Less Mean Streets: Backstage at Gypsy Sport NYFW FW17

Chris Lavish
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Less Mean Streets: Backstage at Gypsy Sport NYFW FW17

Backstage at Gypsy Sport

Intro by Pablo Starr

There’s something just a little pretentious about the term “MADE Tribe” (MADE, of course, being the division of IMG entrusted with the production of the “coolest” shows on a world-class roster).

But there was nothing reprehensible in a joyously fun show from Gypsy Sport produced by MADE (and MADE “tribespeople”), inspired by street protests and people who call the street their home. Or the fact that a part of the show’s proceeds were given to the Bowery Mission.

If the show’s intent was to be a celebration of life, it was certainly a success, as the feeling of joy, and unbridled creativity, was in full effect.

If the show’s intent was to be a celebration of life, it was certainly a success.

The show presented a notion on the furthest end of the social continuum from “tribe” — a concept linked to “me on the inside,” “you on the outside,” “otherness,” and every other form of useless conflict.

This was a reminder that we are all one big human family, full of frailties and vulnerability, and every kind of odd-ballery.

A world where — like the “new fashion” — all are welcome to the party.

 
A Glimpse Backstage by Chris Lavish

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(Photos: Chris Lavish)

For more on this show, we recommend Chioma Nnadi‘s excellent writeup in the “mother of all inclusiveness,” Vogue.

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With love,

FWO

Inès de la Fressange x ELLE at Ritz Paris Concept Store

Pablo Starr
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Inès de la Fressange x ELLE at Ritz Paris Concept Store

Puttin’ on the Ritz with Inès de la Fressange x ELLE

There’s so much to tell about Inès de la Fressange, it’s actually difficult to know where to begin.

In the ’80s, she became the first model to sign an exclusive modeling contract with an haute couture house — possibly the greatest of all couture houses, Chanel — under the auspices of Karl Lagerfeld.

She was the first model to sign an exclusive modeling contract with an haute couture house.

She walked Gaultier at age 51, and lent her likeness to bust of Marianne, the ubiquitous symbol of the French Republic.

And she is, by all accounts, a beautiful person in the only way that matters: beauté intérieure, with smarts and wit, and rich in spirit (which is all we ever have).

 
Ritz’s “Concept Store”
 
Now Inès has come to The Ritz‘s Concept Store: a modern cabinet of very fashionable curiosities that would make founder César Ritz proud of the way the hotel has continued pushing the envelope, beginning with the legendary hotel’s recent $450 million, four-year renovation.

The new Ritz isn’t kidding around, with a CHANEL Spa (with 3 amazing “universes:” fragrance, makeup and skin care), shopping gallery, 5 exclusive boutiques (Tasaki, Reza, Maison Ullens, Colombo Via della Spiga, Heroes), 95 “showcases” of Ritz Paris brand products (jewelry, timepieces, R2W, accessories, home, haute couture) … and more.

The new Ritz isn’t kidding around, with a CHANEL Spa and more.

Not to mention a personalized shopping service and cooking classes.

If the Ritz Paris looks just a little like Versailles, that’s probably no accident. Staying here would make anyone feel regal, and given the means, you could probably live in this self-contained universe, and still step right into the Place Vendôme as a launchpad for your daily adventures.

you could probably live in this self-contained universe …

At the Inès de la Fressange x ELLE capsule collection (running through June 30), you’ll find a curated selection of the designer’s favorite objects, an assortment of books and tips, addresses, ELLE guides and a collection of ELLE perfumes for children. In short, all the essentials for a life lived in Parisian style.

The Inès de la Fressange x ELLE capsule collection runs through June 30.

If you’re traveling to Paris for Paris Fashion Week — or any other occasion — the new Inès de la Fressange x ELLE collection is a “must-see.”

 
Ritzy Business: Inside The New Ritz

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It’s also a great excuse to come take a tour of the newly renovated Ritz. Everyone should go at least once in their lives.

We might even see you there.

(Main image: PurePeople.com. Ritz photos courtesy Ritz Paris.)

