Features — Page 54

Fashion Reverie’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week’s Restaurant Roundup

February 5, 2014 by admin Leave a Comment

OK, you have some free time between the shows at Lincoln Center or runway presentations around and below 14^th Street, and your stomach has started to growl. Well, Fashion Reverie has just the recipe to satiate your hunger, as well as provide the ambience that all fashionistas crave.

True to form, Fashion Reverie has come up with some great spots to eat, drink and be merry while you a have little downtime between the hustle and bustle of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. Some of these locales are a little off the beaten path, but they are definitely worth the extra blocks.

Bea, located just a few blocks from the blaring noise and bright lights of Times Square, has downtown vibe in the heart midtown. “That’s the highest compliment we can get,” says Sotir Zonea, who has created a cozy neighborhood spot with comfort foods and herbally-infused cocktails.

Watching your weight or too tired to eat? There are plenty of small plates under $15—sliders, lamb meatballs with pita chips, and salads. I recommend the filet mignon pizza with a thin, crispy crust that will melt in your mouth. They offer a daily fish special and a daily special entrée ($18). If you’re really hungry you can find pasta, grilled chicken sandwich or steak and fries (under $20).

Favorites were the grilled lamb chops served with a sherry vinaigrette salad ($16), seasoned with a hint of sweetness. Other Asian influenced plates include steamed pork dumplings with ginger, scallion and plum sauce and spicy Thai chicken wings, prepared with fish sauce, chilies and mint.

Bea, 403 W. 43^rd Street, 212-602-1910, www.beanyc.com, open seven days a week.

Want an evening of elegant dining? Hop a cab across town to Nerai, off Madison Avenue at East 54^th Street. Start off with a dish filled with small spheres of creamy fresh sheep’s milk cheese rolled in herbs along with imported kalamata olives served with warm grilled pita.

There’s an array of appetizer choices like the Duck Moussaka with roasted potato and eggplant layers kefalotiri béchamel, crab cakes, smoked eggplant. Another great appetizer choice is Nerai’s Grilled Octopus served on a bed of chickpeas, red peppers and latholemono (a Greek emulsion of olive oil and lemon).

Nerai Grilled fish

In the best Greek tradition, you can order seafood by the pound—Black Tiger shrimp, Icelandic langoustine, New Zealand pink snapper or Maine lobster—priced between $33–$60.

From the entrees, I recommend the Halibut a la Spetsiota, a flaky grilled filet with tomato marmalade with feta and bulgar pilaf ($38) and worth every pennys.

The bar offers a wonderful array of Greek wines and well-crafted cocktails . Try a champagne cocktail like Persephone, a blend of prosecco, cointreau, saint germain and pomegranate.

Nerai, 55 East 54th Street between Park and Madison, 212-759-5554, www.nerainyc.com

Tablao interior

Traveling to Tribeca for shows or plan to browse in your favorite boutiques? When you’re ready to wind down with some snacking and sipping, Tablao has a table for waiting.

Sit down and relax, but first ask for their Manchego chips, warm, crispy thick-cut potato chips sprinkled with manchego cheese. Order a pitcher of sangria (red or white or sparkling Cava and they’ll prepare it tableside.

Try their twist on tapas such as Queso e Higo, fresh local goat cheese and sherry-marinated fresh figs layered with basil or Chorizo y Huevo, imported spicy Spanish sausage paired with fried quail egg. In a seafood mood? Try their Atún casi Crudo, barely seared ahi tuna topped with caramelized onions, capers, and sherry vinaigrette.

Tablao paella

If it’s cold and snowy and you need a big plate of food, I recommend you choose the Pollo Tablao, grilled chicken breast with jumbo shrimp sautéed with Spanish sausage, peppers, and onions ($26). My favorite was the Baby Pernil, roasted Berkshire pork shank, crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, served over a delicious corn and chorizo stew ($36).

There is also a full bar offering every kind of cocktail, as well as local and Spanish wines and microbrews on tap. Flamenco dancers perform at twice a week from 7–10pm, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Tablao, 361 Greenwich Street, www.tablaonyc.com, 212-334-4043.

Drunken Monkey dining room

Want to kick back with a crafty cocktail? Head to the Upper Eastside and The Drunken Munkey, an intimate East Indian food destination with tremendous charm and a sophisticated cocktail menu, designed by owners Arun Mirchandani and his uncle Raju, owner of the popular Bar and Books chain. Here even the ice matters.

“When the ice is bigger it melts slower, so it lessens the dilution of your drink,” he says with a smile. “It’s tedious and time consuming, but we’re doing it the way it should be done.” There are ice moulds for cricket ball spheres, long sticks for highballs and shaved ice for swizzles.

Try the ‘Paanch’ of the month, (Hindi for punch) is perfect for a celebration with eight friends, or less. The well stocked bar offers Indian-style and domestic beers, wines by the glass or bottle and fine champagnes.

There are plenty of traditional Indian appetizers and main dishes. “People walk in and we have to educate them to eat Indian differently than they are used to,” he says. “It’s Indian food outside the box.”

