The Fashion Informer

Best Designer Blogs

Given the unbridled creativity of most fashion designers, it should come as no surprise that they would adopt the internet as yet another outlet for their flights of fancy and a way in which to share their vision with fans.  Avid Twitterers Rachel Roy, Diane von Furstenberg and Alexander McQueen all clearly enjoy connecting with people, mano-a-mano.  

And then there are the growing number of designer-helmed blogs, the best of which are as wonderfully unique and idiosyncratic as the designers themselves. Whether they’re sharing snapshots from their latest road trips (Toms' Blake Mycoskie), inspirations and birthday parties (Vena Cava), introducing us to the folks who work in their studio (Aimee G), offering fall fashion tips (Loeffler Randall) or hipping us to some great new music while bitch-slapping Karl Lagerfeld for his uncharitable attitude toward full-figured gals (EDUN), these blogs offer a highly personal - and largely unedited - look into the designers’ lives and minds.

Cynthia Rowley’s blog presents a short film and takes fans inside her New York Public Library sewing circle, Ruffian offers fans a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the making of their spring 2010 collection, John Bartlett gives us a list of his favorite things each month, including his new favorite Irish bar and the iconic JB cable knit merino sleeve scarf, which is shown on a yummy hunk of man candy (thanks, John!).

Anna Sheffield’s website, meanwhile, has not one, not two, but four blogs grouped by category - Anna’s blog,  Muse, The Studio and, our favorite, Oscar, which chronicles the adventures of Anna’s “nephew” (aka, her brother Kevin’s adorable Miniature Schnauzer).  Scott Sternberg also has multiple blogs, Boy for her and Band of Outsiders for him, both of which feature Sternberg’s celebrity pals like Marisa Tomei, Sarah Silverman, Zooey Deschanel, Jason Schwartzman and Mark Ronson clowning for the camera while wearing Boy/Band (what, you thought they’d be in BroBro?). 

Vivienne Westwood uses her blog, Active Resistance, to champion her political causes du jour (surprise, surprise), while the Toronto-based Beckerman sisters blog about their quirky outfits and DIY fashion projects and link to their Teen Vogue fashion week coverage.

Norma Kamali has used her blog to introduce her new iPhone app and enthuse about her love of Physique 57’s ballet bootcamp, while Diane von Furstenberg takes a break from Tweeting now and again to share links she loves, post from Moscow and Madrid (which is where her wallet was famously stolen), talk about her latest obsession (from Christopher Walken to Will Cotton) and favorite charitable causes, and offers fans an ever-changing list of things to eat, watch, see and explore.

When done well, as all of these blogs are, it really is like having a ringside seat to the designer’s life. Now, if we can just convince JC Obando, Rodarte, Tom Scott, Phillip Lim, Duckie Brown and John Galliano to start blogging, we'll be all set.

  

 

 

Sneak Peek at Katherine Fleming's Art Basel Bags

Here's a first look at the Katherine Fleming clutches re-imagined by artists Megan Marrin and KOLKOZ, which will be auctioned off, along with 15 other one-of-kind clutches, during Art Basel Miami.  

Images courtesy Katherine Fleming

T.J. Maxx: Forbidden SWAG

Saw this letter in today's WWD, and thought it was pretty interesting in light of the recent FTC kerfuffle about bloggers having to disclose when they receive (and cover) freebies, something the editors of mainstream websites and print magazines are not required to do (double standard, anyone?).  Are there really that many people sending gifts to employees of T.J. Maxx, Marshall's and AJ Wright?  And what the hell is AJ Wright, anyway?

When Katherine Fleming Met Kembra Pfahler

Q: What do you get when you cross...

          
            Katherine                 +       Kembra?

A: Go here to find out!

Informed Obsession: Tom Scott Look Book

Ok, so while this column is usually devoted to obsessing over fashion must-haves of the tangible (as in, you can go out and buy them) variety, today's obsession is of a slightly more esoteric nature.  To wit: Tom Scott's spring/summer 2010 look book.  This knitwear designer's look books are always an exercise in unbridled creativity - as are the Fashion Week presentations he cooks up with his mad genius co-conspirator/creative director, Haidee Findlay-Levin. But this season's offering is even more delightfully madcap than usual, thanks to the Hotel Chelsea setting, the retro-hip styling and the dead-perfect props (Spam, Octagon soap and Jean Naté bath crystals, anyone?). And really, how can you not love a guy who closes his look book with a disembodied doll's head on a toilet tank?  *sigh*

Images courtesy Tom Scott

 

Informed Obsession: Nymphenburg Black Wing

We literally stopped in our tracks when we spotted this black wing charm at Shelly Steffee's store last week. Designed by Patrik Muff for Nymphenburg (a company we'd never heard of before), the ebony porcelain wing is warmed by rose gold touches and is astonishingly detailed for something that's not much larger than your thumbnail.  Steffee carries the entire Nymphenburg by Patrik Muff collection, which includes black and white porcelain crosses, skulls and filigreed medallions, but this is the piece that really made our heart (insert collective groan here) take wing. Best of all, it looks great worn alone or layered with a tangle of other charms.

Images courtesy Shelly Steffee/Nymphenburg by Patrik Muff

 

Isaac Mizrahi Celebrates QVC Line

The celebrity and fashion worlds collided last night at New York’s Stage 37, where a party was held in honor of Isaac Mizrahi’s new QVC collection, which makes its official debut next month and includes everything from tartan throws and bow-bedecked china plates to chocolate crust cheesecake and banana nut loaf to, yes, clothing and accessories, all of which retail in the wallet-friendly range of $32 to $300.

