Leopard spots, snakeskin, and tiger stripes—designers took a walk on the wild side for pre-fall 2010. Animal prints showed up on bags, boots, scarves, and gloves (at Dolce & Gabbana and Emilio Pucci); metallic and sequined skinny trousers, one-shoulder dresses, and jumpsuits (at Stella McCartney); and head-to-toe looks (at Lanvin). Whether it's an accent accessory or a full-on statement, we're guessing spots will be a continued theme for fall 2010.
This evening, I'm heading out to Oakland for its monthly Art Murmur event. Cities all over the world have similar events, where galleries in a neighborhood or city coordinate openings, turning the night into a wandering art party. It's always a fun evening, and it's also a great way to find affordable art for your home.
Tonight, I'll definitely head to Johansson Projects and 21 Grand. At the latter, artist Laurel Nathanson (whose rainbow bright house we toured in the past) will be showing an installation piece on a 24-foot wall.
I've also attended open gallery events in Austin and Minneapolis. How about you?
Erin Featherston's debut collection as creative consultant for Juicy Couture will launch this holiday. The 11-look lineup includes a version of, and was inspired by, the Thirties style velour gown Featherston wore to the Met Ball last May.
Although the collection skews evening more than typical looks from Juicy founders and former designers Gela Nash-Taylor and Pamela Skaist-Levy, Featherston maintains she is not looking to abandon Juicy's relaxed look. “This is a holiday capsule, so it’s more dressed up for the season,” she said recently. “We’re not trying to take Juicy away from being a casual brand. But my vision is to take things out of the box of just sportswear or leisurewear." True to Juicy form, there is plenty of velour in the collection.
Next up for Featherston at Juicy? She will be taking on the Juicy Couture tracksuit next year, designing an updated version of the iconic casual uniform for its 10th anniversary.
Material Girl, the collection designed by Madonna and her 13-year-old daughter Lourdes, is launching next Tuesday with a party at Macy's Herald Square in New York. The line's face and muse, actress/musician/model Taylor Momsen, was hand-picked by Madonna to appear in the brand's advertising campaigns and will be performing live with her band, The Pretty Reckless, during the Macy's event. We have early behind-the-scenes shots of Taylor, Madonna, and Lourdes on set shooting the Material Girl ad images, and it's clear the mother/daughter design team are taking their fashion roles seriously, especially mom Madonna who styled Momsen on set and even took a few photos herself—while sporting her other recent design collaboration, a pair of Dolce & Gabbana collection MDG sunglasses.
The fashion house of Pierre Cardin is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year with a retrospective tome published by Assouline. Having worked for Elsa Schiaparelli and Christian Dior in Paris, Cardin opened his namesake couture house in 1950 producing architecturally inspired futuristic fashions. This October the house of Cardin will receive the Fashion Group International's Board of Director's Legend Award for extraoridary innovation in the world of couture, fashion, and perfume. Pierre Cardin: 60 Years of Innovation is now available online from Assouline. Enjoy a sneak peek of images from the book in the gallery below.
Models clad in colorful Trina Turk beachwear hit the runway in Miami yesterday for the designer's 2011 fashion show, marking the start of Fashion Week Swim in Miami. This was the first time showing at Miami's Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim for the LA-based Turk, who was named "Mercedes-Benz Presents" designer for the event. Presenting to a full house at the Raleigh, Trina Turk brought her unique brand of West Coast glamour to South Beach in a lineup that was largely inspired by Hollywood's jaunts to Acapulco in the '60s and '70s (think bright headscarves and iridescent tunics). Oversize jewelry (better to stand up to the designer's bold prints) and gold hardware set off the colorful kaftans, tropical printed bikinis, netted cover-ups, cute printed beach bags, and some gigantic straw sun hats. See the complete runway show in the gallery below.
Source: Getty
To celebrate the opening of the Target location on 116th street in East Harlem, Isabel and Ruben Toledo have teamed up to create a limited-edition collection of summer essentials—t shirts, bikinis, sarongs, and beach towels—each featuring Ruben's signature illustrations, and Isabel's sharp attention to design. The colorful printed bikinis above are just one example of this perfectly matched pairing. The complete collection will be sold in the East Harlem store beginning July 25 and online starting August 1, where five percent of Toledo-designed purchases will go to support the couple's cause of choice—Harlem’s El Museo del Barrio. Click below to view the Toledo-designed lineup for Target.
David LaChapelle's latest exhibit, titled “American Jesus,” opens today Chelsea’s Paul Kasmin Gallery, and the celebrity portrait photographer cast friends Michael Jackson and Naomi Campbell in a series of Biblical scenes. The Jackson portraits were taken just before the performer's death and include the show's title piece. Campbell makes an appearance as Botticelli's Venus. Click below for a sneak peek.
For her first-ever resort collection, Fenton jewelry designer Dana Lorenz was inspired by a necklace she created for her recent CFDA Swarovski award nomination. “I wanted to explore the clash of traditional jewelry ideas with something nontraditional, like speaker wire,” said Lorenz, who used crystal, pearls, and the aforementioned speaker wire for the Swarovski project as well as her 25-piece resort lineup. “I see resort as a good time to do something different. It’ll be a good way for me to take risks and give the customer something newer and fresher." New and fresh styles for Fenton include thin cables tied into neat little bows, wrapped around oversize crystals, or made into tassels that drip from necklaces and earrings. See the entire resort collection from Fenton in the gallery below.
Adriana Lima, Lily Donaldson, Eniko Mihalik, Isabeli Fontana, and Natasha Poly appear on the five covers of V magazine (issue #66) "The Sexy Body Issue." Mario Sorrenti photographed the bombshell bodies in some seriously revealing poses, and shockingly, there's more skin to uncover. The "V" on four of the steamy covers (Adriana Lima opted out) can be scratched off to reveal body parts that were carefully covered with the magazine's logo. The limited-edition scratch-off covers are being sold exclusively online at vmagazine.com starting today.
