Last Tuesday evening I attended Neodandi House of Couture’s New York Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2013 Show at EN Japanese restaurant downtown. We were all greeted with some great Japanese cocktails; sake and an amazing Ginger drink that I must find the recipe for.
Ghanaian designer NiiLartey De Osu created the Japanese-inspired line and featured very interesting silhouettes and cuts. Neodandi had quite an interesting show with models dancing and/or walking down the runway to show off the clothes. I was taken by the glass handbags and paper skirts, they were very different from the norm. I aksed one of the models if the glass handbag was really heavy and she said no, that she would definitely wear it to a nice event. I’m very curious about these.
Afterwards, they continued the cocktails and had some lovely Japanese bites from EN restaurant, a place I would definitely return for a nice date. Very creative and different work!
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 andJeremy 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 ConairStyle 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).
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 ofvintage 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!
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.
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 knowHarlem 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.
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.
This week I attended Porsche Design’s new women’s Handbag Line Event. District Manager Jorge Vegaumana told me that their women’s handbag line is to officially launching in March in 130 stores worldwide (Miami, Boca Raton, Berlin, France, etc). I generally go for a funkier or more colorful bag line like Proenza Schouler’sbut for a conservative day bag, they get my vote. They are sleek, sexy and fun just like the Porsche car line, and their handles adjust so you can wear it on your shoulder or just carry in-hand. Check out some more of the photos below. Everyone was asking about my dress. I’m wearing a vintage Signette dress made by a local New York designer named Aysha Saeed that I got from one of her sample sales.
This Wednesday night I attended Harlem’s Fashion Row (HFR) Conversations with June Ambrose event at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem. HFR is a company founded by HFR’s CEO Brandice N. Henderson interviewed June Ambrose on stage and chatted about everything from June’s first styling gig, childhood and how to be professional in an unprofessional environment. I thoroughly enjoyed it and have included a few highlights and tidbits below.
On June’s first styling job…
Hype (Williams) was like why are you here? She was the director of marketing for Cross Colors. Did product placement and creating marketing plans. She started working on R Kelly’s Down Low music video before MTV was playing black music. I was going to bring a costume design aesthetic to black music. It was about a cinema… that’s where June Ambrose was born
On working with Jay-Z….
I worked with Jazy-Z from inception he is to date my “best friend” if he took a job it was ‘June is doing the job or I’m not doing it.’ It’s different now… what I do has become publicized… there’s so many more of “me” and a lot of “you’re an artist your sister likes fashion your mother likes fashion… you’re going to keep the money in-house”
On clients leaving her…
I don’t even worry about it I just keep on. You know your self-worth you don’t worry about things going away.
On her first job ever at Kentucky Fried Chicken…
I had this job for 2 days… thought I would work at the register and the manager said I need you to go back and clean chicken. He called my mom saying ‘oh she’s spoiled.’ That is just not what I needed to do.
On using social media for branding…
Your social media is an extension of your résumé. You’re cussin. It becomes this reality ratchet moment. You don’t know where you are going to be 5 years from now. I treat my company like a corporate company. I’m taking you around high-profile people. Corporate America did that to me. And I’ve spent a lot of time being wall papered… and I’m the only sober person in the room. Social media is your editorial platform. I am the Anna Wintour of my own… (social media).
On her down moments and biggest challenges in life…
I was raised in the Bronx in a one bedroom apartment. Moved from St. Croix. Older sister is a nurse. My first name is Junemarie. Mom’s thing was get an education get a job. When you see your mom cry for the first time cause you couldn’t pay the rent it makes you say ok get out. I don’t have childhood friends what happened was I decided I was gonna get out and kind of didnt’ look back. My mom would take us downtown… (and I)… fell in love with Manhattan at a very young age.
On if she will return to VH1 for a second season…
June says she felt she had so much more to offer than creating this “drama content” that they needed to produce. Getting into a fight etc. She was afraid of that and basically, will not be returning to VH1 for a second season. “VH1 is not a network known for doing fashion…I just don’t have a space on the network and the content, it’s just not the place for me.” June said, however, that she will be returning to television later in the year for the launch of her footwear line on HSN. Check out the video of June speaking about this below.
I truly admire June for her hard work, ethic (i.e. 7:30 AM is sleeping in), and that she is in my opinion, a respectable black woman in fashion. I applaud you June for not doing another season with VH1 or falling in line with their needed “drama content.” You said that one of your biggest fears was not being relevant. Well, June, I think it’s safe to say that if you keep it up, that will never happen.
I remember when I first laid eyes on Diane’s collection, poking around the Fifth Floor at Bergdorf Goodman. I thought to myself, these prints are so cute, they kind of remind me of the 1970s. I ended up buying a blue dress that fit me like a glove and it is hard to fit my body perfectly.
My mother and grandmother were delighted to see it and asked who made it? I told them a new designer Diane von Furstenberg and received a chuckle from my mother. She explained that Diane was in no way a new designer; that she had been quite popular in the past with her iconic wrap dress.
Fast forward to today and I am still an avid DVF Fan. The clothes are so versatile; a number of pieces can go to work, a luncheon or a party. And after reading Diane’s new fairy tale book, The Empress’s New Clothes, I see that this feeling has been shared among many people from the 1970s to today.
The book is based on the incredible life (and LOVE) of Diane von Furstenberg. It is written by a London-based fashion writer, Camilla Morton, and illustrated by The DVF Studio. I especially love this illustrated page of the Empress and her new clothes below.
I won’t spoil the book but I will say that it is no wonder that Diane is a global fashion icon, business mogul, president of CFDA, and an inspiration to women everywhere. She has a slew of awards and achievements, and has revolutionized the fashion world by making clothes ‘easy’ with her wrap dress still sold and worn today. I told Diane at her book signing event this week at Bergdorf’s that I wanted to have a brand like hers. She responded with cool confidence that I can “be the woman that I want to be.”
I am deeply moved and in awe of Diane von Furstenberg. This fairytale story based on Diane’s life is not just a fairytale. It is an inspirational piece for little girls and women alike, a tale of a princess with an entrepreneurial spirit and a few sample dresses in her suitcase. Congratulations Camilla and Diane, this is a book that I hope to pass down to future daughters in my family.
