The Fashion Informer

Five Minutes with Francisco Costa

The Fashion Informer was pleasantly surprised to see Calvin Klein designer Francisco Costa at the Anne Klein show on the last day of New York Fashion Week, where he’d come to support fellow designer, Isabel Toledo. Naturally, we couldn’t resist asking him a few questions about his own collection (which we loved) while waiting for the show to begin.

I read in WWD that the collection began what you called “the idea of a flip.” What does that mean and how did it play itself out?
That came from a book on the Hutterites in Montana. It’s a group of people very much like the Amish. They have a simplicity, a kindness, all of these religious aspects to the clothes, to the feeling. It’s obviously very American, very pared down. High-waisted pants with a simple shirt. Overalls. Very simple. So that was my first [inspiration]. I found this book and I was so thrilled, I’d never seen such beautiful pictures. Laura Wilson is the woman who did all the pictures. And it's really gorgeous. I mean, pictures of Montana wilderness like I’ve never seen before.

Have you ever been to Montana?
Yeah, I have, which I loved. Oh, I love, love the West. I’m so in love with the West. So that’s how it really started and I wanted to bring that sensibility in as the starting point. Which is very, very difficult because skirts being longer, you know, how do you make that current? And I also wanted to bring the plaids into play so I used those subtle grey plaids. But that’s all in reference, really, to the patterns that they wore.

And did you give yourself the challenge to eliminate seams?
Yeah, absolutely. The whole idea was the seamlessness of it all. Some of those jersey dresses were cut from one panel. It was very interesting to do it. And very challenging to do it. Trying to eliminate anything unnecessary.

So what brings you to Anne Klein today?
Well, I love – love! - Isabel and I’m happy to be invited to the show to begin with. And obviously, it’s the only show I’m making this week. I’m just so happy to be here, she’s so talented. And I like her spirit.

Photos, below, © "Hutterites of Montana" by Laura Wilson

Meet China Robinson, Chanel Iman's Model Mom

So what’s it like to have a teenage supermodel for a daughter? The Fashion Informer ran into China Robinson, 16-year-old model Chanel Iman’s mom, several times during fashion week – it was hard not to, as Chanel walked in 22 New York shows - and decided to find out.

What’s it been like to watch your daughter become such a successful model so quickly?
It’s great. I mean, she’s young and I’m excited that she can do what she wants to do at such a young age. I mean, she’s always wanted to do it since she was just a toddler. But it’s great now that her dreams are coming true so quickly. She’s a great kid. She’s grounded so it works for her.

As a mom, did you have any reservations about her going into the modeling industry?
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I wanted her to be a little bit older, a little bit more mature and friends said, no, this is the time. She’s 5’9” take her [to the agencies]. I mean, she’s almost 5’11” now but at the time, at 13, she was 5’9.” So my friend took her to four different agencies in LA and the phone was ringing off the hook.

What’s your favorite photo of Chanel?
Oh, I like them all. Because she’s working and when she’s working, she’s happy.

And is there anything she’s done that you weren’t so comfortable with?
Well, there’s been a few times when I’m like, ‘Uhh, I’m right here!’ (laughs). It’s like, it’s ok but don’t touch her, and don’t proposition her. I’m right here. So, yeah. But for the most part, Ford Models has strategized her career; they put her exactly where she should be at the right time. They’ve not pushed her too far. So I really don’t have those worries.

Photo © The Fashion Informer

Fashion Insiders On Their Favorite New York Shows

What were some of your favorite shows from the New York spring/summer collections?

MARY ALICE STEPHENSON, STYLIST:
I have to say Rodarte was absolutely one of my favorite shows. I had a few but Rodarte…I loved every single piece. I think they’re such a talented duo and they, for me…I’m not a retailer, so I don’t need to see wearable clothes. I need to see clothes that make a fantastic picture and clothes that I feel are pushing the envelope. And I think the craftsmanship and the attention to detail, but yet, even though it was so creative it was still chic. So I heard from other people, well, can you wear those clothes? And I would wear those clothes and I would put the actresses that I work with, both for fashion pictures and for the red carpet, in those clothes. I adored it. I’m trying to think what else was good. I mean, what’s not to love about Donna Karan still? It was creative, wearable, womanly. And every time you go to a Donna Karan show you just walk away feeling somehow more confident as a woman, you know? So I thought it was sexy, sophisticated and chic. It’s how I want to look next summer.

