>> The Tents are loaded with plenty of freebies, but these might be the cutest — to go along with Fashion Week's election theme, someone took a page out of Henry Holland's book and printed model slogan campaign buttons for Coco Rocha, Lily Donaldson, Hilary Rhoda, Ali Michael, Jessica Stam, and Agyness Deyn. Apparently, Agyness has been seen wearing Stam's around, and Stam wearing Coco's . . .
A Detacher Backstage & Runway, New York Fashion Week Spring Summer 2009, Photos by Justin William Lin
>> INSIDER WIRE —Ready for The Devil Wears Prada, the male version? Because Sean Avery's got you covered. He's working with New Line Cinema to bring his experiences in the fashion world — and at Vogue — to the big screen. It's even a romcom, just like The Devil Wears Prada was — maybe they'll bring Anne Hathaway back to be "Sean"'s love interest, how like totally cute would that be? [The Cut]
Tony Cohen Backstage & Runway, New York Fashion Week Spring Summer 2009, Photos by Justin William Lin
Joanna is a designer that thinks about the details of her collection from the initital inspirations to the final trim on a hem and her Spring 2009 was a reflection of that diligence.
Structured dresses in bright colors like orange, red, and pink had a City of Angels circa 1950 feeling. We imagined it as a sort of Joan Dideon Play it As It Lays Los Angeles wardrobe for the tortured and irrelevant starlet Helene struggling to showcase her beauty to ultimate effect. That kind of flat landscape of emotions makes for a world in which clothing takes on extra significance.
The Los Angeles 1950s feel continued with Deco pieces in white and black styling with Joanna's signature crispness. Geometric cuts added interest to the dresses, with unexpected openings drawing our eyes to a shoulder, a pocket, or a breastbone. We caught a few hints of her Byzantine influences from seasons past withe gold chains making appearances on dresses.
We imagine the collection as giving a hint of hard times seepingfrom the edges of Los Angeles. And as one must always reference the recession we applaud that potential darkness. It says beauty must try even in the face of troubles. In fact Joanna closed the show with "I'm A Survivor." Touching even if it's a strange modern pop cultural reference for a a collection that so strongly evokes another period.
>> I've been noticing a more concerted effort by designers to cast models of color this season, but so far, Sophie Theallet takes the cake. For her New York runway debut, the Brooklyn-based Parisian designer sent out an entire cast of black models — Kinee Diouf, Honorine Uwera, Ataui Deng — the works. It was her training — ten years under the wing of Azzedine Alaia — that first brought the likes of Vogue's Grace Coddington, New York Times's Cathy Horyn, Lou Doillon, and Vogue Paris' Melanie Huynh out of the woodwork, but I bet as they left the Altman Building this morning, the model imagery was on their minds — it was on mine.
*image: source
>> INSIDER WIRE —Cathy Horyn, curmudgeon or awesome? The New York Times fashion critic showed up to Calvin Klein's 40th anniversary party last night — which had a cocktail attire code — wearing jean shorts. So far, she hasn't had any invites rescinded this season, so it looks like she's playing rebel in other ways . . . [FWD (hard copy)]
