hints

if you don't know about weltenbuerger, well, you should.

(especially if you live in the la area)

if you don't know about the palatines, well, you will.

(especially if you watch this space)

stay tuned!

discourse

for quite a long time, i've wanted to read some really good writing on the political, social and cultural ramifications of fashion.

i've spent a lot of time thinking about why we wear what we wear, and how unconscious so many of those decisions seem to be.

why do you want to look a  certain way? how much effort are you willing to put into it? what does that say (or not say) about you?

and how important are these questions in the grand scheme of things?

i think a big part of this desire, on my part, to legitimize my participation in this industry.

i know that fashion is a huge part of my life, and a huge part of who i am.

but....

why?

a couple of months ago, i was in a design bookstore, where a big sale was in progress. i picked up this 150 pager, called fashion zeitgeist: trends and cycles in the fashion system. why? because the original price was $55*, and i had the opportunity to buy it for $9.95.**

and then it made its way to the bottom of a pile of things in my studio.

i finally dug it out this week, and have been fairly gobsmacked to find that it details some of the smartest examination of the topics that have been on my mind for years.

and it's written for people who are, like, used to reading text books, not fashion magazines.

in short, i love it. and i'm only 20 pages in.

here's an example of why:

"constantly marking, erasing and transgressing borders, fashion withdraws itself from orderly social categories, makes for a disturbance, creates excitement and anxiety. here, for once, exceptions do not confirm the rule....

as a commentary on the limits fixed through clothing and on clothing, the haute couture is a discourse in clothing about clothing. it is deeply linked, even identical, to the transgression of gender identity. it was not not until the 1960's that haute couture lost this power***; by the 1980's it had made the transition to prêt-à-porter."

in 20 short pages, i've already made it through some very interesting illumination on the role that gender and class roles play in fashion, and vice-versa, with a focus on 18th century france..... and a quick peek at the last chapter seems to make clear that the entire thing is devoted to a look at the work of martin margiela.

it seems highly likely that there may be more nerd-updates, on this here blog, as i make it through the bulk of fashion history.

i'm so excited!

* hi! that's almost $3 for each page!

**we'll have to save fo another day the analysis of why i am as obsessed with buying things at a huge discount, almost as much as i'm obsessed with fashion & style.

*** here's a great argument that transgression & power are being regained (somewhat) by the couture houses.

food for thought

of the eleven different jobs i've had in fashion, designing shoes....

five of the companies for which i've worked have been in bankruptcy, severe financial distress, bought out by other companies, cease to exist, or have closed their footwear department.

most of which has occurred in the last three years.

this recession blows, y'all.

what fashion girls really say......

last night, i met up with some awesome girls that i used to work with. i asked lorin for some business advice... and then i recorded it:

don't let anyone tell you different. we, in this industry, are just a bunch of nerds*.

*as evidenced by the fact that i figured out how to make a quicktime movie on final cut express, just for the purpose of sharing this audio file with you. neeeeeerd.

ridiculous advice from an l.a. fashion designer

sometimes i'm really inspired by the developing fashion industry in los angeles!

and other times, i just want to cry, because of the mediocrity that passes for good work in this town.

i recently went to a seminar on "how to develop your brand". the moderator promised that the two people on the panel would be giving some solid advice on "all of the tools that you need, in order to grow your fashion business", that "you'll be able to take back to your office or studio, and use day to day".

i thought i'd share with you all some of this really terrific advice.

click here to listen.

lafw? what's lafw?

i love thinking about fashion. i love dissecting the ways in which individuals make style choices, and i love love love to look at fashion trends, and how they differ from place to place.

i often wish there was a bit more intellectual discussion in fashion..... and sometimes i feel really lucky, when real discourse emerges.

it might be considered strange to move to la, in order to be exposed to more of this discourse. certainly, la is not the center of american fashion....

... but in fact, that's exactly why i find it an interesting place to talk about fashion. many of the people working in the industry here have experience elsewhere, and have a great sense of perspective on how things are doing here vs other cities, countries or continents.

fashion moves at a slightly slower paces here, and i find that really refreshing, not the least because it gives us time to talk and think about what we're really doing.

which brings me to to the subject of los angeles fashion week.

did you know that existed?

don't worry, if you didn't..... neither does anyone else! but it does. and it turns out that there is a lot of debate about whether it should.

