Fri, 10/30/09 — 09:25:43 AM
>> Yesterday afternoon, Alexander Wang — in black hoodie, white t-shirt, jeans, and dirtied-up white sneakers — spent two hours taking pictures and chatting with fans at his Spring 2010 Barneys trunk show in New York. Wang was Barneys' number one trunk show seller last season, according to his PR director Leslie Rubisch — the sales racked up during that period accounted for fifty percent of Barneys' total Alexander Wang delivery — sold, three months before it even hit the floor. Needless to say, he had some expectations to live up to this time around. Vogue got the scoop on which three Spring 2010 pieces were the best-sellers yesterday, and we chatted with Alex for further details:
What's your favorite piece from the Spring 2010 collection?
Hmm, that's difficult. [Rubisch leans in: "I'm curious to hear what you're going to say!"] I feel like every day I change my mind. But I always seem to come back to Freja [Beha Erichsen]'s look, she really knows how to bring an outfit to life, which is so important in a model for me.
He does have a favorite shoe »
Tue, 10/13/09 — 04:55:43 PM
>> Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen continue to pick up speed on their no-Olsen-name-attached luxury line, The Row. Next Spring, they're launching four distinct eyewear silhouettes in collaboration with Linda Farrow; no footwear or handbags yet — they have their "hands full" already, they told WWD.
The styles, priced from $325-$390, include aviators, vintage-inspired shades with brow-line rims, oversized square-framed sunnies, and one sixties-style round pair — similar to the shape Mary-Kate often favors. "We’re testing the market first and obviously these are four very different silhouettes, so we’re seeing what people are responding to and we’ll open up a couple more silhouettes for fall,” Ashley said. “We tried to find certain pieces that look good on more than one face, to pay close attention to how they fit certain faces and make them wearable at the same time.”
Tue, 09/15/09 — 08:28:58 PM
>> The Row to Do Jeans for Spring 2010 —Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen held their Spring 2010 showroom presentation for The Row today, and Who What Wear's Katherine Power Tweets: "such great jackets and for the first time, jeans! They look like vintage levis, so good." O magazine's Adam Glassman snapped a picture of a mint green cardigan from the collection. [Katherine Power Twitter, Adam Glassman Twitter]
Thu, 08/27/09 — 02:34:55 PM
>> Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen captured the hearts of fashion obsessives through The Row from the first collection — but who could have guessed that they would also win the heart Cathy Horyn, who prides herself on picking apart Riccardo Tisci at Givenchy, another industry favorite?
Horyn blogged about her interview with the Olsens yesterday, and today comes her article, in which Jim Gold, chief executive of Bergdorf Goodman and Barneys fashion director Julie Gilhart both deem The Row "perfect": Gold because The Row "offers the perfect blank . . . so many designers are intent on the next great trend that some of the basics are neglected" and Gilhart because of the timing — more and more women are looking for high-quality, classic pieces. They probably also like that they never have to put The Row on sale, since the line doesn't go out of style.
The majority of The Row's customers are 35 to 60, Ashley says, adding that the line will break even this year. Annual sales are expected to be 30 percent, and total sales are estimated at $10 million — for comparison's sake, Alexander Wang just told W his business is around $20 million, which W called "small." The Row is produced entirely in New York, with mostly Italian fabrics, and is designed with a precision concerning proportion — a black blazer, for example, has a high armhole, Horyn writes, "because the Olsens liked the way Paris couture jackets fit, with high armholes and narrow sleeves that make your arms look even skinnier and longer." Neither of the Olsens are interested in staging a fashion show.
