Call it “couture control,” the ability of designers to create shapes and contours and stop or force movement with invisible techniques, never ceases to amaze. Katya Leonovich’s Fall 2012 collection is rich in the studied skills of couture craftsmanship. Her works are fashioned from substantial boucles, protective leathers, corsets, and a vivid print which captured the chaotic beauty of New York City itself. Across the collection there was a feel of padding, of the comfort of protection. Not just in material and thickness but in sharpness and boldness. These are clothes for the woman who, while she likes to get the looks, does want to intimidate a touch, to keep the fools at bay.
story by Seth Friedermann
photos by Adrianna Favero
web editor Rachel Reneé
Call it “couture control,” the ability of designers to create shapes and contours and stop or force movement with invisible techniques, never ceases to amaze. Katya Leonovich’s Fall 2012 collection is rich in the studied skills of couture craftsmanship. Her works are fashioned from substantial boucles, protective leathers, corsets, and a vivid print which captured the chaotic beauty of New York City itself. Across the collection there was a feel of padding, of the comfort of protection. Not just in material and thickness but in sharpness and boldness. These are clothes for the woman who, while she likes to get the looks, does want to intimidate a touch, to keep the fools at bay. Continue reading “Katya Leonovich – Fall 2012 – Shapes of Things To Come”
A field of exotic flowers was the essence of the new collection of talented young designer Fabiola Arias presented for Fall 2012 at the Americano Hotel. Consisting of entirely dresses, mostly of cocktail length, models disguised as birds of paradise gracefully strode down the short runway. Despite simple silhouettes, these designs were anything but commonplace. Flamingo pink, canary yellow, and robin red lent well to the tropical presentation.
story by Cassandra Past
photos by Ned and Aya Rosen
web editor Rachel Reneé
A field of exotic flowers was the essence of the new collection of talented young designer Fabiola Arias presented for Fall 2012 at the Americano Hotel. Consisting of entirely dresses, mostly of cocktail length, models disguised as birds of paradise gracefully strode down the short runway. Despite simple silhouettes, these designs were anything but commonplace. Flamingo pink, canary yellow, and robin red lent well to the tropical presentation. Continue reading “Fabiola Arias – Fall 2012 – A Wicked Garden Party”
The Jen Kao Fall 2012 collection brings together inspirations from vintage Far East, the Jazz Age, and English aristocracy, to create a collection of beautifully tailored pieces that could only be made in the present. This collection marks an evolution of the designer, her most street-ready collection to date.
story by Sia-Alika Battle
photos by Aya Rosen & Ned Rosen
web editor Rachel Reneé
The Jen Kao Fall 2012 collection brings together inspirations from vintage Far East, the Jazz Age, and English aristocracy, to create a collection of beautifully tailored pieces that could only be made in the present. This collection marks an evolution of the designer, her most street-ready collection to date. Continue reading “Jen Kao – Fall 2012 – In Balance”
“How do you stay true to yourself and grow? That’s what I was trying to do with this collection.” With her Fall 2012 collection, New York-based designer Kaelen Haworth arrived at a traditional conundrum that has faced every designer who has ever met with success. A fashion designer creates a first collection and much to their relief they receive some retail success and positive press, and perhaps for the second collection they nervously try to do something similar but better, and with their third they begin to play around with a few new ideas but are sure to include pieces that will please buyers and clients. But the artistic mind is a restless mind, and with a designer’s fourth offering, they often feel a need to push, to invent, to do new. How do you do that and not erase that which has been responsible for the success you have enjoyed up to this point?
story by Seth Friedermann
photos by Adrianna Favero
web editor Rachel Reneé
“How do you stay true to yourself and grow? That’s what I was trying to do with this collection.” With her Fall 2012 collection, New York-based designer Kaelen Haworth arrived at a traditional conundrum that has faced every designer who has ever met with success. A fashion designer creates a first collection and much to their relief they receive some retail success and positive press, and perhaps for the second collection they nervously try to do something similar but better, and with their third they begin to play around with a few new ideas but are sure to include pieces that will please buyers and clients. But the artistic mind is a restless mind, and with a designer’s fourth offering, they often feel a need to push, to invent, to do new. How do you do that and not erase that which has been responsible for the success you have enjoyed up to this point? Continue reading “Kaelen – Fall 2012 – Without Compromise”
The Nicholas K Fall 2012 collection was another strong example of the labels increasingly recognizable signature style. All the elements one would expect were in evidence; the layering, the rough textures, the creative cuts and treatments. The soul of any Nicholas K design is a transfixing intersection of rawness and creative construction. Every single piece that walked down the runway in this, the very first of the official Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Fall 2012 shows, was loaded with elements and details that dew the eye. There were thin fabrics in long cuts that created life and movement, and these were layered under rough knits, wools, and leathers.
