How to bend a fork with your mind: Minimarket Fall 2012

All photos by Kristian Löveborg

Fashion shows, while exciting, are usually a pretty generic affair, so it is always nice when designers make the extra effort to turn their runway presentations into a proper spectacle.  This season Minimarket displayed looks from their Fall 2012 collection alongside a mini magic show, which was executed by Pedro Almodovar's brilliant muse, Rossy de Palma.  The performance included traditional slight of hand tricks, sword swallowing, and a Minimarket model being sawed in half to reappear whole, and wearing a different outfit.  Though the show, and the surprise appearance by de Palma, added an incredible amount of excitement, the real magic was in the clothes, which were inspired by Vaudeville theater and Harry Houdini.  The collection includes embroidered sheer pants, shimmering sequined jackets, and handmade pleats and braid details.  I personally loved the vintage-inspired printed bed jackets, which provided the perfect translucent layering pieces for de Palma's opening strip tease.  Everything felt just right for adding an element of illusion and fantasy to quotidian life.

-Tiffany

Hard Times in New York City

Yesterday New York Fashion Week officially began, but somehow it lacks the excitement of previous seasons. In this age of austerity, many designers I know who showed last season have opted not to show, and many who are showing have scaled back their presentations.  The Tim Hamilton show took place in a vacant and very dimly-lit store space in Chinatown with straightfaced models sporting his high-end industrial goth-kid clothes.  Many of the garments had the logos of the FDIC and Capitol One printed on the lining, part of a collaboration with artist Seth Price, and a not-so-subtle reference to our unstable economic times.  For once, the surrounding austerity seemed entirely appropriate.

-Tiffany

Fashion's Night Out with DKNY!

A little while back, I had the privilege of participating in DKNY's Something NY campaign.  DKNY partnered with my lovely friends over at Stylecaster to tap five New Yorkers, including myself, to style some looks from their Fall collection.  DKNY is one of those quintessential New York brands that I grew up with, and I was very honored to take part in the campaign.  My mother wore, and still wears, the brand, and I remember one of the first pieces of grown-up clothing that I bought at thirteen was a DKNY silk tank that I still have and wear.  Also, who could forget the iconic DKNY billboard, which we were so sad to see removed and replaced?  The logo has even been reinterpreted by WEEKDAY on one of their fall tees.

Anyway, I styled three looks from their modish Fall Collection, which included plenty of cool colorblocked dresses, dreamy shearling leopard print coats, and knit puffer jackets, which I unfortunately didn't manage to incorporate into my outfits, but are also on the top of my wishlist.  I also did a series of interviews on the website, which you can read here.  Last but not least, I will also be hanging out at the DKNY store at 655 Madison Avenue during Fashion's Night Out on Thursday, September 8th at 8pm. There will be complimentary popcorn, beer, and haircuts courtesy of The Blind Barber (the co-founder, Jeff Laub, also participated in the campaign)! Hope to see you there!

The three looks I styled for DKNY's Something NY campaign! 
 

-Tiffany

Fashion Week Flashback

I know that it's already December, and it's incredibly pathetic that I'm still posting photos that I took during fashion week all the way back in September. Somehow these photos from the Ann Yee presentation got muddled in with the hundreds of others I took, and I only recently found them again. Rather than choosing different themes each season, Ann Yee's work focuses on combining architectural cuts with soft draping, and a muted color palette infused with pops of bright color. Having previously worked as a knitwear designer for Barney's and Elizabeth and James, Ann ensures that while the patterns are always forward-thinking, the results are always flattering and wearable. I tried a couple of pieces on at Eva, and I have to say that while the garments are deceptively simple looking on the hanger, they look and feel incredible on.

-Tiffany

Katie Pulls No Punches

One of the coolest shows I saw all fashion week was definitely Katie Gallagher's presentation at the Stoll Knitting Center. This season, Katie diverged from her usual all-black palette with shots of bright orange and blue, and created a collection that was inspired by sports, but still maintained her signature futuristic silhouettes. Katie had the help of another amazing Kate, Kate Lanphear, who styled the show, and it seemed like a perfect pairing. Highlights included a black bolero-styled jacket with ballooning sleeves, perfectly paneled leggings, and an incredibly covetable pair of boxing gloves that doubled as a bag.

