Alicia Keys has founded a jewelry line, called The Barber's Daughters, with accessories designer Gisèle Theriault, whom Keys met backstage during one of her performances.
The collection is made up of sterling silver and gemstone necklaces and bracelets inscribed with the poetry and prayers of Masaru Emoto. Emoto is a Japanese author best known for his conviction that human thoughts can be directed towards water droplets which will in turn be beautiful or ugly when frozen, depending on the nature of the words, of course. His most recent book, "Messages from Water," contains photographs of these water crystals next to the words which transformed them.
According to Keys, the idea is to “to give people beautiful, unique pieces with messages that ignite them to find the best within."
“I fell in love with the individuality of the pieces, but more than that, the words that were written on them really resonated with the songwriter in me,” said Keys. “I knew at that moment, for the first time, that through a whole other medium I would be able to spread inspiration and that’s what got me started.”
Well, there's that, and she's always wanted to design accessories. Keys also states, "jewelry is a great first step." Meaning we can expect more product offerings from her newly created company, AK Worldwide.
[WWD]
Alicia Keys Launches Jewelry Collection Inspired by Pseudoscience
A Look Back at Iconic Prada Advertising Campaigns
A section of the 700-page Prada tome, "Prada: Creativity, Modernity, Innovation" documents decades of Miuccia Prada's iconic advertising campaigns—including a geek chic look from 1996, the pleated lip prints from 2000, and vintage Naomi Campbell and Kristen McMenamy. Click the gallery below for serious flashbacks.
Source: Prada via Grazia
Shopping: Front Line Army Jackets
Shelly Steffee Perfects the Art of Multifunctional Fashion for Spring 2010
We've long been obsessed with Shelly Steffee's sharply cut, inventive brand of fashion and often pass through her Meatpacking District boutique/showroom/salon to shop, peruse her vintage jewelry collection, and check out the new design talent she's currently supporting. (Right now Steffee is selling Patrik Muff of Nymphenburg's porcelain pendants—of which we purchased the black wing charm on rose gold.)
Since forgoing her usual in-store presentation for spring 2010, Steffee took us through the collection personally. "I knew I wanted to do prints and address something primal by getting back to the basics," she said, "to return to tailoring but mix that structure with draping techniques."
For Steffee back to the basics meant more of what her loyal following love to wear—reversible jackets, tailored riding coats, mesh tanks, and shirt dresses and tops that can be worn multiple ways. The aforementioned spring prints were inspired by a book of fish x-rays, which Steffee digitally collaged to create geometric textures on chiffon and jersey in shades of blue, gray, and white.
In addition to Steffee's always covetable array of blazers, lingerie-style bra tops and perfect tees, two dresses caught our eye during the visit—a black asymmetrical sheath with subtle cut outs at the shoulder and a red, draped-yet-tailored cocktail number with a back slit.
Although Steffee has been doing the thoughtful, multifunctional fashion thing for a long time, it's never seemed quite so relevant and felt quite as urgent. Call us fans.
The Zero + Maria Cornejo Menswear Collection is Slightly Skewed and Off-Kilter
Maria Cornejo's capsule menswear collection, available next spring, is full of the types of directional silhouettes her womenswear clients have come to love. For the tightly-edited 28 piece line, Cornejo distills her signature shapes down to a few key looks for men—a textured double-layered shirt, a concave rain jacket, soft blazers, and a pair of tailored slim pants—all with classic Zero + Maria Cornejo detailing, namely asymmetric lines and plays on volume.
Fashion in 50 Seconds 11/18/09 Tavi is Rodarte for Target
According to Kate and Laura Mulleavy, "Tavi [Gevinson] defines Rodarte for Target."
Thakoon Panichgul's advice to the winners of the 2009 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, "“Use the money wisely; it goes really quickly! And don’t spend it on an after-party!”
Another model marries another millionaire. This time it's Snejana Onopka.
MyFDB.com—the IMDB of fashion—will log editorial and advertising credits for photographers, stylists, models, and hair and makeup talent.
