ELLE & ELLE girl
Elle.Stardoll
Front row at Charlotte Ronson.
For celebrities looking to cut loose before the official after-party, Charlotte Ronson is their fashion show; this is, after all, where Samantha Ronson takes a break from her DJing duties to blast an air horn as the models take their final walk. This year, however, things were a bit crazier than usual in the front row. No one, it seemed, came alone—Sky Ferreira was joined by her boyfriend, the Virgins bassist Nick Zarin-Ackerman, Byrdie Bell sat next to her beau Nicholas McCarrell, and Angela Simmons came with not one guest, but two: her uncle Russell Simmons and her Pomeranian. It’s been a busy Fashion Week for Simmons—she’s already logged appearances at BCBG Max Azria, Tadashi Shoji, Costello Tagliapietra, and Cynthia Rowley—but it seems there’s a secret to her endurance: “You need to make sure you eat—if you don’t, you’re going to be exhausted. I’m a little tired, but [on Thursday] I got a 20-minute quick power nap that got me going.” The hardest part for her? Getting dressed. “There’s so much pressure [to look good]—I changed twice yesterday. I started the day in a completely different outfit,” she said. Nikki Reed’s no stranger to the quick change either, having traded the sequined jacket she wore to Rebecca Minkoff a few hours earlier for a Charlotte Ronson suede blazer and dress. Turns out it’s much harder to decide what to wear for a fashion show than for the red carpet. “First of all, the red carpet is about who you are and your style, but there is also something about glaming it up and going with what’s in style, whereas at a fashion show it’s about showing your personality a bit more, so there’s a little more pressure to get it all right,” she explained. Not everyone was so worried about getting ready for the show. Nicky Hilton insisted that she didn’t spend much time thinking about what to wear—“I get dressed very fast,” she noted. Same goes for Ferreira, whose rolled-out-of-bed rock’n’roll look isn’t an act: “I go to the fitting or whatever, they send me clothes…and then I just put on some lipstick and I go!”
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Nina Dobrev & Camilla Alves front row at Monique Lhuillier.
Photo: Getty Images
With Saturday’s snow—and freezing temperatures—you couldn’t blame a few first row attendees for thinking wistfully about their normal weekend routines, those sans six-inch heels and blinding flashbulbs. “I live in L.A. so I try to go to the beach on the weekends, and there are some great restaurants on the beach where you can get a drink and relax—I’m very much about tuning out,” said Louise Roe while waiting for Tibi to start. The TV host-turned-fashion designer did manage to squeeze in some downtime before the shows, checking up on her favorite websites—including ELLE.com: “I saw something funny on your site today—I’m obsessed with loads of different blogs. You’ve got to be all up-to-date!” Coco Rocha admitted at Herve Leger that she too would probably be in front of her computer if she weren’t sitting in front of the runway. “A typical afternoon I’d be working on social media, just hanging out with the hubby and being in my pajamas—something with extra give,” she said with a nod to her skin-tight bandage dress. In other words, no Herve? “No, not on my weekend when I’m having brunch and sleeping in,” said Rocha, adding, “Unless he makes a pajama one day!” Inspired, Rocha tugs at her dress and continues: “I think [Herve Leger] should do a workout video—the dress is so tight that I could do lunges, don’t you think? I’d get nice thighs! I think we should bring back a good ‘80s video.” While Rocha’s been enjoying Fashion Week for years—first on, then off the runway—Nina Dobrev was making her very first appearance. After stops at Herve Leger and Christian Siriano, Dobrev capped off the day with a front row seat at Monique Lhuillier. The Vampire Diaries star admitted that she was feeling a bit overwhelmed: “[There’s] a lot of flashing, a lot of pictures….I’m starting to go blind from the flashes. I’ll be able to wake up tomorrow and say it’s real.” In the meantime, Dobrev turned the runway show into a bit of a game, trying to spot which of Lhuillier’s gowns will end up on the red carpet. “I was definitely taking mental pictures of what I’ll be requesting soon. I can’t wait to see who’s going to wear that red gown—somebody’s going to wear it to the Oscars, I just can’t wait to see who!”
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Smile girls! Actress Ana Girardot, Katie White & Leigh Lezark front row at Kevork. Photo: Getty Images We caught up with Katie White of the Ting Tings this morning, front row at Kevork Kiledjian. The whole Fashion Week thing wasn’t quite what the first timer expected: “I didn’t realize that the shows were so short!” she said. White’s perfectly happy with the extra time though, she plans on spending the weekend putting that runway inspiration to good use. “Hopefully I’m going shopping today, because I never get the chance in New York—normally we just do a show here and then leave,” White explained, listing Opening Ceremony as one of the places she’s planing to visit today. It’s a smart idea; with most everyone else attending shows, it’s probably the quietest you’ll find the downtown boutique all year.
