Hooray! ‘New York Look’ Is Online!And it’s got interviews with Karl Lagerfeld and Chanel Iman, stunning photos from the shows, and tons of fall trends.
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Why Heatherette Missed Fashion WeekAt the launch party for Heatherette’s makeup line for M.A.C, we got sparkly designers Traver Rains and Richie Rich to talk to us about their absence this past February. Alas, it was all the ugly business side of things.
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How We Offended Stylist–cum–Reality Star Rachel ZoeAt last night’s Cinema Society after-party for Sleepwalking at the Soho Grand Penthouse, Rachel Zoe took a few seconds between smokes, air kisses, and her BlackBerry to chat with the Cut. She was one of the few revelers uninterested in Spitzer speculation.
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DVF: Fashion’s New Riot Grrl?Diane Von Furstenberg — riot grrl? The design genius is now the grande dame behind the latest girl-power movement. Last night, in celebration of International Women’s Day (which is tomorrow), DVF turned her meatpacking-district studio into a theater, plastered with Warholian depictions of — what else? — her face.
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Marc Jacobs: Now Appearing in Comments Sections!In the wake of last week’s madness, Times fashion critic Cathy Horyn had a moment to catch her breath just long enough to nurse her flu and reflect on the direction of New York fashion. On her blog, she mentioned that illness had kept her from the Temple of Marc — an admission, it seems, that was enough to garner a response from the man himself.
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Fashion Week Exhausting Even to ‘Teen Vogue’ EditorToward the end of Fashion Week, Amy Larocca crossed paths with Mary Kate Steinmiller, an editor at Teen Vogue. A Fashion Week veteran, Steinmiller claims that “you don’t even realize you’re going from show to show because there’s so much adrenaline.” However, she did concede that wearing heels for days at a time was rough: “Tomorrow, it might be a flat day.” See whom Steinmiller spotted at Miss Sixty by watching the Video Look Book.
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Get in Bed With Thom BrowneWere you cold sleeping last night? Are your pockets deep? If so, consider getting in bed with Thom Browne. The designer is looking for a financial partner, according to WWD. He’s not saving money on his fashion shows, nor would we want him to. After all, as Amy Larocca put it, “they are the only shows we’ve ever been to in which the audience frequently laughs out loud.” Browne’s spring/summer ‘08 show featured lifeguards and palm trees, and his fall ‘08 line, as Cathy Horyn wrote, “offered the long-awaited thrill of seeing two men share the same trouser leg.” WWD takes care to note that Browne isn’t acting out of financial desperation (Browne also designs the Black Fleece capsule collection of men’s and women’s clothes for Brooks Brothers, and his signature collection is sold at Bergdorf Goodman). Nevertheless, cold, wealthy folk looking for something original to put their money into could do a lot worse.
Thom Browne said ‘Open’ to Financial Partnership [WWD]
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Fashion Week Starts in London; Marc Jacobs Dances Dirty With Two People at His After-Party• New York said farewell to Fashion Week, but don’t be sad! It’s not really over — it just moved to London, where shows began yesterday on a sober note, signified by the appointment of the prime minister’s wife as spokesperson. Look for slideshows on nymag.com soon. [Guardian]
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The Dark Side of the Marc Jacobs Show and After-PartyYesterday’s punctual Marc Jacobs show was designed to feel like a night out clubbing, with banquettes in the front row, champagne on ice, and art-rock stalwarts Sonic Youth performing live onstage. Not everyone was feeling so glamorous, though.
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How Marc Jacobs Started (Almost) on Time, and Why Rachel Zoe Was LateMarc Jacobs kicked off last night’s show punctually at 7:20 p.m. we told you on time was the new trend! leaving the likes of Nina Garcia to tiptoe in halfway through, and Rachel Zoe to throw a screaming tantrum when she was completely shut out. We just happened to be chatting with Jacobs at the after-party at 24 Lexington Avenue when Zoe showed up to tell him the whole sorry tale.
harriet and amy
Five Things We Liked on Friday
1. Marc Jacobs’s cream cords with the wide bell leg very seventies Halston.
2.The chartreuse dress from Donna Karan.
