Never Nude

Connector necklace and bracelets courtesy of Naked Label, Ideeen sweater, Todd Oldham dress, Chloe heels, sunglasses courtesy of Norma Kamali, Slow and Steady Wins the Race bag

While plenty of designers list futurism as a source of inspiration, few manage to translate the concept as gracefully as Allison Press of Naked Label.  For her latest collection, Cosmos, Press created necklaces that looked like they are adorned by tiny swirling planets, pendants that resemble alien vertebrae, and space-age laser-cut acrylic bangles.  The pieces touch on the universe and the cosmos in an abstract manner, without ever getting too literal.  My favorite group, which Allison kindly sent me, are a set of Connector bracelets and necklaces, made out of rubber tubing filled with tiny blue beads, and connected by three different sets of magnetic clasps that serve as industrial looking accents.  I'm also obsessed with the UFO necklace, which I've been wearing non-stop.

Naked Label UFO necklace and Rapscallion by Samantha Pleet romper

-Tiffany

Dress Up Dress Down

All photos courtesy of V by Verlaine

The summer heat wave has rolled in with full force here in New York, and frankly it is just too sticky and humid out to wear anything nice, anything that's dry-clean only, anything that you can't toss into the wash after drenching it in sweat.  Durable, machine-washable jersey is a good material of choice for this weather, and while I have many thin tees and tanks appropriate for the soaring temperatures, sometimes you want to put on something a bit nicer--something that doesn't make you look like you're permanently on your way to-and-from the gym.  That's where V by Verlaine comes in.  The Verlaine diffusion line maintains the same design principals and draping techniques that are trademarks of the main collection, but the clothes are all constructed in lightweight jersey, and priced between $150-$250.  The result is effortless and easy without looking sloppy, which is just about as high-maintance as I can get in this heat.

-Tiffany

Knitwits

All photos by Mark Fina, courtesy of Degen

After stumbling across Degen knitwear on various blogs and Tumblrs, I had the surprise pleasure of stumbling across the magical designer, Lindsay Degen, in real life, while visiting her studio mate.  Lindsay shares an inspiring space in the sprawling Brooklyn Navy Yards with my friend Becca McCharen, the designer behind Chromat.  It is not often that I come across exciting new knitwear designers, and it thrilled me to see Lindsay's work up close and personal, as it is truly one of a kind.  Using a mix of hand knitting and crochet, as well as machine knit pieces made on looms in her studio, Lindsay creates colorful, tongue in cheek, and downright absurd attire using the most traditional and age-old techniques and methods.  While your average knitwear designer's repertoire includes a range of sweaters, socks, scarves and mittens, Degen presents peculiar jersey shirts with boob holes, crochet nipple pasties, and underwear with wooly fake pubes stitched on the front.  Even the Degen version of mittens are a slightly off creation: half mittens and half gloves.

Anyway, the inspiration behind the Fall 2012 Degen collection, Ask Tell, is explained in the lookbook, which I've posted in full here--something I rarely do, but I truly love each and every piece.  What I'm most excited for is not even knit at all; Lindsay is collaborating with Converse on a line of platform sneakers, which you can get a peek at here.

-Tiffany

NORRBACK AW 2012 + Pop-Up Shop Opening Party

I've been working at NORRBACK while I've been in Stockholm, and a while back, I posted some behind the scene photos from the Autumn Winter Lookbook shoot. Here are the results, and a look at the new collection.  My favorite pieces are the zig-zag knit short sleeve jacket, and the illustrated black and white fox print dress.  If you happen to be in Stockholm this Saturday, you can pick up a goodybag with the same print at our Pop-Up shop opening party (invite below).  There will be drinks, snacks, music, giveaways and other surprises--Hope to see you there! 

-Tiffany

Cheap Thrills

When David J. Krause and Nina Zilka founded their label, Alder, they decided take on a different approach, choosing to sell directly to the consumer via their online shop, rather than dealing with the boutiques and showrooms that act as middle parties.  The result is a small but vibrant collection of fun, well crafted clothes for a very reasonable price; most everything costs between $50-$200.  For spring, the designers created looks that fused two disparate influences: the colorful fabrics of Mexico City, and the classic tailored garments favorite by your average preppy society girl.  I love the resulting neon-infused basics, which add just the right amount of flair and eccentricity to outfits that you can wear everyday. 

-Tiffany

Object of Desire

Considering that Eleven Objects started in Fall 2011 with a small but highly detailed collection of hand embroidered collars, it's quite amazing that a year later, they're presenting their first ready to wear collection.  I guess the quick progress shouldn't be that much of a surprise given the designers' impressive resumes: Christine Rhee studied architecture at Princeton and worked at BOYY, and Linh Thi Do worked at Alexander Wang and doo.ri.  The clothes bear all the luxe details of the collars, and the AW 2012 collection heavily features rich brocades, gold leaf, shearling, and Swarovski crystals.

The collars are still the focal point of all the looks, and in addition to the detached collar style, the designers have introduced the "collar sleeve," a floating collar with a set of short sleeves attached.  These pieces, along with the belted peplums, occupy a space somewhere between clothing, accessories, and jewelry, which might sound confusing at first.  However, once they're matched with the outfits, they complement the clothes beautifully, and everything comes together and makes perfect sense.

 

-Tiffany

Sadness is a Blessing!

All photos by Devastee

In the world of fashion, it isn't very stylish to be happy--how many editorials, runway shows or lookbooks do you see containing glowing, ebullient models?  Sadness is much chicer, and icy stares and solemn looks are more common expressions to wear than radiant smiles.  Sometimes though, all the sour faces and stiff attitudes can feel a bit too serious.  That's why I love Devastee, the French line designed by Ophélie Klère and François Alary.  The collections are always somewhat gothic in tone, with a strict black and white color palette, and inspiration sources that include death and other things that depress the designers.  Nonetheless, the gloomy subjects are addressed with a strong sense of humor and play, and a t-shirt from a previous collection reads, "DON'T WORRY AFTER DEATH BE HAPPY."  This season Devastee has combined motifs of crosses and skulls with smiley faces and grinning gingerbread man.  The result is ghoulishly comical, and creepily cute.  Even if it's chic to look world-weary, it's okay to smile once in a while too.

-Tiffany

Space Is The Place

I remember one of my favorite rides at Epcot center was a slow moving trolley that took you through scenes of "The Future."  As a child, everything seemed mystical, unfathomable, and impossible far off.  Now, Christina told me they had to update the ride, as one previous scene included people having a video phone call, something that is common rather than farfetched nowadays (by the way, will someone teach Christina how to use her Skype already?).  It seems the future is moving ever closer, and those wild visions of the 21st Century aren't nearly so far away anymore.

Andrew Majtenyi's new Fall collection draws extensively from this idea of the future, bringing it very much into the present.  Inspired in part by the last shuttle launch, which incidentally took place in Florida not so far away from Epcot Center, Majtenyi infuses his garments with a distinctively space age feel.  The collection mixes hexagon geometric prints and cool metallic colors with powerful shapes and angular cuts, and though the direction is forward thinking, the feeling is very contemporary. Perhaps the future is now.

-Tiffany