Their best seller is an appetizer with tiny whole okras fried with strips of crispy onions and other tasty bits. My favorite dish was the Tandoor-Baked Quail, which was literally finger licking good.

Drunken Munkey NYC, 338 E. 92^nd Street, (646) 998-4600

—Francesca Simon

The Changing Face of Fashion Week

February 4, 2014 by admin Leave a Comment

Image courtesy of zing daily.co

So, what’s it all about? No, I am not talking about “Alfie.” Funny you say, maybe I should. And speaking of nostalgia, some fashion insiders argue that it would be great to go back to what New York Fashion Week was in the 1970s, 80s and certainly the glory days of “The Tents” at Bryant Park. So, you ask, what is Fashion Week really about, now?

Every season it seems that Fashion Week is less and less about the collections. “… the real point of Fashion Week, to promote collections to editors and retailers several months before they will be in stores, is becoming lost in the age of instant online accessibility,” said Eric Wilson in his article in The New York Times this past September.

Image courtesy of the dailynews.com

Others fashion insiders chime in on Wilson’s New York Times diatribe. “I think things are going way too fast. It used to be that you really didn’t know any thing about the new collections until Vogue or the other fashion glossies ran articles about the upcoming collections. Now, consumers have virtual access to the collections a few hours after the collections hit the runway,” contends casting director and former Givenchy model Sandi Bass.

Still, others feel the problem stems from the infiltration of film stars and celebrities. “Fashion Week is now a media event and about who can bring the largest amount of celebrities to sit in the front row at their show. This influx of celebrities has attracted a mass audience outside of the fashion industry,” explains Grammy-nominated stylist Rosemary Ponzo. “Fashion Week was for an elite group of editors, stylists, buyers, photographers, and socialites… When you look at fashion magazine covers now you see actresses, sports figures and celebrities, not fashion models. That is where the change started to happen.

Scott French, editor-in-chief of thefashionlist.com has a different perspective. “I have noticed that MBFW is much more of a consumer-driven medium. Almost anybody can get into the shows and there is a much looser door policy. And as a result, it has watered down the allure and specialness of MBFW. Before MBFW felt more exclusive and you felt that you had special access as an industry professional. You felt as a journalist that you were reporting to fashion fans and the larger fashion community; however, now with larger access it’s a bit more of a hodgepodge.”

Image courtesy of zimbio.com

“The old way of doing things doesn’t have as much weight as it used to have,” continues French. “The new fashion media stars are being created daily and the fashion PR firms have to be on top of that. There are certain publicists who get it right. Kelly Cutrone is a prime example. For all of her controversy, she really runs her shows well doing Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. If you are a journalist and you are covering her shows, she really makes you feel like you belong there.”

With the defection of many of the top designers from Lincoln Center and the absence of many of the fashion industry’s bigwigs from the shows, IMG Worldwide, the producer of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, has made some drastic changes. “It was becoming a zoo. What used to be a platform for established designers to debut their collections to select media and buyers has developed into a cluttered, often cost-prohibitive and exhausting period for our industry to effectively do business,” detailed Catherine Bennett of IMG Fashion. That said; the venues at Lincoln Center have been reduced in size to accommodate a more elite audience, and the media list has been reduced by 20%.

This re-adjustment has caused consternation among many fashion bloggers who have been denied media credentials this season. But not all fashion bloggers feel left out or seem to care. “One does not have to see the actual show to see the clothes,” explains fashion blogger extraordinaire Bryanboy in a lifestyle.inquirer.net article. “I love seeing everything up close. Brands have re-sees and press days. Also, the designers I have close relationships with invite me to have a preview of the looks they are creating just days before they show. There’s something magical about touching and feeling the fabrics they use—and one could not do that while sitting on the front row.”

Bryanboy

But that is easy for Bryanboy to say in that he is represented by IMG Models, and his blog is hosted by Fairchild Fashion Media, two of the biggest names in the fashion pantheon. Still, others who cheer the change have a different point of view. “… the ill-conceived days of favouring a 19-year-old nobody with a seat near the front while pushing buyers to the back may well be over. And hooray to that. After all, if you have a limited space in which to seat people and you are in the business of selling clothes it makes perfect sense to focus on those people who will actually help your business,” postulates Robert Johnson in a recent gq-magazine.co.uk article.

So, what is Fashion Week all about this season? Hopefully, the fall 2014 season will be about the collections. Change is inevitable, and should be embraced. However, change does not trump what has worked and the reasons behind the tried and true. Technology can and should forward accessibility, but not at the expense of expertise and market value. And it seems that this season IMG is finding a way to embrace both.

—William S. Gooch

Sochi Winter Olympics 2014: Fashion Breakthrough or Bust

February 2, 2014 by admin Leave a Comment

olympicsralphlaurenteamusaopeningceremony

USA Winer Olympic Team sweaters by Ralph Lauren

When American television viewers turn into Friday night’s telecast of the opening ceremonies for the Winter Olympics in Sochi Russia they’ll see the United States Olympic Team strutting into the stadium in those sweaters.