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Photo: Nonoo
Just three seasons in to her eponymous collection, 25-year-old Misha Nonoo is fresh off winning Fashion Group International’s Rising Star Award for women’s ready-to-wear. For fall, Nonoo worked with local New York tailors to realize a collection full of guipere lace pencil skirts, smart emerald cropped trousers, and inky peplum jackets. Manhattan-made the collection may be, but it’s an English sensibility that really informs the designer’s work. “Whilst growing up in London, I became acutely aware of the subtle differences that separate High Street brands from Savile Row tailoring,” Nonoo explained in the show notes. “I became fascinated with the quiet details that only the curious eye could see.” Paris, too, played a role this season. Nonoo cited the city and French actress Anouk Aimée as her starting points for the collection: “I’m just really captivated by [Aimée's] extraordinary beauty, and the way that French women dress—that really effortless elegance they have.” Appropriately enough, Nonoo is showing her collection for the first time during Paris Fashion Week this season. But she finds elegance in the New York woman, as well: “My woman is ageless, she’s very discerning, and she has a great sense of self. She really values style over trend. Olivia Palermo was here earlier this morning, actually, and I think her sense of style is great. Her kind of look embodies that.”
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From left to right, Band of Outsiders, Rag & Bone, Honor & Billy Reid.
Photo: Imaxtree
If you’re not yet over your antiquated fear of mixing black and blue, you’re running out of time. The fall collections are full of the sophisticated combination. Pitch black was paired with navy wool at Rag & Bone and Billy Reid; at Honor it trimmed a cobalt suit and at Band of Outsiders Scott Sternberg paired it with both cobalt and royal blue. The color combo also enjoyed a strong pairing at Prabal Gurung, Cynthia Rowley and Patrik Ervell—and it’s only day four.
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Photo: Getty Images
T
he usual suspects hang out backstage before Alexander Wang’s show—Natasha Poly, Liu Wen, Joan Smalls, Karmen Pedaru, Ruby Aldridge—but this time, there’s a new face in the mix: Gisele Bündchen. “I think Alexander is a wonderful designer—I’ve always loved his clothes,” says Bündchen, as a Redken hairstylist readies her tresses. “And he couldn’t be a nicer guy, so I’m happy to be here, supporting him—you always want to do things for people who are nice.” Bündchen says being in Wang’s show almost feels like homecoming: “It’s great to be walking with girls I walked with 10 or 15 years ago. It’s just like a reunion! We have Shalom [Harlow], Frankie [Rayder], Carmen [Kass]—it’s so fun to see everyone again.” Besides old friends, Bündchen also welcomes the adrenaline rush. “You get that sensation of ‘ahhhh!’ when you haven’t done a show in awhile,” she says, adding with a laugh, “I don’t know if I’ll make it because I have these really tall boots. It’s a challenge to walk in them, and it’s a pretty long runway!” But what about all those Victoria’s Secret shows—and the Givenchy show she walked in last season? “These boots aren’t anything like what I wore for those!” insists Bündchen. “I wear flat shoes all the time now, so it’s a lot harder for me to walk in super-high heels.” Harlow, another surprise model at Wang’s show, shares Bündchen’s nervous excitement. “My outfit is quietly sinister—there’s a lot of leather!” she exclaims. “But I’m happy to be here. Alexander has a great sense of theatrics, on top of an incredible amount of talent and charm. I love how the show is set up, and I’m just excited to be part of it and to feel that drama again.”
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Courtesy of Cut On Your Bias As a designer for Calvin Klein, John Varvatos, and Tommy Hilfiger, Louis Monoyudis spent the last decade grappling with the whims of shoppers. “Fashion is so timely, but it’s hard to predict what the consumer wants,” laments the Harvard and Parsons graduate. It was what led to his light-bulb moment: Why not have customers pick which designs get put into production? He’s done just that with Cut On Your Bias, an e-commerce-meets-crowd sourcing site that launched yesterday. Every week, members get to pick their favorite pieces from a rotating designer roster. From cut to color, it’s up to the masses to decide which sketch will become a reality. Once the votes are tallied and a style is declared the winner, it will go into limited production, with just 15 to 20 pieces being put up for sale a few weeks after. “It’s an exclusive product that you’re helping to make,” explains Monoyudis. While you don’t have to purchase the winning design to vote—and you don’t need to vote to purchase—those who do both will be rewarded with a 25-percent off discount and a few goodies from the designer. Up first is Carlos Campos, with Antonio Azzuolo, Hyden Yoo, Rogue, and Bhon slated to follow. It’s not just fashion that gets a virtual collaboration; homewares will make it onto the site as well, with both Artware Editions and Moss on board. “It’s a bit polarizing,” admits Monoyudis of the idea, but believes that Cut On Your Bias is a win-win for both designer and shopper. As he points out, “So much ends up on the design room floor—a lot of the more interesting styles don’t get purchased by buyers.” Besides creating a market for edgier designs, the website allows shoppers to feel that same connection that’s often forged in dressing rooms and on check-out lines but is absent with e-commerce. “Shopping is social, but online shopping is asocial,” Monoyudis says. And then, of course, there are the bragging rights: “You never get to say, ‘I designed that!’” Until now, that is.