NINA GARCIA, FASHION DIRECTOR, ELLE:
Oh, my God, so many. Oscar tops the list. It was just incredibly sophisticated, incredibly elegant. It was moving – the chorus they had was amazing. The clothes were exquisite. So that’s one of my favorites. Proenza Schouler was the other one. They both happen to be uptown (laughs). What a coincidence. And I really enjoyed Ralph. It was also a very moving show and fantastic to watch.

MICHAEL FINK, SAKS FIFTH AVENUE:
My favorite shows have been Oscar, Zac and Donna Karan. I think they all gave amazingly different viewpoints of the spring season. I think Oscar delivered a full, well-rounded collection of fantastic, chic daywear separates and ensembles. I love that coming back. With a trip into tribal, ethnic prints, which, as handled by him, was just so masterfully done. And then outrageous eveningwear. We haven’t seen a lot of outrageous evening and there it was – and so glamorous. And at Zac, just really reining his creative spirit into pure line, pure spirit but still looking very Zac, very controlled. Not the excess, over-the-top thing that we’ve come to expect. I just thought it was a wonderful show. And then, Donna gave such wonderful, exciting solutions for a modern woman. Everything based back to the body suit. You wanted a full skirt, embroidered, there it was. You wanted a slim skirt, there it was. Both looked equally wonderful.

SIMON DOONAN, BARNEYS NEW YORK:
I loved Rodarte. It was delicious – those confections made of tulle. Loved them. I thought Narciso was great, that shorter silhouette with the cropped pants was very nifty. It was sort of, very, girl-friendly. I know that sounds naff, but you know what I mean. What else did I love? I’m sure I would’ve loved Marc Jacobs but I had to go home. By 10:40, I was out the door. Not in a huff. I didn’t leave in a huff. I just thought, I need to go home now and walk the dog and take my girdle off. Because I had to be up at 7 o’clock the next morning to file my column. I had to take my girdle off and file my Observer column, Marc, that’s why I left. I wasn’t in a huff. I didn’t see a huge number of shows, but those are the ones that stand out. We’re in the middle of preparing for our San Francisco opening - half of Barneys has left already - so that is looming much larger on my horizon. We’re going to do a lot of windows in San Francisco with all sorts of interesting local charities.

LINDA FARGO, BERGDORF GOODMAN:
I liked a lot of things this week, fortunately. Because the more you like it the more your customers are going to like it. Hopefully, I’m the first barometer on taking a read on that. But I loved Oscar de la Renta. He comes to mind first. He’s just really a master and he’s never contrived. I think he defines chic and it’s perfect for our customer. So I loved – loved! – Oscar. I loved Calvin. I loved Narciso. As far as emerging designers go, Thakoon is looking great. Doo.Ri we loved. I hate to even call them emerging anymore, even though they barely just got their foot in the door. But I think with some of the bigger companies picking them up so quickly and investing in them so quickly, [young designers] are able to grow maybe faster than at one point they were able to. And I think you can attribute that to the higher profile that fashion has received on the world stage, with style.com, “Project Runway”…it’s so much more of a media thing that the financial world pays closer attention to us. That’s my theory on that. And I’m leaving somebody important out that I loved… Oh, I think from an ethereal beauty and fantasy standpoint, and kind of our resident couturiers, I would say the Rodarte girls. I’d also say for quintessential American sportswear, which is looking really right again, is Michael Kors.

JULIE GILHART, BARNEYS:
I loved Narciso. I loved Rodarte. I loved Anne Klein. I look for originality and also the fact that it’s cohesive as a collection and that there are great things that we can sell. Just that it’s not repetitive and it’s original.

Photos © The Fashion Informer and Gg, The Bigger Picture Pictures

Designers On Recovering From Fashion Week

How are you going to recharge after Fashion Week?

LELA ROSE: I’m hanging out with the kids and making use of the last of the greenmarket heirloom tomatoes.

RACHEL ROY: I am planning to spend some time in the sun and some time cleansing of all the late night dinners and caffeine I have been eating and drinking.

PHILLIP LIM: Take the next day off, hopefully!

COSTELLO TAGLIAPIETRA: We have not planned anything as of yet. But something as simple as a full day in bed watching movies sounds heavenly right now!

SUE STEMP: Go to Paris and have some fun.

RODARTE: We are taking a vacation to Venice with our best friend Johnson Hartig.

SHELLY STEFFEE: I’m going to Argentina (Buenos Aires).

THAKOON PANICHGUL: Poolside for a week.

