fashionologie

Holiday Gift Ideas From Some of Our Favorite Fashion Insiders

Christina Perez — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:42:58 PST

>> They're making their lists - and checking them twice. Here come the holidays, and who better to spread the cheer than some of our favorite fashionable insiders? From the super-luxe accessories topping Melissa Coker's and Leandra Medine's lists to the souped-up sporting goods desired by Yigal Azrouel and Peter Som, here's a look at what those in the know are coveting this season. See who's hoping for Burberry, who's hoping for Hermes, and who's just hoping for some sleep - plus, glean gift-giving ideas from Anna Sheffield, Lauren Bush Lauren, Derek Lam, Stephanie LaCava, and more - all here, in the slideshow.

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Dasha Zhukova, Rodarte, and More Descend on Los Angeles For the 2011 MOCA Gala

fashionologie — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 09:36:48 PST

>> The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles hosted its annual gala on Saturday night, drawing Laura and Kate Mulleavy, Tilda Swinton, Rachel Zoe, Shala Monroque, and event chair Dasha Zhukova.

The evening, curated by the performance artist Marina Abramovic, started with guests being asked to put on a white lab coat before sitting down to dinner; each table, meanwhile, had a live, rotating human head for a centerpiece, with the attached performance artists sitting beneath. Diners were given a list of rules about interacting with the centerpiece, such as, "The centerpiece will observe you. You may observe the centerpiece." and "No touching, feeding, offering drink, or disrespecting the centerpiece."

Debbie Harry was shortly thereafter carried onstage to serenade the crowd with “One Way or Another” and “Heart of Glass.” Postperformance, two life-size nude cakes of Harry and Abramovic were brought out. With a machete, Harry removed her cake's red velvet heart, and then teams of shirtless men descended on the two cakes with meat cleavers, sending toes, breasts, and other various anatomical parts to the different tables on dessert plates.

Pictures from the event in the slideshow.

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Organic by John Patrick Spring 2012

fashionologie — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 11:59:15 PDT

>> "An ode to the explorer" is how John Patrick described his khaki-filled Spring 2012 collection, which featured a mullet-hemmed olive "parachuter" dress, and olive drawstring pants, also in parachute fabric. But at the same time, Patrick noted, the goal was to go "very classic" because he's "trend-averse" - hence key pieces like a classic white button-down or a wide-leg, to-the-floor-long pant, added to the offering. Patrick also introduced his inaugural set of handbags - rucksacks from recycled Japanese nylon; cross-body satchels and pouches from vegetable-tanned leather; and an oversized silk tote - the SLC, named for the show's stylist Stephanie LaCava - cut from necktie fabric. That same printed fabric also shows up on a bevy of shorts: in red, gold, and olive.

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See Vanessa Traina's Full Maje Collection Lookbook

fashionologie — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 08:42:55 PDT

>> Last night, Vanessa Traina launched her 14-piece capsule collection for the French brand Maje at Barneys, which has the US exclusive. She wore a black tuxedo jacket and pant from the collection, and was joined by her sisters Samantha and Victoria Traina and close designer friends like Alexander Wang, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Joseph Altuzarra, and Proenza Schouler's Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, most of whom followed her to a celebratory dinner down the street at Le Caprice.

The idea for the collection, which ranges from $150 to $490, came about while Traina was in fittings for the brand's campaign (which she's appeared in the past two seasons). She told Vogue.com: "Maje asked me to do their campaign a few seasons ago and we all got along really well. We met the day before the shoot to do fittings, and by the end of it, we’d put together the proposal for a collaboration."

Her ideas for the collection - inspired by "a lot of old '90s editorial," she told us - came easily: "I had a whole folder with me . . . working in the industry and doing consulting quite frequently, I knew what to expect from a design meeting, and I think it really helped Maje understand my vision right from the get-go."

The resultant pieces are simple, primarily silk or lace, and sans color. In fact, minus one white silk maxi dress, they're all in black. "I wear black quite, quite often," Traina explains. "Because this was a one-time collaboration, I really wanted to do something wearable and [focus on] really great separates that fit into your wardrobe. And black goes with everything, so I really just kind of went with that." She told Vogue.com, "Although I must admit, I haven’t worn anything outside of my bedroom yet."