story by Seth Friedermann
photos by Adrianna Favero
web editor Rachel Reneé
The Nicholas K Fall 2012 collection was another strong example of the labels increasingly recognizable signature style. All the elements one would expect were in evidence; the layering, the rough textures, the creative cuts and treatments. The soul of any Nicholas K design is a transfixing intersection of rawness and creative construction. Every single piece that walked down the runway in this, the very first of the official Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Fall 2012 shows, was loaded with elements and details that drew the eye. There were thin fabrics in long cuts that created life and movement, and these were layered under rough knits, wools, and leathers. Continue reading “Nicholas K – Fall 2012 – Power of Contradiction”
“Strength and power. And confidence. Strength, power, and confidence,” designer Alexandria Hilfiger shouted over the crowd when explaining the idea behind her and partner, Nary Manivong’s, Fall 2012 ready-to-wear collection. Relatively new to the scene, the petite duo escaped notoriety for their signature shirtdress and bared witness their many (hidden) talents. Collars on top of collars, dresses on top of shirts, and prints on top of prints revealed detail and contemplation amidst the buzz of color and layering presented in this third Nahm collection.
story by Landon Peoples
photos by Zoe Hiigli
web editor Rachel Reneé
“Strength and power. And confidence. Strength, power, and confidence,” designer Alexandria Hilfiger shouted over the crowd when explaining the idea behind her and partner, Nary Manivong’s, Fall 2012 ready-to-wear collection. Relatively new to the scene, the petite duo escaped notoriety for their signature shirtdress and bared witness their many (hidden) talents. Collars on top of collars, dresses on top of shirts, and prints on top of prints revealed detail and contemplation amidst the buzz of color and layering presented in this third Nahm collection. Continue reading “NAHM – Fall 2012 Collection – Mellow Meets Mainstay”
“You Only Live Once,” by The Strokes set the tone for the Fall 2012 presentation of Jason Troisi. The presentation opened with a documentary style video of previous seasons’ runway presentations and the audience was taken on a journey through the young designers past. Short and sweet was the new collection, consisting of five interestingly constructed looks that all tied together in a cohesive manner.
story by Cassandra Past
photos by Aeric M.G.
web editor Rachel Reneé
“You Only Live Once,” by The Strokes set the tone for the Fall 2012 presentation of Jason Troisi. The presentation opened with a documentary style video of previous seasons’ runway presentations and the audience was taken on a journey through the young designers past. Short and sweet was the new collection, consisting of five interestingly constructed looks that all tied together in a cohesive manner. Continue reading “Jason Troisi – Fall 2012 – Golf to Gowns”
Blanc de Chine, a Hong Kong luxury label and pioneer in innovative textiles and silhouettes, has once again harmonized elegance and comfort in this season’s collection. Redefining its roots, this season the collections was all about the senses, a feast for the mind. Harmony was a key element as the collection was cohesive, each piece complementing the next.
story by Cassandra Past
photos by Michael Cinquino
web editor Rachel Reneé
Blanc de Chine, a Hong Kong luxury label and pioneer in innovative textiles and silhouettes, has once again harmonized elegance and comfort in this season’s collection. Redefining its roots, this season the collections was all about the senses, a feast for the mind. Harmony was a key element as the collection was cohesive, each piece complementing the next. Continue reading “Blanc de Chine – Fall 2012 – Black Porcelain”
As the Fall-Winter shows begin, an unusually wide window opens into the shadowy world of the actual business of fashion. We as an industry are, in general, very secretive. Quick, which brands had the best retail season for their Spring-Summer collections? Which emerging designer picked up the most new accounts? Which labels are predictably in financial trouble? Whose arrival in the red is a surprise? Don’t have any answers? Well, that’s not a surprise because we don’t talk about it…ever.
story by Seth Freidermann
photos by Charles Beckwith
As the Fall-Winter shows begin, an unusually wide window opens into the shadowy world of the actual business of fashion. We as an industry are, in general, very secretive. Quick, which brands had the best retail season for their Spring-Summer collections? Which emerging designer picked up the most new accounts? Which labels are predictably in financial trouble? Whose arrival in the red is a surprise? Don’t have any answers? Well, that’s not a surprise because we don’t talk about it…ever.
