Retail versatility, Vuitton tops ranking, D&G mentorship, Lincoln Center vs. Bryant Park, Mulberry’s Emma Hill

Prabal Gurung Spring/Summer 2011 Runway | Source: Style.com

Stores Cheer Versatile Designs (WSJ)

“Nearly two years after the bottom fell out of the luxury business, retailers are selectively increasing their spending budgets, targeting fashions their core customers will splurge on and key pieces that the still-wary aspirational consumers will find compelling to buy.”

Louis Vuitton tops fashion brand rankings (Just Style)

“The LVMH-owned label maintained its 16th place in the 11th annual rankings of the Best Global Brands, increasing its value by 4% to US$21.9bn.”

Dolce Mentoring (Vogue UK)

“Dolce & Gabbana is launching a new platform highlighting the collections of emerging designers. Opening in Milan this weekend is Spiga2 – a new retail outlet that will house the work of the [designers'] favourite up-and-coming talents.”

A New Location That’s All in How You Use It (NY Times)

“The tents are larger and certainly cleaner than those in Bryant Park, but they don’t necessarily improve the presentations. If [the]smallest, most intimate space at Lincoln Center can’t help the audience engage in the clothes, what hope is there… for American fashion?”

Emma Hill, the Mulberry designer (Guardian)

“Mulberry is a high end but also a quintessentially British brand. Hill herself, though, has spent most of her working in life in New York, designing bags for the likes of Marc Jacobs and Calvin Klein.”

The Suite Life: Gifting and Giving Back

Actor Eva LaRue, shown at the Emmys, snapped up Twisted Silver jewelry at the Endless Summer gifting suite.

With free-flowing freebies, food and fabulous beauty treatments, touring the celebrity gifting suites is like trick-or-treating without the trick. And let’s face it: Who doesn’t love free stuff? But in an effort to balance all of the conspicuous consumption, the events — like the five pre-Emmy suites we recently visited — all have charity beneficiaries that offer those gifted a chance to give back.

At the Endless Summer suite, celebs brought or signed books for Room to Read, which builds and stocks children’s libraries, while snagging Anne Klein watches, Coleman luggage, Prana SpaCeuticals and CellCeuticals skin care, keepsake charms from Not Just Any Old Day, EcoTraveler’s solar-powered backpacks and coolers that charge small electronics, soy candles from Soy Terrific (the new blueberry muffin scent is heaven!) and Twisted Silver jewelry, made from mixed metals and recycled materials such as old magazine pages. Designer Debra Mitchell’s fans include Sheryl Crow, Maria Shriver and now Felicity Huffman and Eva LaRue, who snapped up necklaces at the suite.

Benefiting the grassroots eco-charity Green Wish and the American Red Cross, the 4th annual Eco-Emmys Celebrity Chateau was held in a spectacular hillside home constructed of sustainable wood and powered by solar panels, where caterers served organic food on biodegradable Hefty plates. We were treated to an application of highlighting shimmer courtesy Beverly Hills organic cosmetics boutique Evolue Beauty, a great OPI manicure from Rob/B salon and a sample of bath salts from Organic to Green, a bath and body line that’s packaged in recycled bottles donated by restaurants, hotels and families. We love that idea — and this promotion: Spend $30 through Oct. 1 at organictogreen.com and get free samples from the new line with code EMMYVIP.

The Sustainability Emmy Suite, benefiting the Only You Can Save Energy campaign, gifted celebs with jewelry from Lusciouss and Yasmin & Jazmin, Chilli Beans sunglasses, Ecoya soy candles and body wash and lotions from Australian dress designer Collette Dinnigan, lounge pants from Cute Booty, water-saving “air plants” from Elza Deco, and fedoras from Contraband (we hear Eva Longoria Parker loves hers).

At the Alive! Expo Green Pavilion, we sampled an eclectic mix of products that ranged from Pixi cosmetics to Aubrey Organics yummy lotions to Bug-it-Off organic insect repellent, with proceeds supporting Project Green’s plans to build a green summer camp for underprivileged youth. The GBK Emmy suite chose Hollywood Arts and The Ann & George Lopez Foundation as official beneficiaries, while several of its vendors got on the charity bandwagon.

