THE ECCO DOMANI FASHION FOUNDATION - Prabal Gurung

TEXT, VIVIAN G KELLY-VAN ZUTPHEN

WE went to Ecco Domani last night to see what the winners had on tap. There were seven young designers.

While all good, the one that excited us the most was PRABAL GURUNG, who got on our radar screen last year.
Blondes - Swarovski everywhere, the best was the 1st look on a ring maille chain corset. The rest of the collection was all black.
Prova - This accessory collection's star piece was a Mary Celeste silk scarf with gunmetal and silver. It's going to add some needed sparkle to the overwhelming amount of black and gray we've seen in RTW thus far.
Siki Im - Brought back men's skirts [yawn]. The most interesting was an ankle length Japanese poplin long skirt. It's going to take the right guy to wear it, but for the most fashion forward guy out there - a great look..
Altuzarra - Dazzled with buckles on 5/7 looks but it was the last look, a red acid washed tuxedo dress with no buckle in sight that caused our knees to buckle.
Salbor - Managed to make the black and white themes we've seen all week look new. The best - a white zebra patchwork top with a great tonal quality that looked like we were watching a TV set as the model approached us.
Organic by John Patrick - the most colorful + cohesive collection of the 7. There were bright plaids and Harris Tweeds galor. All of them seemed to build on each other and created a complete message.

It was Prabal Gurung who swept us away. He started out with a great white + black 2-tone seam coat. It's white in front, jet black in back. The 2nd look was a camel and white wool hooded coat. The two best were his two dresses, an oxidized silver stretch lace and black wool faille dress. The tarnished look made the silver look alive. The bottle green [we're saying "emerald"] green viscose draped sleeve dress is the kind of dress and the kind of color we want to see more of.

The ARISE MAGAZINE AFRICAN COLLECTIVE - PART III - the fall 2010 collections

TEXT, VIVIAN G KELLY-VAN ZUTPHEN & LAURA WOOD
Saturday night, Feb. 13, backstage at the big Tent, Bryant Park, NYC

WE interviewed NDUKA OBAIGBENA and two of the three designers pre-show.

First up was ANISA MPUNGWE, designer of the LOINCLOTH AND ASHES Collection. We asked her about the unusual name she chose for her company. She was raised in the Anglican Church and chose this biblical reference [Sackcloth & Ashes] which she adapted to her own culture, hence LOINCLOTH and Ashes.
We saw this combination of cultures in one dress with a very subdued, heavily textured fabric. The surprise was the colorful lining using traditional African pattern.

Next, we chatted with DEOLA SAGOE, the rising star discovered by ANDRE LEON TALLEY. Like Anisa, she combined European and African influences in her designs. She's drawing on military and aristocratic styles from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries such as mutton sleeves and military style buttons. Within the same piece, she incorporated embroidered designs based on Masai warrior body paint. The result was a collection that was strong and feminine - just like she intended. She is very interested in expressing the newfound independence African women are coming into today.

Our last stop was the man himself who was besieged by admirers but was nice enough to give us one last interview. He spoke about his philosophy of investment rather than foreign aid and when asked "Why fashion?" we discussed how this show is the perfect platform for Africa's modern creativity and relevance today. Says NDUKA, "It's a marathon not a dash." He is determined to persevere in promoting his beloved homeland in the USA and around the world. He will be showing in Paris next.

THE ARISE MAGAZINE AFRICAN COLLECTIVE AFTER PARTY AT THE PLAZA

TEXT, LAURA WOOD
Edited by Vivian G Kelly-VanZutphen

The 3rd floor Ballroom at the Plaza was a swanky place to have a party, vaulted ceilings, the gilt, everything that makes the Plaza the classic it is.
What we walked into was the hippest party of the week at New York's most classic venue.

The crowd spilled out of the room and there was a full-on Plaza style food spread and waiters buzzing around with white gloves and silver platters, like in the old days ie: pre-recession.
CEO and Chairman NDUKA OBAIGBENA put out all the stops. The notion of embracing the aristocratic British aristocracy yet putting their own distinctive spin on it - as at the show a few hours earlier - was exactly what was going on here.
We caught up with designer JACQUES VAN DER WATT, half of the BLACK COFFEE team, who we hadn't been able to interview pre-show. He spoke of his fondness for using cotton knit in this collection as it was soft, sensual and cozy.

While we were standing on one side of the room observing, all of a sudden the stage opened up right in front of our perch and there was superstar CIARA and two back-up dancers in slashed jeans and bare midriffs and sparkly body lotion. She built up to her hit song, "Love, Sex & Magic" and kicked-off with a Michael Jackson cover.
The party roared-on after Ciara wrapped-up. They were still dancing away after 1a.m. when we called it a night.

George Esquivel's Exquisite Handmade Shoes for Men AND Women

TEXT, VIVIAN G. KELLY & LAURA WOOD
Images, Richard Spiegel

DAY TWO - 240 West 35th Street, the Garment Center, NYC


Designer George Esquivel's exquisite hand crafted shoes, are a hit with an elite clientele including high-profile celebrities. His reticence in bragging about his celebrity clientele goes against the S.O.P [standard operating procedure] of designers and their publicists shouting out from the rooftops who their famous clients are. This designer is refreshingly discreet on the matter.