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Learn More

ritzparis.com

With love,

FWO

Song of Fire and Spice: Nicholas K FW17

Chris Collie
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Song of Fire and Spice: Nicholas K FW17

Nuthin’ But a “K” Thing

They say troubled times make for great art, and maybe that’s what drove such a spectacular collection, and show, from the Nicholas K team for FW17.

As is tradition, Mother Nature — jealous that she cannot attend the shows — came gate-crashing with her most powerful blow at the start of New York Fashion Week. A bone-chilling blizzard descended upon New York as all fashion professionals prepped for Day 1.

Fortunately, another Day 1 tradition is Nicholas K’s show, which always kicks off the season, and the design duo’s runway immediately turned up the heat, with an uncharacteristic show of warmer color, layering, and exquisite draping, creating one of NK’s most inspired collections in recent memory.

Nicholas K FW17

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Also on fire was an extraordinary, thought-provoking track by Rob Swift and Latasha Alcinor (where can we buy this track?), that spoke directly to some of the angst and anguish of the current era, where it feel like gains in equality and social justice have taken a big step back in a somewhat perverse turn of political events.

Also on fire was an extraordinary, thought-provoking track by Rob Swift and Latasha Alcinor.

As the team said themselves: “The 90s was a decade promising communal diversity and unity. This decade was also the golden age of hip hop. … Experimentalism became celebration of diverse widespread cultural acceptance. The late ’90s … brought the promise of a global humanitarian community. Recent events seem to unravel this progress and it’s now relevant to revisit the promise of the 90s.”

The late ’90s … brought the promise of a global humanitarian community.

Nicholas K — a collaboration of Christopher Kunz and Nicholas Kunz — is traditionally filled with neutrals and a very minimalist aesthetic: their own brand of “urban nomad chic.”

But from the moment the hard 808 first hit the air — and look appeared on the runway — this was a new Nicholas K, leather tams replacing Kangol hats, with beautiful winter coats that were chic while still creating a rugged RTW proposition. From start to finish, the brand played with fresh color and fabric combinations, enhanced by jewelry from K/LLER.

This was a new Nicholas K.

A beautiful play of velour, with an exaggerated copper color palette, made for elegance while still being sporty. The collection was extremely cohesive yet very diversified.

In short, they nailed it. Some pieces within the collection may not be for everyone; however, I would challenge anyone to not find at least 5-10 pieces from the collection they do not love.

In short, they nailed it.

The intention, vibe, and mastery of form were a welcome start to such a cold winter day of fashion week, and perhaps longer, in the deathly chill of a freezing political climate.

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With love,

FWO

Interview with Pamella Roland at NYFW FW17

Kyleigh McCollam
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Interview with Pamella Roland at NYFW FW17

On a Roll

Not everyone decides to become a fashion designer in their 40s. And not many designers of any age experience the kind of tremendous success enjoyed by Pamella DeVos, of Pamella Roland, who boasts an extended celebrity clientele (as if that mattered).

But as Pamella tells us in this interview, her greatest joy is in making anyone feel special.

Writer Kyleigh McCollam of C’est Le Style caught up with Pamella after the show to ask her a few questions about the collection.

Walking Art

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Q: What was the inspiration behind this season’s collection?

Our customer loves to wear jewel tones in the fall. I love all the berries and garnets and aubergine. So I told my design team, this is what we’re doing this year. Because I love these colors.

Q: What’s your creative process when designing each collection, from the fabrics to the silhouettes?

It depends what you start with. This time, I started with a painting. [The collection was inspired in part by Mark Rothko.] Then you start looking through fabrics. I love fabrics. Obviously we’re doing beaded dresses, so we go through a lot of samples looking at beading. Let me tell you; that can take awhile. It’s fun, but they can start looking alike after awhile.

This time, I started with a painting.

Q: What is your favorite piece from this collection and why?

You know what, my favorite is the one that opened the finale; the strapless, the one with the ribbons in all the different colors. What was so great about that is it has all of our inspiration colors. And there was a lot of hand work in that dress.