In case you haven’t seen them, the sweaters, by Ralph Lauren, are shawl-collared cardigans featuring a mixture of stars and stripes, the American flag and a large patch with the Olympic rings.

Cathy Horyn, the recently departed New York Times fashion editor, wrote that while there was something to be said for Lauren’s blending of traditional and contemporary, at first glance, “the cardigan invites comparisons to hideous Christmas sweaters. “ In the same article, John Doyle, a television columnist for the Globe and Mail in Toronto wrote, “Oh, America. What a jumble; what an eyesore.”

Thankfully there’s more to Olympics fashion than the sweaters.

Just ask designer and “Project Runway” alum Nick Verreos. In addition to designing for his line and his current duties as a mentor for the new “Under the Gunn” edition of “Project Runway” currently airing on the Lifetime cable channel, Verreos also writes “Ice Style,” a popular blog about figure skating fashion.

Winter Olympic USA Team Medal stand jackets by Nike

And he’s also been keeping a close watch on what the Olympians are wearing in Sochi. For example, Verreos notes that the outfits Team USA will be seen in most often (hopefully) are their medal ceremony outfits—shiny silver ski jackets by Nike (almost identical to those worn on the sidelines during the Super Bowl).

“I’ve read some people have said it looks a little bit like Jiffy Pop popcorn, but I think these look chic,” Verreos said of the silver quilted ski jackets. “They look modern, almost like something from a movie for the future like ‘Space Odyssey 2000.’ These jackets would be what the flight attendants wear on the space shuttle.”

Winter Olympic Team USA peacoats by Ralph Lauren

And the navy peacoats with a red stripe by Ralph Lauren that Team USA will wear at the closing ceremonies have won universal praise, Verreos among them. “The peacoat is great. It’s very wearable, very Ralph Lauren,” he said.

Verreos pointed out that there are plenty of loud and proud outfits from other countries that may make Team USA’s Grandma sweaters look downright sedate.

Norwegian Curling Team

The Norwegian curling team, for example, has become something of a fashion darling with its collection of loud, patterned pants. And the German Olympic Team’s opening ceremony ski suits are so Rainbow Britesque that there was speculation the outfits were a Gay rights statement. German officials have denied that assertion.

Italian figure skater Carolina Kostner’s Olympic costumes designed by Roberto Cavalli

For Verreos, the real highlight, from a fashion perspective, will be the figure skating competitions. Unlike Team USA’s other competitors who all wear the same uniforms in competition, figure skaters can show their individuality and personal flair. That means plenty of opportunity for fashion hits as well as misses.

“It’s exciting. For the figure skaters, the Olympics really is the Oscars of the season so some of the skaters will probably be wearing something entirely new just for the Olympics,” he said. “You can never really guess if they’ll wear something they’ve already worn or have that special something for the Olympics.”

The special demands of creating outfits for a sport that mixes athleticism with artistry and a boatload of beading means that household name fashion designers rarely are represented on the ice, although Italian skater Carolina Kostner has, in the past, been costumed by fashion designer Roberto Cavalli.

2010 Winter Olympic women’s figure skating champion Yuna Kim

But Verreos said the fashion highlights aren’t just coming from Cavalli. Other designers who create exclusively for skating regularly create winning looks for top skaters like defending Olympic champion Yuna Kim of South Korea, Mao Asada of Japan and US figure skating champion Gracie Gold.

“There are some skaters whom you always look forward to. Yuna Kim, the South Korean princess, really stands out in terms of showing off gorgeous, beautifully made figure skating costumes,” he said. “She’s known to be a sort of fashionista. You know her costumes are $10,000 and they look it so that’s always exciting.”

USA Winter Olympic Figure Skating team, Gracie Gold, Davis and White, and Jeremy Abbott

Verreos noted that both the Japanese men and women are also known for their flamboyant, dramatic costumes adding, “They really appreciate the costume element of skating.”

If there’s a surefire fashion disappointment for Verreos it’s the American men figure skaters, Verreos said.

“The American men always seem to try and be more subdued, more manly and to me it’s just boring,” he said. The exception to that rule has been the now retired American skater Johnny Weir. “You see so many (American) men wearing a shirt and black pants with a belt. It’s a look that they could have gotten at Express. It just doesn’t show creativity. It feels like you didn’t try. A good outfit shouldn’t look like you just picked it up from the local mall.”

—Karyn D. Collins

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Fall 2014 Pre-Coverage

January 30, 2014 by admin 1 Comment

It is very close to that time again. The time when the Plaza at Lincoln Center will be host to clacking stilettoes—because of the harsh winter weather, possible more boots—, harried fashion editors, glamorous celebs, and all the eccentric crazies dressed in their version of the nines, trying to get media paparazzi to take their picture. These telltale signs indicate that Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week (MBFW) has yet again taken up residence at Lincoln Center.

However, this season things will be different. IMG, the governing body for MBFW, has cut the media list by 20%. It appears there was a barrage of complaints by designers and industry professionals that last September there was far too much posturing and selfie taking by bloggers, gate crashers and wannabees that didn’t serve the purpose and needs of MBFW.