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K-Fed Celebrates the Return of Sean JohnIt all happened so quickly: an orgy of flashbulbs, a whirl of a revolving door, and suddenly standing six feet from us in the Cipriani foyer was none other than the man, the myth, the Federline.
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Rachel Zoe Throws a Tantrum at Marc JacobsA spy at Marc Jacobs reports the following:
Rachel Zoe was seen screaming and cursing because she couldn’t get into the Marc Jacobs show. She tried to fight her way in through the bouncers, but they pushed her back. She ran off to her Town Car while the other celebs enjoyed mini-bottles of Moët and an on-time show inside.
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Critics Laud Calvin and Vera, Puzzle Over Posen and SuiAt Calvin Klein, critics marveled at Francisco Costa’s geometric minimalism and also admired Vera Wang’s newfound sensuality. Anna Sui proved quirky but entertaining to most critics, while Zac Posen’s clothes raised brows and questions. See what well-chosen adjectives made it to press in our review roundup.
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Special Moments Backstage at Sean JohnWe had a lot of downtime backstage at the Sean John show, which gave us a good chance to hang out with the male models and drink Bellinis (we know, life is hard). Nearby was a makeshift “stage”: bright lights and a backdrop, evidently where Diddy had been doing his interviews earlier.
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Breaking: The K-Fed Has Landed at Fashion Week!Hot on the heels of yesterday’s rumors that Kevin Federline would be sitting in Marc Jacobs’s front row, we have now spotted K-Fed at the Sean John show at Cipriani 42nd Street. If we were the betting kind — and our twelve-step sponsor says we are — we’d say Sean John is just K-Fed’s warm-up act (with all due respect to Mr. Combs). If he’s here, it all but confirms that El Fed will be sweating out the six-hour wait at Marc Jacobs. As any self-respecting tabloid fixture would!
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PETA Finally Gets Aggressive at Donna KaranWhen we emerged from the cab at the Donna Karan show on Friday afternoon, we finally got our first gander at some PETA protesters. There were only two of them, but they had gone all out, as apparently Donna Karan is currently PETA’s Public Enemy Number One, judging from how people are breaking into her house and whatnot.
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Fashion Reality: Saying Certain Words Is HardIf nothing else, Fashion Week is Everyman’s big chance to impress. So it was that we overheard the following conversation between one such young man and a French bartender at the Carmen Marc Valvo lunch held in a backstage VIP lounge:
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‘Times’ Fashion Editor Gets Off Herrera’s BlacklistNew York Times fashion editor Karla Martinez was looking forward to the Carolina Herrera show when Amy Larocca and our cameras saw her earlier this week. “We haven’t been invited for the two years that I’ve been [at the Times],” she said. “I think there were some bad reviews that had been written in the past.” Scandalous! Watch the Video Look Book for more hard truths about Fashion Week.
Strip TeaseThe lingerie-inspired looks we saw on spring runways like Marc Jacobs got sexier this week.
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Fashion World Responds to Marc Bribery Scandal With Resounding ShrugWhile most of the Regular World got their off-brand panties in a bunch over the allegations that the superintendent of the 69th Regiment Armory took a hefty amount of bribes from the likes of Marc Jacobs so that the designer could hold his shows (including tonight’s) in the dramatic space, the Fashion World could barely manage a yawn.
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Slightly Different Universe at Custo BarcelonaHaving spent most of our week clustered amongst French folk, we welcomed the change to hang with their fun southern neighbors from Spain at yesterday’s Custo Barcelona show. As we don’t speak Spanish, we were sadly unable to understand any of the conversations happening around us, but actions speak louder than foreign languages.
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Celebs and Alumni Pick Their Winner at ‘Project Runway’ FinaleEvery year we wonder: Is this when people stop caring about Project Runway? Judging from the clamor in and around the tents this morning (we could hear them shouting, “Rami! Rami!” from a block away), we believe the answer is no.
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Sari Sloane of Intermix Likes Costa, Posen, Proenza, and WilliamsonWith shows coming to a close, Sari Sloane, Intermix’s VP of fashion merchandising, recapped her favorite picks from the week. She loved Calvin Klein’s attention to detail, Zac Posen’s fairytale gowns, Proenza’s jewel tone, and Matthew Williamson’s boho tops.