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Mary Louise Parker, Ugly Betty’s Mark Indelicato and Michael Urie, Gossip Girl’s Kelly Rutherford, 30 Rock’s Katrina Bowden, Entourage’s Alexis Dziena, Veronica Webb, Mira Sorvino, Anne Heche, Paz de la Huerta, Gretta Monahan, QVC host Lisa Robertson and fashion insiders Marc Bouwer, Catherine Malandrino, Fern Mallis, Lauren Ezersky, Glenda Bailey, Glamour.com’s Susan Cernek and Mary Lou Luther all came out to help Mizrahi celebrate his latest venture (which is not to be confused with his own eponymous collection or the collection he designs for Liz Claiborne New York, the latter of which is also slated to be sold exclusively on QVC).

“I think it was a very smart licensing agent who got the call and decided to approach us on behalf of QVC and, of course, the minute we heard the letters Q-V-C we jumped because I think it’s the way of the future, I really do,” Mizrahi told The Fashion Informer when asked how the collaboration came to be.

“It’s my opportunity to reach out to a customer and say I really believe in this,” he added after stopping to greet Behind the Velvet Ropes/Better TV host Lauren Ezersky and dish about her hot new man.  “And after that the chips fall where they may.  But as long as I have the opportunity - without the intervention of merchants and stores and this and that - to reach out the customer, then I will actually be able to learn from them.  And I’ll be able to sell clothes and sell products.”

Although the evening was billed as Isaac Mizrahi Live!, save for a few handbags carried by Mizrahi’s design team, none of the QVC merch was displayed in person.  Instead, said products were on full view – from the aforementioned baked goods to Mizrahi’s own personal favorite item (a scarf bearing the likeness of his beloved dog, Harry) – on the walls of TV monitors, vintage and high def, that had been set up around the room just for this purpose.

“It’s good, right?” crowed Isaac while watching the crowd watch the videos – some of which had been shot on Super 8 to be purposely scratchy and old-looking – while downing champagne and sliders.

The rest of the world will have to tune in to QVC on December 5^th - 7^th to get a glimpse of Mizrahi’s hotly anticipated debut. 

Photos © The Fashion Informer/Lauren David Peden

 

The CFDA's American Fashion Menswear Hits Bookstores

Although we weren't able to make it to last night's cocktail party at the Ace Hotel to celebrate the launch of the CFDA's latest tome, American Fashion Menswear (Assouline, $50), we wanted to give a shout-out to the book's editor, Robert E. Bryan, who takes readers through the evolution of American menswear over the last 100 years, from utility, suits and sportswear to Hollywood glamour, Ivy League style and that beloved - and increasingly rare - breed, the dandy.  All hail the well dressed man!

Random Questions For…Daphne Guinness

Filmmaker-philanthropist-blogger Daphne Guinness is a style icon extraordinaire, muse to countless designers and, with the launch of her own shirt collection at Dover Street Market and an eponymous, limited-edition fragrance for Comme des Garcons, something of a designer herself.

Shirts and scents aside, the gracious, surprisingly down-to-earth Irish brewing heiress (and granddaughter of Diana Mitford) has always been her own best creation, famous for her delicate beauty, skunk-striped coif, eccentric haute couture ensembles, bespoke baubles and towering, one-of-a-kind Christian Louboutin platform shoes.

The Fashion Informer caught up with Guinness (who turns 42 on Monday and did, indeed, smell heavenly) during a recent New York visit to discuss her love of reading, old movies and the creative process.

So, Daphne…

What’s in current rotation on your iPod?
Regina Spektor, I think she’s great.  Andrew Bird, Bob Dylan, the Stones, Wagner.

 

What’s your favorite getaway spot? 
I haven’t gone away in such a long time.  I’ll tell you.  My dream is to… I love traveling and I love to explore ancient ruins and I also like to relax.  There’s so much to see in the world – I’m not somebody who really likes resorts very much. Life is a learning curve and carpe diem!

 

What are you currently reading?
I’m re-reading Ringworld by Larry Niven. I’ve been reading books on the crisis in Islam and things like that. Rogue Economics.  I’m reading The Razor’s Edge again by W. Somerset Maugham. I love that book. I’m always reading.  I’ll read a book I love 25 times - and Shakespeare I read a lot of.  I think that’s what I like doing best, is reading.

 

What movie has had the biggest effect on you?
Many movies.  I like old movies from the forties and fifties.  I love Gene Tierney.  I love Stanley Kubrick – Barry Lyndon is a great film.  2001: A Space Odyssey.  Dr. Strangelove.  The Women – the original version. Leave Her to Heaven.  Sunset Boulevard.

 

Where can we find your new scent?
It’s not available here yet.

 

Well, you need to fix that, stat!
I’m not in charge of that, really, all I can do is make it (laughs).  I think it’s going to be available here but it’s quite a small run, though.  It was great seeing them break down my scent. I’m all about layering and mixing it up.

 

When are you happiest? 
When I’m in the process of doing something creative.

[Guinness’ scent, Daphne, retails for $125 and is now available at the Comme des Garcons store in Chelsea.]

 

Stay tuned for Random Questions For…Carlos Falchi.

 

Adventures in Badvertising: Cottonelle

We almost spit out our tea when we came across this badvertorial in a magazine that shall remain nameless. Seriously?! Who thought it was a good idea to position Cottonelle toilet paper as a red carpet glamour must-have? Our favorite line: "Peruse our Hollywood beauty and fashion tips and learn how Cottonelle brand's extra gentle formula can help you achieve ready-for-your-close-up confidence." 

Errr...what part of your body is the paparazzi going to be shooting, exactly?  Yikes. Can you say retarded tingles, boys and girls?