blendnewyork…Fashion.Art.Style.Inspiration.Love

September 9

2pm

Christian Siriano

Christian Siriano began designing at just thirteen years old and attended the Baltimore School for the Arts and the American Intercontinental University in London, where he interned with punk legend Vivienne Westwood, and with Alexander McQueen. Upon returning to the United States and moving to New York City, Christian’s break came when he earned a spot on season four of Bravo’s hit program Project Runway. He became the show’s youngest winner, fan favorite, and a rising star in the fashion industry with his clothing sold in Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and stores around the world.

Christian shows a full collection every season at New York Fashion Week, with past shows being sponsored by LG, Sprint, Victoria’s Secret, Cibu International, and Aveda. He has designed for many celebrity clients, most notably Rihanna, Heidi Klum, Victoria Beckham, Lady GaGa, Vanessa Williams, Christina Hendricks, Pink, Estelle, Mena Suvari, Kelly Rowland, Becki Newton, Kat DeLuna, and Whoopi Goldberg in her role as host of the 2008 Tony Awards. He has signed on to design a full couture collection to appear in the upcoming film Eloise in Paris, starring Uma Thurman. Alexis Bledel, dressed in Christian’s designs, was named to Vogue’s “Ten Best Dressed” list in September 2009. Oprah Winfrey calls his designs “works of art.” Tim Gunn calls him “a prodigy” and “the next great American fashion designer.”

Christian’s current additional projects include joining the likes of Isabel Toledo, Alice + Olivia, and Patricia Field in creating an ongoing line of shoes and bags for Payless which first became available in September 2009. He also created a line of makeup for Victoria’s Secret for stores in the fall of 2009, a limited edition design collaboration for Starbucks for the 2009 holiday season, and a collaboration last year with Puma. Between his design projects, Christian has also written a style guide titled Fierce Style: How to Be Your Most Fabulous Self, available now, and he embarked on a book tour in the fall of 2009.

Gwen Stefani won’t let a little last-minute emergency—as in, half of the Fall collection getting stuck in transit due to the blizzard—get her down. “We’ve had to scrape together what we can,” she said in a preview the day before her L.A.M.B. presentation, “but it’s actually forced us to be even more creative.” Case in point: a “vest” she strung together on the fly by linking up several leather belts.

Explaining the mood this season, she ticked off a checklist of tried-and-true Gwen references: “vintage, boudoir, military, fifties, sexy, and futuristic.” Making it all work might sound like a tall order, but the mash-up was signature Stefani, right down to the models’ pinup hair and scarlet lips. Among the more successful looks was a tailored military jacket worn with skinny houndstooth jeans, a twill and boiled-wool trenchcoat, and a chic black Ponte-and-leather body-con dress. If the collection wasn’t exactly concise, the variety and uniqueness of many of the pieces will get them noticed on the sales floor. And, no, you don’t have to be a ska punk to pull them off.
(by Romney Leader – style.com)