The collection also provided Traina with her first opportunity to design a shoe: "I mean, I've worked with Joseph Altuzarra and people on their collection from head to toe, so I've kind of worked with a shoe, but he [Altuzarra] really does the crux of it, so yeah, it's the first time. It's really cool because we initially started with doing a flat, and then I just thought it would be cool if we stuck a heel on it. So it's just a sandal design."

Even though she now has more extensive design experience, Traina says the collection is a one-time thing: "I really see myself more as a stylist, and I work as a stylist and do consulting. I was really grateful for this opportunity, it was really fun to do something like this, but I think the direction that I'm going in right now with styling is really what I'm passionate about, [and] is really what I love personally."

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Alber Elbaz Didn't Think There Would Be Anyone in Line for the Lanvin H&M Collection

fashionologie — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 10:59:23 PST

>> Editors - including Katie Grand - were regularly spotted exiting the Lanvin for H&M preshopping event on Thursday with three or four bags, and Meredith Melling Burke wore the collection's red tulle dress to Vogue writer Stephanie LaCava's black tie wedding over the weekend, so it's no surprise that when made available to the masses on Saturday, consumers reacted similarly, often spending, as The Cut points out, as much as they might on a piece from the Lanvin runway collection.

WWD tracked shoppers in New York and LA shelling out $1,700 or $1,800 in one fell swoop - the former shopper noting it was "the most I've ever spent in my life" - and one man who spent $3,000 buying up basically everything in the women's collection for his wife, who "is pregnant and can't be here, so I am doing a run."

Alber Elbaz, originally said he planned to head home from New York on Saturday - "You could have a baby in the time it took us to work on this. I'm going to be in bed, watching TV, and ordering Chinese food." But it seems he had a change of heart. He arrived a bit before 8 a.m. in a black Town Car across from the Manhattan H&M flagship to marvel at the line. "We stayed in New York one more night so we could see this," Elbaz told WWD. "I don’t dare go in. I can't believe it. I was sure there would be no one. I was a bit panicked. This is a once in a lifetime experience." But he must have gotten the courage to exit the vehicle, because he was snapped outside taking it all in.

Paris Fashion Week Street Style - Stephanie LaCava

Chi Diem Chau — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 14:12:28 PDT

Peep Vogue writer Stephanie LaCava at Paris Fashion Week in a grey Stella McCartney wool dress over a crisp white shirt: Simplicity at its best, and we love how she finished off the ensemble with stacked gold bangles, oversized aviators, and a classic tan shoulder bag. Snap up her Stella McCartney dress along with spot-on picks from Mulberry, Ray-Ban, and Rosegold now!

Left to right: Stella McCartney Wool Blend Mini Dress ($1,054), Cara Accessories Bangle Set ($58), Ray-Ban Aviators ($139), Rosegold Boots ($150), Mulberry Camel Edna Mini Shoulder Bag ($982), Fulton White Button-Up Shirt ($95)

Photos: Greg Kessler

Vanessa Traina Talks Joseph Altuzarra, Alexander Wang, and Her Boyfriend in Intermission's Second Issue

fashionologie — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 07:22:05 PDT

>> The second installment of Swedish magazine Intermission is jam-packed with interviews: Gaia Repossi, Isabel Marant, Joseph Altuzarra, Tabitha Simmons, Waris Ahluwalia, Victoire de Castellane, and Vogue Paris art director Johan Svensson among them - and all are translated from Swedish into English at the back of the issue.

John Scarisbrick photographed and Keegan Singh styled the two covers - one with Hanne Gaby Odiele, and the other Vanessa Traina, who inside talks to Stephanie LaCava about going to high school with Alexander Wang ("He used to cut up these vintage jeans and make us denim skirts. I still have them - and he’d make us T-shirts. We used to place orders every season with him."), consulting for Joseph Altuzarra ("Our relationship is different than most because Joseph and I are so close. As friends, we hang out at least four times a week."), and her boyfriend, Chad Muska ("I was with some girlfriends and he was with a friend of one of my girlfriends and we met at a restaurant one night in LA. That was eight years ago and it slowly evolved into a relationship. He’s a street skater. We live together in the West Village, but he also has a studio in Union Square. He’s always been into photography, but he’s been playing around with it a little more and doing some large-scale work, a mix of photographer and painting. I have his pictures hanging in our bedroom. It’s a photo series he did of Kate Moss manipulated and painted different shades of pink.").

A peek at the issue, out this week at Opening Ceremony and Colette, below.