“The Tents,” as it has come to be called, has been repurposed and redesigned for more intimate runway spaces, expansive vendor assignments, and video rooms. MBFW will also have more additional presentation space at the Hudson Hotel and at other locations.

Fall 2014 will be the inaugural season of New York Fashion Week Men’s Day (NYMD). NYMD will showcase six men’s brands, Ernest Alexander, David Hart, Bosideng, Carlos Campos, Bespoken, and Lucio Castro. Fashion Reverie will be there front and center on February 5 to keep you informed.

That said; Fashion Reverie will be bringing complete and up-to-date coverage for its viewers. This season you can expect a more inclusion of variety of designers from new wunderkind Jerome Lamaar of 5:31: Jerome to such established brands as Ralph Rucci, Monique Lhuillier, Betsey Johnson, Nautica, and Guess to fashion-forward renegades Sally LaPointe, En Noir, Binetti, Gilded Age, V Files, and many others. This season Fashion Reverie will also include some very special sections that viewers will have to tune in to find out about. We won’t reveal the details just yet, but it will knock your socks off!!

Fashion Reverie will continue to take you from the front lines of fashion to the front row, always keeping you informed on what’s now and next in fashion. Remember, without change there is no growth, and this fall 2014 season promises to be a groundswell of change that will propel the fashion industry in to the stratosphere!! Don’t you want to be a part of it?

—William S. Gooch

The Politics of Red Carpet Fashion

January 28, 2014 by admin 1 Comment

In December 2013, Merle Ginsberg, senior style writer for the Hollywood Reporter, evaluated “which image makers are ascending, trending and flatlining in the red-carpet game” in an article entitled “The Awards Season Style Race”— clearly casting stylists as competitors. “It’s like a game,” says Phillip Bloch, one of the premiere red carpet stylists for the past three decades. “Everything is like this competition. This is not a football game!”

Phillip Bloch, who has been observing the evolution of the red carpet culture is a bit distressed by all the competiveness and does not think it contributes to creating a fair or ethical working environment for stylists. “The whole point of [the red carpet] was to look beautiful and dress beautiful. What has happened to just getting dressed to please the fans and to look beautiful?” laments Bloch. “It’s become this weird competition. It’s almost like they’ve taken the fun out of it. It’s become the Super Bowl of Fashion.

Fashion designers are paying some actresses to wear their designs, and so are jewelers. A variety of companies, are also paying for actresses to attend events. Merle Ginsberg has given them the moniker “Mocktress.” The red carpet, it seems, has become a paycheck for many out of work actresses, who haven’t made a film in years, but are now able to make money—up to $100k and more for appearances, plus payment for wearing specific designers on and off the red carpet.

Image courtesy of zimbio.com

“Everybody’s got their own agenda,” Bloch admits. “There have always been deals going on here and there, but now it’s like the mob. It’s mercenary. It’s like mean girls and being in high school. The fun is gone, the glamour is gone. It’s a huge promotional business.”

Even athletes, DJs, and reality TV stars are trying to borrow dresses for different award shows. “It’s crazy! Too many people are competing to get dresses,” he says. “Stylists have just so much power. And if they aren’t working with a good client, they won’t get the dress. It has become bitter, petty, and bitchy—it’s not that interesting.”

“I agree,” says Dr. Yakini Etheridge, a full-time clinical psychologist and part-time blogger. “If you don’t have good connections it becomes very competitive. It’s about who you know.”

Image courtesy of Yakini Etheridge

Forced to work with limited budgets, stylists do become desperate at times. “They have clients with champagne taste and beer budgets,” says Dr. Etheridge. “But as a stylist you can’t tell a client that, because you run risk of hurting their feelings. Stylists use Rent the Runway, or go to David’s Bridal, get a bridesmaid gown and do some tailoring. They have to pull tricks out of their sleeves to keep their clients happy.”

“TV Reality stars are the new celebrities,” says Etheridge. Her website, realitytvfashion.com, is one of the few website focused on urban reality TV fashion and style. “People may call it trashy. But the numbers don’t lie,” she says, pointing out that she gets about a half million hits a month.

Independent designers have become the saviors for many of these TV reality stars. “There is a lot of pressure [on reality stars] to look good and you have to look like you have money. Many of them spending money they don’t have to keep up appearances.” But with no budget for fashion, it’s the independent designers, who have stepped in, providing clothes for free.

Beyonce images courtesy of nicoleritchie.com

Michael Costello, Project Runway and Project Runway All-Stars alumnae, who has dressed Cher and Toni Braxton, doesn’t believe celebrities should be paid to wear any designer. The stunning white gown Beyonce wore after her performance at the Grammy’s was compliments of Costello and his payback is coming in quickly.

Costello’s fashion PR reps state that the buyers from Saks, Neiman’s, Bloomingdale’s, all want to come to Michael’s upcoming NYFW show. “He never pays any celebrity. There’s no point in it. He gets so much more out of it,” says Richard Galvin.

