Archive for February, 2008

I had the opportunity to speak with Max Azria, check it out…

Backstage at the Marc Jacobs show, check it out…

Backstage at NY Fashion Week 2008

Backstage at the Sean Combs show….

Doesn’t everyone in NY know it’s show week at the Bryant
Park tents?

Shows are this Monday. Not Monday February 12 as the dispatcher had apparently recorded in the computer. Car takes forever to reschedule so I miss
Carolina Herrera AND Nanette Lepore.

Make it to Jill Stuart.

Hi Kelly I shout to Kelly Rowlands.

Hi, you’re keeping warm today? she says.

And before I can answer, she’s out of earshot as the crush of photographers, editors and autograph seekers pushes her toward Jill and me toward the exit.

Kelly’s at the Jill Stuart show where models stomp up and down the marble runway in imposing black leather boots tipped with silver-color metal.

Jill’s doing the mod thing this season, and channeling Balenciaga.

A small woman with a digital camera runs up to me.

May I take your picture?

It’s not a star thing. Just carry a hot bag or wear anything Prada or Balenciaga and you’ll get treated like a celebrity. The Japanese are always taking pictures that show up in magazines where your photos run vertically down the page instead of horizontally like here in America.

Most of Jill’s business is in Asia so the Asian editors and retailers are out in full force and I take the opportunity to clock THEIR handbags for a change. The Japanese were doing “it” bags before we knew what IT was.I see:

• A Marc
  Jacobs Stam bag
• Chocolate
  brown leather Hogan
• Huge
  black leather and leopard print Betseyville by Betsey Johnson
• Two
  awesome metallic gold bags

Enough of bags, time to run downtown to Marchesa where
designers Keren and Georgina Chapman are staging an exhibit. Beautiful evening
frocks posed on models—one more beautiful than the next—the dresses not the
models.Faves:

• Pale
  chiffon shift covered in serpentine sequins and embroidery.
• White
  tuxedo
• Black
  and cream tuxedo dresses
• A
  glorious cream gown with gradiated black bodice which Keren said took
  almost two months to make and which my mind said looked very Alexander
  McQueen.

Designers were worried when the ladies burst on the scene. Several stars have worn the clothes and many believe it’s because Georgina’s boyfriend is Harvey Weinstein. (Weinstein looks pretty good these days, slimmed down and wearing Prada suits—which he says Georgina makes him wear. She’s right. No woman wants to go to the trouble of looking gorgeous and walk next to a man who looks like a schlep.)

Recall Sienna Miller in beautiful gold and white at Golden Globes but with that unfortunate Heidi braid.

Georgina and Keren pose for pictures with Vogue’s Andre Leon Talley while I run out into the chill to race uptown to Max Azria’s show. Best collection yet since Max and Lubov Azria spun off Max Azria from BCBG.

All poetic and funky—like Lubov—large cardigan coats over flippy dresses.

Backstage John Legend signs autographs, takes pictures. Lubov says she’s giving him a ride to the Grammys in LA, where she lives. Does she mean a ride on her jet? I’m not sure. But I guess. Wow.

Think I had dinner in the car—a salad—but can’t remember. Narciso Rodriguez show downtown at 8 p.m.

Dancing is really what’s my heart, said Claire Danes at the show.

It’s what I do to
support my movie career.

Ha, ha. It really was funny.

Said she has two movies coming out and meanwhile is choreographing
two dance pieces.

Waiting for show to start. Jerry and Jessica Seinfeld run
from backstage (with bodyguards) to take their seat.

Julianna Margolis, looking really good, poses for pictures
with some guy at her side. Boyfriend maybe?

Show is over. Rush backstage to see Narciso. Congratulate
him on splendid sweeping coats, finely tailored double-face jackets and
athletic cocktail dresses.

It’s time to go from the chic serenity of a Narciso show and
collection to the happy insanity of a Heatherette show and collection. Had no
idea how insane. The club kids are out in force to see their idols: Make up
cover boy Richie Rich and Traver Rains. I can’t get by the thick crowd on the
steps of Bryant Park.

Recognized by security, who wave me in. Thank god for
security. But inside, it’s even worse. No one I recognize as a legitimate
fashion professional can get anywhere near the check-in desk.

Better off trying the model entrance. Invite a few
adventurers to come along and we storm the backstage entrance.

PR waves us in. A tall young man in suit and tie tries to
tag along with my group but is body blocked by security. He claims to be a
basketball player.

With the 76ers. Gadalis, Udalis, O’Galis. Something.

I don’t know of him. And surrounded by gay guys, none of
them recognize him or can vouch for his credentials, I explain. He gives me an understanding look. And they just snicker and
pay him no mind. I feel bad for him, towering above the fashionably dressed,
evil fashion flock like a lost giraffe. So I speed dial my son to check. Alas for Mr. Basketball. He’s not home.

