Coutorture

Fashion in 50 Seconds 10/30 with Maison Martin Margiela, Rebecca Minkoff, and Damien Hirst

coutorture — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 06:08:59 -0700

In business they say "always be closing" but in fashion it is "always be delivering" and Maison Martin Margiela is taking that to heart with a collection they are calling Avant Premiere that will be unveiled to the trade late next month and delivered to stores in May. A Margiela spokeswoman told WWD the collection would consist of about 60 styles for women and 60 for men, plus a small selection of shoes and accessories: less expansive than many pre-collections.

With a little help from stylist Ilaria Urbinati handbag designer Rebecca Minkoff is relaunching her contemporary clothing collection. Minkoff said they were inspired by Elizabeth Taylor in the Fifties and the darkness of the 1982 film “Blade Runner.” We have never before associated the two and are having a hard time making the leap looking at the garments.

Garmentos can feel evern better about their support for Barack Obama. While campaigning in North Carolina he made the most definitive statement yet about his positions on trade as it relates to textiles. He pledged to support five key textile industry policy positions, including a monitoring program for Chinese apparel and textile imports.

Speaking at London College of Fashion, Stefano Pilati reiterated his position that he prefers seduction over sex.

The Anand Jon sexual assault trial heard its closing arguements yesterday.

Swahili Fashion Week is set to start from November 5 in Dar es Salaam.

The International Quilt Festival is apparently quite fashionable. We would just settle for cute.

Purple is the new black. Except that black is in fact still the new black.

There is a new 12-piece Damien Hirst X Levi’s Collection

Two Sets Forward, One Step Back for Aquilano and Rimondi

coutorture — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:08:03 -0700

Fashion loves the "one to watch" story, a boon to young designers struggling to showcase their wares to the often callous and entitled editorial class. It is the great irony of the fashion hierarchy that even as we pretend to nuture the new we too often ignore it in favor of more palatably established older lines. And yet season in and season out each Fashion Week lays claim to a hyped designer such that we may sacrifice them on the alter of the new. It isn't that fashion cares per say about the new designer, its just about giving good face.

And so Milan's duo to watch has been Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi, despite not being so "new" as Rimondi has 20 years at MaxMara, but certainly because of their first collection at Gianfranco Ferre after the legendary architect and designer's death. And while said collection was generally positively received, it said little about their personal design, a subject of much interest about the shuttering of their equally "one to watch" line 6267. Production and textile junkies would do well to note that 6267 was produced by Castor srl, a production house run Picozzi family known for their luxury production and product development.

The duo has emerged with their own self titled line, free of any ties to Castor (and pity the poor house as 6267 was one of their better selling clients) on top of their work at Ferre. And yet one can't help but feel they are stretched too thin. The line looked beautiful, and we have little doubt the quality is stellar given their background, but palazzo pants, fringed coats, Lurex and lots of gaudy dresses didn't give us much of a chance to learn about the real philosphy behind the duo. The entire collction felt overstyled as baubles, bangles and even a Fez competed for our attention. We hope that this pair can refocus itself so we can learn something about this creative pair.

Fashion in 50 Seconds 9/23 with The Met, Louis Vuitton, and Kirna Zabete

coutorture — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 06:16:57 -0700

Last night was opening night for the Metropolitan Opera in New York City and star Renée Fleming wore Christian Lacroix, Karl Lagerfeld, and John Galliano. The She even has a fragrance, handed out to concert goers, called La Voce by Renée Fleming which benefits the Met. Populism and opera may be a concept we can get behind.

Alice Temperely has given birth to a son Fox London Temperley von Bennigsen Mackiewicz just five days after her Spring 2009 show. Fox, the first child for Temperley and her husband Lars von Bennigsen, was born in London at 9am on Saturday, September 20.

Louis Vuitton seems to have quite the sense of humour with their "core values" campaign. First it was former Mikhail Gorbachev Russian president now its men who pretend to spy on the Russians. Sean Connery may have just sat for Annie Leibovitz. We suppose Ian Fleming's version of James Bond would be very into nice luggage as an idea. In other strange combinations news Sonic Youth's bassist Kim Gordon is making a line for hip moms. May be kindly suggest they check out Kirna Zabete newly launched ecommerce site? They are the only store to sell Lanvin online!

Coach Inc.’s president and executive creative director Reed Krakoff outearned his boss Lew Frankfort by a two to one margin. Let's here it for well paid creatives. Perry Ellis and C&C California are adding swimwear. Times are tough for weavers, textile manufacturers at Milano Unicaare concerned about the weak dollar.Gap has purchased Athlete for $150 million

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas. A gloomy one.

Macy's is getting behind Rwanda's basket weavers with a partnership to help sell their products with a program called "Path to Peace Baskets". Paul Kagame, the first democratically elected president of Rwanada, in town for UN General Assembly Meetings attended a reception to celebrate the event on Monday.

Fashion in 50 Seconds 6/3

coutorture — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 06:05:43 -0700

The CFDA 2008 Fashion Awards were last night. Reports on the event can be found in WWD, The AP, Marie Claire, Elle UK and Vogue.com.

The fabric of our lives could unravel under pressure from the World Trade Organization. The appellate body of the WTO on Monday rejected a U.S. challenge to a compliance panel decision that sided with Brazil in its claims the U.S. had not fully implemented judgments finding its cotton subsidies in breach of global rules. The ruling advances the prospects of Brazil imposing punitive tariffs against the U.S. of as much as $1 billion. That is a stiff price for such a soft fabric.

Jewel tones remain popular as the cruise market continues unabated. Versace, shown here, really goes with the trend.

There may be a downturn but people are still shopping online to the tune of a 35% retail increase.

Being green is important to American Apparel & Footwear Association. They had their first sustainability conference at the Fashion Institute of Technology last Thursday.

Prefab: Spring/Summer 2009 Fabric Show and Trend Report

coutorture — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 18:52:51 -0800

Yesterday we attended The Supima Premium Fabric Show where an edited group of companies revealed their Spring 2009 fabrics. The companies, based in countries all over the world, all use 'Superior Pima', a high quality cotton that makes up less than 1% of the cotton bales produced globally, and so we perused the variety of options available to designers using this textile.

One of the most interesting companies, we thought, was Arvind Mills. Arvind Mills is one of the top three producers of denim in the world and counts Lee, Wrangler, and Tommy Hilfiger as clients. Primarily based in India, the company thrives on its denim production but also creates khaki, shirting, and knits. It was all very American (we love our denim), the fact that the Arvind booth was chalk full of designers where the others had one or two ambling onlookers. Also popular were the presence of organic cottons and alternative textiles. While some companies, like Ecotex, specialized in green textiles, others simply had eco-friendly options (clearly a sign that the offering is not only responsible, but also now profitable).

Later in the day, we attended a lecture by David Wolfe, creative director for The Doneger Group, on forecasting trends for Spring 2009. Among Wolfe's predictions were a move towards 'undesign', Wolfe's way of describing the classics, and a steady reliance on menswear as an informant to women's trends. If there's anything that calls for high-quality cottons, it's menswear inspired basics.