Ruffles have ridges! For fall, Candace Ang has introduced a tightly structured ribbon and chain collection. The colorful pieces take their flowery cue from the Balenciaga runway while rhinestones add sparkle to Ang’s mainstay nude and black.
The fashion pack have had Anastase — that’s Charles, French designer of many things chic — in their sights since his show (the first in London) this week. Anastase works with his friend and muse, Valentine Fillol Cordier. We asked him a few questions.
DC: You have quite a cult following. Did you know this?
CA: A cult? It sounds like a compliment, but I am a shy designer and prefer not to know too much about it. I can’t even salute at the end of my own shows. I am so terrified each time, so imagine my situation.
DC: Describe your S/S ’09 collection, in French.
CA: J’avais cette idée d’une silhouette longiligne, comme une ballerine. J’ai toujours fait défiler en chaussure plate, mais cette fois-ci pour imiter l’effet des pointes d’une danseuse, j’ai imaginer ces plates formes shoes. Ensuite les tutus sont devenus des jupons, qui sont devenus des cols, des echarpes. Un peu comme des bijoux accessoires, ils sont venus s’accrocher aux vestes en jeans, aux manteaux. Une vraie mise en scène autour de ma collection. In three words: “Histoire de la ballerine perverse”. It sounds like Gainsbourg.
DC: Which is your favourite place to eat in London?
CA: Scott’s on Mount Street. I like fish a lot.
DC: Who, in your opinion, is the chicest woman in France?
CA: Vanessa Paradis is astonishing. But we also have Charlotte Gainsbourg, Joana Preiss, Amira Casar, Corine Roitfeld, Camille Bidault Waddington. And they will never be a wife of a president; that’s what I call chic.
DC: London, Paris or Berlin?
CA: Paris. The only city in my heart. I dream about my hometown at night. I am in love with the city. London is my place to work and concentrate. Berlin is a blank for me, just too ugly and boring.
DC: Baguette or croissant?
CA: Baguette, of course!
Peter Pilotto is a hot new label to watch (they show at the BFC tent on Thursday). The designs are as eclectic as a hummingbird in a pineapple in a fast food dive.
DC: Please introduce yourselves.
PP: Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos, we are the designers behind the Peter Pilotto label. Peter is half Austrian, half Italian; Christopher is half Belgian, half Peruvian. We met while studying at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp.
DC: Describe the essence of your designs.
PP: We are entranced by the richly decorated costumes of the 1920s Ballets Russes, the illustrations of Léon Bakst, medieval pageboys, Byzantine churches, warriors of ancient Rome and back to a much further future: science fiction.
DC: What will you have for breakfast on the morning of your show?
PP: Red Bull.
DC: Is two company? Or would you prefer a crowd?
PP: We’d prefer a crowd.
DC: Why London?
PP: It’s an exciting melting pot of cultures and a great place for young designers.
Last week, designer Andrew Ibi opened The Convenience Store in an old cobbler’s shop at the base of a West London high-rise. The fashion boutique stocks exclusive designs by the likes of Rick Owens, Ann-Sofie Back, Boudicca, Hannah Marshall and Clare Tough, alongside milk and biscuits (just joking — that part of Ibi’s vision didn’t work out. But you never know: it might). We found a convenient few minutes to chat to him about his new retail concept.
DC: Describe your shop in six words?
AI: Suspended, hard-edged, luxury secret fashion.
DC: What’s your favourite look for autumn/winter ’08?
AI: The Rick Owens post-apocalyptic multitexture leather look.
DC: What do you predict women will be wearing in fifteen years’ time?
AI: Asymmetric biker jackets, sequined military parkas, human hair shoes and three-piece down combinations including trapper hats, probably in black — or electric blue.
DC: What is life’s greatest convenience?
AI: Right now it has to be Huggies.
DC: If a spaceship landed outside now, where would you ask it to take you?
AI: I’d stay here; I’m having too much fun! But if I were tricked, I would request the mothership take me on an intergalactic location-scouting mission with Sun Ra to find somewhere equally as beautifully strange as the Trellik Tower. There I could set up a Convenience Store for men.
The Convenience Store, 1a Hazelwood Tower, Goldborne Gardens, W10 5DT (020 8968 9095).
We popped by Dunderdon’s Howard Street headquarters to see the Scandanavian cottage-ish shop packing its new, improved, and way-expanded women’s collection. As you’d guess, designer Lina Hellden kept up the brands utilitarian ways — keeping comfort, versatility, and functionality in mind. But whereas the gear for gents has always paid homage to uniformed craftsman and builders, the womenswear seems fit for librarians and school teachers who like to kick off their sensible shoes and have a real good time. The workwear will certainly help you make it through the winter — or at least down to Good World Bar. Hellden swears her friend Annika’s Swedish meatballs are the best. Skål!
Dunderdon, 25 Howard Street, between Lafayette and Crosby Streets (212-226-4040 or dunderdon.com)
Her name is Lucas.
She’s an Angeleno.
She came to New York City.
