Naeem Khan’s s/s2011 Collection: Collectible Fashion

TEXT, VIVIAN KELLY

Many of the world’s best fashion designers are men. That’s always puzzled me as they can never actually try on the clothes and truly know what it feels like to wear them. It’s an argument Donna Karan made years ago when she brought out her iconic “five easy pieces” collection of black basics she felt all women needed for their busy lives. Obviously, there is a way around this problem, as there are some very talented male designers, such as Naeem Khan, who know just what their female clientele wants and have loyal followings as a result of getting it right.
In lieu of trying the clothes on for themselves, male designers rely on muses and feedback from the women they design for and retailers such as Neiman’s Ken Downing. Ken’s “girls”, he told us, [pointing to his blackberry] consult and confide in him, and tell him – really tell him – what clothes and accessories they love.

As far as muses go, Naeem has his wife, jewelry designer, Ranjana Khan,
to draw inspiration from on a daily basis, and perhaps, his show stylist, Mary Alice Stephenson. Ranjana is gorgeous and exotic and Mary Alice
is blonde and beautiful in that classic Old Hollywood way. Both women look very different, but both look fantastic in Naeem Khan.

The smart designers listen to “their girls” and deliver strong fashionable collections that move women to faithfully buy every season. Some clients even become collectors. Fashion design is like pulling off the perfect recipe in that there has to be a perfect balance of ingredients.
In our backstage chat, Naeem spoke about his philosophy. “My formula” he stated, is very simple: it’s classic, it’s glamorous, and I keep tweaking, every season. I want to deliver classic, wearable glamour that is so wonderful that it is worthy of collecting. I have lots and lots of women who collect me. People have been collecting these [pointing to a rack of the s/s2011 collection], maybe since the day I started, six or seven years ago.”

As I first replayed our interview, I considered Naeem’s philosophy. The words “classic” and “wearable” do not often go with “glamour”. Classic and wearable are in one camp, and glamour, falls in another. Right?
Naeem Khan, like Oscar de la Renta, is one of those rare designers who have made their careers by consistently delivering drop-dead head turning glamour that’s not even remotely vulgar.
Naeem is very aware of curbing any tendencies of excess. “In my case, because of the clothes being so intricate, you have to be really careful. You can really overdo it. Overdo it – really. When you keep cooking for 30 years, though, you become a master chef. I have to make sure that I give my customer newness every year, and that it’s to the time.”



You need self-confidence to wear one of Mr. Khan’s creations. The list of celebrities who wear Naeem Khan is diverse but all of these women have self-confidence oozing from their pores. Angie Harmon, Elizabeth Hurley,

Michelle Obama,
and Kim Cattrall all project extreme femininity and self-confidence whenever you see them in photographs. Put them in a Naeem Khan dress and the result is that classic glamour that all women look for when they tune in to watch their favorite celebs walk down the Red Carpet. If you’re a basic black girl who’s happy with her five easy pieces, you may want to look elsewhere. If though, you decide that you really are a Naeem Khan woman, rest assured that you will in no shape or form resemble a walking Christmas tree in one of his creations.
Naeem is extremely in tune with his clientele’s horror of looking foolish. “When you make fashion, you have to make clothes for the real woman. I make very very intricate clothing. When you are doing my kind of clothing, my philosophy is clothing has to be real, It’s going to land up in the store, and it has to sell.”

He concluded our interview by saying that one-day, he hopes to have a retrospective of his work.
Maybe in a few decades, the MET’s Costume Institute would have one dedicated to the “Best Oscar Dresses, 1990-2020, featuring Naeem, Oscar, Armani, and Marchesa as some of the period’s top looks.
In the meantime, Naeem’s clients continue to buy and his presence on the Red Carpet continues to grow.

DUCKIE BROWN s/s2011: Fashion Vs. Clothes, Post #1

TEXT, VIVIAN KELLY


My interview with Daniel Silver and Steven Cox got me thinking about an issue that is terribly important to the fashion community – fashion vs. clothes.
How then, does one make the distinction? I decided to base the rest of this fashion week asking designers what THEY think.
First-up: Duckie Brown's Daniel Silver and Steven Cox.

Although Daniel and Silver work together brilliantly to produce season after season of clothes that continue to inspire us AND SELL, they are divided on this issue.

Blame it on the Fashion Calendar.
The two designers disagreed over the question I posed pre-show backstage. Waving the thick sheaf of pages at them I volleyed a barrage of questions at Daniel, “Why is the FC so crowded? Is it good or bad? Who are you hoping will buy your designs in this time of economic turmoil?”
Although I directed the query at Daniel, Steven was listening and also jumped into what resulted in a lively conversation on this topic.

DANIEL: What we’re seeing here [pointing to the FC] is the democratization of fashion. It’s become a media circus. There’s a tidal wave of bloggers and designers; everyone can do it and everyone has a chance, it's very democratic.

STEVEN: I disagree, call me a snob, but fashion should be aspirational. There’s sportswear, and there’s fashion. Think back to those shows at Dior, in the fifties. Entry was limited only to the select few, and there was a sense of ceremony to the whole thing, versus what we have now - which is this. And, by the way, that’s the most interesting question we’ve been asked this morning.

