Designer Spotlight: Carlie Cushnie

Cushnie (L) photographed with partner Michelle Ochs

Recent Parsons grads Carlie Cushnie and her designing partner Michelle Ochs' minimalist designs made a great impression at Fashion Week with their S/S and Fall '09 RTW collection. Thanks to publications like W, which featured the duo in a recent story on aspiring fashion designers, their cred keeps growing. Cushnie (who is British by way of Jamaica) and Ochs (who is German/Filipino) had the bad luck of starting their company just as the recession was hitting but are determined not to fail by growing slowly and consciously. The pair's designs (which were inspired by the severe refinement of the Patrick Bateman character in "American Psycho" -- but for women) can be found online at Browns and in stores ar Bergdorf Goodman.

Cushnie et Ochs
Style.com (Fall '09 Collection)

Moises de la Renta to Launch Fashion Line

Viewimages, The Cut

Moises de la Renta, the son of famed fashion designer Oscar de la Renta, will be launching his own line, called MDLR, this year in spite of the sharp economic downturn. In addition to working as an assistant for his father, he spent a short time working for Phat Farm. He describes his new collection of clothing and accessories (with prices retailing for just shy of $1K) as "simple,elegant and practical."

The Dominican Republic born designer was adopted by Mr. de la Renta in 1984 after being discovered abandoned in a dumpster by his birth parents. He has described his childhood as typical and boring. On the subject of race The Observer remarked :

He grew up in quaint Kent the only black kid at the local public school. His best friend was the only Jewish kid. He thinks racism is more the province of previous generations.

Unlike many up and coming designers who seem to have a real passion for the industry, Moises' interest in fashion has only blossomed in the last few years. Up until then, he seemed to be more interested in the party scene and women. He has been romantically linked to a number of models and socialites, including Vogue favorite Genevieve Jones (they broke up late last year, according to reports.)

Personally, I'm not very excited by the look in the photo above but I am curious to see the rest of his lookbook. I guess only time will tell if he really has talent for design.

Source: The Cut, The Observer

Michael Kors - Fall 2008

I will readily admit that I never paid much attention to Michael Kors until Project Runway. Now that his Fall 2008 collection is arriving in stores and in magazine editorials, I can't just get enough. One runway review said that this collection had a pronounced Alfred Hitchcock vibe. I don't really see that but what I do think when I look at these pieces is that Kors perfectly captured that grown and sexy quality that appeals to me. It manages to be both classic and current without making the wearer look like a secretarial pool extra from Mad Men. I could easily envision Michelle Obama wearing any number of these looks, this belted floral dress in particular.

S: Style.com

Duro Olowu in Vogue Magazine

Vogue's Sally Singer featured Olowu, along with Roberto Cavalli and Tracy Feith, in her short piece about the best "bohemian" designers. Singer also wrote the much maligned article "From Here to Timbuktu" that appeared in Vogue a few months ago, so clearly she is their go-to person for ethnic influenced clothing. Here, she credits Olowo for "keeping wild graphics in check" and praises his "caravan of dreams creations." Ok, whatever. When I look at Olowu's designs and textiles, I just think beautifully layered clothing that a colorphobe like me might fantasize about working into my Beatnik uniform.

Carlos Campos to Hop on All-Black Model Trend

Using all black models has now become to lazy way to get attention in the fashion industry. Menswear designer Carlos Campos will unveil his first women's collection on September 7th in New York.

He has shared that his inspiration for the show is the jet set glamourous lifestyle of iconic model Iman and her rocker husband David Bowie.

Sigh. Why not just use black, or other non-white models, because they are beautiful and look great in the clothes? 

It's sad that those in the industry have interpreted the success of Vogue Italia as merely a publicity stunt and not the desire of fashion consumers to see more racial diversity in this once groundbreaking industry.

Even Campos' muse Iman expressed concern that black models would be seen as a gimmick after the publication of the July Vogue Italia.

Photo: DailyLife

ETA: Scriptgirl sent me a link to this article on issues of race and Fashion Week. It has a few good quotes from designers like Tracy Reese who remarked:

"I was pleasantly surprised this year. We're always calling up the agencies to say, 'We want to see black girls, Latinas, Asians, everything. ... There were a lot of new faces...For me, it's fun to see how different personalities enhance the clothes."

Designer Pamella Roland added, "Model casting has actually been easier this season. We're impressed by the sheer number and beauty of all ethnicities this time around. The only difficulty will be in choosing which girls we will ultimately cast."

RIP Yves Saint Laurent

After months of ailing health, legendary fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent died Sunday evening at his Paris home. His long-time partner Pierre Bergé was at his side. He is credited with being the first designer to use Black models in his runway show and one of his most famous muses was model Katoucha, who passed away earlier this year. Unfortunately the label's current fashion director, Stefano Pilati, doesn't share the founders vision. When asked about the lack of black models working YSL shows, he remarked:

"To me, it is a matter of proportions and the bodies I choose. My fit model was a black model," he says. "When I wanted to translate what I put on her, it was a disaster. It would need 13 times more work in the atelier to modify it to put on a more Caucasian anatomy."

Yves Saint Laurent was 71 at the time of his death. May he rest in peace.

Kai Milla

Kai Milla and her husband, superstar Stevie Wonder, were featured on The Oprah Show yesterday along with Heidi Klum and Seal. The topic was "supercouples" and how they make it work. Heidi and Seal were, of course, adorable together but it was nice to see Kai and Stevie on the show too. I don't really know much about her aside from the fact that she may have surpassed Tracey Reese and Rachel Roy as my favorite designer. Her stuff is so elegant and wearable. She's one of those rare designers that can put on a show and make me covet every item in the collection. Some of these, including the beautiful parsley green chiffon dress were feature on the show. I wonder if any of this is available at my neighborhood Nordstrom. Not that I can afford to buy anything else right now but a girl can dream, can't she?




Sources: Elle and Oprah.com

Allure: Rachel Roy's Fall Hot List

Source: Luxx @ TFS

Another Look at Cavalli for H&M

Just as we all suspected, Cavalli for H&M means lots leopard and gold. This party collection makes me happy that I no longer live a short walk away from H&M. If I was still in Luxembourg, I would probably buy every piece of this...and then never wear it.

That said, I like what he's done here, which essentially was pirate his other line on the super cheap. The whole thing just makes me think of New Year's Eve. I'm curious to see the accessories collection.

Photo Source: Annie NYC blog

Post-modern Elegance: Ports 1961 Spring 2008

Ports 1961 collection at fashion week this year was the meeting of classical styling and global village. I think this is really wearable stuff that is also fun and inspired. While most designers seem to think that "African inspired" means throw a bunch of loud colors together, Tia Cibani chose to go with warm rich colors and metallics. Even a color phobic person like myself could get down with these garments.

http://www.ports1961.com/

KLS by Kimora Lee Simmons

Honestly, there isn't a single thing in this collection that I would wear but I've got to give Kimora Lee credit because hers is probably the most racially diverse fashion show to ever take the stage during NY Fashion Week.

Rachel Roy S/S 2008

This collection is a little meh in my opinion. With past collections, I've salivated over nearly every piece but this time around the only items that catch my eye are the mustard dress and the outfit that Rachel is wearing in the final picture.

Source: Posted by robotjon3z on TFS