To see a fashion show.
Candy girls had somewhere to go.
Some had split ends. Some had ’fros.
Lucas came and set up shop.
Lucas came and set up shop.
Lucas came and set up shop.
She cut and cut and then blew out.
She didn’t charge a lot.
Just hung downtown or thereabout.
Her snipping skills hit the spot.
A bad cut can make you cry.
A Lucas ’do will get you high.
And you’ll look hot forever more.
And you’ll look hot forever more.
And you’ll look hot forever more.
Rebecca Minkoff knocked us out with a preview of her massive spring collection. With so many new colors, materials, and ultra-fresh styles, we couldn’t possibly tell you everything, but here are a few of our favorites that will be yours, too.
1. The gold-studded Devotte tote proves rock and roll ain’t dead.
2. The Hook Up is the last straw; you’ll never look at hay the same again.
3. Say bonjour to the Adieu in the color block Capri combo.
4. The handheld Fling minaudieres inspire PDA.
5. Morning After Bag gets its name up in neon lights.
6. Minkoff’s on the makeup case in waterproof custom-print fabric inside and out.
Available sometime after Ground Hog Day at rebeccaminkoff.com.
We kindly asked the designer of Myth and Ritual, Amy Schimel, to play a little game of Q & A with us. Here’s what went down:
DailyCandy: Describe your new line in six words or less.
Amy Schimel: Alice in Wonderland meets Ziggy Stardust.
DC: Is there a myth about you that you’d like to perpetuate?
AS: I went to a really preppy college and because of the way I dressed, I guess, someone started a rumor that I was a witch. At the time, I was horrified, but now I think it would make me seem mysterious and powerful.
DC: What is your morning ritual?
AS: Making my coffee … then drinking it.
DC: What fashions are you excited to wear for fall?
AS: High-waisted school girl skirts in tweed and wool jersey turtlenecks with elbow patches.
DC: You’d bet money everyone will be wearing ____ this winter.
AS: Some version of a tuxedo jacket.
Who are we to pass up a coffee and Danish in the morning? Hailing from Denmark, but stationed in NYC, designer Camilla Staerk texts us a few words about fall fashion, pastries, and her brand new Stærk store.
DC: You recently opened your very first free-standing shop in Little Italy, just in time for the San Gennaro festival. If you could have the street fair to yourself for an hour, what would you do?
Camilla: I would invite all my friends and replace the cannoli-eating contest with a vodka martini contest. I would also open up my store and serve snaps and herring to give everyone a little taste of Denmark.
DC: Is there an ideal look for someone attending this booze bash?
Camilla: A black leather racer-back tank, jersey pencil skirt, and my signature head scarf.
DC: You are going b-a-n-a-n-a-s over _____for fall.
Camilla: I am so excited to wear my riding boots and can’t wait for a pair of the Stærk gold crocodile stilettos.
DC: We’ll be seeing _____on all the gals in NYC come winter.
Camilla: Head scarves and leather riding pants.
DC: Giddyup!
Stærk, 182 Mulberry Street, between Broome & Kenmare Streets (212-343-1160).
Shhhhh. Listen closely to the sweet-meets-serious Guy Baxter fall collection. It might be a little tough to make out at first, but listen closely and you can pick up on the din of old Moscow, the wives of wartime, and designer Turya Nations's infatuation with the eensy details that always make the hugest difference (nice football buttons).
There was a lot to see on our stroll downtown with Geren Ford designer Geren Lockhart, the man in head-to-toe red and black down to his choice of forty, the strangely enticing dollar Zenchiladas (editor's note: no part of that description is a typo). But by far the most fascinating was Lockart's take on fall: a mix of strong lines, ethereal silks, and colors to make heads turn in a good way.
DC: Tell the story of your latest collection in six words.
GL: Long day. Long night. One dress.
DC: How'd you approach the season?
GL: While spring is really whimsical and less serious, fall turned out to really be about bringing back the craft with texture, embroidery, or screening on silk. It's still chic, easy, luxurious, and totally wearable, just a little more special.
DC: What's the new silhouette?
GL: Volume. It's not the babydoll anymore, and it's not truly tailored, either. The dresses are cut with the seams closer together in the front to create volume in the back like that amazing high fashion rounded shape -- but good for day-to-day life.
DC: What's the key to Geren Ford dressing?
GL: You don't need to wear much more than one accessory. There are details like scarves, sheer panels, or grosgrain ribbon suspenders and exaggerated fold-over, pleated, or ruffley collars. You can just throw it on and go.
DC: Photos? Movies? Music? Books?
GL: Old Edward Weston photos. Ruth Asawa scupltures. Sotheby's art catalogues. Famous jewels from Christie's auction books. Architecture everywhere -- especially buildings Henry J. Hardenbergh, Marcel Breuer, and Jean Nouvel.
With his head in the ancient mills of the Scottish Highlands, and his feet in the strange forests of Los Angeles, Boy Band of Outsider's Scott Sternberg showed New York a menswear-inspired women's fall collection that moved away from the '70s suburban childhood buttondowns he's known for and into the nostalgic beauty of pre-war romance.