LoveLinksAmerica pledged to donate $25 per sale of its bracelets — styled after the braided parachute-cord-and-uniform-button kind handmade by soldiers — to support wounded veterans. Rental service Handbag Envy will auction a celebrity’s unwanted purses for a charity of her choice and Tic Tac not only made a $100,000 donation to CancerCare for breast cancer awareness, it will donate $5 for each person who shares an act of caring at facebook.com/tictacusa, up to an additional $100,000.

What’s your favorite way to give back?

Photo credit: Jason Merritt

BoF Daily Digest | British billions, Runway to retail, Dazed Digital relaunch, Betsey Johnson goes Facebook Places, Fashion theatre

London Fashion Week tent at Somerset House | Source: FashionSpot

British fashion industry now worth nearly £21bn a year (Guardian)

“The research highlights not only the direct impact of the fashion industry, including wholesale, retail and manufacturing, on the economy but also its effect on other industries including financial services and tourism.”

From Runway to Retail (WSJ)

“After a New York Fashion Week of dramatic and extreme, if gorgeous, clothes strutting down the runways, now the outfits must become shirts, skirts and pants women will actually wear.”

Dazed & Confused’s Digital Relaunch (PSFK)

“With their new site, which went live on the seventh of September, after a period of hiatus with nothing but a countdown visible, they’ve cemented their position as one of the most advanced and forward thinking British publications.”

Facebook ‘Places’ Campaigns Debut With Betsey Johnson (ClickZ)

“A Betsey Johnson store in California and a novelties e-tailer will each launch Facebook Places campaigns… The location-based efforts represent the first-ever Places initiatives.”

Does Fashion Make Good Theater? (NY Times)

“From a layman’s perspective, the jostling melee of entry, seating and the all-important photo-taking constitutes the liveliest part of the show. It’s a comedy of manners to rival anything on a Broadway stage.”

New Site Style Trek is “Facebook Meets Net-A-Porter For Emerging Designers”

Style Trek, a new hybrid e-commerce and social networking site, launched this week. Founder Cecilia Pagkalinawan, who previously helped market and launch ecommerce for Burberry, Frette and La Perla, describes the site as “Facebook meets Net-A-Porter for emerging designers.”

The site currently features collections from 20 designers across the globe, and the plan is to add more designers in the coming months. To call them all “emerging” designers would be a bit misleading though. Some, like Nicole Noselli and Daphne Gutierrez who design Bruce, are better described as “re-emerging”–their line Bruce picked up a CFDA award back in 2001, they took a break for a while, and now they’re back. Mexican design duo Rafa Cuevas and Roberto Sanchez’s line Teamo (as in “te amo”) is big in Mexico but they’re looking to reach consumers in the states. Pagkalinawan finds designers through tips from industry insiders. Buyers pass along designers they like but can’t stock because they’re either too small or they’ve already reached capacity for their contemporary floors. Hopefully, they find a home on Style Trek.

While most ecommerce sites simply curate merchadise, Style Trek aims to allow shoppers and designers to communicate and engage with one another. Designers have profile pages so consumers get a better sense of the personality behind the product. Consumers can become “Style Trekkers” and create their own profiles to connect with other shoppers and designers, and “like” products, which allows Style Trek to track trends and adjust inventory accordingly.



“Rarely can a website or a store track how people react to certain products,” says Pagkalinawan. “Say we have six units of a coat left and 800 people like it, we’ll talk to the designer and make sure they’re prepared for that order.” If inventory runs out consumer interest can also spur designers to recreate a sold out item in a different fabric.

Like FashionStake, Style Trekkers get a cut (1% of sales) if they recommend a designer that Style Trek picks up.

It’s a unique model that’s been an easy sell to investors. Pagkalinawan set a goal to raise half a million to launch the site, and ended up raising three times that amount. Hopefully that’s a good sign for these entrepreneurial designers. And it’s certainly a good thing for shoppers.