Q: Describe the ideal “Pamella Roland woman” — who is she, and what does she represent?

I get asked this often, and they’re really all ages.

I’ve dressed the daughters, and their mothers, and grandmothers. Obviously we’re known for our gowns and cocktail dresses. So a lot of the time, it’s a really special event they’re going to.

I’ve dressed daughters, mothers, and grandmothers.

So more than anything, I just want them to feel good in it, and feel good about themselves in our dresses.

They’re kind of a piece of art. A walking piece of art.

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Learn More

www.pamellaroland.com

With love,

FWO

Desigual-ity: Desigual Explores Equality and Freedom at New York Fashion Week

Lisa Panke
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Desigual-ity: Desigual Explores Equality and Freedom at New York Fashion Week

Interview with Desigual Brand Communications Director Daniel Perez

Intro by Pablo Starr

If there’s any time when it feels like the forces of freedom and containment are marshalling at opposite ends of a battlefield (or just political spectrum … or maybe both) that time is now.

But wait: this has happened before. And it’s part of the larger dialectic: that sometimes painful push-pull between thesis and antithesis that brings about change.

Indeed, rebellion has gotten us to where we are today: an age, simply put, of more rights for more people. With more work to come.

Desigual’s FW2017 collection is here to remind us of that.

Rebellion has gotten us where we are today: more rights for more people.

 
Status Quo Vadis

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Interview by Lisa Panke

“For Fall 2017, the Desigual collection was inspired by the female uprisings of the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s – reinterpreted for the 21st century woman of today. A countercultural mix of West Coast love-ins, European New Wave, and East Coast Voguing Balls are punctuated by the signature lightheartedness and playfulness that define the Desigual brand.”

Lisa Panke met backstage with Desigual Brand Communications Director Daniel Perez backstage to find out more.


(Photos: Chris Lavish)

Q: What can we expect today, Daniel?

 
We’re going to see a collection that is very much Desigual, but you’re going to see a very refreshed proposal. Very much what Desigual is known for, which is handmade, color, mixing elements. But very refreshing, very young, and very contemporary.

The collection takes its inspiration from the subcultures of the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s … especially subcultures that talked about women and questioned the status quo, gender, and freedom.

Q: That’s sounds so amazing. I can’t wait to see it! What’s it like coming here to New York every year to present this collection?

It’s very, very exciting for us. We’ve been coming here every six months for a few years, and every time it’s just as exciting as the beginning. We always want to make it better. You have to keep surprising people, which is not easy.

You have to keep surprising people, which is not easy.

That’s why we always want to do new things.

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More info.

desigual.com

With love,

FWO

Lord and Tailor: Andrew Gn Pre-Fall 2017, Paris

Pablo Starr
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Lord and Tailor: Andrew Gn Pre-Fall 2017, Paris

Lord and Tailor

There seems to be a statement hidden somewhere in Andrew Gn’s Pre-Fall 2017 collection. Or maybe the message isn’t so much hidden as explicit. At any rate, it seems to be saying, “In case you weren’t yet aware, I am something of a master.”

Of course in our age of politesse, no one would dare say such a thing (unless perhaps they were an inexplicably appointed leader of a first world superpower, who will remain nameless in case, by uttering his name, he should appear).

But Gn says it nonetheless.

Or maybe it’s just, when skill reaches a certain level, the work says it, regardless of what the designer might say or even think.

Maybe when skill reaches a certain level, the work says it.

The new collection began as study of legendary couturier Mariano Fortuny’s surface details (or so Vogue tells us), and evolved into an astonishing collection that channels everything from Elizabethan couture to svelte, Spanish silhouettes: running the gamut from comfortable to severe, and sometimes entertaining both in equal parts.

Here is boho. Here is gaucho luxe. Here is red carpet wear.

Gn defies categorization, leaving one unmistakable impression: that of a man on the verge of — or perhaps already at — something for the ages, closer to haute couture than ready to wear.