I leave him behind beseeching the security guard as my
colleagues threaten to leave me
behind.

Take my seat and entertaining show begins with acrobats
dressed in leotards and neon lights. No, really. More on the show later.

Everyone says it’s worst than a Baby Phat show.

I finally ordered everything I need to set up my home video blogging studio!
This is very exciting for me because I love expressing my views and showing off
my gadgets. I’m actually planning on uploading some videos to this blog in the
coming weeks! Picking everything out was so much fun: so I though I’d share with
you some of my gadget choices.

First and foremost I needed a
video camera. I went a little overboard on this one, but I really wanted a
camera that would allow me to shoot high quality video, but be small enough to
fit in my purse to capture on the fly footage. I’m excited to say I ended up
getting an amazing camera, the Panasonic HDC-SD5. This is one of the world’s
smallest consumer high-definition video cameras –  it’s amazing!

Another plus to this cam is that it records content onto SD cards that can easily be inserted into my next tool, the radiantly red colored Dell XPZ M1330 laptop. Purrr. This very thin and stylish computer is also very powerful and can handle my editing needs with in a snap.

Next up is the Western Digital “My Book Essential Edition” with one Terabyte external hard drive to keep content on. This baby is super-stylish and with 1000 Gigs of storage, I can hang onto every bit and byte of Jack-centric video!

For $100 I scored the M-Audio Session Music Producer, a great microphone, a stand, and editing software, which makes it easy to podcast my posts. Once it’s all up and running I’ll post a pic.

Twice a year the Javits Center hosts the International Gift Fair—setting the stage for some of the world’s best resources for home, gift and lifestyle items. It’s a great fair for me to check out because they literally exhibit everything from handmade vases, candles, silverware, and china all the way up to large home furniture pieces.

This is really where all the wholesalers introduce new pieces to retailers allowing them to curate their stores and bring great finds to the public.  For me as a designer, it’s cool to see amazing pieces that I’ve stumbled upon in my travels or spotted at little design shops around the city. I actually came across a lot of wonderful reproduction vintage desk lamps and mesh baskets (how great would one be for storing mail!). I also saw these beautiful old canisters made from green glass with metal lids that I loved…they were aged and patinaed and just full of bumps with paint pealing off….a great authentic quality to them.

I will definitely bring up more finds from the fair in upcoming posts so stay tuned!

For Christmas/Hanukkah last year I bought myself a Nikon D40X SLR Digital camera. I’ve always used a little point and shoot, but once I actually got my fingers on my friend’s D40X I was sold, but about 2000 shots later I’m finding myself wanting more.  The camera is rad and comes with a nice strap, a good battery and a great lens (18-55mm) that pretty much gets the tight shots as well as the wide. However, while looking up my camera model on eBay I noticed that there are great deals on “kits” for my camera.  The kits include the little extras that are sure to satisfy me , and of course, at a price that I just can’t turn down.

The kit I’m getting includes an extra battery, an additional wide angle lens, a tripod, a 4 gig SD card, a nice neoprene case with pocket for extra memory, a DX40 training video, cleaning cloth and, I know this is silly, but an extra little strap to connect your lens cap to the lens so it will never get lost.

So, if you’re like me and you want more, type in your camera make and model plus the word “kit” on eBay and see what kind of goodies are out there!

With show week upon me, I pulled a muscle. I really don’t know how I did it. There’s a boring story in there somewhere I’m sure. Nevertheless, I press on. I bought nuts. I bought Motrin (between show snacks. Miss lunch. Miss dinner). The timing of my injury is fortuitous; however, I must look for the silver lining. When show week rolls around who has time to go to the gym or dance class anyway?

I just heard that P. Diddy is having a show and casting models today. I’m excited. He hasn’t had a runway presentation in a while and it will be interesting to see what Mr. Showman suggests for men and women.

Other hot tickets are the revival of Halston which, is partly being masterminded by celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe and being bankrolled by Harvey Weinstein, Peter Som’s first collection for Bill Blass and Max Azria’s Herve Leger line.

There’s also going to be a lot more menswear on the runway this time. I don’t know how I can possibly see even half of these shows, but I’ll take in as many as I can including Marc Jacobs — can’t wait to see what he sends down the runway.

New buff-body Jacobs has been juggling balls: Designing a collection, opening a new store in Chicago and collaborating with Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham on his charity effort this season. Every year he does some good deed during show week. This time he’s reviving his support of NYU’s melanoma program with Posh naked on a T-shirt and he’s supporting a presidential candidate (is that charity? I’m not sure, but it’s good citizenship). In the past, he’s given props to Hillary.

But then she wasn’t running for president. Is it Hillary again? And I wonder if Posh will be on the runway or in the audience at his show next Friday?