Zero + Maria Cornejo Keeps It Clean

Maria Cornejo’s press release for her Spring/Summer 2011 collection seemed complicated and even overwrought. Cornejo said she’d been “exploring the idea of cultural displacement” and the release mentioned the “push-pull of an ocular lense” and “an illusion of structure with plissed angles.” I don’t know what a “plissed angle” is or how clothes can reflect the “push-pull of the ocular lense,” but I do know that when the actual clothes came down the runway, they were anything but complicated and overwrought. They were simple and graceful and classic Cornejo.

When I picture the girl who wears Zero + Maria Cornejo, she is someone I envy. She’s international, probably in the art world, maybe a gallerist with galleries in Barcelona and London, or a sculptor who spends half the year on an island in Greece and the other half in New York. Her style is effortless but reflects her worldliness and creativity and appreciation for art.



Maybe that’s what Cornejo meant by exploring “cultural displacement.” Her designs this spring seemed to draw inspiration from across the globe–from African-inspired prints to simple silhouettes with clean lines that recall an Asian aesthetic. There were silk jumpsuits and pants that tapered at the ankle, jackets and vests that hung just right. But draped dresses are what Maria Cornejo does best, and this season’s collection was no exception. Some dresses had one shoulder, some were strapless, some were in prints (the print of magnified burlap stood out), but all of them were draped beautifully–soft points around the hips, gathered drapes down one thigh. So it was fitting that Cornejo ended her show with a beautiful cream dress described on the line sheet simply as “dress in Drape.”

Paola Hernandez’s Dress Your Self

Those familiar with Paola Hernandez know better than to cast off any of her collections as “just clothes”– well-thought-out, highly intellectual concepts are the trademark of the Mexico native. Her Spring 2011 line, entitled “Dress Your Self,” was of course no exception. Paola followed up her last collection with what she described as a series of basics that “draw attention to the subject wearing them.” When she and I had last met, she had described her urge to create a collection that, when worn, would set the wearer apart from the crowd even when the viewer was walking behind them on a crowded street.

And, to be sure, some of the items she showed on Tuesday night did include subtle but intriguing detailing on the reverse side. While black was overwhelmingly dominant, I’m certainly not complaining–the entire collection was chic and wearable, and I’m not embarrassed to say that I’m now pining for more than one of Paola’s adorable outfits (can we talk about that cape?!).

Watch Oscar De La Renta’s Runway Show Live!

After the brand’s successful foray into online streaming with its Resort 2011 show, Oscar de la Renta will once again be offering the opportunity to watch their Spring/Summer 2011 show live at 5pm EST with backstage coverage beginning at 4:30pm EST. You can tune in here to Fashionista at 4:30pm to watch the livestream. After the show, there will be special items that can be purchased right off the runway.

The mass of livestreams this and last fashion week foreshadows Lauren Santo Domingo’s online trunk show concept, which will livestream shows and offer items for purchase almost immediately after the models step off the runway. She and her business partner just scored over $1 million from a private equity firm, which is pretty exciting.

New and IMPROVD: Conceptual Wearables

It’s no secret that neutrals are having their day, which means that the focus is on texture. IMPROVD takes an extreme, in-depth look at this from not one, but several innovative angles. On Tuesday, designer Valentino Vettori presented portraits by Yellana Yemchuk of a “carefully curated sampling of dynamic women” wearing a variety of black, white, and beige looks from the collection.

Guests were then invited to get up-close and personal with the pieces, hung throughout the incredible indoor/outdoor space at The Standard Hotel. The night hit its peak with a special performance by recording artist Sky Ferreira and Daniel Merriweather, following showings of Yemchuk’s film interpretation of the looks in motion on ballerinas. And with texture-heavy textiles like these, motion suits them–the looks were distressed, over-dyed, and much more.

The space was packed with excited guests and press correspondents alike, and even a celebrity or two–we imagine that Yelena’s hopes of featuring strong, independent women were very much realized by the appearance of the adorable and witty Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Sophisticated Ladies: Tory, Rachel, and Nanette Make Sure You Look Impeccable

Tory Burch

Over the last couple days I (along with some Real Housewives of New York), took in the shows of Tory Burch, Rachel Roy, and Nanette Lepore. I think we can agree that these three ladies have a similar customer base. Click through for descriptions and pictures, then get dressed and off to that important lunch!