DC: Tell the story of your fall collecgtion in six words.
SS: Scotland breeds fine tartans, bad food.
DC: Where do you take in the nature of Los Angeles?
SS: My favorite hikes will remain a secret, but I've been enjoying Franklin Canyon and Malibu State Park lately.
DC: If the collection had a theme song, what would it be?
SS: The Gulag Orkestar, by Beirut.
DC: What should we watch right now?
SS: Godard's Masculin Feminin, Lord of the Rings, and 9 to 5, which has shown up on my TiVo somehow and I've been watching it on an obsessive loop.
Off we pedal. Designer Jesse Kamm leads the tour in a shorts-and-top outfit of her own design, on a freshly painted white cruiser, trailed by one platform-wedge-wearing writer on a tiny BMX.
She stops to point out a fry oil barrel in a restaurant alleyway. ("This is a good one!") She's already siphoned it for her biodiesel Benz.
She immediately rattles of the benefits of her ecoautomobile. Ease and thriftiness are at the top (hipness not mentioned). Lovecraft Biofuels converted her car in one day (for $750). She hasn't paid for gas in eighteen months. Label it socially conscious living, but it's just how she rolls: cognizant, thrifty, aware, and enthusiastic about spreading the news.
The easy-breezy Kamm is willing to let her creative impulses take her anywhere -- from sculpture to safari dresses to Bocas del Toro, the Caribbean of Panama, where she and her husband and a bunch of friends are building solar homes with composting toilets and surf breaks in the front yard (feel envious here) -- and is comfortable with the idea of her clothing design days being finite.
But are we?
Five things Jesse Kamm digs these days:
We've been head over high heels for LD Tuttle since the summer of 2005. Keeping up with designer Tiffany Tuttle is no easy "feet," but we managed to chat it up and snag a few snaps of her new spring collection and what's in store for fall.
DC: Tell the story of your new collection in six words.
TT: Always better when dirty. (Only four!)
DC: What parts of the foot do you try to like to draw attention to?
TT: I really do think feet are beautiful (years of dancing, I guess), and although I think the most beautiful part of the foot is the very top of the arch, I think that sometimes what is not visible is sexy and intriguing, too. My shoes are very much about what is covered up and what is exposed, and it is those small glimpses of skin that are stimulating and beautiful. For fall, I did a sandal bootie called the Titania, where the soft, unlined leather can be pulled up to cover the foot or scrunched down and opened up to expose the arch depending on how the wearer feels at the time.
DC: Seems like everyone is covering up their arches. What's the deal? Can this style make your leg look stumpy?
TT: I think this is really part of a general movement toward heavier shoes. The arch is frequently covered up to give the shoes a tougher and more utilitarian feel. I think that it really depends on each individual shoe as to whether it makes your leg look stumpy. I look at all of my shoes on someone's foot a lot so that I know that it is not hitting in some awkward spot.
DC: Who do you wish you could make shoes for?
TT: I would love to make shoes for Sylvie Guillem and Wendy Whelan, two of my favorite ballerinas.
DC: Where do you look for inspiration?
TT: Fall/winter '08 is inspired by Cindy Sherman's Untitled Film Stills, a series of photographs that she did in the late 1970s of herself that are about metamorphosis and have an uncanny stillness that is breathtaking. I also frequently look to fiction for concepts and moods. Proust is a continuing inspiration -- I love the mood evoked by his obsessions, fetishes, and melancholy beauty.
DC: What shoes would you never be caught dead in?
TT: Crocs. I really just don't get them, although my husband/partner loves them!
We e-mailed with designer Michelle Nguyen of adorable label Quail to get some fashionable predictions from the girl behind the serger.
DC: Describe the personality of your newest collection, Hemingway style (in six words).
MN: Charming, refined, clever, affordable, robust, nostalgic.
DC: What piece of clothing best describes Quail's style?
MN: The Quail Minnie skirt was named after Minnie Mouse. It has a thick waistband to accentuate the waist, a volumous skirt to make legs look lean and long even when you're 5'4, and pockets for an unexpected casualness. I wear mine all the time with chunky heels or delicate little flats.
DC: Favorites?
MN: The Blossom dress is just so effortlessly fantastic!
DC: What will girls be wearing this summer?
MN: Hopefully our High Bow shorts that we did for spring, over a really awesomely bright colored one-piece swimsuit and nude-colored fringed leather sandals. With an afternoon margarita in hand. In Mexico.
DC: What will we see in shopping bags this fall?
MN: Prim and proper frocks that show off more of a natural waistline; our tweed Warehouse pant and Eat Cake tee. Blouses and skirts with intricate prints on top of rich, saturated colors; beaded tops and dresses -- very late-'80s inspired. Oh, and our Frenchie dress in violet and tweed!
DC: Fashion Week pit stop?
MN: Find a couple of really amazing estate sales -- the classier version of Goodwill adventures.
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