 
Divine Dress

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More info.

andrewgn.com

With love,

FWO

Coming Soon: Next Artists “The Lounge” Magazine, Issue 6

FWO
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Coming Soon: Next Artists “The Lounge” Magazine, Issue 6

Portrait of the Artists

Next Artists’ eagerly anticipated magazine, The Lounge, is set to release just in time for New York Fashion Week.

Issue 6 (the cover of Issue 4 with Ruby Aldridge is pictured above) features the beautiful Clara McSweeney, as well as a full lineup of NEXT talent.

The Lounge features guests from previous beauty lounges, beauty advice by NEXT artists, and celebrity interviews.

It also features some of NEXT Models’ other interests and businesses, aside from modeling.

The Lounge features guests from previous beauty lounges, beauty advice by our artists, and celebrity interviews.

David Lopez styles Clara McSweeney

The actual digital magazine will premier next week!

Credits

The team for this season’s The Lounge cover shoot included:

NEXT Model / Clara McSweeney
NEXT Photographer / Brad Trifitt
NEXT Hair / David Lopez (celebrity hairstylist for Chrissy Teigen and Hailey Baldwin)
NEXT Makeup / Sheri Terry (celebrity makeup artist and groomer for Rob Lowe, Liam Neeson, Lucky Blue Smith, Vince Vaughn, and Adrian Brody)
NEXT Creative Director / Gina Duckworth
Location: Sandbox Studio in Brooklyn

Beauty credits for the upcoming cover shoot:

David Lopez using T3 tools and Kenra Platinum Hi-Def Hair Spray

Sheri Terry using TEMPTU Perfect Canvas Foundation #5.5 and highlight and pink champagne shimmer, Make Up For Ever glitter in gold, pink and prism, NARS Bavaria shimmer eyeshadow, NARS China Seas Eyeshadow Duo, Armani Eyes to Kill mascara in black, and Urban Decay eyeliner in poppy

The magazine is slated to arrive just in time for NYFW, and we’ll post it here. Yay!

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More info.

www.nextmanagement.com

With love,

FWO

Rüdes Menswear: Interview at Jeffrey Rüdes in New York

Chris Lavish
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Rüdes Menswear: Interview at Jeffrey Rüdes in New York


(Video: Jose Ojeda)

You already know Jeffrey Rüdes, as the “J” behind J Brand jeans.

He sold the brand for $300 million in 2013, and now helms an eponymous menswear line that’s a little Tom Ford by way of Saint Laurent; Caraceni by way of Saville Row: a little Hollywood, some rock and roll, decidedly European, and 100% luxe.

Caraceni by way of Saville Row …

The line focuses on fine fabrics and Old World craftsmanship. Fit, of course, is everything. And opulent fabrics are hand-selected by Jeff and his team.

Social Media Director Chris Lavish recently had the the opportunity to visit with Alana Jae at Jeffrey Rüdes’ SoHo flagship (see video), while across the globe Paris Editor Gabriela Billini visited his atelier in Paris (which was once Coco Chanel’s apartment). But as much as the scenery changed, the real treat was Rüdes’ accessible, sex appeal-building collection.

Smoking J

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(Photos: @aagdolla)

Alana Jae, Jeffrey Rüdes, Chris Lavish

First we spoke to Alana Jae about Jeffrey Rüdes, her philosophy of styling and her own personal style.

Interview with Alana Jae

Q: Tell us about the fashion brand you work for.

Jeffrey Rüdes provides men with an essential and luxurious wardrobe, designed for a modern lifestyle. Our stunning fit, world-class craftsmanship, and finest Italian fabrics is what we promise to clients, and continue to deliver.

Q: How do you work-in the sales aspect of your job when styling.

I work with a number of exclusive clients through various industries, but mostly with your everyday man. As Rüdes says, “When I’m working with clients, I don’t just sell a garment, I sell the feeling that goes with it.”

Q: Tell us about your personal style.

I like to keep it quiet masculine up top, wearing men’s shirts and sweaters. Then I balance the look out with an elegant shoe like a Manolo Blahnik black suede pointy toe pump.