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The cover of the CFDA's book, Impact.
“I turned fifty last year myself so I thought I was finally over that celebration, but I’m doing it again this year,” Steven Kolb, the CFDA’s CEO explained at this morning’s press conference for the exhibit in celebration of the organization’s benchmark birthday. IMPACT, the bright pink tome at left, shares its name with the exhibition at The Fashion Institute of Technology’s beloved museum. It opens tomorrow, curated by the university’s Patricia Mears, whom Diane von Furstenburg calls, “the least corruptable person on earth.” “We wanted to honor the rich history of our members and organization, and we thought FIT made perfect sense because it’s an institution that’s training the next generation of designers. That crossroads of history and the future really resonated with us,” Kolb explained. The school’s president, Dr. Joyce Brown, and it’s famed historian Valerie Steele, were joined by fashion luminaries like Oscar de la Renta, Donna Karan, and Tory Burch—each of whom glowed with early-fashion week positivity—to enthusiastically toast the CFDA’s first exhibit. Inside the museum you’ll find catalogued iPads containing records from each of the association’s vastly-talented members, and if technology isn’t you’re forté, maybe the feathered Thom Browne suit and or bombshell gown from Zac Posen will make a visit worthwhile. Summing it up, Kolb explained, “When you look back on 50 at say 75 or 100, it’s going to be a big mark in our history. It’s an age filled with reflection, but a time when you also chart a course for the future.” IMPACT opens at the Museum at FIT tomorrow.
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Photo: Getty Images
We hear Kanye West has been so devoted to working on his fall collection that he’s made his musical collaborators come to him, in London. The fruits of his focus will be shown in Paris on March 6th, the same day that brands like Chanel, Valentino and Alexander McQueen show their new ready-to-wear. Though West’s debut collection wasn’t met with raving critical reviews last September, the industry likes the guy. After last month’s Twitter rant, in which he defended his many projects, his interest in fashion, and his hard work, it sounds like he learned from his first try. We’re excited to see what he comes up with for fall. Click here to see his spring collection.
ElleGirl
Photo: Courtesy of ELLEgirl
There’s a new designer on the block this Fashion Week, but she’s no stranger to the industry. After graduating from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in L.A., Katharine Polk jetted to Manhattan to begin her design career as an in-house design assistant and stylist at Badgley Mischka, where she did everything from styling the label’s collections to helping produce fashion shows to creating accessories for the runway. After successfully working six seasons at Bryant Park and creating her own styling company, Katharine Polk Stylist, Polk is ready to launch her own fashion line. Houghton, Polk’s premiere collection, will debut at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Lincoln Center at the Grand Promenade in Avery Fisher Hall tomorrow. “I still felt like something was missing, and it still wasn’t my own,” Polk confessed of her styling days. So, in August 2011, Polk returned to designing. The idea for Houghton came to her after seeing a swatch of colors. After that, she expanded to sketch a couple of dresses and soon she was buying fabrics, developing the looks, and feeling the textures. She decided to combine simple and neutral palettes with more developed textures and fabrics. What began as five pieces turned into ten, and then a full ready-to-wear collection. Houghton was born. The entire collection can be summed up in two words: effortless chic. It’s made for independent women who want to look stylish and strong, like Polk’s female heroines who inspired the line: Katharine Hepburn (Polk’s namesake), Bianca Jagger, and Patti Smith. All of the dresses in the collection are named after these and other important women, who Polk smartly compared to the modern day Tilda Swinton. All 25 of Houghton’s pieces are clean, modern, and simple—there isn’t too much embellishment or over-the-top design. There are statement dresses, long tailored coats, and menswear-inspired suits, all in a soft palette of colors—mainly ivory, blush, and white—and luxurious fabrics like silk cashmere and satin-faced chiffon. The age bracket for these clothes runs the gamut, ranging from 18-40 years old. “A mother and a daughter can both wear pieces from the collection,” Polk said. “They are both fashion-conscious women that want pieces that are very easy to wear.” But stylish wears come at a steep price: Polk envisions the line being sold at stores like Barneys, Jeffries, and Bergdorf Goodman. In reference to her launch at Fashion Week, Polk replied sternly, “I either do it 110% or nothing at all.” And the budding designer did just that. She shot her lookbook and got her collection done very early, leaving ample time for production, castings, fittings, alterations, hair and makeup, and all of the other fun things that go into staging a runway show. One thing that Polk hopes to employ at the show tomorrow is a staged performance—she wants the pieces to move to highlight the quality of the luxe fabrics. Houghton has been well-received already. Pulls include celebrities such as Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams, and Chloë Sevigny. We wish Katharine the best of luck at her debut tomorrow! Break a leg! Get a sneak peek of two Houghton looks below!
Photo: Courtesy of Houghton Houghton
Tati dress
Photo: Courtesy of Houghton
Houghton Patti coat
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