Author: KnowlesMalinda

February 17, 2013

Funky Street Style, Grunge, Punk and Pop Art on the Runway during NYFW FW 2013

So, grunge, punk, pop art and New York street style walked the runway during this past New York Fashion Week. Jeantrix, Tumbler & Tipsy, Ashton Michael and Jeremy Scott all gave us funky street style, embracing New York for Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2013. They all combined funky street style with grunge, goth, punk rock, art or pop art images while fully embracing city life and taking their imaginations to another level.

Jeremy Scott fully embraced color, specifically neons, with major inspiration from pop art.

Ashton Michael’s “Black Heart” Collection gave us full New York City chic grunge shown at Conair Style 360 New York Fashion Week.

Jeantrix, originally from Philadelphia, has always embraced the pop art theme. Check out the multicolored leather jacket on the male model in their Lucid Dreams F/W 2013 Collection Fashion Film (featuring their version of the Harlem Shake).

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Also shown at Conair Style 360, some funky punk rock looks from Tumbler and Tipsy.

Interesting and creative stuff from these designers. Shop the Funky Street Style Look here.

Yours,

“Fashionably-Late”

Malinda Knowles

February 15, 2013

Brunch and Cocktail Reception for U.S. Debut and Upcoming European Launch of LXRCO

This week I met the Blonde Salad Chiara Ferragni who hosted the official U.S. debut and upcoming European Launch of LXR & CO at Empire Hotel. We were both wearing bright red lipstick and the red hat Chiari had on was to die for. I had on the usual work gear, a wool skirt from MaxMara, black blouse from MaxMara and a grey Zara jacket. We took a break for brunch from Lincoln across the street at Empire Hotel and it was great. We ate lobster rolls, steak and veggie skewers, crab cakes, mimosas and more.

LXR & CO specializes in the online sale of vintage luxury good products where members can get designer labels at up to 80% off. So, bottom line, if you’ve got a great bag that you just don’t really use anymore, sell it to them and make some money. Or, on the flip side, get a beautiful handbag for less!

February 15, 2013

Black, White, and Oxblood from Nicci Hou at Designer’s Premiere NYFW Fall 2013 Show

Later this past Sunday, I attended the Designer’s Premiere NYFW Show at Helen Mills Event Space downtown.

Nicci Hou featured some interesting cuts in mostly black, white and oxblood for men and women. Check out some of the looks below.

Yours,

“Fashionably-Late”

Malinda Knowles

February 14, 2013

Le Normandie: Catherine Malandrino Fall 2013 Fashion Week Presentation

This past Sunday I helped at the Catherine Malandrino Fall 2013 Fashion Week Presentation downtown. Le Normandie was the name of the collection featuring great geometric shapes, beautiful silhouettes and lace overlays. And, of course, the international fashion community was there to check it out.

The look on the models was very natural and simple, but the clothes were anything but that. I wore one of her Black Label leather skirts with lace cut outs along with leather boots for a biker look. Check out some of the looks and photos from the presentation below.

February 9, 2013

Do Color in the Winter: Harlem Fashion Row Fall/Winter 2013 Collective Fashion Show

This week I attended Harlem Fashion Row’s sixth annual Fall/Winter Fashion Show at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. Well, it was quite the event with everyone from Nana Meriweather, Tatijiana Shoan, editor-in-chief of As If Magazine, Bevy Smith, Tyson Beckford and more in attendance. Above looks from designers Chantell Walters and Kimberly Goldson, finalist from Project Runway.

For those that don’t know Harlem Fashion Row is a company that supports emerging African-American designers and perhaps me sometime soon. This was their very first Fall/Winter show and I applaud Brandice Henderson and the designers for their hard work.

Espion Atelier by Deidre Jefferies

My favorite collection is kind of a toss between the first and the last. The first collection by Deidre Jefferies featured great ready to wear in mostly black, grey or bright yellow. It was funny to see because that’s exactly what I was wearing; a bright yellow dress, black blazer and grey coat. Even though black is New York’s most chic color, I am definitely not afraid of color in the winter.

The last collection by Kimberly Goldson featured some amazing, unique and beautiful pieces. She is a former Project Runway star and said she was inspired by Michelle Obama. Wanted for all of us to “see ourselves in the clothes.” Well, I did Kimberly, and I am leaning towards being most excited about your collection.

The show also featured a menswear line by Sandro Romans with very interesting headwear. One of the models told me that they actually wore a scarf around their head with a hat pinned to the top. Creative, I thought.

Yours Truly,

“Fashionably-Late”

Malinda Knowles

February 6, 2013

The Cost of Producing a Fashion Show

New York Fashion Week is almost here and everyone is very busy getting all those last-minute details together to make for a perfect show. And, you know that old Murphy’s Law– what can go wrong will go wrong.

So, I was thinking to myself, just how much does it cost to put on an amazing show? Well, of course it depends on if you are keeping it basic or doing something over the top like Chanel. But let’s get to the bottom line. It’s business and designers are selling clothes and an image. So how much does it really cost?