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With the notable exceptions of Irmen Armad’s outstanding Business Of Fashion site and the venerable Women’s Wear Daily, no one discuss the actual sales of designer clothing and accessories. Usually in the modern age even privately held businesses of any size have their sales increases or decreases chatted about ad nauseam, but not so in fashion. We here in the rag trade like it murky and opaque. The problem is, I believe, that prevailing attitude is a sign of an immature industry and is damaging to brands.
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The fashion industry has an unhealthy tendency to whistle past the graveyard. We like our house the way it is, even if part of it is on fire. This industry must get honest with itself about one thing in particular that most of us know is not working. The area I am speaking on is fashion shows and the growing desire of designers not to do them. This New York Fashion Week reveals a disturbing trend of a fair number of brands that showed at Lincoln Center in recent seasons not returning. While it is true that there are an equal number of new brands in the tents for the first time, most of them will not likely return for next season, opting instead for “off site” venues or no public show at all. Brands are more and more simply having press and buyer appointments in a showroom, either their own, a multi-line, or temporary showrooms set-up in places like hotel suites. This is not intended as an attack on IMG, who have done wondrous things for fashion and New York City, this is an attempt to rip away all artifice and expose the following simple truth: increased spending on fashion shows does not increase sales of your brand. These brands that are turning away from shows are for the most part good businesses simply honoring the math in their face. The return on investment on a large public fashion show does not make you more money, so why do them? But the public spectacle of the shows and the fashion weeks is exceptionally good for our industry as a whole, and there’s the rub. Fashion Week good for fashion but shows no longer worth it for individual brands.
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Here is what I propose as a solution. Sell the broadcast rights of the shows of New York Fashion Week and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week to a major television network. This is our Olympics, and it can and should be covered like one. The amount of advertising revenue that a network could generate would be enormous, and the increased exposure for brands would quickly return their appetites for shows to the point of salivating. The major shows would be the prime time slots and the emerging designers would fill the roles of rising talent shows in the manner of an American Idol without the distasteful enforced competition. The eight or nine days of New York Fashion Week could be filled with premieres of fashion videos and interviews with our industry’s stars and characters. There would, in fact, be zero difficulty in filling up air time, what with over two hundred fashion related events crammed into eight days. While IMG and Milk can negotiate on behalf of the brands that show in their respective venues, the brands that opt for “off site” shows can conduct their own bidding process. It could add up to nice chunk of change for brands and venues even for some of the smaller spaces and labels who have great talent and can produce visually stunning shows that quickly get a reputation as “must see”. Honestly, who wouldn’t want to watch The Blonds show or the visual feast of Marchesa? I will say that this would absolutely kill the traditional stand and model presentation, but I’m not so sure that would be all that horrible, I suspect the models wouldn’t mind seeing it die. I always welcome feedback on these monthly pieces of mine but I’d love a robust discussion on this one in particular. Let’s hear it, are we ready for “The CFDA Open” in Prime Time?
The Gary Graham spring 2012 collection is a fairy tale of a young woman, as told by Mr. Graham, “she lives in an interior space, literally and figuratively, and she steps outside. It’s a story with a happy ending.” His design aesthetic is fueled by his “interest in where the garment has been moving through history and time.” A bleached floral print was inspired by a dress from a friend’s grandmother. The herringbone suiting group was grown from a found swatch of fabric. Wallpaper that has survived flood waters is the genesis of a print that spotlights the beauty of graduated color shifts.
story written by Sia-Alika Battle
photography by Aeric Meredith-Goujon
styling by Zimir Hernandez
makeup by Samantha Lennon
hair by Sonia Castleberry
model is Aleksandra from Fenton Moon
all shoes provided by l’Autre Chose
The Gary Graham spring 2012 collection is a fairy tale of a young woman, as told by Mr. Graham, “she lives in an interior space, literally and figuratively, and she steps outside. It’s a story with a happy ending.” His design aesthetic is fueled by his “interest in where the garment has been moving through history and time.” A bleached floral print was inspired by a dress from a friend’s grandmother. The herringbone suiting group was grown from a found swatch of fabric. Wallpaper that has survived flood waters is the genesis of a print that spotlights the beauty of graduated color shifts. Continue reading “Gary Graham – Finding Beauty In The Dark”