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Donatella Brings that Versace Glamour to the Whitney Museum Art Gala

fashionologie — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:35:06 PDT

>> For the second year running, the Whitney Art Musem Gala was Donatella Versace's party. Editors - Olivier Zahm, Lauren Santo Domingo, Glenda Bailey - commingled with designers - Peter Som, Moises de la Renta, Ruffian's Claude Morais and Brian Wolk - and a smattering of models like Chanel Iman and Hana Soukupova. Christopher Kane's Versus designs even made an appearance - the Fall 2009 crystal shoes were on Byrdie Bell's feet, and Taylor Momsen - who seems to be close with the Versaces, particularly Allegra, changed into a black Spring 2010 Versus frock for the Studio Party post-Gala Dinner.

Donatella was fashionably late to the party - two hours in, she was nowhere to be found; perhaps she was still upstairs tending to VIPs - as was Lindsay Lohan, who swept in, all blonde hair and gold dress - earning comparisons to Donatella's trademark look. Lohan said she came "for Donatella" before beelining to Brian Atwood for a chat. Keeping with the "art chic" theme, the walls of one whole room at the party downstairs was covered in paper for guests to scribble on.

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The September Issue Premiere: All About Anna Wintour

fashionologie — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:57:50 PDT

>> Last night, Anna Wintour hosted a premiere of The September Issue (which opens Aug. 28 in NYC, Sept. 11 nationwide), and no one dared be late. Arrivals were scheduled to start at 7 pm, but Anna appeared and was joined (despite all the digs about her appearance she receives in the film) by September 2007 cover girl Sienna Miller promptly at 6:45 pm. Even Sean Combs and entourage, when realizing they were late, "sprinted across the lobby," the New York Observer reports.

Despite the general consensus that the film's true star is Grace Coddington, last night was all about Anna. Grace and Andre Leon Talley both avoided being photographed on the red carpet, and it appears that Vogue staffers were required to wear t-shirts for Fashion's Night Out (Anna's pro-shopping pet project) to the event. Grace did comment on her portrayal in the film, however:

I hate to say it, but true to life! A very annoying person. But it’s not really bickering. It’s a process you have to go through for the job we do and it just makes everything stronger. Whatever gets through is then very valid and very strong. I think they focused on me in the movie because I’m a bit more outspoken and because I don’t care about the cameras, I’ll say whatever I want to say and I won’t hold back.

Bee Shaffer, who attended in Proenza Schouler and reminded her mother to put on her sunglasses while on the red carpet (which Anna duly did), thought her own scene in the film was "so embarassing":

It’s funny because that was two years ago and I wanted to go to law school then and that’s basically all I’m talking about and now I don’t want to go to law school at all so . . . [I] still don’t want to work in fashion, that was never a possibility. Now I’d like to work in theater.

Marc Jacobs, who was apparently speaking with a French accent, had his own Anna tribute to share. "She’s a risk-taker unafraid of taking chances. She doesn’t suck up,” he said. “And she’s been very good to me on a personal level as well. When I was having some personal problems, Anna was always there for me. She’s very maternal and caring to people she cares about."

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The Entire Z Spoke Spring 2012 Lookbook - Plus, All the New Accessories

Christina Perez — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 08:02:37 PST

>> Zac Posen riffed on the idea of wardrobe essentials - with a twist - for his Spring 2012 Z Spoke collection. "There's no need for more essentials that are basic," he explains. "These have a bit of fashion to them." To that end, Posen's essentials are dressed-up, playful, and full of the designer's signature feminine detailing: lean-cut trousers come in shiny two-tone faille or tie-dyed lace, shirt dresses in whisper-weight seersucker, and skirts in swinging full flares. There's plenty of wearable whimsy too - a swinging "disco tent dress" in shimmering sequins, a floaty ruched-chiffon neon shift - and lots of lively prints, like an "acid" cheetah in chartreuse and lemon, ditsy florals in abstracted batiks. "This is a wardrobe, and it's nice to be able to mix it up and show the diversity of it," Posen says.

The collection's diversity carries through to accessories as well, with luxe Nappa leather totes and embossed-croc satchels mingling easily with brightly-colored iPad cases and studded clutches - which run from $225 to $695. See all the looks from the Z Spoke Spring 2012 lookbook - modeled by Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Tennessee Thomas, Stephanie LaCava, Yaz Bukey, and Laura Love - and peek all the accessories, here in the slideshow.

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