-Tiffany

Fun While It Lasted! L.A. Pop-up Showroom

Los Angelenos! My friends from International Playground and The Shiny Squirrel are heading west for L.A. Fashion Week, and are opening an awesome pop-up showroom/retail/performance space starting tomorrow! It will be similar to the New York pop-up showroom that we did at the Ace Hotel, and there will be plenty of great designers involved, and fun events planned every night. Unfortunately we won't be showing our jewelry this time, but you should definitely stop by to see our friends Chromat, Blood is the New Black, and Miss Lonely Hearts.

-Tiffany

Going Green

The original LBD, styled very creatively. Photo courtesy of Elisa Hyman.

This season, The Green Shows provided a welcome respite from New York Fashion Week's completely spread out and harried show schedule. While most of the other venues were loud, over-crowded, and often a complete hassle to get into (cough, Milk Studios), I genuinely commend all the people behind the scenes of the Green Shows, as they put together a gorgeous and welcoming venue. Among the designers presenting were two of my friends, Eliza Starbuck who designs the line Bright Young Things, and Lopeti Etu, who showed with the Milliners Guild.

For Spring 2011, Eliza is launching her first multi-piece collection to complement her original (and now very famous) little black dress, which she created for The Uniform Project a little over a year ago. The Bright Young Things collection will feature eight items that give new life to wardrobe basics. The garments can be worn forwards, backwards, and inside out, giving the wearer the opportunity to style it hundreds of different ways. As Eliza's LBD demonstrated, with a few key accessories and styling creativity, you can wear the same piece everyday and make it look completely different. The pieces really encourage you to shop your closet and embrace the versatility of one great item rather than buying twelve different versions of it (a truly green notion that I need to learn to live by). Another great aspect of the show? The gorgeous cast of models came in all ages, races, shapes, and sizes, really showing off how real women wear the clothes, and demonstrating how exciting diversity on the runway can be when it does happen.

Another way to style the same LBD with the pleat side in the front. Photo courtesy of Elisa Hyman.

Olive coat dress worn as a jacket. Photo courtesy of Elisa Hyman.

The mini skort worn as a button front skirt. Photo courtesy of Elisa Hyman.

Ivory LBD. Photo courtesy of Elisa Hyman.

And the most fashionable way to accessorize your LBD is with a stone and pearl encrusted space helmet, of course!

I met Lopeti Etu a little while back when he was still working as a designer for Selima. He's since gone on to launch his own eponymous line, and each new hat he makes is increasingly outrageous. He presented two gigantic hats at the Milliners Guild Show, and they were certainly the showstoppers of the presentation. The seaweed and raffia hat with a bee-keeper style veil was an outfit unto itself, and his canvas hat had a five-foot diameter and was trimmed with lamp parts sourced at Ikea. I tip my hat (har har) to Lopeti for bringing back all the drama and daring associated with millinery.

Raffia and seaweed straw hat.

Canvas hat with lace trim and Ikea lamp parts at the crown

-Tiffany

Master Craft

After many years of hard partying in very very high heels, I've officially messed up my feet. Without going into inappropriate TMI detail, they are beyond mangled at this point, and give my husband a good scare (when he deserves a good scare, as he often does). I have an entire closet filled with pumps, boots, and beautiful shoes that are collecting dust, and I'm constantly on the lookout for nice and comfortable flats to add to my completely inadequate selection of reasonable walking shoes. When I saw George Esquivel's Spring presentation, my eyes were opened to a dizzying array of options. Esquivel is an experienced cobbler known for his incredibly crafted handmade shoes, and he presented an assortment of women's, men's, and unisex styles, with nary a high-heel in sight. Inspired by the architecture of Frank Gehry, each shoe offered a decidedly new spin on a classic style. Highlights included suede brogues in eye-popping bright colors, lace-up boots and ankle booties with peekaboo cut-outs, and some T-strap sandals with twisting leather details which revealed flashes of gold.

-Tiffany