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Cynthia Rowley: Best. Front Row. Ever!You already know from our dear Fugs that Cynthia Rowley snagged Martha Plimpton, Parker Posey, Alan Cumming, Lindsay Price, Kim Raver, Aisha Tyler, and Karen Duffy for her show’s front row.
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Ali Stephens Is Thursday’s Top ModelThursday’s catwalks were full of unexpected moments. Karen Elson took a tumble closing Zac Posen and Diddy helped her up. Aussie Abbey Lee flashed her nipple piercing beneath a sheer top at an otherwise demure Calvin Klein show. Former cross-country runner Ali Stephens opened Klein for an impressive debut on Stateside runways. She’s our top girl to watch this week and takes Thursday herself. Kendall Herbst
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The Image Guru’s Black MoodMontgomery Frazier is an image guru, which he says means he’s a publicist, marketer, and stylist all in one. These days he’s working with Julie Brown (née Downtown) on a new TV show. So what does Frazier like at Fashion Week?
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Miss J. Alexander Applauds Karen Elson’s Fall at Zac PosenAs you heard here first, the tents were abuzz last night with news that Zac Posen had virtually banned celebrities from attending his show — and that runway veteran Karen Elson had taken a catwalk tumble in the designer’s impossible platform heels.
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PETA Invades Donna Karan’s Apartment; More Black Models on the Runway• PETA says it managed to get an operative into Donna Karan’s home yesterday. The young woman tricked her way past Karan’s assistant by using a fashionable outfit and a tray of soy lattes. When Karan showed up, the infiltrator put on a DVD of animals being harvested for their pelts. [NYP]
• Runway model vet Karen Elson fell down as she closed Zac Posen’s show, and Sean “Diddy” Combs and Caroline Trentini helped her up. [The Cut]
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Video: Leven Rambin Gets Tough at Tommy HilfigerNew York’s Jada Yuan took our cameras to Tommy Hilfiger yesterday at Lincoln Center and heard from the designer himself as well as his more recognizable fans.
harriet and amy
Five Things We Liked on Thursday
1. The last few dresses at Calvin Klein. Divine!
2. The sexy colored tights on Phi’s look No. 22.
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Fashion Week Show-Hopping Wears on Anna and SuzyFor all of Fashion Week’s pretty clothes, we’re exhausted, and our under-eye circles are kinda ugly. But at least we’re not the only ones feeling a bit worn out. “You’re running all over town, and nobody’s thinking through how much time you spend in a taxi or car,” said Vogue queen bee Anna Wintour at Thursday’s 3.1 phillip lim show.
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We’re Forced to Get on Our Knees at HilfigerBecause it took us 45 minutes to get to Lincoln Center in rush-hour traffic, we might have been a little late for Tommy Hilfiger. And because we might have been a little late for Tommy Hilfiger, we might have missed the chance to sit in our actual assigned seats. This may be how we ended up loitering in a glass-enclosed balcony, fighting for a spot past the folks in standing room who’d gotten there at a reasonable hour. And that’s how we found ourselves at our lowest Fashion Week point, both emotionally and physically: kneeling on the carpet, peering through people’s legs down at the front row below.
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Plimpton’s Cute, Posey’s Ragged, and Price’s ScaredIt’s not often that we completely geek out for a celebrity, but when it happens, it’s generally only because we bump into someone from an Aaron Spelling drama and become embarrassingly unable to contain ourselves (like when we saw Nat From the Peach Pit at our grocery store and called out to him in the parking lot, which is practically against the law in California). Tragically, after a bottle of complimentary Prosecco at Cynthia Rowley’s show on Thursday, one such moment occurred in which our cool vanished like the Great Wall of China under David Copperfield’s mischievous hand.
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Model Falls! And Diddy Helps a Damsel in DistressWe almost made it through Fashion Week without a model fall. The surprise, when one finally came at Zac Posen, was that it wasn’t a newbie who took the plunge, but runway vet Karen Elson — as she was closing the show, no less. Brazilian bombshell Caroline Trentini helped her up, with help from Sean John (as Diddy/Puffy/Sean Combs is now calling himself) who chivalrously stepped onto the runway to extend a hand. Maybe he’s a gentleman after all. Elson later came out smiling with Posen for his bow. —Kendall Herbst
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Subdued, Modest Chic at Calvin KleinFrancisco Costa, the designer at Calvin Klein, takes his mandate as New York’s minimalist-in-chief quite seriously. His commitment to the line is admirable: Each of the looks in today’s collection could’ve been cut with laser. The palette was navy, black, and gray; any bits of flash were subdued, in some cases beneath a layer of sheer cashmere.