PETER INGWERSEN: By creating the first ever NOIR menswear collection.

TIA CIBANI: I have plans to sail in France on the coast of Brittany.

PETER SOM: I don’t know yet—thank you for reminding me!

ISABEL TOLEDO: We head out to the San Francisco area where my husband is painting a large scale mural - and for the opening of Barneys - and then it’s on to a Big Sur getaway where we are staying on a cliff to watch the fall fog roll in – very “Play Misty For Me.”

Fashion Week Finale

Fashion Week is officially over, but we wanted to present you with a few final photos from the Marc Jacobs and Isabel Toledo for Anne Klein collections, both of which were superb. Enjoy! And for complete reviews of the New York shows, including Anne Klein and Donna Karan, please visit VOGUE.COM. Our final behind-the-scenes Fashion Week roundup will post tomorrow (Friday) at Splendora.

Photos © Gg, The Bigger Picture Pictures

Fashion Week, Day Seven

At Donna Karan and Anne Klein, grown up clothes for grown up women. Hurrah!

Photos © The Fashion Informer

Fashion Week, Day Six

Tuesday was full of great fashion, from perfectly realized minimalism at Calvin Klein (well done, Francisco!) to an ode to prairie chic at Zac Posen that was a bit heavy-handed at times, but successful overall (and we do give the designer props for at least attempting to break out of New York's current overly-commercialized rut with his fanciful finale and Wheat Thins confections). The day also contained some fashion disappointments (a '60s stewardess mash-up at Marc by Marc that felt like old news, literally and figuratively). And Betsey Johnson was fun, as always. But enough about what we thought. Here are some snaps so you can judge for yourself.

And for our complete coverage of yesterday's shows, please visit http://www.vogue.co.uk/Shows/, while The Fashion Informer Fashion Week behind-the-scenes blog can be found at Splendora.com: http://www.splendora.com/members/fashion_informer/blog

Photos © The Fashion Informer

Inside Courtney Love's Head

OK, so this picture is blurry by accident. But after having a surreal, stream-of-conscious conversation with Courtney Love last night while waiting for the Marc Jacobs show to start, we can't help but imagine that this is what it must feel like inside her head:

The Fashion Informer Presents Your First Look at Marc Jacobs Spring 2008

What a night. We just got home from the Marc Jacobs spring 2008 show, which began at 11pm - two hours late. In the mix-it-up fashion typical of Marc, who does seem to like to do things backwards, the show opened with the designer himself running out to take a bow before a single model had set foot onstage, jumping and twirling around with glee before hauling ass backstage to make way for...the finale parade that is usually reserved for the end of the show. What fun! We got to see all the looks at once first and then after the girls had filed pass en masse, they came back out, one at a time, to take their traditional solo turn.

As for the clothes themselves, we'll be filing a full review tomorrow, but the overall aesthetic was peek-a-boo Victorian-meets-YSL-meets-Halston-meets-Y-3, with lots of naughty lingerie-inspired pieces (sheer black leggings, nude body stockings with cherry red falsies, see-through t-shirt dresses) and some kick-ass accessories, including shoes that were dubbed the "Too Small Court Pump" or the "Too Small Sandal" because they were open in the back but cut a bit small so the model's heel hung ever so slightly over the edge. And he also introduced a shoe called the "Curly-Q Pump," which had a dramatic, cantilevered heel very similar to the United Nude Eamz pumps The Fashion Informer happened to be wearing earlier in the day.

And we'll fill you in on the conversation we with Courtney Love tomorrow. In the meantime, the moment you've all been waiting for. Your first look at Marc Jacobs Spring 2008. Drumroll, please...

Photos © The Fashion Informer

Fashion Week, Day Five

For the latest reviews (on Kors, DVF, Ralph Lauren, Vera Wang and more), go to: http://www.vogue.co.uk/Shows/Reports/Archive.aspx?locID=119. For a behind-the-scenes peek at NY Fashion Week, visit: http://www.splendora.com/members/fashion_informer/blog. See you at the Tents!

Photos © The Fashion Informer

Fashion Week, Day Four

Saturday was mercifully light on shows (for The Fashion Informer, anyway), but we managed to see some great stuff, from the newly-sexy suiting at Rodarte (who knew?) to a grand look back at Ralph Lauren's 40-year career as a designer. In between, we were treated to a NY Philharmonic string quartet at NOIR - where naughty, tits-out transparency was the order of the day - and an "is this art or fashion?" guerilla performance happening in a Chelsea gallery space next to the Rodarte venue, which had the fashion flock gathered on the street, rapt, as a half-naked young woman writhed on the pavement and belted out Aretha Franklin hits while tugging dramatically at her chemise (don't quit your day job, dear).