I don’t just sell a garment, I sell the feeling that goes with it.

Rüdes Streets

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More info.

www.jeffreyrudes.com

With love,

FWO

VR Fashion: Latest Developments

FWO
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VR Fashion: Latest Developments

Virtual reality fashion is definitely here, even if it isn’t very widespread yet. There’s a Virtual Reality Fashion App in the works, and now a Virtual Reality Fashion Week™.

We’ll be adding to this story as new developments come up, so keep checking back.

Older news is below:

Yes VR is becoming more and more important in the fashion world, and there are multiple reasons for that. One of the reasons is definitely the fact that both augmented reality and virtual reality are extremely accessible right now. There were some price drops, so a lot of fashion related companies can easily afford getting multiple units like this. Then you have some interesting apps that were created to help you make the most out of various fashion ideas.

For example, a lot of people use VR apps on their phone or desktop units that allow them to try out various clothing items without even wearing them. Let’s face it, modern people lack a lot of time to try clothes, so being able to see how a clothing piece would look on you is quite impressive. Yes, this type of VR fashion ideas helps save a lot of time and effort, which is exactly what you want to have in the end.

Then you also get to think about photo shoots. A lot of companies focus on using augmented reality or virtual reality in the case of photo shoots too. Why does this matter? Because these create a unique way of exploring a location naturally, and it just brings in front a completely new way to see clothing designs, study the way they look on a model and so on. This type of concept is very new, but it has become quite incredible due to its remarkable features and tremendous value. It’s the uniqueness of the creative process and the fact that you can do something like this which makes it so remarkable.

Then you have the fact that you can experience the runway feels and emotions via virtual reality. This may be a new trend, but seeing various interesting runway experiences from your VR unit is as exciting as it is outstanding. Some of the top brands allow you to do that right now, and we expect more and more to deliver this type of experience in the near future. It is something amazing, and it goes to show the true dedication and value that can be delivered via such a service. Also in development is a fashion week dedicated to vr.

Of course, you have wearable VR tech that uses smartphones, so there’s a huge accessibility to the market as well. That alone makes it easier for customers to receive the results and value they want, which is exactly what matters for a lot of customers.

Adding augmented reality and virtual reality in the fashion world may seem like a stretch at first, but this does make a lot of sense. And in a world where there are lots of challenges to overcome, studying the market and knowing how to adapt to it can be very important. Plus, VR and AR show that a fashion revolution is on the way, with customers having more incredible ways to get involved in the entire process. Which, in the end, benefits both companies and the consumers that enjoy this type of experience!

Rüdes Menswear: A Visit to Jeffrey Rüdes in Paris

Paris Editor Gabriela Billini
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Rüdes Menswear: A Visit to Jeffrey Rüdes in Paris

Having not been familiar with this very young brand, I had no expectations short of fresh, and that’s exactly what they served on the silver platter that was Chanel’s old apartment. A rep whispered that Rüdes designs for himself, is his own fit model at the presentation, and he aims for a price point less than Tom Ford, while still creating accessible couture.

The overall impression of the collection was of 1990s Hollywood decadence. This could be palpably felt in the flirty mix of jewel-tone greens and pale blues in conjunction with mixed textures.

Suedes are important to the essence of this collection, with small hits of luxury seen on buttons and ribbing on sleeves. In addition, the high quality of all garments is ensured with the “Made in Italy” seal.

The high quality of all garments is ensured with the “Made in Italy” seal.

Jeffrey Rüdes puts forth a clean, fluid collection, with my favorite piece being a reimagined silk button-front shirt shown with suiting, but intended for even a pair of jeans. It quickly transported me to a ’60s Beatles-meets-’90s shag chic. It also recalled just a bit of Heidi Slimane’s Saint Laurent moment.

The brand offers the full experience, from shoes, belts, and scarves to full tuxedoes and suits. They are unique in the market thanks to the great fabric prints and a little glitz in yarns.

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More info.

www.jeffreyrudes.com

With love,

FWO

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