(photo via wetpaint.com)

i actually think that lafw could become a completely exciting and relevant part of the fashion industry schedule. but it certainly doesn't live up to that standard now.

there's really no room for any "real housewives" on the runway of any self respecting fashion week.

and i think that therein lies the problem. i'm not sure that the a fashion week in la really commands respect.

this is not because there are no respectable brands in this town! brands large and small exist & thrive here - from bcbg, raquel allegra & rodarte to ld tuttle, clare vivier & trovata (which is a short & subjective list) but not one of these brands shows at lafw. why?

because they already have thriving businesses, and have found ways to connect to national & international buyers. the kinds of buyers that don't come to lafw.

why don't these buyers come to lafw? because there's not much new or innovative on the runways.

(photo courtesy of george kim/snapstarlive.com)

why would a buyer come to a multi-label runway show put on by another retailer? what is the point of this kind of show?

successful, relevant fashion weeks are essentially trade shows. the designers put on shows, in order to sell their collections to retail buyers. the public is not invited, and there's no reason the public should be invited.

there are some labels who show real collections, and i've pulled some images of a few of the brands-

skingraft:

(photos courtesy of wwd)

laili lau:

(photos courtesy of wwd)

nami:

(photos courtesy of wwd)

i'm not a fashion critic, and i don't want to go through the exercise of what i think is good and bad.

however, on the whole the collections that are shown at lafw look like second string to nyfw. regardless of personal taste, there are technical aspects of cutting, draping and fitting that are not negotiable in apparel.

which makes the question "how relevant is lafw?" a very viable one. what exactly is the point of hosting a fashion week, if you're not able to show designers who can compete with the other cities that currently have rosters of very exciting and significant brands?

over all, la designers really need to focus on sending out looks that are on par with the shows in new york, paris & milan. the cuts & fits (and styling!) have to be absolutely rock solid, before a look goes down the runway. some of the shows, here are closer to getting there than others.

to my mind, there is no reason that lafw needs to feel like the jv team to nyfw's varsity. there are some incredibly talented designers here in this city.... however, these talented designers won't show their work next to second rate collections, which won't be full respected by the industry...

in the end, the relevance of lafw depends solely on the commitment of the designers not to show anything other than world class collection. it's incredibly hard to edit one's own work, and be highly demanding of yourself and your team. but no one ever said that being successful in fashion is easy.

cities like barcelona, copenhagen and berlin have thriving fashion weeks that do not rely on brands with huge names like new york, paris & milan. however, the work shown at these smaller fashion weeks is not second string.

the designers who represent these smaller markets have a real opportunity to show work that is innovative, exciting and really fresh, because there is usually not as much pressure to be commercial. 

la absolutely deserves to be among these smaller cities in its reputation in the fashion industry.

i am pretty sure that when the majority of designers shown at lafw have really put their heads down, and worked their asses off to show collections that are on par with the rest of the world.... la fashion week will immediately gain relevance on the fashion month calendar.

until then, personally, i don't see much need for it.

 (image courtesy of google image search)

you can read some other thoughts on this subject, if my long-winded exposition hasn't been enough for you:

robin givhan sort of agrees with me, but is maybe a bit more harsh, here.

kpcc (my favorite la radio station) covers the same piece, here. (i especially like the audio bit.)

and the blog los angeles i'm yours gives a bit of an outsider perspective, here.

search me....

here's a fashion collaboration of a new kind.

in the 1930's & 40's andré studios provided fashion sketches to scores of new york garment businesses.

somehow, in the course of more recent history, the archives of this long-gone studio had been split between the museum at f.i.t. and the new york public library.

thanks to the power of the internets, the images have all been scanned and reunited online.... and are available to anyone with an internet browser.

one of the most exciting things about this collaboration is that the website itself is fully searchable. just interested in dolman sleeves? pencil skirts? great coats? just type it in.

the sketches themselves are whimsical and romantic. to me, they really recall a different time in the fashion industry- one where the designers were men, the trends and tastes changed much more slowly, and each garment was made with care and quality....

not to mention the fact that most would be made in the united states!

you can check out some of the results of my search for "military" inspired looks, below:

the last one is definitely a favorite of mine.... i can totally see this coat in a current marc by marc jacobs or mulberry collection. the pocket details and extended shoulders are terrific.

you can read more about the project, and check it out here!

for a totally different take on the intersection between fashion and technology, if you're into that sort of discussion, check out garance doré's video on the subject, too....

wu wu wu! it's collab time....

it's true that i'm often disappointed by the design collaborations between mass-market retailers and luxury designers....

there are only a few things from these that have ever made it into my wardrobe, with any staying power... a silk evening trench coat from lanvin x h&m, two pair of sandals from swedish hasbeens x h&m, and a bikini from thakoon x target.