Bloch believes, that is how it should be. “When I go to Fashion Week and I see the gorgeous dresses on the runway, I wonder why isn’t somebody using these? Ralph Rucci is one of most incredible designers. But he’s not interested in that game.”

Bloch is now creative style director of the women’s apparel division of the NFL. To some that may seem like a long way from the red carpet, but Bloch says its not. “It’s such a natural progression. All these industries are now melding.” The game is always changing.

—Francesca Simon

Lupita Nyong’o: A Fashion Stylist’s Dream

January 23, 2014 by admin 1 Comment

Lupita Nyong’o as Patsy in “12 Years a Slave”

The name Lupita Nyong’o, though hard to pronounce, is on everyone’s tongue during this red carpet season. Nyong’o, who is featured in today’s Fashion and Style section of The New York Times, did not win the “best supporting actress” Golden Globe Award for her role in “12 Years A Slave” nine days ago. However, she did win big that night on the red carpet, where she set it ablaze wearing a scarlet red column gown with cape by Ralph Lauren.

The gown was elegant, simple, classic and a stunner on Ms. Nyong’o, making her the winner on the red carpet over the woman who took home the Golden Globe—Jennifer Lawrence. The New York Times calls Ms. Nyong’o “the most traditional ingénue” and notes that she is being “lauded for her bold-hued style.”

Ironically, almost exactly a year ago, Jennifer Lawrence, than an ingénue, had scored a big win on the red carpet and took home her first Golden Globe, wearing an elegant, simple, classic red gown by Ralph Lauren. She too was an ingénue, who stole the red carpet show.

Image courtesy of phillipbloch.com

“Nobody really knew who she was,” recalls Phillip Bloch, a veteran red carpet stylist. “It was the simplest thing on the planet. I said to myself [when I saw the dress], ‘I would never have put her in that dress.’ But in the end that was magical. It had its moment.”

So often, he says, stylists try to find a dress that makes a loud statement for an actress who is not well known or highly visible, rather than letting the beauty and body of the woman do the talking. “When it’s simple and chic, you don’t need a lot.” Bloch, currently serving as the Creative Style Director for the women’s apparel division of the NFL, has sent many superstars down the red carpet, including Sandra Bullock, and Selma Hayek, Angela Basset, and Jada Pinkett.

How does a stylist decide which dress will be a winner on the “best dressed list” for an event? “Everybody’s got their own theory,” says Philip Bloch. “But the right dress finds the right person at the right time.” In 2002 Bloch poured Halle Berry into a wine colored Elie Saab couture gown that rocked the red carpet world, with its strategically placed flowers on a see-through bodice. “That dress had been around for quite a while—a couture piece from the summer collection. But nobody chose it. Now its 10 years later and everybody knows that dress. These are moments people remember. That was Halle’s moment … just destiny.”

Michaela Erlanger

Micaela Erlanger, stylist for Lupita and a self-proclaimed “vintage-a-holic,” in an interview last January with Harper’s Bazaar, shared some secrets about her stylist approach, which includes creating a collaborative effort with her clients, doing look book research, and digging through archives. This approach may be what sets her apart from the pack and keeps her from being at the mercy of design houses.

Bloch, in an exclusive interview with fashionreverie.com at the beginning of January had predicted Lupita Nyong’o style ascent. “She’s been hitting it on red carpet,” he observed. “She’s been looking so elegant. She’s the one to watch.” He was right. “When your style is simple, chic and beautiful, you don’t need a lot.” Lupita has been heating up the red carpet with magical fashion moments since the unofficial beginning of the season in December 2013 with the Gotham Independent Film Awards. And with each strut down the red carpet she amps up the excitement for the fashion “Super Bowl” of the season—The Oscars in March. She will again compete with Jennifer Lawrence, who has been nominated for her supporting actress role in “American Hustle.”

Image courtesy of dazedandconfused.com

Nyong’o, a native of Kenya, a Yale graduate, and now a cover girl, who graces the cover of “W” Magazine’s February 2014 issue, admits that her first few experiences on the red carpet were “scary” telling The New York Times, “I think everything in my life has prepared me for [playing the role of Patsey], “and then nothing has prepared me for the red carpet.”

—Francesca Simon

The Fashion Fund: Fashion Reality TV at Its Best

January 22, 2014 by admin Leave a Comment

Ever so quietly, a new fashion television show has started to strut down the well-traveled television catwalk.

But this show carries a cache that all the other shows, Project Runway included, can only dream about. For one thing, this new show, called The Fashion Fund, which debuted Jan. 22 and is to air six episodes on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on the Ovation cable channel, is more of a documentary than a reality show. It follows some of the most respected emerging designers in the country competing in what is arguably the American fashion world’s most prestigious fashion competition, the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund.

Image courtesy of the Ovation Channel

Oh yes, one of its main judges is Anna Wintour. And really, that’s all that needs to be said. While Wintour’s presence certainly gives “The Fashion Fund” television show a certain prestige, those behind the series said the real story (and focus) is the designers.

