blendnewyork…Fashion.Art.Style.Inspiration.Love

Women’s Designer of the Year: Rodarte.

The rest is here:
CFDA Finale

Oh, hello. Back for the Swarovski young designer awards.

The rest is here:
CFDA: ‘One Outfit at a Time’ (zzzzz)

For accessories: Proenza Schouler. The first Popular Vote Award: Ralph Lauren (in tuxedo jacket and jeans). Men’s wear designer: Scott Sternberg and Italo Zucchelli, a tie

Originally posted here:
And the Winners Are…

Designers are beginning to promote their resort collections aggressively with runway shows and meet-and-greets with the press.

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Front Row: Resort Wear Never Rests

The Parsons Fashion Benefit, held last night at Cipriani on Wall Street, was a black-tie affair. I put on a long black skirt, a little white shell and a sparkly cardigan, an outfit that made my colleague Eric Wilson beam and say I looked inspired by Michelle Obama. (See next post.) Perhaps because I was one of three people being given an award (the others were Francisco Costa and his boss, Calvin Klein chief Tom Murry), I paid more attention to things than I would normally at an event where the faces are familiar (Anna Wintour, Marc Jacobs, Rachel Zoe, Ron Frasch and Terry Lundgren) and indeed will be in their war paint and party shoes again for the Met gala on Monday.

First of all, this was the graduating seniors’ evening, the celebratory end to assignments and demanding teachers. There was a runway show, and at the end of the evening the outstanding seniors were announced in three categories: Anika Gupta and Azumi Nishizawa for children’s wear, Edward Lorenz Tan for men’s design, and Julia Blum and Robert Fitzsimmons for women’s. I thought Fitzsimmons’ designs indicated someone with a pretty good eye and also a sense of restraint. The clothes were edgy by virtue being colorful, unextravagant and comfortable.

Students have been part of this blog since it began, so I was flattered to receive the Parsons award, which was presented by seniors Bessie Afnaim and Jonathan Cohen. Of course this is a difficult time to be starting a career in fashion and retail, but there’s nothing these kids can do about the problems so they might as well not worry about them too much. Just think about it as a different time, that’s all. Another thing I said to them was to perfect their craft. After months of hearing this kind of stuff from their teachers they probably don’t want to hear it anymore.

But if there’s one thing right now I’d want to be tough-minded and disciplined about it is the craft of making clothes. I’d want to know everything I could—even if the application of the knowledge wasn’t immediately apparent. Or the job you get doesn’t ask for much. My guess is the cost of clothing and the world-wide recession are going to put quality under increasing pressure. We’re going to see manufacturers cutting all kinds of corners to maintain their margins or just stay in business. But, if you’re vaguely serious about design, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t equip yourself with as much knowledge about technique as you can. Because at some point it WILL be useful, not only to you but to someone else. Aside from the fact that the mastery of one technique inevitably leads to the mastery and use of another, I think this approach to the high calling of being a fashion designer will liberate you from having to do a lot of stupid stuff.

Read the original:
The Graduation Season