One thing they both agree on is that they [Duckie Brown] make fashion, not sportswear and they do NOT like to be compared to multi-billion dollar sportswear khakis that knock-out uninspired khakis season after season.
Does this though, mean that by taking the road less travelled, that they won’t make any money?

Says Daniel, “When people ask me how we’re doing, I tell them, ‘Well, we’ll still here, and we’re still in business’.”

As far as knowing who their customer is, they’re crystal clear on that point. As my former editor, Jim Zebora, now the Regional Business Editor for Hearst, posited, the Asian Market is hungry for and appreciates fashion.
Continues Daniel, “The Japanese have saved us. Going back to the question regarding the overly crowded show schedule, what’s interesting is to know who on that list will still be here in nine years.”

As Daniel and Steven promised, we came to see fashion, and fashion is what we saw. Presentation is part of the packaging that makes it fashion not just a bunch of clothes buyers are deciding they will or won’t buy.
Upon entering the show venue, I was confounded by the empty bleachers that made up an entire half of the show venue. A FULL ONE HALF of the venue was occupied by empty bleachers, replacing seats and leaving many fashion hopefuls outside in the standing line having to content themselves with watching this remarkable show on the HD Screens in the lobby.
The models walked down the runway and then went and posed on the bleachers. This blatant “waste” of space was as effective a device as when fashion companies buy ad space in hyper expensive glossies and then use one of the pages as pure white space. IT’s a colossal gesture and an effective one.
In the case of the Duckie Brown show, it was particularly jolting as only 15 minutes earlier, Daniel had told me that they’ve “never had the flood of requests [they] were inundated with this season.”
That aside, it was the best of both worlds, a runway show and presentation wrapped into one. The clothes are for the man who wants to be on the razor’s edge of what’s cool. That translated to easy dove gray long shorts, blousy tops, linen tunics and some ikat print pieces and a flash of color as in a bright green pant. Gant, Tommy or Nautica, it’s not.

Backstage Interview with Daniel Vosovic

TEXT, VIVIAN KELLY
Daniel Vosovic's heroine, let's call her a modern day version of 'Martha in Edward Albee's play, 'Virginia Woolf' thrown into the wilderness. Makes sense that her clothes would be mud, bark and leaf colored and that she'd be stomping down a dirt runway in thick soled platform wedges. But, hey it's fashion, and that entails fantasy and so it makes sense that the heels are high, and that the brows are perfectly groomed. Fittingly, the jackets are well cut and that the slashes on the silver oilleakprint dresses are well placed, making Daniel's 'Martha' look anything BUT a mess.

The New & Improved Tents at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week & Celebrity Sighting- Heidi Klum

TEXT, VIVIAN KELLY

Welcome to the new and improved NY Fashion Week. A big "thank you" to CFDA/Vogue/IMG for pulling the Lincoln Center Project together. Initially, I balked at the idea of going to the Upper West Side, away from my Bryant Park and Meat Packing comfort zone. All of that went out the window yesterday, on my first full day of doing the MBFW shows.
On entering, I was agog at how upscale the environment was, and was won-over after hitting the well-equipped media pit equipped with [gasp!] plenty of ethernet cables.Better still, good-bye crashers, thanks to the new Fashion GPS system, in which Citadel's Guards scan your ticket before you're allowed into the show venue.

It truly IS "NO TICKIE NO LAUNDRY as the guys on 'Seinfeld' quipped so famously, years ago. Once I got over the feeling that I was in the first class lounge [a very large one], I was fully on board.

It got better.After nibbling on a few crudites in the MERCEDES BENZ STAR LOUNGE, I felt human again. The lounge is decorated with IMAN's flocked black and white wallpaper and a panel of peacock feathers that made me feel as if I were sitting in one of the courtyards of the ALHAMBRA Palace in Seville, Spain, rather than in one of the busiest places in Manhattan.
The biggest problem about fashion week is food, or a lack thereof. Even supermodels get the munchies, and voila! PROJECT RUNWAY's HEIDI KLUM dashed-out of the show venue with a bag of barbeque POP-CHIPS, in her hand. Before you start snickering at her weakness, think again. POP CHIPS are all-natural and guilt free.
I haven't had any solid food yet, so I'm shutting-down and grabbing a bag - BBQ flavored, of course.

The Sinister s/s2011 Collection- Costume or Couture?

TEXT, VIVIAN KELLY

On the way to the BB DAKOTA Party, we had a heated debate about the merits of the SINISTER collection.

The long wait outside the art gallery was worth it, when it came to the ambiance. There was a continuous stream of green gas floating around and a gas mask [minus the cartridge] in our Chinese style takeout structures.



MAYBE it could play as "steam punk", as in the movie, 'Wild Wild West". Remember Vera's award winning 'Deadwood' Collection? Vera stepped out of her comfort zone and produced a drapey, moody collection that set the tone for collections to come. The angles of the asymmetry just didn't come together in this instance though at Sinister, and I was distracted by the bamboo hoop-skirt on one outfit wondering how the poor girls wearing it could ever manage to sit down. This collection was costumy and arty. Wearable? Sorry, it was not.