“In many ways these young designers and their stories have really not been told before as far as what it takes to be in the fashion business,” said Ricki Stern, the show’s co-executive producer and co-director. “The reality is it takes a combination of art and commerce. These young, creative visionaries have to take what they have and make it into something that can be a viable business.”

Image courtesy of aol.com

That focus on the reality of the fashion world is a major difference from how fashion is usually represented on television. Instead of a made-for-TV drama with specially concocted challenges, “The Fashion Fund” chronicles the actual ups and downs of the 10 emerging designer finalists selected to vie for the top prize of the prestigious award that is a joint venture between Vogue and the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). Past winners have included Prabal Gurung, Jason Wu, Alexander Wang, Philip Lim, and Rag & Bone.

The first episode actually focused on the selection of the finalists including the painstaking process many of the designers went through to put together their portfolios.

“It’s real. These are real people. These are people’s real careers. You can’t fake it. We don’t fake it,” Stern said.

Stern said the production team saw the potential for a television show after spending two years documenting the competition for special Vogue webisodes.

“Here you have 10 young design teams that are selected through a process by 10 very well known and respected judges from the business. And then they go through four or five months of real challenges, challenges that will lead to furthering their careers,” she said. “They get a lot of support and mentorship and you really see the struggles along the way. It’s very aspirational and inspirational.’”

“Without originally intending to be that way when it started, it’s built for television narrative and drama. The stakes are really high, even more so than any fake reality show, because if they win or even they don’t win, just being in this has a huge impact on their careers. You see that that as it all unfolds and I think that makes for good storytelling.”

Image by Rebecca McAlpin courtesy of dailynews.com

“The Fashion Fund” television show follows the 2013 competition for the top award which includes a $300,000 grant and a one-year-long mentorship with an industry expert. Winners last year were Max Osterweis and Erin Beatty of SUNO for women’s wear, Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne of Public School for menswear, and Pamela Love for accessories.

Stern said she doesn’t know yet if Ovation will decide to order another season of the television show. “We hope so. We’re hopeful because there’s such inherent storytelling and inherent drama with each of these young designers’ experiences,” she said. “They’re clearly working hard. They each have obstacles and they work to overcome them. And that’s the basis for any good dramatic narrative.”

—Karyn D. Collins

Tim Gunn Fires Back in Lifetime’s “Under the Gunn”

January 15, 2014 by admin Leave a Comment

Image courtesy of Lifetime Entertainment

Designer Nick Verreos is only half joking when he calls Tim Gunn “the Zeus of mentoring.” “He is a god,” said Verreos who admits to a flair for the dramatic.

But when it comes to Gunn, it isn’t hyperbole. The former head of Parsons the New School of Design has become a fashion celebrity in his own right as the mentor to designer contestants on the popular reality show Project Runway.

Image courtesy of Lifetime Entertainment

“He has a way of giving critiques that are unconditional, nurturing and honest. He’s a wonderful truth-teller and he can just lay down the law,” said Verreos, a fan favorite from the second season of Project Runway who now has two fashion lines of his own. “What Tim does is an art really. He has a great eye and he has a way of giving designers his knowledge in such a way that is natural and not condescending and always helpful. It’s always about the growth of the designer.

That’s why when the producers of Project Runway determined they needed to put its next season on hold because of a scheduling conflict with Project Runway producer and host Heidi Klum, they opted instead to build a new show around Gunn with an emphasis on mentoring.

The result, a weekly series called Under the Gunn, premieres at 9 p.m. Jan. 16 on Lifetime.

Image courtesy of Lifetime Entertainment

While the competition format of Under the Gunn is similar to that of Project Runway the new show shows more of an emphasis on mentoring the designer contestants in the workroom. Gunn said the new show reflects one of the keys to his success— knowing the difference between mentoring and teaching.

“A good mentor is a coach, a cheerleader, a truth-teller. And my own particular approach is to pummel people with questions. I need as much of a context as possible to understand what their point of departure is and what they are trying to achieve,” Gunn said. “I would never just walk up to someone and start speaking, and offering critical analysis of their work without fully understanding, or understanding as well as I can, what that designer is really trying to achieve.”

“When you are teaching, you can tell people what to do. And when you are mentoring, that is not a good idea. You really want the designer to be fully responsible for their decision-making.”

Image courtesy of projectrubioblogspot.com

Tim Gunn, Nick Verreos, Mondo Guerra, and Anya Ayoung-Chee, images courtesy of projectrubioblogspot.com

In Under the Gunn the key mentoring of the designer contestants is done by three Project Runway alums: Verreos, whom Gunn said he specifically selected because of his extensive teaching experience at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles; fan (and Klum) favorite Mondo Guerra, who was the runner-up during his season in 2010 and won the 2012 Project Runway: All-Stars; and Anya Ayoung-Chee, the former beauty pageant contestant who won her season of Project Runway in 2011.