Adventures In Copyright: Adam SS ’11 VS Karen Walker SS ’09

While perusing Adam’s latest collection, someone noticed the striking similarity between this tunic and a Karen Walker piece from…two years ago. They’re pretty much identical–the flower shape in the lace is slightly different (Walker’s is prettier), but everything else – the color, the silhouette, the buttons, the tiers in the middle, the collar–is exactly the same. This doesn’t look good, Mr. Lippes

Sense Of Fashion Is Looking For Interns!

Sense of Fashion is looking for talented editorial interns to begin on October 1, 2010.

Sense of Fashion is a true fashion marketplace that brings together designers, shoppers, and industry insiders to shop cutting edge designs, discover and discuss new emerging fashion. Through these connections, it allows true fashion lovers to shape trends, gain knowledge, as well as sell and shop for exceptional clothing and accessories. Founded in 2008, the site officially launched in the US in June 2010 and is based in New York City.

Sense of Fashion’s editorial interns are full members of the editorial team, and work closely with the founder and Editor in Chief of the site. They are the cutting edge voice of fashion, music, art and lifestyle. Editorial interns spend most of their time researching story leads and facts on the internet, interviewing industry professionals, writing, fact-checking, copyediting, and reviewing editorial submissions and correspondence. Interns have the opportunity to acquire short published posts and gain exposure to many aspects of blog and online publishing. They must be passionate about discovering emerging talent and knowledgable about cutting edge fashion and trends, but also immersed in music, art, pop-culture and cutting edge design in general.

Interns should have exceptional writing and editing skills, sharp analytic skills, meticulous attention to detail and factual accuracy, and familiarity with WordPress, Google Docs and basic photoshop, database programs and Internet research.

To apply, send your resume, cover letter, and two writing samples demonstrating originality in content and personality in voice to blog@senseofashion.com with “Editorial Internship” in the subject field.

From a Flower Shop to the Green Shows: Amanda Pearl and Samantha Pleet

I wish I could say that Amanda Pearl’s presentation featured lots of pearls and Samantha Pleet showed lots of pleating. Unfortunately, neither of these things is true. And the two presentations had nothing in common other than the fact that they both occurred Tuesday evening and featured an abundance of cute things that I wanted. Both were also very green, but in very different ways.

First, we stopped by Amanda Pearl’s presentation at Matles Florist. Strangely, it was the second presentation I’ve been to this week that was held in a flower shop. For Amanda, this venue choice was very deliberate and they kind of genius-ly made the plants and floral arrangements part of the presentation–or made the jewelry and accessories part of the plants and floral arrangements, depending on how you looked at it.

Amanda Brotman’s designs are fun and whimsical enough to, well, be presented in a flower shop, but elegant and high-end enough to be walked down a red carpet. In fact, one of Amanda’s signature roll clutches recently was, by Chloe Sevigny. The roll clutches were my favorite. They came in a variety of colors including this amazing leopard print with a turquoise gem closure. There were also chic little pouchettes with interchangeable handles, gorgeous costume jewelry made with vintage crystals, and a bridal collection that wasn’t the least bit cheesy.

After that, I headed downtown to the Metropolitan Pavilion to check out Samantha Pleet, who was one of ten designers to show at The Green Shows, an event focused on environmental and fair trade responsibilities. The sponsorship at this presentation rivaled that of Lincoln Center, which felt odd, and all of the featured products were very green, from fair trade vodka to organic perfume samples. The space was huge and packed with people mingling and guzzling “coco-tinis,” a mixture of vodka and Vita Coco (surprisingly good). Few people were actually paying attention to the clothes, which were very cute. There were mesh midsections, polka dotted blazers, big floppy hats, tons of cute shorts, and bows that looked cool instead of silly. Here’s a video from the show, courtesy of Elisa Hyman:

There wasn’t a single thing I wouldn’t wear. Click through for our faves from both presentations, starting with Amanda Pearl.