Saturday Stimulation-It’s New York Fashion Week- Fall 2012

NYFW started off with a bang with it’s annual Red Dress Collection fashion show, an NYFW event that aims to draw attention to women's heart health by putting celebrity cat walkers in a parade of gowns by some of the country's most famous designers.

The trend this years seems to continue with colorblocking, which is hitting red carpets and magazines as we speak. BCBG Max Azria and Richard Chai Love kept colors basic and used hardly any embellishment, turning out straightforward, wearable clothes. There are more flamboyant moments to come, I’m sure, but fashion is, after all, the marriage of art and commerce. Of course, there's the celebrity element, too, and Tadashi Shoji took care of red carpet looks with his Shanghai-visits-Hollywood gowns.

Dozens of shows are planned at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week tents with another 12, Tory Burch, presenting their shows elsewhere on the Lincoln Center campus.

 

Here are some looks from Day 1.

BCBG MAX AZRIA continues the colorblocking trend that's already making its way to red carpets and magazine covers for the spring season, but there was also a muting of colors. Neon pink became a muted coral here, and purple a mellow merlot. Embellishment was sparse.

Richard Chai turned menswear into powerful looks for women with top coats, tweed jackets and pinstripe pants for female customers, and retooled trousers in his men's clothes to be slimmer and shorter than most guys are used to. The women looked put together in their mostly gray-and-black blazers and button-down shirts. There were flashes of femininity as Chai also offered some sheer layers and pieces in a delicate red floral print, a contrast to all the tailoring.

TADASHI SHOJI sent a parade of gowns down the catwalk. Nothing overly complicated or particularly edgy, but glamorous with a hint of sexy. A flame-red washed velvet gown had a dramatic cowl back filled with black beading, and ball gown with a gold-and-black beaded lace bodice had the full Cinderella treatment for its skirt.

 

Here is the weekend schedule

 

February 11

• 9AM

  RUFFIAN, STUDIO

• 10AM

  LACOSTE, THEATRE

• 10:30-11:30AM

  PORTER GREY, BOX

• 11AM

  JILL STUART, STAGE

• 12PM

  SON JUNG WAN, STUDIO

• 2-3:30PM

  RAFAEL CENNAMO, BOX

• 2PM

  MARA HOFFMAN, STAGE

• 3PM

  HERVÉ LÉGER BY MAX AZRIA, THEATRE

• 4PM

  VANTAN TOKYO, STUDIO

• 6PM

  TIBI , STAGE

• 7PM

  MONIQUE LHUILLIER, THEATRE

• 7:30-8:30PM

  L.A.M.B., BOX

• 9PM

  VENEXIANA, STUDIO

February 12

• 10:30-11:30AM

  LORENA SARBU, BOX

• 11AM

  LELA ROSE, STUDIO

• 12PM

  DEREK LAM, 330 WEST ST

• 1PM

  DKNY, 547 W 26TH ST

• 2PM

  TRACY REESE, STUDIO

• 2:30-3:30PM

  JOY CIOCI, BOX

• 3PM

  CUSTO BARCELONA, STAGE

• 4PM

  DIANE VON FURSTENBERG, THEATRE

• 5PM

  FALGUNI & SHANE PEACOCK, STUDIO

• 5PM

  Y-3, 82 MERCER ST

• 6PM

  CARMEN MARC VALVO, NASDAQ, 4 TIMES SQ

• 7:30-8:30PM

  MATHIEU MIRANO, BOX

• 8PM

  TOMMY HILFIGER, 643 PARK AVE

• 9PM

  TIMO WEILAND, STUDIO

Stella McCartney talks about leather and why you won’t see it in her shows

It’s well known that Stella McCartney doesn’t use fur in her clothing. It’s only recently that she has made her reasons known for also rejecting  leather. McCartney says her piece in a video she made with PETA- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals-timed to coincide with New York Fashion Week. She explains in the video why she stopped using animal skins. Leather isn’t a by-product of the meat industry, she says, but an important co-product that contributes directly to the ills of factory farming. 
The video is graphic and disturbing. You can view it here.
PETA planned to run a shortened version of the PSA on taxi screens across Manhattan, VeriFone Media, which manages advertising and media programming in nearly 12,000 of the city’s yellow cabs, put the kibosh on PETA’s proposal as swiftly as it was submitted, according to The Discerning Brute’s Joshua Katcher. “It’s illogical that they’re willing to play a promotion selling fashion objects, but if you dare to explain how a fashion object is made, you’re silenced,” he tells ecouterre.com. “The reality of fashion production is not often as beautiful or lucrative as the fairy tale spun about the object afterwards.”
McCartney says her goal isn’t to shame other designers or buyers. “Our aim is not to tell you what to wear but to give you the facts so you can make an informed decision the next time you’re considering buying leather,” she says. “As a designer, I like to work with fabrics that don’t bleed; that’s why I avoid all animal skins,” she says.

Fashion Week 9/10/2010

Day 2 at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week was just as stunning as Day 1.

 

Jason Wu- His Spring Resort Collection was a plethora of strong yet feminine styles. Since I am all about low key I loved his use of fresh spring colors within a muted palate.

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Rag & Bone-Their sporty collection of bandeau tops, sheer pants, long skirts and colorful prints were cute but come together a bit haphazard and messy. And the hanging gathers (?) just did me in.

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BCBG Max Azria-Ethernal,goddess, and fairy like came to mind viewing BCBG’s Spring Collection. I like they are going back to the beginning.

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Port 1961-The use of jewel colors and flowing designs created a sophisticated tropical illusion.

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Fashion Week 9/9/2010

 

Christian Siriano opened up with Fashion Week with a BANG showing  sexy metallic tweed dresses, turquoise and amber giraffe-printed silk separates, beautifully crafted leather pieces and twinkling Grace Kelly-elegant cocktail dresses draped with (for him) a restrained amount of chiffon."We were bringing in worlds from Africa...China, we had a bit of Mediterranean."

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Project Runway keeps us guessing. Only three of the 10 designers who showed today are still in the running and lips are sealed tighter then the JFK files, but I’m guessing Mondo ,Gretchen, and April. But I have been wrong every year so we’ll see.

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Ruffian attempted a strong military presence but came off more cruise line entertainment officer.

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Vena Cava continues with their minimalist style showing that elegance trumps fussiness every time.

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Stimulation Saturday-Its Fall/Winter Here

No, I haven't gone crazy or been nipping at the dry cleaning fluid again.

While your all raising those hemlines to find some relief from the heat...it's Fall/Winter in the fashion world.

So far, I'm liking what I'm seeing. Though the shows are just starting...we are seeing trends developing already.

Velvet

Alexander Wang, Diesel Black Gold, and Diane Von Furstenberg

Fur

Altuzarra, Proenza Schouler, and Ohne Titel

Layered Outfits

Rag & Bone, BCBG Max Azria, and Michael Kors

Long/Short Dresses 3.1 Phillip Lim, Preen, and Alexander Wang