Image courtesy of zimbio.com

“Tim was very vested in sort of guiding us through this whole mentorship process. He wanted all of us to grow and become better mentors and, in that way, become better designers in our professional world,” Verreos said. “He was still mentoring us, in a way, but as mentors. That was great to have Tim to either pull us back or to push us even further in our communications with the designers”

Gunn agreed there are some similarities format-wise to the popular singing competition show The Voice, but pointed out that in Under the Gunn, the mentors really aren’t competing with each other. Instead, Gunn said, the format of Under the Gunn was a chance to put the spotlight on the important role of mentoring; something he said he wished there was more of an opportunity to do on Project Runway.

“Under the Gunn” contestant Blake Smith. Image courtesy of Lifetime Entertainment

But you don’t just magically become a good mentor, Gunn noted. Coaching (and occasionally chastising) the mentors even pushed the usually unflappable (at least in public) Gunn to lose his cool on camera, he admitted. “There were many times I had to step in, including at one point, laying down some rules. And one of the first rules I needed to lay down was that … mentors had to leave the workroom an hour before (designers were to head to the runway showing) because (mentors) were becoming these irrepressible nags,” Gunn said. “They would be hanging over their designers saying, ‘No, don’t work on that, work on the collar’.”

“I had to pull Nick off of a designer once to say, ‘Let her go. This is now beyond the pale and unless you are resigned to make her work, which I will not allow you to do, there’s nothing else you can do’.”

While he hadn’t seen the series beyond the first episode, Gunn said he hopes the finished product reflects concerns he relayed to the show’s editors about not trying to force the mentor-designer relationship to be something it’s not. “[I told the editors] the mentors are not jockeys and the designers are not horses. It’s not a matter of getting on a horse and say ‘giddy up’ and ‘go faster’ and patting their rear ends and saying ‘you know, let’s get to the finish line right now’.”

“Under the Gunn” contestant Michelle Uberreste. Image courtesy of Lifetime Entertainment

“The designer and the mentor are two completely separate entities. And the editing team was trying to make this correlation between a designer’s success and a mentor’s good mentoring. And correspondingly, a designer’s failure and therefore it’s the mentor’s failure. I kept saying, ‘You can’t look at it that way’.”

Verreos, for one, heard Gunn’s messages loud and clear. The experience, he said, has changed him as a designer and as an educator. “I think one of the biggest things I took away from this was the importance of listening and letting the student or designer speak. Instead of answering the question, let them answer it first and see what happens from there,” Verreos said. “That’s something I didn’t do before meeting Tim Gunn. That was not in my vocabulary. So that’s something I’ve taken from the University of Tim Gunn as it were.”

—Karyn D. Collins

Stacy Chang: Quality and Innovation Without Breaking the Bank

January 10, 2014 by admin 2 Comments

OK, it’s really cold. No matter where you are in the US, temperatures are way below normal. And all this cold weather makes you yearn for warmer climates and the opportunity to break out that spring/summer wardrobe.

No need to fret; in just a few weeks the first deliverables of spring/summer clothing will hit department stores and specialty boutiques. And right in the mix will be Stacy Chang. If you’ve never heard of her, well here is your chance. True to our DNA, Fashion Reverie keeps its viewers front and center with all the new design talent on the horizon.

In reality, Stacy Chang is a bit beyond emerging designer fare or those new talents on the periphery of fashion recognition; her fashion projection is already assured. With her spring/summer 2014 collection being picked up by Anthropologie and previous collections in specialty boutiques in Alabama and California, Chang is well on her way, creating clothes that are innovative and affordable in the challenging petri dish of fashion’s over-saturated market.

“My brand’s DNA is about providing quality, sophisticated clothes at a competitive price. So much of fashion is overpriced. Where a $500 blouse might be affordable to some shoppers, for most working women that price point is out of their budget. Quality and affordability is foundation for which the brand is based on,” explains Chang.

Quality and affordable are adjectives that are bandied about by lots of designers, but for Stacy Chang, innovative, quality product is at the core of her brand’s philosophy, most evident in her current spring/summer 2014 collection. From her custom-made polka-dot patterned sheers and overlays to her signature all-in-one-effect,“smart layering,” Chang is setting herself apart from the pack of young designers who have to contend with the constant demand for new product.

“Consumers want to layer their clothes, but often the layering isn’t flattering to the body, particularly during springtime. So, I devised this idea of “smarting layering.” I first came up the dress, with a tee shirt, tank and skirt connected together in a dress. Some of the garments have an asymmetrical cut. So you can separate the pieces or wear them all together. There is always a twist with my layering. By doing it this way, it can be one seamless outfit. Shoppers feel it’s fun and playful, yet very wearable, “ details Chang.

And playful, exuberant fun is the inspiration behind Chang’s spring/summer 2014 collection. “The basis for this collection was fun, playfulness and child play. There are lots of prints and florals in this collection. It is very lighthearted, inspired by positive childhood memories.”

While pleasant childhood memories served as inspiration for this collection, in all of her outings Chang doesn’t stray too far from her California roots. “California is very laid back and I always thought there was something to be said about effortless dressing. The philosophy of my designs is that the clothes look effortless; not looking like you took a long time to put your look together. One misperception is that looking good can be uncomfortable. My brand changes that perception. The trick is to be comfortable, but not sloppy. However, too laid back can be a good thing, sometimes. I travel a lot and I think Americans do need to become a bit more elevated in their style. I want to blend my California roots with urban city sophistication.”

