastel playful pastel jacquard knit dresses with undulating ruffles. Kara Sennett's color blocked separates were body conscious and a petite hommage to Courreges, and yes wearable, very wearable. Her inspiration? Philanthropist Betty Friedman in David Hockney's 1966 painting Beverly Hills Housewife. Amanda Cleary looked to packaging as her inspiration and used box tab and cutout details in her collection. Silver, aqua, gray and black were colors. The dresses swished and flowed as the models walked down the runway. Richelle Valenzuela's collection was inspired by the structure of gem cutting diagrams, and the facets of the gem. Structural, architectural, yet soft, feminine, and visually surprising. It drew "oohs" from the crowd. Brittney Major used "unconvetional preppy" as inspiration for her collection. Plaid dresses and separates in bright taffetas merrily went down the runway. The collection was playful and fun. Jie Pan paired contrasting shapes, and pired fabrics like horesair wirh siklk chiffon and natural linen with organza  for her collection. Her inspiration was the abstract paintings of Anna Fidler. The designs were fluid and visuallly arresting. Sawanya Jomthepmala ended the show with brilliant neon colors-pink, yellow and green-prints, exquisitely done pants and separates.

Would you like to view the show in its entirety? Just click and sit back and watch the show from a front row seat. It as of you're there in the main tent.

Have you been to a fashion show? Do you have a favorite designer? Leave a comment!

Celebrities Shopping! Lindsay Lohan and Taraji P. Henson! Oh Look, There's Jessica Alba!

No, not together silly!

A zillion and one celebrities are in New York City for Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, New York Fashion, The Parade of Models, Clothes, Shoes or whatever you want to call it. Anyway, they're here, they're shopping and they're going out.

Lindsay Lohan is in New York City, and she's been staying at the Bowery Hotel. Wednesday, September 9, 2009 she was spotted leaving the hotel and heading over to Victoria's Secret. There she picked up a bunch of cosmetic goodies (various shades of eyeshadow quads, blush trios, lipsticks and more) from the new VS Makeup Collection. Her fav purchase? The VS Makeup Gloss ($10). It's available at Victoria's Secret stores nationwide and online at Victoriasecret.com .

That same night, Taraji P. Henson (I Can Do Bad All By Myself, Benjamin Button) was seen wearing  a one shoulder nail head studded chiffon dress by designer KAUFMANFRANCO to Saks Fifth Avenue's celebration unveiling their third floor. Some dress, huh!

Over in LA on that same day, Jessica Alba was seen leaving LAX with her daughter wearing a lightweight charcoal gray and cream leaf patterned scarf ($26) by Erge. Luckily for you, it can be picked up at Nordstrom.com

Who said Wednesdays were the dullest day of the week?

**Lindsay Lohan photo courtesy of Shadow PR, Taraji P. Henson photo courtesy of  bluPRint PR, Jessica Alba photo courtesy of Red Light PR

Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week - Twinkle by Wenlan- Spring 2010

Knitwear goddess Wenlan Chia's line has a long list of celebrity clients; Lauren Conrad and Vanessa Hudgens are just two in her Rolodex.

For spring/summer 2010 she played with silk, not knit; viewing her flowy, well draped and cut line, it sure looked like she had a lot of fun. Bright pops of red, soft pink, pale aqua, touches of blue, and hints of green worked well again the basic black and white palette. It was nice to see her use bold graphic prints and a  clever use of buttons to highlight outfits.

Here and there you'd see classic Twinkle; slouchy over sized tops, and cardis. However, the collection was, for her, surprisingly body-conscious with cigarette pants, nipped in waists and short skirts.

Designers always evolve. They have to or they can't survive. Wenlan's move to a sexier more sophisticated look is a very welcome one.

 

*photos courtesy of Dan Lecca/Laforce-Stevens

Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week - Boudoir D' Huitres- Spring 2010

 Boudoir D'huitres spring/summer 2010 collection debuted September 10, 2009 at the Hosfelt Gallery. Designer Mimi Plange was inspired by the sea. Her collection, "Medusa is Blooming, "is an intellectual journey into the ocean depths. The inspiration is the 'medusa' or jellyfish of the sea that are rapidly blooming with life and color, and the haunting melodic 'Oceanic' by Bjork."
Her color story; bright pinks, sunshine yellow, brilliant blue, black and ocean sand tell the story of the undulating waves and wild colors of the ocean and its inhabitants.
Plange celebrates the feminine with designs that celebrate a woman's curves and her delight in all that it is to be a woman.