Well, here’s a list of a few possible costs;

Production and Equipment; 50K to 300K+

Videographer: 3K to 5K per hour

Stylists: 5K to 20K per day

Hair and Makeup Team: 5K to 100K+ per show

Models: unpaid to 200K+

Venue: 10K to 50K+

According to the New York Times, the Marc Jacobs show cost $1 million in 2011, or $1750 per second. The breakdown on that; 500 guests, 63 outfits, 45 second model appearance, 22-inch human hair extensions for each model at $180/head, 50 hair stylists, 35 makeup artists and 70 dressers. The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show rang in at about $12 million last year, says Business Insider.

Last year’s Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2013 Paris show directed by Marc Jacobs featuring models descending from escalators in the Louvre. Burberry literally made it rain/snow at their Fall 2012 London show.

The smaller fashion brands have done presentations instead of runway shows, spotted their own venues, casted their own models and utilizing the help of volunteers and interns to cut costs. So, given what brands shell out in terms of money, we can all understand why it’s so important who is at your fashion show and where they are sitting.

I can’t wait to see who takes the cake this year in over-the-top fabulousness.

Yours Truly,

“Fashionably-Late”

Malinda Knowles

February 5, 2013

AS by DF Fall 2013 Fashion Presentation

So, last week I attended AS by DF Fashion Presentation featuring some new Fall 2013 designs from Denise Focil who is doing a relaunch. She’s done work for J. Lo and others and is mostly based out of Los Angeles but is trying to get her stuff out here to New York. Leather is her thing and I liked some of the leather pieces that she had.

Denise wore a dress from her new collection with some great leather striped detail featuring see through fabric. I’ve noticed this seems to definitely be a trend this year.

Her ASTARS Line, a lower price point collection, evidently might be at Intermix stores this Fall. There was a dress that I absolutely adored with very soft fabric and stretchy vegan leather sleeves that will be retailing for about $90. I was impressed.

Tyson Beckford and Melyssa Ford came by to view the collection as well. Good stuff Denise, looking forward to seeing your stuff in New York.

Yours,

“Fashionably-Late”

Malinda Knowles

Photo Credits: Carly Otness/BFAnyc.com

February 2, 2013

Neiman Marcus and Target Line Flop

So, everyone and their mother these days since the economy crashed in 2008-2009 has seemingly jumped on the ‘I’m a high-end designer for low-budget stores’ bandwagon. Well, it takes a lot to successfully run a high-end fashion business and one must do what one can to survive and thrive. But, the consensus seems to be that a high-end designer or department store like Neiman Marcus should just stay that way and not try to parlay with your say, Target customers just to make some sales.

Evidently, its wiser to have a Marc by Marc Jacobs line under your umbrella like the Marc Jacobs fashion house as opposed to looking for a permanent collaboration with a lower price point store/brand as it is just not your customer base. Designers jumped on the Neiman Marcus Target collabo and Target customers complained that the prices were much higher than what they were used to paying but not much better quality than all the other products. Prices were slashed almost right away and according to Time Magazine, the entire collection was marked down 70% starting January 1st.

I’m definitely keeping this in mind for my future projects. If you’re a high-end designer, it may pay to just have your own lower price point line under your own brand than to do a collaboration like Neiman Marcus for Target.

Yours Truly,

“Fashionably-Late”

Malinda Knowles

January 30, 2013

Wearable Art Inspiration: Proenza Schouler Graffiti Bag

I’m totally on to this new bag from Proenza Schouler’s PS1 Collection. Take this graffiti covered bag to the streets with some leather pants, sneaker heels and one of those skull shirts and jewelry from Alexander McQueen. Check out some ideas to mix and match in my Funky Street Style collection here.

Yours Truly,

“Fashionably-Late”

Malinda Knowles

January 29, 2013

Schiaparelli, Structure and Shoulder Pads, are they here to stay?

I personally like shoulder pads in women’s clothing. Know they were big in the 1980s, I hardly ever saw my mom walk out to work without them in a fancy suit. They have recently made a come back but, are they here to stay?

I was sitting in textile class talking about how different fabric does different things for women’s wear and shoulder pads came up. We started chatting about if in ten years, we’ll look back and say absolutely not. I know that mohawks and shaving half of your head will definitely be a thing of the 2010’s but shoulder pads, I don’t know.

Elsa Schiaparelli, an Italian designer of the 1930s and 1940s inspired by Surrealists like Dali, is noted to have introduced shoulder pads in women’s clothing. She seemed to be into form and structure like what we are seeing in some of the newer designs today. Like, for instance, this skeleton dress with shoulder pads below.

Check out the detail on the shoulders of this dress worn by Mrs. Reginald Fellowes in 1933. Schiaparelli and Prada were featured and compared at The Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met) last year for their spring exhibition.

Schiaparelli had some great vision for her time. I think there might be periods when the shoulder pad will be more prevalent in fashion than others, like the 1940s and 1980s. But, my prediction is that the shoulder pad is here to stay.

Yours,

“Fashionably-Late”

Malinda Knowles