Author: KnowlesMalinda

June 10, 2013

Miami Design District, Graffiti and Louis Vuitton

Graffiti Covers Louis Vuitton Store in Miami

According to Business of Fashion, developer Craig Robins’ Miami Design District is growing at a rapid pace. Artists, interior designers, architects, and luxury good stores have clustered in the neighborhood. The feel of Miami, everlasting impact of Cuban and Latin American culture, as well as the artwork are shaping the character of this new district and business is experiencing success. Real Estate professional Zendell stated that “…before, Miami was a place to unload your summer gear, now even cashmere sells in Miami.”

I thought it was particularly interesting that artwork and even graffiti seem to permeate the area. Street artist Retna covered the Louis Vuitton store graffiti-style and the brand has marketed graffiti-covered merchandise as well. Robins states that “when you come here there will be a lot of art, anchored by the Rosa de la Cruz collection and my own collection.” Robins is an avid supporter and collector of the arts. He is Founder and Chairman of the Anaphiel Foundation, member of the Board of Trustees of the Miami Art Museum, and Principal of Art Basel Miami. Over 100 brands are expected to have locations in the District by the end of 2015, and I am very excited to see the area develop.

Graffiti Wall in Miami

Graffiti Wall by Rime in Miami

Sincerely Yours,

“Fashionably-Late”

Malinda Knowles

June 8, 2013

Cute New Shoes at The FFANY Shoe Show 2013

This week I attended the Fashion Footwear Association of New York (FFANY) Shoe Show 2013 in midtown and was in shoe heaven! There were plenty of shoes from over a hundred brands and the suggested retail price for many of them were well within reason. New York showrooms were open this week for market as well. Shoe lovers, get in here!

I whirled through three floors of shoes and my favorite and the funkiest shoe was from J.C. Dossier. But as these shoes are not on the market yet and knock-off brands are rampant, I won’t be able to share them with you. I can tell you, however, that they were some of the most creative, kooky and colorful wedge heels I’ve ever seen! They will be in stores soon. Apart from those, I adored a pair of Kiss & Tell blue ruffled booties (pictured below), a pair of NYLA orange spiked sandals (above), and several from Six London (may have photos soon).

I also ran into Ivy Reyes of Luichi NY, a fellow FITer, who showed me some new dark blue python shoes (below) with a high-backing, apparently a big trend for the upcoming season. London Trash also had several shoes with a high-back (pictured below).

Wedge sneakers, spikes, high-rising heels (like London Trash above) and sequins seemed to be dominant trends at the Show.

The most innovative pair of shoes were from Cassandra Droogan of Protect Your Shoes In Style (PYSIS). She created a pair of boots that will go over your expensive pair of heels if you happen to be out in unfavorable weather conditions. Seems like a solution to me, instead of trying to change shoes all the time. I did not try them on but Cassandra modeled them below.

I also ran into Melissa Tierney, FFANY Social Media Chair and Creator of Look 4 Less, a page about putting a look together on a budget. I was struck by Melissa’s necklace and pretty blouse who told me she got them from Target and H & M for about five dollars. I was wearing a white leather and linen Vince jacket, blue Kelly Wearstler skirt, my Giuseppe Zanotti pumps and a white blouse from H &M.

Sincerely Yours,

“Fashionably-Late”

Malinda Knowles

June 5, 2013

Nine Fave Looks from Michael Kors Safari Themed Resort 2014 Collection

These are looks I could rock this summer! I’m absolutely loving the Michael Kors Safari Themed Resort 2014 Collection. Check out the looks above. There’s a little bit of everything in here; going to work, going to a futuristic tropical island or even a formal dinner. Either way, there’s something in here for everything and I’m loving it.

Sincerely,

“Fashionably-Late”

Malinda Knowles

June 4, 2013

Stopped by The Rush Arts Gallery This Weekend for the Closing Reception of Physically Practiced

This weekend I stopped by the Chelsea Rush Arts Gallery in a hot orange jumper (similar here) to catch the tail end of their Physically Practiced Performance and Closing Reception. Artist MarIo [Or Am I] Platypus went from painting a wall with interpretive language to actually frying a fish in a performance art dance. The studio also features artwork from artists Samson Contompasis, Musa Hixson, John Lee, and Jonathan Villoch (Depoe). The artists all incorporated movement into their work whether it be martial arts, breakdancing or simply meditating on dirt from the earth. I just loved Samson Contompasis and Jonathan Villoch’s pop art portraits of real women (pictured above) which he is using to raise awareness of women’s rights. And they displayed John Lee’s jump suit and a video of him literally break dancing and painting at the same time.

I met Curator Charlotte Mouquin, her team and photographer Greg who were all too gracious in having me at the studio. Charlotte and her team posed for a quick photo below after the event. Fried fish, breakdancing and painting simultaneously. Great stuff at the Rush Arts Gallery this past weekend.

Sincerely,

“Fashionably-Late”

Malinda Knowles

May 31, 2013

Fishy Business: Goldfish Swim in Handbags for Graduating Designer Cassandra Verity Green

So Central St. Martin had their annual fashion show to showcase the work of its graduating students. Designer Cassandra Verity Green decided to feature her ‘pet goldfish’ swimming in her handbags on the runway. Now that’s fishy business.

According to the Telegraph UK, The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) absolutely does not approve of the use of living creatures on the catwalk. A spokeswoman for the organization stated: “While we understand that a graduate fashion show is about grabbing attention and headlines, we do have concerns that using a living creature to create a novel or unusual accessory encourages people to see them as replaceable ornaments, rather than living creatures in need of care and commitment.”