No tank tops for Mary-Kate »
Wed, 08/26/09 — 11:03:35 AM
>> Cathy Horyn Chats with Mary-Kate, Ashley Olsen about The Row —Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were recently inducted into the CFDA, a watershed moment for an industry that typically shuns celebrity lines, and now Cathy Horyn writes that she interviewed the Olsens for a New York Times piece on The Row, coming out tomorrow: "I was strangely pleased to discover that their two-room production office on W. 39th looked like a storage closet, it’s so crammed full of scuffed furniture, sketches, dress racks and plastic-sheathed bolts of fabric." Ashley's take: “I think people would be surprised that all the product is produced from the five people who work here,” Ashley said. “I think that would be shocking—that the brand seems much bigger than the actual process is.” [On the Runway]
Wed, 08/05/09 — 11:57:12 AM
>> Ashley, Mary-Kate Olsen Cut into Alaia Dresses Without a Care —Ashley Olsen can cut a mean set of basics for The Row, but in the September 2009 issue of Marie Claire, she admits that she and Mary-Kate also cut other designer's pieces to suit their small frames: "The amount of beautiful things we've ruined — not having the patience for a tailor and cutting everything ourselves . . . My sister once took an Alaïa dress of mine and just cut the whole thing, and then she was like, 'I cut it too short.' Mary-Kate and I don't think about fashion as these clean, beautiful objects. We just kind of wear it and live in it." [Marie Claire]
Fri, 06/12/09 — 03:29:32 PM
>> Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have done viral online video campaigns and asked Lauren Hutton to model The Row for a lookbook, but for their Cruise/Pre-Spring 2010 collection, they and brand consultant (and T staffer) Alex Hawgood asked for a strong black woman. Alek Wek's niece, Ataui Deng, was cast and photographed in the label's newest luxury basics by Daniel King.
Mon, 05/04/09 — 04:10:20 PM
>> It's official Costume Institute Gala time: Anna Wintour is already snubbing press in her black and white Chanel, Bee Shaffer has already had help navigating in her sheer navy chiffon Nina Ricci gown, and Andre Leon Talley who is wearing "20 pounds" of Roger Vivier jewelry, has already exclaimed "Goddess" upon sight of Kate Moss.
Gisele Bundchen has arrived in sequined Atelier Versace minidress — she says she picked it out herself and they had to make it two inches shorter for her. Meanwhile, Eva Mendes grabbed Amber Valletta's booty on the red carpet, and Shalom Harlow, Amber, Natalia Vodianova, Eva Herzigova, and Stella Tennant have made a red carpet block while they stop to exchange air kisses.
UPDATE: More designer and model pictures have been added to the gallery!
*image: source, source, WENN.com
Wed, 02/18/09 — 01:28:11 PM
>> Last night marked the opening of Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld's Louis Vuitton-sponsored, curated exhibit of three photographers and close friends of his — PC Valmorbida (boyfriend of Theodora Richards), David Mushegain and Salim Langatta. Both the party and after-party at Indochine (a Roitfeld favorite) were super crowded — the latter hit capacity and saw Carine Roitfeld dancing on the restaurant's banquettes. Sister Julia, girlfriend Lily Donaldson, and godfather Mario Testino were all in attendance, as were a number of other fashion folk — Lara Stone, Erin Wasson, Gisele Bundchen. And Carine was proud of her son's current career choice — according to Vladimir, it was his parents who pushed him to move to the US — "I don't know if he will do more shows or film, but when you try to produce things, it's a hard hard job, and I'm very proud of him. I'll be very happy if he becomes successful."
*image: source, source, filmmagic
Fri, 02/06/09 — 12:47:24 PM
>> It seems that Mary-Kate Olsen is the designer's go-to handbag guinea pig — Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez gave her the Proenza Schouler PS1 before it officially debuted, and it looks like Alexander Wang did the same with a studded tote bag from his upcoming Fall 2009 collection. She wore it out last Friday to meet her sister at the Soho Grand, and the detailing looks right in theme with the Mad Max inspiration Alex talked about with his Fall 2009 jewelry yesterday.
Judging from Julia Restoin-Roitfeld's Facebook message to Alexander Wang recently, it sounds like Mary-Kate wasn't the only one who was gifted: "Thank you for the bag!!!! I absolutely LOVE it and going to wear it right away!!! Big kiss!"
*image: source
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