usually the quality of the clothing is just too bad to wear. yes, the styling is usually very good, but who wants to pay $80-150 for a piece of clothing that looks like it's worth about $35? even if the colors are right on, and the silhouette looks decent on a hanger?

however, there are a couple collaborations coming up that i'm feeling semi-confident about....

jason wu for target looks pretty damned adorable, and since these dresses don't look TOO challenging for target to manufacture, i'm hoping that a couple of them will be winners:

(my favorite looks from the collection. you can see them all here.)

ok, at a second glance, that one on the top left looks like it could be a bit of a challenge to target's factories, but the other three look definitely do-able...

the other collaboration that on my anticipatory radar is marni for h&m....

so far, the photos make it hard to tell what to expect, but consuelo castiglioni is such an exciting and fun designer that i've really got my hopes up....

are these pants part of the collection!? i hope so.... i really don't see how h&m could screw those up!

do you think they'll try to do shoes? sigh.... that might wind up to break my heart, to see marni shoes done in polyurethane....

so, the wu is out in just a couple of weeks, and the marni collection in march....

my fingers are crossed that one or both are worth waiting for!

----------

later breaking update:

they ARE doing shoes! and they're LEATHER.

giant smiley emoticon here.

quick pick me up?

j. crew's online outlet has some pretty good discounts for the next few hours, and there's some pretty cute stuff left....

maybe for you? for a gift? for me?

oh, obviously the shoes are not from j. crew. those are suggestions...

do-in it right

last night was the versace for h&m fashion show here in nyc.

versace is not really my thing, so it wasn't a collaboration that i was anticipating with any kind of excitement....

but of course, this morning the blogs are full of it.

one of the most consistant elements of many of the looks in the show were black leather do-rags, worn on the head:

which reminded me, immediately of a similar look that alexander wang showed for spring:

(all runway photos are courtesy of style.com)

i don't believe the wang pieces will be available for sale, although maybe if the versace ones blow out of h&m, they will consider making them for retail?

my first thought was to wonder what alex might have though.....

but he doesn't look too mad ;)

(above shot is courtesy of hanneli.com)

i read somewhere on twitter that their inclusion in the versace show was a reference to a show of gianni versace's, before his death.

i have no idea about that, since i was not a big follower of fashion in those days....

wang, or versace, these accessories are not for me, but....

maybe you'll be wearing them someday soon?

theory

these photos have been making the rounds on a lot of the fashion-watching blogs and websites:

 

you've probably seen them. 

they're from the louis vuitton spring 12 show....

i'm pretty sure that i can explain what's going on here...

it's called crocking, and it's pretty common.

you've all seen it when you've put a bag with a red strap onto your white t-shirt clad shoulder, and gone for a walk on a warm summer's day....

i'm guessing that these girls were wearing a different style of shoe at another show earlier the same day, and that the shoe was of a red / purple / dark color. the simple fact is that there was probably a bit of sweat involved (i heard the temperatures during paris fashion week were off-the-charts hot), and the color rubbed off on her foot. once that happens, it can be pretty difficult to get off....

the fact that there are clearly two girls in the same show with similarly stained feet only strengthens my argument. it's very likely that the walked in the same show previously, and had similar colors rub off on their feet. the one on the left even looks like the shape of a boot!

also, since the shoes that the girls wear on the runway are not production quality, a lot of the materials used are not finished to prevent crocking.

don't worry. by the time the offending shoe gets on a selling floor, the materials will be perfected, and they won't make your feet look this way, i promise.

so, there... mystery solved. 

i'm not going to argue that modeling is a dangerous & unhealthy profession. however, spending 5 minutes walking down a runway in sample shoes that are not meant to be worn on the street is not doing these girls any harm.

i'd spend more time making sure they are above the age of 16, and are eating decent meals every day, before we freak out about a couple of ugly photos of feet!!

baubles bangles and.... eh.

do you guys like the jewelry line dannijo?

they've gotten a ton of attention recently, not least of which is because of their friendship and association with the man repeller (whose blog i love).

but i'm just not sure about them.

to me, it kind of looks like a couple of kids got access to some great hardware and stones, and started putting them together like puzzle pieces. the sum being worth less than the parts:

they're not bad looking, but they just look a bit slapped-together, rather than really considerately designed.

do you agree? or am i way off the mark here?

when i went to check out their site, i did find a couple of things that i liked. most notably, these clean, basic, minimal rings:

perhaps this just reflects my interest in more streamlined lines these days, and more architectural accessories?

but i don't know..... i just think maybe these two were happy accidents.

thoughts?