Now fashion is an art form and the runway features lots of fashion that never retails. Fashion always seems to strike a nerve, push boundaries and create controversy. But, isn’t that what fashion is supposed to do?

Whether Cassandra meant to retail her goldfish handbags or not, we must admit that it was a creative idea. It is the translation from runway to real way that the RSPCA is concerned with. But I think most of us want our handbags to accommodate items such as cell phones and lipstick, not goldfish.

Sincerely,

“Fashionably-Late”

Malinda Knowles

May 30, 2013

The Consignment Bandwagon: I-Ella, Vintage Betsey Johnson Dress and Suzy Menkes

So after meeting Ella, founder of I-Ella.com, I decided to try the site and I love it! Who knew there were so many others that wear something once and never wear it again? We all have several items in our closet that probably have not seen the light of day for years! And it’s good stuff but either we just fell out of love with it, we’re over it because it had its “moment” or we just don’t go to enough cocktail or dinner parties. Whatever the reason, if you haven’t already, you should definitely jump on the consignment bandwagon. If you have nice designer pieces, why not get some cash instead of letting it sit in your closet for ages?

Suzy Menkes just recently announced that she will be auctioning her own private collection of goodies from Yves Saint Laurent to Christian Lacroix starting July 11 through Christie’s online. She admits that she hasn’t “thrown anything out of…[her]…wardrobe since 1964.” She continued saying “If I had a large open space in my home, I would dedicate it, like an art gallery, to my collection. But there is something sad about clothes laid in a tomb of trunks. They need to live again and this auction provides the opportunity for them to walk out in the sunshine, to dance the night away and to give someone else the joy that they gave to me.”

With that being said, check out I-Ella and my pink Betsey Johnson dress here.

Photo Credit: Jamie Nelson

Sincerely,

“Fashionably-Late”

Malinda Knowles

May 29, 2013

Parlez-vous Français? Learning French on My Summer To-Do List

So now that summer is finally here and things slow down just a tad bit so that everyone can scurry to the Hamptons or that tropical island, I am setting a goal to learn just a tad bit of French. I already speak Spanish and they say that French should not be that tough as they are similar languages. With these lofty goals and some of this work that I am doing, no doubt, a tad bit of French will help.

I’ve had my eye on this beautiful green Python clutch from Lanvin that is not currently being shipped outside the EU. Fellow fashion lovers, these are the kinds of things that make you want to hop on a plane to France, right? Well, anyway, let’s see how much I can learn over the summer. Do you speak any languages?

Sincerely,

“Fashionably-Late”

Malinda Knowles

May 28, 2013

Retail Fashion Truck on Wheels Post in Olena Fashion TV’s Magazine

Hope you had a great Memorial Day Weekend! Olena Fashion TV recently reached out to me to feature a guest post in their online Fashion Magazine. Check out my post First Food Trucks, Now Retail Fashion Trucks on Wheels? article in the online magazine here.

Sincerely,

“Fashionably-Late”

Malinda Knowles

May 13, 2013

Summer is in the Air: Waves, Water and that Perfect Maxi Dress for a Hamptons Weekend

I was looking at some old Instagram photos of an amazing time I had on the beach last Memorial Day Weekend and decided to share a few. I just can’t wait for the weather to fully warm up in New York City and for a few Hamptons weekends. As an original native of Florida, I live for the beach (only the good ones though) and I adore cute summer sandals, hats, bikinis, maxi dresses and jumpers. As I finalize my summer plans and get out of these final exams at FIT, I am absolutely looking forward to summer this year!

Here’s an old painting of a beach wave that I did some time ago but I’m challenging myself to do better than that and get a bit more depth and contour in the wave and ocean water. As I said before, all of my artwork should be up on the blog before the summer is over.

Anyway, I love a good maxi dress for the summer and spotted some new ones recently that seem great for that Florida or Hamptons summer vacation weekend. Check out a few below from Tibi, Roberto Cavalli, and Diane von Furstenberg. See even more summer wear here.

Sincerely Yours,

“Fashionably-Late”

Malinda Knowles

May 9, 2013

Will Anyone Ever Return to Sewing Their Own Clothing?

I was doing some research for a project on Twiggy and came across an amazing Prada advertisement in which she posed upside down in what was at that time, a brand new television (and probably a fascination). I started to think about the speed of production and delivery in this digital age and began to think back to the time when ready-to-wear was not as popular. My grandmother was a master seamstress and knew how to make gorgeous garments because back in those days, they would teach women “Home Economics” at school. The topics? Manners, sewing, cooking, and cleaning. We just might need a class like this again! But in any case, I thought to myself why didn’t I spend more time watching and learning from my grandmother in the sewing room?

And then I remembered. As a child, I was absolutely afraid of the needles that would pop out of her “strawberry” cushion and the speed to which the needle would pound the fabric on the sewing machine. Yes, I remember, I was terrified as a child! Now I look back and say, yes it could be very painful if you slip up with the needle but sewing is absolutely worth it. Why? Well, you can control your fabric choices, cost of production, quality and if you’re creative, you can design your own masterpiece.

That’s all well and good but let’s get real. How many of us have time in our daily lives to sew our own clothes for ourselves and our families? It’s so easy to shop ready-to-wear online, run to the store or buy off the street if you live in New York, so why sew? As I do all my homework in preparation for producing some of my own product, I ask myself if anyone will ever really sew again in the United States? And that, my friends, in the wake of an ever increasingly interdependent global economy, will remain a question to be answered.

Sincerely,

“Fashionably-Late”

Malinda Knowles