#8: E&J Spring 2012 Lookbook

Elizabeth and James features a great Spring collection. It is full of fun, flirty florals and bright pinks, whites, and yellows.  A perfect line for the Spring season with tons of sheer fabrics, and great palazzo and silk pants.  I really love the tailored suit.   The collection showcases its fluidity and clean lines with pieces that are most definitely wearable and can be mixed in with your existing wardrobe!  They also do a great job by having a virtual lookbook right on their website, that way you can scroll through each garment and zoom into every detail.

        

      

      
 
     

     

   

Shop for Elizabeth and James at:

shopbop.com

net-a-porter.com

#7: BG Trunk Shows

A trunk show is a special sale in which vendors present merchandise directly to store associates or select customers at a retail location or another unique venue. This allows the customer or associate to get a look at the showcased designer's latest collection.  Bergdorf Goodman is known for hosting a variety of trunk shows.  They offer invitations to preview trunk shows with the opportunity to reserve pieces from next season's collections.  Recently Jason Wu previewed his Spring 2012 line at a BG trunk show and made a special appearance. 

But what is probably most talked about for a Bergdorf Goodman trunk show is when it went virtual. You probably wouldn't think of a high-end department store like Bergdorf Goodman holding a virtual trunk show for designer fashions, but the show was moderated via Skype by Akris designer, Albert Kriemler. He Skype’d in via a 42-inch television and Logitech web camera at his desk in the Swiss Alps.  Kriemler talked about his passion for the line and even showed a piece of paper with a design that inspired him to design a dress that was on the runway at that moment. Cool way to blend technology and fashion!



Akris Trunk Show @ BG



Jason Wu Trunk Show @ BG



#6: McQueen's Runway Fantasy

When I think of an extraordinary fashion show, Alexander McQueen almost always pops into my head first.  Sarah Burton has really done a great job taking over his brillant shows.  She is able to transform ordinary garments into works of art.  They are not only just fashion shows displaying garments; they are pure entertainment.  McQueen's shows transcend you into a fantasy world.  I find myself astonished at how one can even think of the structure and materials, let alone constructing these fabulous pieces. 

McQueen's Fall 2013 show in Paris was just a sight to see.  This show sets a mood and the pieces play off perfectly with the atmosphere.  It leaves you remembering every single garment and how amazing they were.  Sarah Burton describes this show as one of "a beautiful future, positivity, optimism."  The show was injected with magic, light and transending.  She portrayed the future with lightness, instead of the usual dark futurism.  The dresses were tiered and flowy, filled with layers of fabric, like organza.  There was fur and feathers of all kind; goat fur, ostrich feather, or Mongolian lamb.  As we moved on further into the fantasy world, the color scheme changed.  From the purest of whites to the grand finale of red and black, symbolizing innocence into experience.  Even the audience members could not get over the excellent technique, despite the absence of the every day wear.  Most definitely a show to take a look it!

Here are just a few of my favorite looks.

#5: Gala Gossip

I currently intern at Giorgio Armani in the visual merchandising department.  Last Thursday we hosted a gala for the Museum of the City of New York at The Plaza Hotel.  It was a giant event- filled with 500 people, most socialites.  The night started off with a cocktail hour and ending with a 4 course meal in the extravagant ballroom.  My job was to assist the visual and image events teams to transform this space into something Armani. The inital tasks consisted of sourcing props to go into the space to make it visually appealing according to Mr. Armani's standards.  On the day of the event, I was there to help set up, do routine checks during the event, and then breakdown.
 

When setting up, straightening every napkin, fork, knife, gift bag, place card, and so on, I noticed Liam Neeson's name being seated at the Armani table.  I was totally excited to see him-even though it was only a brief glance from down at the other end of the table ;)  But apparently as the night went on, Liam Neeson accidently knocked over one of the candelabras we had custom made for the event.  This in turn caused hot wax to spill onto a woman's Giorgio Armani dress and her companion's suit.  Guess someone there spilled the beans about the event and what happened to The Post, who of course overdramatized it.  Think this is funny? Check out The Post article.

A look inside the Grand Ballroom.

Liam Neeson

#4: Blogger Lingo

Cathy Horyn is a great fashion journalist for the NY Times.  Her dictation is so descriptive and clear you can picture exactly what the garment looks like without even having to see a picture. Examining one of her blog posts from Paris Fashion Week more closely, I was able to get a real sense of what Dries Van Noten's Fall 2012 collection looked like. Above is the link to Cathy's blog and below is her blog post with my interpretation of the language used.

February 29, 2012, 12:27 pm

Dries Van Noten Refigures an Asian Story

By CATHY HORYN

Jacques Brinon/Associated PressDries Van Noten, Fall 2012.

Valerio Mezzanotti for The New York TimesDries Van Noten, fall 2012.

Under the chandeliers of a gilded reception room at Hôtel de Ville, Dries Van Noten presented a calm, thoughtful, inviting collection that married his masculine tailoring with historical Asian prints. The richly colored prints — from Japan, China and Korea — appeared not only as silk skirts, blouses and languorous dresses, but also as angular panels on jackets and coats. Backstage, Mr. Van Noten explained that all the prints came from costumes in the collection at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. The garments were photographed, and their shapes directly influenced how they appeared on his clothes. “It was quite spontaneous,” he said of the idea. It was a simple, imaginative use of the past. And not to be overlooked in this solid collection were Mr. Van Noten’s relaxed trouser suits, high-collared white cotton shirts; and outerwear with a nice, rugged, vaguely English attitude.

1. SILHOUETTE & DESIGN

- Masculine tailoring

- Angular panels on jackets and coats

- Shapes of prints on costumes in London museum directly influenced how they appeared on his clothes

-Relaxed trouser suits

2. DETAILS

-High-collared shirts

-Asian prints

3. COLOR

-Richly colored prints from Japan, China, and Korea

-White cotton shirts

4. FABRIC

-Silk skirts, blouses, and dresses

-Historical Asian prints

-Cotton shirts

5. CREATIVE JARGON

-“Languorous dresses”

-“Outerwear with a nice, rugged, vaguely English attitude”