British trade shows are seeing an increase in attendance thanks to the weaker pound.
Another reason why we love Nick Knight's SHOWstudio: Gareth Pugh will be streamed live for three days while working on designs to be sold in Knight's shop.
Lanvin has sold a minority stake to (a yet to be revealed) investor as a way to grow the business and add stores.
Source: Teen Vogue
Claudia Schiffer Would Like to Design Cashmere Pieces. . . Or Handbags
Having mentioned earlier this month that she would consider designing a collection of her own, Claudia Schiffer elaborated on the idea in Berlin yesterday during the International Herald Tribune TechnoLuxury conference.
“I’ve been in this business for so long and developed my name globally, but I have no product to show for it. And I would love to develop it now." Although there is currently no deal in place, Schiffer has an ideal product (or two) in mind. "I would love to do cashmere. It’s something I wear all the time myself, but I’d love to do something a bit more price-friendly. Plus a lot of cashmere lines are very classic and timeless, while I’d want to do it a bit more fashion. Or I could imagine doing handbags.”
Source: Getty
Zac Posen Ditches Hollywood for Urban Hipsters with New Saks Collection
Zac Posen is launching a lower-priced bridge collection exclusively with Saks Fifth Avenue next spring. According to Posen, the line—called Z Spoke—has an "urban hipster quality." He added that he could see the collection on Lower East Side girls.
That's a long way from Posen's designer collection, which is heavy on dramatic party clothes and over-the-top evening dresses. Posen says it's not a change of design philosophy as much as an answer to retailers' demand for more American sportswear—meaning he needs to sell some clothes.
Z Spoke will retail from $78 (for a t-shirt) to $675 (for a knit dress) and launch in 17 Saks stores on the same floor as Tory Burch and Elie Tahari.
“To me, it’s more appropriate to build a whole brand and collection around this price point," said Posen. "Chic sportswear should be at this price point. Designer dresses and cocktail pieces should be at a more expensive price point.” Zac Posen's designer collection retails for $900 to upwards of $12,000.
[WWD]
Shopping: Wool and the Gang Knits
Two Things Marc Jacobs Does Not Believe In: American Fashion and The CFDA Awards
Marc Jacobs concluded the Women's Wear Daily apparel/retail CEO summit yesterday with musings on the nonexistent idea of American fashion, "reindeer games" of the CFDA, and the arbitrary thoughts that spark a collection.
Speaking about the evolution from his Eightees hard-edged Marc Jacobs collection in fall of 2009 to the frills of spring 2010, Jacobs said, "“I have a very short attention span and I lose interest in things quickly. I also think that what works — and maybe this is just an S&M relationship that I have with myself — but whatever I don’t like, or causes me pain, will usually end up yielding the best results. For me to embrace something that I find unappealing, it has to be the least like whatever I just did in order to sustain my interest for the next six months. But it’s really torturous."
On traveling back and forth from New York, where he works on the Marc Jacobs collection, to Paris for Louis Vuitton, Jacobs said he will always feel most at home in New York but feels blessed to be surrounded by the passion for fashion in Paris.
WWD attributed Jacobs' bicontinental status to the following quote dismissing the idea of American fashion, although we think it has more to do with him not wanting to subscribe to one specific design philosophy:
“Sometimes I get really adamant when I hear designers make blanket statements like ‘American fashion should be...’ It gets my rebellious hairs up or something. This whole idea of American fashion or Seventh Avenue fashion is nonsense. It’s archaic and old, and we don’t have to subscribe to those rules. We work out of a loft in SoHo and we show wherever we want. So if we want to show a dress made of 50 yards of taffeta, who says that has to be couture?"
And finally, it's no secret Jacobs isn't always happy with the results of the CFDA's award ceremonies, so why doe he continue to attend? For Anna, of course. "I only go to the CFDAs because if I don’t go, Anna Wintour calls up and says, ‘You have to go because you’re part of the American fashion industry, da da da da da,’ and you can’t say no to her."
[WWD]








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