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Ali Larter: Half a Shirt Short, and Moody to BootLindsay Lohan was rumored to appear at the Calvin Klein show on Thursday, but we saw neither hide nor hair of the leggings-loving former redhead. Tragic, yet not surprising: LiLo seems like the sort to ditch. We also wondered if we’d see Kate Bosworth, since she’s appearing on CK billboards all over town.
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Breaking: No Celebs at Posen? Seriously?That’s the word in the tents right now, anyhow. Apparently he wants to lose the flash factor and have tonight be about the clothes. Now that’s just crazy talk.
The show’s supposed to start at 8 p.m. (or, y’know, 8:45). More as we know it.
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Critics Hail Marchesa and Marc by Marc JacobsPerhaps giddy from the unseasonable weather, critics were warm to Michael Kors and Rodarte and practically red-hot with lust for Marchesa and Marc by Marc Jacobs. Consider these adjectives (used in reviews) in order of increasing positivity: “almost camp,” “high-polish,” and “exuberant.” Find out which designer drove critics to the thesaurus in our review roundup.
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Vera Wang Gets HeavyVera Wang’s ready-to-wear collection is, unlike her bridal and red-carpet pieces, intensely personal. Wang has spent her entire adult life obsessed with fashion, and these are the clothes she wants to make because she dreamed them.
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The ShiningFall’s runways were glittering with more than just A-list celebs. Sequins — which popped up last season — have stuck around for another go.
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Donna Karan Is a Proactive ParanoiacDiane Von Furstenberg and Narciso Rodriguez were glowing and ready to party at last night’s Gucci/Madonna-hosted benefit for UNICEF and Raising Malawi at the U.N. But then, their shows were already over. Donna Karan was less sanguine. Her show isn’t until tomorrow, and, like a fretful mother, she worried about being away from her collection for too long. “I’m nervous,” Karan said.
ask a retailer
Jen Mankins of Bird Likes Lim, Sarafpour, Cornejo, and WalkerThroughout the week, the buyers from Bird, Intermix, Henri Bendel, and Oak will tell us which runway looks they plan on stocking. In today’s installment, Bird owner Jen Mankins loves the accessories at Phillip Lim, the colors at Zero + Maria Cornejo, and the party dresses at Behnaz Sarafpour.
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Today in Marc Jacobs Rumors: K-Fed to Sit Front Row?!There may be a bribery scandal floating around the 69th Regiment Armory, but Marc Jacobs’s show will still go on tomorrow night at the scene of the crime (bets are still out, however, on how many hours late he’ll start). As Marc is the show of the week, rumors are flying about the blogosphere like they’re, dare we say, going out of style. Cathy Horyn heard that Sonic Youth would be playing at the show and found it hilarious (why that’s so funny, we have no idea).
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Bright Colors, Cool Necklaces, and Happy Vibes at Zero Maria CornejoThere was something really special about Zero Maria Cornejo’s show yesterday afternoon, held in the designer’s new, unfinished store on Bleecker Street. We were far away from the tents, it was balmy outside, and inside, the white-box space was simple and lovely, with daylight streaming in the windows. We were already feeling fuzzy, and that was before the clothes even appeared — though once they did, we were a little mesmerized.
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Booty CallJust when we thought ankle booties would stay the reigning “It” shoe, classic, comfy flat boots hit the runways in droves.
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Mourning Fashion Week’s Classier PastSavannah M. Clark is a former stylist and college professor who still comes to Fashion Week even though no one wears hats and gloves anymore. (Her hat, of course, is fantastic.) Clark considers herself “one of Carolina Herrera’s favorite customers.” Watch the Video Look Book to see what she buys.
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Lily Donaldson Is Wednesday’s Top ModelOne of our favorite art students turned model, Sasha Pivovarova, hit the runway for the first time this week at Anna Sui. But it was Lily Donaldson (also known for dating Vladimir Roitfeld) who dominated the catwalk Wednesday.