Fri, 11/13/09 — 09:37:42 AM
>> Alexander Wang is experiencing quite the winning streak — he was awarded the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund of $200,000 last November, the 2009 CFDA Swarovski Womenswear winner this past June, and now he's taking home the 2009 Swiss Textiles Award, a prize of about $150,000, to go towards international development. Wang becomes the second American designer in a row to win the Swiss Textiles Award, following after Rodarte, who were the first American winners ever last year.
The jury this year, chaired by Isabel Toledo, apparently had a tough time making a decision — Wang's fellow finalists this year were Peter Pilotto, Erdem, Thakoon, Alexis Mabille, and Ohne Titel, who will each receive a prize of approximately $6,000.
Former winners, Raf Simons, Kate Mulleavy sound off »
Mon, 11/09/09 — 01:30:02 PM
>> Thakoon Does Jewelry for Tasaki; Moises de la Renta Rumored for Mango —Just as his contract with Hogan has expired, Thakoon has taken up a new responsibility: creative director for Japanese fine jeweler Tasaki, the world's biggest pearl supplier. This is his first major foray into jewelry, and the Thakoon for Tasaki collection will be unveiled in February. Moises de la Renta is also reportedly on deck for a partnership — he's "about to ink a deal" with Mango. [Style File, WWD]
Tue, 09/15/09 — 12:08:15 AM
>> Thakoon got a boost earlier this year via Michelle Obama and then again later with his prominent role in The September Issue, and although Ikram Goldman (the First Lady's unofficial style advisor) was in attendance at his Spring 2010 show again today, he's still looking for ways to save costs without compromising creativity, he told Cathy Horyn last week. He ended up buying a large supply of crinkled jacquard and printing it in different patterns, lowering costs, and can use the fabric again for future collections.
As for compromising creativity, his Spring 2010 collection — full of his hallmark brightly-colored prints mixed and patchworked together, scuba-like pants, and printed heels done in collaboration with Giuseppe Zanotti — earned some comparisons to Balenciaga's Spring 2003 scuba collection, WWD reported a number of editors noting. But ultimately these days, it comes down to whether the pieces will sell — and the slashed and draped, Fortuny pleated dresses should have no problem in that arena.
Fun little sidenotes: Bee Shaffer attended the show, but Anna Wintour skipped for the US Open; and Thakoon's backstage passes were pins featuring a picture of his dog, Steve, on them.
Mon, 07/20/09 — 08:54:44 PM
>> Laura and Kate Mulleavy of Rodarte became the first American designers to take home the 100,000 euro Swiss Textile Award last year, and the 2009 nominees are half American brands this time around: Thakoon Panichgul, Ohne Titel, Alexander Wang, Erdem, Alexis Mabille, and Peter Pilotto among them.
A winner will be announced Nov. 12, but in the meantime, Wang, who's been on an winning streak with the 2009 Swarovski Award for Womenswear and the 2008 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award under his belt, recently spoke to Vogue about how he's gotten so far in such a short time.
He's known for his model selection now, but in the beginning, they came from Craigslist.
"In one of the first pictures we did, the model, who we found on Craigslist, was just wearing a sweater, slouching, and smoking a cigarette. People identified with her then, and she hasn’t changed much since.”
"When I first started, my product was definitely a lot safer . . ." »
Thu, 06/04/09 — 05:36:59 PM
>> Thakoon Panichgul may be tiny, but his designs pack major punch. His lower priced line, Thakoon Addition, just hit stores last week and is already selling like hotcakes, with a number of editors sporting the line at the Cruise 2010 shows. As for his own Cruise 2010 line, Thakoon was all about texture — twisted dresses and tops and plenty of pleats. Prints ranged from bright watercolors to faded florals, with some tie-dye mixed in for good measure. The designer knows how to take care of a woman — when his Costume Institute Gala date Magdalena Frackowiak broke her heel in the middle of dinner, he missed Rihanna's performance to go grab a replacement.
Tue, 04/07/09 — 01:54:26 PM
>> Last week, Oscar de la Renta drew a lot of heat for his frustrated comments on Michelle Obama's decision to champion small fashion houses, wearing Thakoon and Jason Wu over Donna Karan or Ralph Lauren:
American fashion right now is struggling. I think I understand what [Obama and her advisers] are doing, but I don’t think that is the right message at this particular point . . . I don’t object to the fact that Mrs. Obama is wearing J.Crew to whatever because the diversity of America is what makes this country great. But there are a lot of great designers out there. I think it’s wrong to go in one direction only.