Esquivel shoes are for the in the know crowd who truly appreciate
quality workmanship. Mr. Esquivel hand polished and treats each pair of shoes, spending an average of 6-8 hours perfecting a pair. He starts with "nude leather", which is the same leather Louis Vuitton uses for its straps.

The couture-like experience continues when you go to the salon to purchase a pair. We liked the description of his LA store/salon on 3rd street, behind Beverly Center. which sounds delightfully genteel.

COLLABORATIONS play a big part in Mr. Esquivel's business.
Esquivel works well with others. Although he's only in his 2nd year of
wholesale, this season he has collaborations with Zero+ Maria Cornejo,
Timo Weiland, Loden Dager, Antonio Berardi and Juan Carlos Obando. The thigh-high lace-up shoe covers he did for Juan Carlos Obando were sheer genius. Okay, it took 45 minutes to get them on the models, but sometimes you DO have to suffer to be beautiful and sexy.

AN ADDED PLUS: these shoes are made domestically.
Price point
men's - $600-900
women's - $700-2000

John Bartlett's fall 2010 collection - the English country squire

TEXT, VIVIAN G KELLY-VANZUTPHEN
Images, courtesy of John Bartlett
Wednesday night, Feb. 10th, the Wall Street area, NYC

This was our first show of Mercedes-Benz NY fall 2010 Fashion Week. After slogging through as of yet unplowed snow, we were excited to see one of our favorite designers’ latest. You’ve got to love John Bartlett – he’s been beaten down, most recently for his participation in the ill-fated Liz Claiborne deal. A fellow editor told us she’d picked up a dozen or so shirts for her boyfriend at deep discount for $10 a shirt!
Despite the setbacks, he always manages to get up and come back for another round, and always, with a big smile on his face.
He showed equestrian chic with perhaps a reference to a long-ago lumberjack themed collection. The men’s’ and women’s’ looks were quite similar and worked well together. There were some great textures – wide wale corduroy, neutral tweeds and herringbones accented with some brilliant orange here and there. The women’s collection in particular was Ralph Lauren-ish in a “life at the country estate” sort of way. For the hunt ball, there’s a black satin tux with a matching bowtie for the guys. As always, Mr. Bartlett added a little bit of edge, this time by way of leather tees and gauntlets.
If you like vest and the English Country Squire look, you’ll be all over this collection come fall.

Cushnie Et Ochs - the fall 2010 Collection - Serious fashion

TEXT, VIVIAN G. KELLY VAN ZUTPHEN & LAURA WOOD

The desigers got off to a strong start with a simple black wool dress
with a pony skin back panel that set the tone for was to come.

There were texture, and leather treatments that reminded us of Alexander McQueen, including slashing, cobweb tops and the lean and sharp silhouettes we've come to associate with McQueen's fashion-as- art
design aesthetic.

We witnessed the seemingly impossible, feathers that looked neither vieille femme [translation: old lady] or costume-y.
The cream silk tee with the ostrich feathers looked anything but old-fashioned. The designers used the tiny down
feathers instead of the usual foot long blackones you see at the
couture.
Thks show grabbed us and held our complete attention from
start to finish. We can't wait for the next installment in September.

ALEXANDER MCQUEEN - Our Tribute

Text, Vivian G. Kelly VanZutphen

By now, you've all doubtless heard that British designer, Alexander McQueen, was found dead yesterday in his home in London. I'm at NY Fashion Week and the news hit the fashion community harder than the snowstorm we got pummeled with the night before.

PLEASE, take the time to read a few articles on him, starting with the pieces that ran today, Friday, Feb. 12th, on WWD.com.
This is just the first in what is sure to be an avalanche of articles on the man who was dubbed, " the London-born 'enfant terrible' fashion designer".
Years ago, in the mid-nineties, while at Michael Kors, I was across the street at the Onward Kashiyama offices and the buzz there was electric. Why? Because "Lee" was in the offices. Back then, I was shyer than I am today and didn't summon-up the gumption to ask PR, Pierre Rougier, for an introduction. I'm not the star-struck type, and as Grace Coddington said in "The September Issue" don't really care for celebrities. In my book, McQueen was a raw talent, a diamond in the rough, and I desperately wanted to meet someone who had this quality.
McQueen was different - even back then, relatively early in his career, this was a man who had "it". By it, I mean RARE UNDILUTED TALENT. He was a real artist, he didn't "just" make clothes and turn a nice profit at Neiman's.
McQueen was that rare animal - a creative and commercial success.

Today, I have two regrets when I think of him:
1. That I didn't ask Pierre for an intro. I did however, spot him in the hall from only a yard or so away.

2. That we will no longer be able to delight and be inspired by the collections he will never produce.

The cause of his death and the speculation that surrounds it is unimportant. The REAL question is this:
NOW THAT MCQUEEN IS GONE, SHOULD GUCCI CLOSE THE HOUSE DOWN OR SHOULD THEY LOOK FOR SOMEONE TO TRY TO CONTINUE-ON?

We're of the mind that once the original creative genius is gone, it's time to close the doors forever,as unfortunately, Blass, Halston and Pucci failed to do. Maybe, if we're lucky, years from now, someone else will be able to step-in, as Karl Lagerfeld so famously did at Chanel, and breathe life back into the house of McQueen. For now, it's too soon.