I’ve talked a lot about the dresses and how this company is doing over all, BUT I didn’t point out the incredible accessories which adorned the models. Check out these dazzlers:
GOD this is my kind of necklace! What I love most- you can wear it with a gorgeous gown (pictured here) or with a pair of jeans and a t-shirt!
Again- wearable art! Just awesome.
Five things I LOVE about MB fashion week:
1) The big post summer reunion with all of my fashion friends
2) Wearing all of my new fall clothes (MB Fashion Week = back to school for fashion peeps)
3) Spending so much time in Bryant Park
4) Watching the new assistants throw around ‘tude to make themselves seem more important
5) THE J. MENDEL PRESENTATION
Yes, Giles Mendel creates pieces that are unbelievebly out of my budget (an average dress costs upwards of $1500- fur coats starting price $5000), but what I love most about this brand is that it does not deviate from their core audience- wealthy women (read: NOT ME) who, despite a horrible recession and cutting back still indulge in a little slice of luxury. What I love even more is this brand has turned a profit (sales up 20%) over the last year while most luxury companies are experiencing sinking revenues. Also the CEO is amazing. Susan Sokol is the former president of Vera Wang, a cancer survivor and all around power woman.
This picture does not do this dress justice- WAY more gorgeous in person!
The signature J. Mendel fur.
I love the back of this dress.
The front of the dress is incredible too!
More gorgeous floor length gowns.
Cocktail dresses!!
This is wearable art.
This look makes me happy.
So does this one. Most of Rachel’s pieces sell in stores like Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus. (*Note NMGA’s same store sales were down by 27.3 % in July. I know- Yikes.)
Rachel told me her way of dealing with the recession was to self edit more and put looks down the runway that would a) resonate with the consumer and b) sell at retail. Hmm. This look kinda reminds me of a bathrobe my mother used to wear back in the early 80s. Not sure how well that’s gonna sell since I don’t see bathrobes being a staple on the red carpet.
When I’m not on air I do my best to not pay much attention to my tresses (think: Courtney Love meets Carine Roitfeld). So you can imagine how psyched I was when the AWESOME Ted Gibson pointed out his key look was the messy pony tail. He called it “wet and wild” (I would have called it “messy bed head”) used Build It Blow Drying Agent and set it with Beautiful Hold Hairspray. All of his products are available at his salon or at Target. God that makes me SO happy.
I LOVE this! Totally what my hair looks like on my off days!
There are two constant truths in my life: 1) I am ALWAYS running late. 2) I tend to find myself in some pretty unbelieveable situations. Usually those truths never collide into a serendipitous moment, but on Thursday that’s EXACTLY what happened when I missed Elie Tahari’s presentation (by about half an hour because the Mara Hoffman/Nicholas K/Whitney Eve presentations went over) then RAN INTO Elie Tahari in the hall way of his show room!
We talked about Fashion’s Night Out which was happening that night (video TK) and his take on it. This is what he said:
“I really think if anyone is going to shop tonight it might be the fashion people. I doubt the general public will come out.”
Where I have yet to see the numbers from Fashion’s Night Out, Tahari, who told Fashion Wire Daily they have been responding to the market downturn by reducing price points and producing clothes in color palates like beige and sand, expects this collection to retail in 300 locations.
Hitha Prabhakar @ Mercedes-Benz FashionWeek – Elie Tahari from Hitha Prabhakar on Vimeo.
Hitha Prabhakar @ Mercedes-Benz FashionWeek – Lunch from Hitha Prabhakar on Vimeo.
It’s been an INSANE 48 hours as you can see from my previous posts. And while I could probably tell you details about all the clothes I saw down the runway, give you my opinion (btw, I not a fashion critic), I am gonna go ahead and give you an insider’s look as to how we eat during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. Basically whatever we can get…
Amidst all of FashionRocks insanity, I almost forgot about fashion week. Just kidding! But seriously folks, it definitely feels like fashion week started days ago when really today was the first day. Since I was caught up making sure the Pussy Cat Dolls looked fantastic down the red carpet, Emma graciously went to Erin Fetherston for me. This is what she had to say:
“Even though I was sitting behind a man with a straw fedora at the Erin Fetherston show, I still got glimpses of each outfit that was coming down the runway…hits of lime, lavender, sequins and gathered ivory skirts that looked like whip cream. I was sort of dissapointed that the man in the fedora didn’t block my whole view. The collection was called, “East of the Sun and West of the Moon.” It SHOULD have been called “25 going on 5.” Though Fetherston is known for her designs as being feminine to the max, her Spring 2009 collection looked like it was taken from a 5 year old’s closet and made into a woman’s size 0.
The final dress was called “Sunset Ombre Flowing Cloud Gown” – and it looked exactly like that… but what’s next? A model riding a unicorn down the runway or butterflies and bubbles flying out to the photographers at the end of catwalk? My wish to Fetherston is that she’d keep her femininity because that is what she is known for, but mature the collection so it would relate better to her audience.”
Whoa Emma. Harsh but in a great way! If you were at the show, what do you YOU think??
I just got THIS in my inbox a couple days ago:
On behalf of IMG Fashion, press & industry registration is now open for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York. See below for more details on this fall’s most exciting fashion event.
*Sigh*
OK before everyone starts to freak about “yet another fashion week in a small city,” here me out. I am in love with the little city of Cleveland. Last year I went for a weekend and it was fabulous. The Indians were playing the gross Red Sox, the people were seriously lovely (even though their team lost), the food was great and I was actually a little sad to be coming back to New York. With that said, I wasn’t really sure what they meant by “fashion week in Cleveland” when I came across this article on cleveland.com. This piece outlined a talk given by Megan Spagnolo, costume curator at the Western Reserve Historical Society about the history of children’s clothes. How cute, right?? Did you know the color “pink” was orginally meant for boys because red was seen as a masculine color? Did you also know boys and girls used to wear dresses? Why is Cleveland so damn wholesome?? Ooh I just want to give it a good squeeze!!