He got particularly pointed about Obama's choice of an Alaia cardigan to meet Queen Elizabeth: “You don’t go to Buckingham Palace in a sweater.”
Needless to say, fashion community feathers were ruffled — Paper's Mickey Boardman blogged a piece requesting de la Renta to "hush": "It's beneath de la Renta's dignity as an elder statesman of American Fashion to consistently complain and criticize a First Lady who has done so much for American fashion."
But Oscar's sticking to his guns »
Mon, 03/16/09 — 04:29:41 PM
>> The 2009 CFDA Award nominees have just been announced, and Marc Jacobs has already won an award — the International Award for his work at Louis Vuitton (he's nominated in two more categories). Last year's Swarovski Award winners, Rodarte and Band of Outsiders, have both been bumped up to compete in the respective major league categories, and 2008 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund contenders Albertus Q. Swanepoel, Alejandro Ingelmo, and Jason Wu have all entered the Swarovski Award ring this year.
We'll have to wait until June 15 to see who wins what, but the ceremony might mark fashion's first Michelle Obama event appearance — she's being honored with this year's Board of Director's Special Tribute for her style choices and penchant for up-and-coming talent.
And now, the nominees . . . »
Thu, 02/12/09 — 09:25:10 PM
>> The meteoric rise of Jason Wu — he has tripled his sales appointments for his sold out, yet-to-be-unveiled Fall 2009 collection — shows what an influence Michelle Obama can have on a designer. But Wu doesn't just have Obama to thank — he never actually interacted with the First Lady, but rather with Ikram Goldman, owner of Chicago boutique Ikram, and Obama's gatekeeper to the fashion industry.
In fact, none of the designers who have made clothes for the First Lady have had any direct contact with their White House client — all commissions, measurements, bills, and other directions have been mediated by Ikram, causing something of a controversy; the clothes that Obama has worn recently are predominantly from designers that Cathy Horyn points out, "Ikram sells and ultimately stands to benefit from" — Jason Wu, Isabel Toledo, Narciso Rodriguez, Proenza Schouler, Thakoon, and Mario Cornejo.
Is Obama limiting herself? »
Tue, 02/10/09 — 12:59:33 PM
>> Fall 2009 is jewelry's time to shine, judging by all of the collaborations debuting during Fashion Week. Besides Alexander Wang working with Paris Kain of AbraxasRex on "industrial," "animalistic" pieces, Bensoni commissioned Bing Bang's Anna Sheffield to do candy heart necklaces with pyramid pendants, Jason Wu enlisted Philip Crangi to add a "tough element" to his collection, Gilles Mendel and Subversive's Justin Giunta teamed up for chains and jewels to will appear on and worked into the J.Mendel collection, Eddie Borgo channeled his triangle obsession for Jen Kao, producing a sharp set of baubles — and he also working with Joseph Altuzarra. Not to mention a variety of other partners in jeweldom: Hervé Van der Straeten and Ruffian, Thakoon and Fenton's Dana Lorenz, DanniJo and Trovata, Roxanne Assouline and Brian Reyes . . .
Needless to say, the bijoux will be aplenty this season — especially because those partnerships are a good way to for jewelry designers get pieces out there without spending money — "You'll see a lot of collaborations going on with designers — like Irene Neuwirth is doing jewelry for Richard Chai — so you can see the talent at the same time," says CFDA executive director Steven Kolb.
*image: source, source, source
Wed, 01/07/09 — 01:34:18 PM
>> Thakoon Panichgul is one of a few designers working on line expansions — Doo-Ri Chung and Jason Wu included — and Thakoon Addition is his product. The line, which is not diffusion but rather supplementary, focuses on some of the designer's most popular designs and is at the same price point as his runway clothes. As the designer explains it:
Primarily, I see Thakoon Addition as a place to store ideas. In any given season, I’ve got ideas flying around that don’t fit what I’m planning for the runway, but belong somewhere. Now I don’t have to abandon that stuff. And Thakoon Addition can be a home for recurring pieces as well; looks my customers want from me, consistently. Now, maybe I’ll have a chance to experiment more, but at heart I like to make wearable clothes.
The collection, which hits stores May 15, is full of the designer's name-making prints, including florals and leopard, plus dresses and a couple of skirtsuits.
*image: source
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