Still, Stacy Chang has unearthed that delicate balance between what has market viability while satisfying consumer’s need for good, quality, fashion-forward garments at a price they can afford. “From a merchandising point of view I have been drawn to neutrals. But I have come more in line with what consumers want. So, in my spring 2014 collection there are more pops of color; the blues and more grain yellows in the prints that correspond with many different age demographics and personalities. So I am learning how to use color to make the collection more international and versatile.”

Image of Stacy Chang courtesy of Brian Cahill PR

So, what’s next for Stacy Chang? A holiday capsule collection for next holiday season that combines looks that seamlessly transition from day to night, as well as an expansion beyond sportswear. But, most importantly for Chang is a continued trajectory toward excellence, encapsulated in collections that speak to the needs of the American woman.

Stacy Chang’s spring/summer 2014 line retails between $88 and $165. For more information, go to stacychangcom.

—William S. Gooch

TCM Auctions Items from Hollywood’s Golden Age

December 26, 2013 by admin 3 Comments

Fashion and film’s longtime love affair has provided the fodder for that which dreams are made of—romantic moments, exotic travel adventures, wealthy lifestyles, and even heroic deeds. Film-fed dreams are always replete with beautiful images of clothes, cars, and life’s finer things. Now film fans are making financial investments in movie memorabilia, buying tangible memories of their voyeuristic experiences. Once scorned by high-end auction houses, movie memorabilia has become hot property with high price tags. And for every item sold, the auction house attaches a 25% fee, making for a hefty profit.

Turner Classic Movies (TCM), the cable network archivist of classic films, recently entrusted faithful film fans with cinematic treasures spanning 100 years of movie-making history. “What Dreams Are Made Of: A Century Of Movie Magic At Auction,” curated by TCM, brought to the auction block, props, scripts, movie posters, clothing and costumes.

Scene from Gone With The Wind” and negligee. Images courtesy of marieclaireuk.com

Bonhams New York conducted the auction, where sales totaled a little less than six million bucks, including Bonhams 25% fee. A Givenchy hat worn by style icon Audrey Hepburn in “Funny Face”—the 1957 Paramount film—sold for $87,500. A negligee worn by Vivien Leigh in “Gone With The Wind” sold for $56,250. And a coat Leigh wore in Waterloo Bridge, sold for $27,500, which was more than nine times its estimate. A tiara and earrings worn by silent film star Theda Bara in the lavish 1917 film Cleopatra sold for $35,000.

Theda Bara’s crown and earrings from “Cleopatra”

“There’s something exhilarating about watching pretty people, in pretty clothes in a pretty setting,” says Will McKinley, a writer and producer, based in New York City. “That’s so much of what classic film is about. Style is a huge component about why [fans] love classic film.”

Givenchy hat and image from “Funny Face”

Dennis Adamovich, a TCM senior vice president, said the curation of the auction was “a perfect example of TCM’s nearly 20-year commitment to telling the stories behind the movies we love and celebrating the people who made them.”

McKinley, a self-proclaimed film obsessive, says “If you’re a classic movie fan, TCM is the best thing that ever happened to you.” And the auction demonstrated the power of the TCM brand. “Things sold more because of TCM,” said McKinley. “TCM is aware of their brand equity and are protective and respectful of it. They have a lot of equity with classic film fans.”

Vivien Leigh in “Waterloo Bridge”

McKinley was one of the 100 fans at the auction, witnessing the auction of the 309 items on November 25^th. The attendees, he observed, were “fans with money, who wanted something that meant something to them,” said McKinley. But clearly for some, McKinley said, bidding was about more than emotion – it was about money, too. “People want [memorabilia] for investment potential also,” he said. Proof of that truth came when “The Maltese Falcon”—the iconic prop from the 1941 film noir classic—sold for $3.5 million, which with the 25% fee for Bonham’s totaled a whopping $4,085,000 million.

The 1942 classic romance Casablanca, cleaned up with the 1940 Buick Phaeton model 81C convertible with 8-cylinder engine, featured in the film’s dramatic final scene, selling for $461,000. And a working copy of producer Hal Willis’ shooting script for the film, complete with fascinating marginalia, sold for $68,750, more than six times its pre-sale estimate.

Edith Head with her eight Academy Awards and her sketch from “Roman Holiday”

But for less financially feathered fans, there was an array of attainable items. “There were a handful of movie posters,” said McKinley. “They sold for thousand of dollars. That’s a significant fact.” One fan, that didn’t have Audrey Hepburn hat money, was able to bid and win an Audrey Hepburn sketch by Edith Head—eight-time Academy Award-winning costumer—for the 1953 film Roman Holiday.

The auction attracted some of the world’s top collectors, and set world records, according to Dr. Catherine Williamson, Bonhams Director of Entertainment Memorabilia. “At the same time, through our partnership with TCM, we were able to reach true cinema fans that never realized they could own these pieces of Hollywood history,” she said.

—Francesca Simon