Here's a little of what we saw, with more to be found at http://www.splendora.com/members/fashion_informer/blog and http://www.vogue.co.uk/shows/.

Photos © The Fashion Informer

Fashion Week, Day Three

There was no rest for the weary yesterday, as we took in eight (count 'em!) shows, beginning with a trip to ancient Rome courtesy of Vera Wang and ending with a trip to fashion heaven courtesy of Proenza Schouler, who presented one of their finest collections to date (clearly, taking a 45 percent, $3.7 million stake in Proenza's business was a smart move on the part of Valentino Fashion Group SpA).

In between, we were treated to bold brights and beautiful patterns at Tracy Reese, a bicycle-riding finale at Cynthia Rowley, riotous colors and silly straw hats at Thakoon, beautifully sculptural, net-overlayed confections at Doo.ri, dreamy '20s-meets-'70s chic at Costello Tagliapietra and a sartorial paean to Woody Allen heroines at Staerk.

Here's a peek at what we saw (and remember, you can find our complete reviews of the shows at http://www.vogue.co.uk/shows/ and our behind-the-scenes Fashion Week blog at http://www.splendora.com/members/fashion_informer/blog.

Photos © The Fashion Informer

Fashion Week, Day Two

So, Thursday was a good day for celebrity sightings (Demi Moore,Clive Owen, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Hilary Swank, Mischa Barton, Perry Farrell and Joy Bryant at Miss Sixty, alone). It also wasn't half bad for fashion, with great collections by Lela Rose, Bill Blass, Preen, Yeohlee and Jenni Kayne, among others.

Below, a few snapshots for your viewing pleasure. And, as always, you can read our complete coverage of Fashion Week here: http://www.vogue.co.uk/shows/ and here: http://www.splendora.com/members/fashion_informer/blog. See you at the tents!

Photos © The Fashion Informer

Vena Cava's Charmed Take on Tinseltown

The girls in Vena Cava (that would be dynamic duo Sophie Buhai and Lisa Mayock) always put on a cool presentation – girls lounging around a faux sitting room and library one season, or having a wine-fueled “picnic” (in the middle of the Bryant Park tents, no less) the next.

And yesterday’s outing proved no exception, as the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalists invited guests to a Chelsea gallery space, which had been kitted out with black-and-white stills of Cary Grant, Marlene Dietrich, Myrna Loy, Greta Garbo – even Woody Allen and Diane Keaton c. Annie Hall made it into Vena Cava’s mash note to cinema heroes and heroines gone by. Onstage, models walked the runway in their ‘40s-meets-‘70s-inspired ensembles, then grouped themselves into clusters of twos and threes, chatting, dancing and appearing to have a blast being goofy with the giant cardboard cutouts they’d been given (one mimed drinking from a faux scotch glass, another sat with her arm wrapped around a paper kitty, and two young lasses turned the tables on the crowd by pretending to shoot the photographers who were shooting them).

The clothes themselves had been named for screen sirens of yore - there was the black, borrowed-from-the-boys “Rudolf” blazer worn with a sheer pleated chiffon “Stanwyck” skirt, while a crème text printed gown dubbed “Claudette” did, indeed, call to mind the star of “It Happened One Night.” Overall, the collection hewed to the sophisticated side of the scale, with lots of flowy print gowns, slinky color blocked dresses, hardware-edged cardigans and fine-knit sweaters. And the white, laceless oxfords worn with many of the looks played up Vena Cava’s girl-meets-boy, girl-steals-boy’s-clothes angle quite nicely.

Photos © The Fashion Informer

Exciting Fashion Week Photos and News To Post Later Today...

...but in the meantime, the latest on Rachel Roy, Erin Fetherston, Rag & Bone and L.A.M.B. can be found here (hit the link and go to "Full Report" under each designer's name for the, uh, full report): http://www.vogue.co.uk/shows/.

A few fun photos, below, from the aforementioned shows and Vena Cava (all © The Fashion Informer).

The Fashion Informer is Pleased to Announce...

...that she will be reviewing the NY shows for UK VOGUE.COM and blogging on Fashion Week happenings for Splendora.com. Links will be provided to the various posts on both sites as they run, so you won't miss a thing! - TFI

Illustration © Lana Frankel