Teenage Dreams at Chloe x OC

Celebrity clothing lines are naturally greeted with a fair amount of skepticism. The duds far outweigh the success stories, and only the Olson twins have gained true credibility as designers within the fashion industry. When the Chloe Sevigny x Opening Ceremony collection launched a few seasons ago, I didn't really know what to expect. Chloe is well known for her amazing personal style, but great stylists don't necessarily make great designers. However, Chloe chose wisely to partner up with downtown design aficionados, Opening Ceremony, and knowing some of the ladies on the design team, I can attest that they do know what they're doing. Combining Chloe's 90's-infused, high-low, skate board + Chanel-bag style, with O.C.'s taste for quirky silhouettes, cuts, and unusual details, felt like a natural match. Obviously natural enough to keep the collaboration going, and to even show a Resort 2012 Runway show yesterday evening.

The setting? A sweaty high school gym in Nolita packed with plenty of familiar downtown faces, including many of Chloe's famous friends and fans. While there was chatter concerning the lack of air-conditioning and the summer heat, it actually wasn't too stifling, and the warm air gave a dewy sheen to all the models, most of whom looked like they had been plucked straight from the school yard. Afterall, the inspiration was "teen dreams," and most of the collection seemed to represent the turning point where the good girl turns bad. There were lace eyelet dresses in both white cotton voile and laser cut black leather, alternating between infanta and seductress with alarming ease. There was a pair of black bloomers that looked like the ones I wore under my school uniform, except that these ones were made out of leather. And there were also plenty of casual jersey dresses, tees, and sweatshirts, made in collaboration with Vision Street Wear. A teen dream come true, for sure.

-Tiffany

Rorschach Mania

My favorite dress from the collection, featuring a Rorschach inspired digital print.

This past Friday, I was invited to stop by the Sachin + Babi Resort lookbook shoot, to get a glimpse of the new collection, and take some backstage photos of the pieces up close. Husband and wife design team Sachin Ahluwalia and Babi Ahluwalia have a long and storied history in the textile design industry. Both Sachin and Babi grew up in families involved with the textile industry in their home country of India, and then ended up meeting while studying Textile Design at F.I.T. They first started their textile company, ANK, in 1996, providing fabrics to legendary fashion houses like Oscar De La Renta, YSL, and Derek Lam, before launching their luxury home line, ANKASA in 2004. In 2008, the couple launched their ready-to-wear line, and the clothes heavily feature their background in textiles. Each garment is made from their custom prints and fabrics, and often feature three or four contrasting fabrics mixed together.

This season, Sachin + Babi drew inspiration from Rorschach test ink splatters, starting with a distorted digital print of the original ink splatters rendered in a rainbow burst, which was meant to have the appearance of a modernized Ikat print. They also laser-cut the ink-splatter silhouette into the fabric, and created leather ink-splatter cut-outs, which they applied to their bags and accessories. My favorite pieces however were the jewels of course, and I totally fell for the giant collars made out of metal cutout Rorschach splotches.

A close up of the digital print

One of the Rorschach inspired enameled collar necklaces

I loved this sweater, with it's mixture of different embroideries.


The accessories table was overflowing with these mixed metal and leather bangles

-Tiffany

Walk a Mile In My Shoes

Platforms courtesy of 80%20, Sumi Ink Club tee courtesy of Blood Is The New Black, Coven sweater, vintage skirt, Comme Des Garcons pouch, Slow and Steady Wins the Race sunglasses, Triskaidekaphobia buckle ring.

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of running into my friend Ce Ce Chin, designer of one of my favorite New York-based shoe lines, 80%20, at the MoMA x Volkswagen party. The origins of the name came from the idea that women wear their favorite 20% of their wardrobe 80% of the time, and the truth is, I really do wear my 80%20 shoes 80% of the time. My bestie Brandon, who is studying shoe design, recently went through my shoes asking why I never wear any of the designer heels collecting dust in my closet. I systematically explained why each pair of designer shoes was uncomfortable or even completely unwearable, as he mentally took notes on design and fit.

If I'm going out for the night, I almost immediately grab my 80%20s, which provide height, style, and most importantly, comfort. I know I can walk a couple miles and then dance the night away in my Giraffe-print wedge creepers, and frankly that kind of behavior would normally destroy a pair of Chanel or Prada shoes (not to mention my feet). I told Ce Ce this and, she was so kind to let me pick out a couple pairs from her summer collection (I happen to be sample size, lucky me!). I immediately grabbed this pair of Ginger wedges, which are a combination of a Birkenstock cork sandal and an espadrille. I wore them out to dinner with parents at Keen's steakhouse, and walked a whole mile to get there. So comfortable, so easy to walk in, I know I'll be wearing these for 80% of the summer.

-Tiffany