LVMH x Parsons at Milk

Went to LVMH/Parsons “The Art of Craftsmanship Revisited” presentation at Milk last night, which was really amazing. Even got some press photos of me taken! Is it because I’m that cool? Or is it because Clint from Patrick McMullan is a nice guy?

Enjoy these photos, taken after a couple glasses of champagne (aka me making excuses for my lack of photography skills…)

Concert Photos (Part I)

Enormous thanks to Simon Collins, Parsons The New School for Design students, and The New School’s Tishman Auditorium for making this event possible; to James Bae, photagrapher; our volunteer staff.  And to all the incredible musicians–Walter Aparicio, Asuka Fu, Josh Henderson, JY Lee, and SYBARITE5–you all rocked it!

Enjoy these snaps, taken by Lydia Kim, the other half of the design duo that won the Reconstruction competition.  More photos on their way…

Reconstruction: Music&Music Inspired Fashion

Join us tonight for Barber Souvenirs, Ravel Piano Trio in a minor, and the New York Premiere of Thomas Osborne’s Furioso-Vendetta.  And fashion inspired by these pieces of music, made out of Louis Vuitton samples!

Models: sit back and enjoy the show, you won’t be working tonight.  The clothes will be worn instead by the musicians.

Take a break from an average Friday night.  Get tickets here.

Reconstruction- Not Quite Over Yet…

…because on October 2 we have a live concert at The New School’s Tishman Hall, where garments created at the Parsons/Louis Vuitton live competition will be worn by the musicians.  The students designers drew  inspiration from the music that will be performed at this concert.

more info: www.nouveauclassical.org

Parsons’s Fab Finalists

I went to Parsons today, where I had the privilege of viewing the capsule collections of the finalists for the Designer of the Year award, which will be announced Wednesday evening at the Parsons Fashion Benefit.  The presentations today lasted over 3 hours  and it was worth every minute (plus, it was nice to be sitting  in a fashion show instead of sitting on a piano bench for a change).  I was damn impressed.  These talented fashion students spent months on their creations, and their inspiration and attention to their art clearly shined through both their pieces and their oral presentations.  We are extremely excited to collaborate with Parsons for a top-secret event that will take place this Fall.

I got some decent snaps (as decent as is humanly possible with my old digital), but my camera ran out of battery for Michelle Copelman’s presentation, one of my favorites this afternoon!  But maybe we’ll see her stocked at Barney’s soon!

Some collections had themes in common; for instance, Julia Blum, Robert Fitzsimmons, and Shawn Reddy spoke of having the  independent, confident woman in mind when designing their collections.  Blum drew inspiration for her lingerie line, Ardor, from a novel she had read where women were portrayed as powerful.  Fitzsimmons’ collection referenced the sport of wrestling and he mentioned having read Maureen Dowd’s book “Are Men Necessary?” and found the idea fascinating, while Shawn Reddy mentioned that he grew up with very active women and has always been attracted to young women in suits. 

The idea of being enclosed or covered was shared in Anna Zurick’s and Bessie Afnaim’s collections, but in completely different ways: Zurick took the idea of feeling trapped and based her collection on “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” a memoir by late French Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby while he had  locked-in syndrome (completely written by blinking his eyes), while Afnaim talked about feeling safe and protected.  Both collections looked extremely comfortable, with Zurick’s super padded designs and Afnaim’s soft, washed fabrics, and Rachel Cohen’s line was made to feel comfortable as well, not to mention easy to wear.  Like her peers, Cohen also mentioned her wearer as a confident women (seems no one cares to have vulnerable women wearing their clothes!)

Although there are some similarities in inspiration and themes, these students’s collections were definitely completely different from one another.  Take a look…

Blum plays with Eastern and Western ideas: the column vs. the hourglass. Interesting contrast never really comtemplated.

I would love for us to wear blindfolds like this one at some point…music suggestions anyone? Hit me up!

FYI the split in the crotch goes preeeetty far back…

Robert Fitzsimmons

Everyone clapped when this came out

Shawn Reddy summer suit. The shirt is the same in the back and front; Shawn was inspired by conjoined twins

Shawn Reddy

Rachel Cohen’s designs can be worn many ways. For her, the clothes adapt to the person.

Anna Zurick talked about Bauby being trapped in layers of skin. This collection conveyed what she thought it was like for him (but this is a clearly far less painful and quite a beautiful way to be trapped)

Bessie Afnaim’s dresses included leg holes because “when girls wear short skirts they’re thinking, ooh…I think I’m showing a bit too much!” thus the leg hole makes them feel more covered. I need a dress with a leg hole STAT!

Gigi Burris’s ode to Elsa Schiaparelli. The alligator used for the vest was at one point walking around her aunt’s front yard in Florida!

Nanae Takata. This thing is completely hand-knit! That is MAD craftsmanship right there.