Ruffles and feathered accents echo the delicate movements of the jellyfish. This is a joyous collection that celebrates the sun and life. In dark financial times, we all need a shot of joy.

 

Want to see the entire collection?

Click here!

Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week - SPURR Spring 2010

Simon Spurr artfully combines color, excellent tailoring, and comfort (yes! Comfort in fashion! Who Knew) to create a wearable spring/summer menswear collection.

21 models lined up against a wall in showing off looks that ranged from tuxedo to casual wear. SPURR is known for his excellent tailoring, love of color and the understanding that while men want to look good, they don't want what they wear to overpower their personalities.

 

 

Would you like to see the entire presentation? Just click!

Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week - Ports 1961 Spring 2010

Each season, fashion designer Tia Cibani mines a country for inspiration. This time around it was Japan. And here she's going into dangerous territory as Chado Ralph Rucci bases his aesthetic on Japanese Culture. It was especially disturbing to see some of the models wearing extremely similiar hair styles to the ones that Rucci favors season after season.

Her palette was a combination of soft creams, ivory, and pale pinks that were punctuated by zippy cherry red, silver and touches of black.  Some of her sheath dresses, done up in luxurious silks, were so shapeless that they looked like dressy hospital gowns.

Down the runway we see an abbreviated obi belt, a cut off kimono sleeve on another outfit, and the dipped back of a Geisha's traditional dress on another. Some of the outfits, like an occasional suit or dress were wearable, the others only seemed to be created for the runway.

As for accessories, oh my. One model walked down wearing an outfit that was accompanied by an overly large cream knitted scarf. The accent of the scarf was two giant sticks. It looked as if the knitting needles were left in it by accident. There was a sheer organza necklace that reminded me of a summer camp project that I was forced to do when I was five.

Merecedes Benz New York Fashion Week - Duckie Brown Spring 2010

Fashion Week is upon us! Now's the time to make shopping lists and mental notes for spring and summer.

Duckie Brown's (Daniel Silver and Steven Cox) theme was "exposure and vulnerabilty."  the design duo who usually creates looks that would be comfortable in the artic, have gone into a different direction utilizing lightweight almost sheer fabrics.

 

The superior construction is still there, so is the wearability and comfort of the clothes. Looking at some of the styles, the Mod Look of the 60's and Brit films of that era come to mind. It's almost as if the designers were paying an hommage to the look and feel of early James Bond movies, and the Urban hot and hungry young Brit of the 60's when the youthquake occurred.

Iodice and the Jet Set Woman

Brazilian designer Valdemar Iodice held his spring presentation at the Morgans Hotel yesterday. In this intimate setting, fashion people were able to touch and pet his clothing. While I was going through my walk through, two stylists were going through a rack exclaiming over items and saying they would be perfect for Ms.X to wear during fashion week. "This collection,"Iodice stated,"was designed to keep in mind the life of the jet set woman. My inspiration was classic and timeless sophistication."

Iodice designs clothing, shoes, and jewelry; in short a complete look, the only thing missing is a body. His palette ranged between soft earth tones- sand and sage with primary colors- red, navy and white. Soft suede and jersey silk were the main fabrics. If you're jetting off to Capri, these are the fabrics you'll need!

The way the clothing is draped, and the intricate detailing-note the beadwork highlighted-that was on the sleeve of a gossamer white silk dress, brings to mind designers like Norell and Adrian. Men who felt that every little detail as as important as the overall look. After all, the devil is in the details, and the eye delights on tiny treasures.

Growl! Animal Prints Are On The Prowl For Fall

What was once a hot trend is now a fashion staple. Animal prints like metallics are here to stay. Pardon the pun, but you don't want overkill when wearing animal prints. A head -to- toe look is going to make you look like a crazed animal warden.

How can you wear the style without looking Halloweeny? One item per outfit is a good fashion rule to follow.

Here are two good examples of how you can wear it

On the left is a Fendi  Fur Peekaboo Tote in a leopard print ($2,950). On the right is Forever 21 Chenille  Coat ($27.80).

You can see by these two examples that the style is all over the price range. You don't have to beggar yourself to look chic.

When it comes to fashion, remember that presentation and of course, attitude is everything. It's how you wear it, not how it wears you.

Happy shopping!