New York Fashion Week- Day 1

Yesterday was the first day of New York Fashion Week, and I kicked things off in the afternoon with the Tadashi Shoji show at Lincoln Center. For this transitional time between summer and fall I chose to attend wearing an achromatic color blocked casual outfit paired with a vintage clutch, festive snakeskin heels, and purple lip.

Tadashi Shoji likes to use his travels as the main source of inspiration when designing each collection. The Spring/Summer 2013 collection takes on a journey capturing the ultimate wanderlust. The first stop is Venice Beach for a vintage Venetian cuts and embroidered lace as seen in the opening look. The weather out west seemed to have an influence on the collections more casual looks-lace shorts and dreamy trapeze blouses. From there we travel eastward through the desert where, knee length dresses in electric blue and rose have a patchwork print. With the final stop being the ancient capital of Xi'an, that inspired the Victorian era-like sheer romantic tulle gowns.
  

Alexander Wang: Fall/Winter- 2012/2013

There are key eras of the 20th Century whose fashions we look back on and romanticise, the Roaring Twenties is undeniably one of them. The social changes and restrictions of the era gave birth to a new type of woman, the flapper, and the fashions she wore. As we look forwards to 2012s fashion we’re increasingly seeing the case for a revival of the 1920s or at least elements of it. From a glance at this collection, Alexander Wang pushes the envelope with eclectic fabrication. Tweeds, suede's, and wool knits are waxed to create the sense of plasticity shiny outerwear. It's Wang's aesthetic; sporty, tough, and part tomboy looks, but this time around incorporating those elements while bringing together hints of military strictness and refinement of structure. Feminine details stole the spotlight as they were in chiffon drapes combined with leather, or silk fringing that turned throat-latching jackets into shimmying dresses. Using both the late and early 20s as a muse, this has to be the most literal hybrid of modern and flapper that perhaps we've seen to date.

New York Fashion Week: Day 2 and 4

Three weeks ago I was in the city working at New York Fashion Week. I've been seated at shows before, but this time I was working behind the scenes at the Rag & Bone and Edun fashion shows. My responsibilities backstage at both shows were to dress models, run crazy unexpected errands, seat guests, and prepare all backstage areas for press, stylists, make-up artists, and hair stylists. At the Rag & Bone show I spotted models Liu Wen, Joan Smalls, Karolina Kirkova, Daria Strokous, Anabela Belikova, Shu Pei Qin, Lina Sandberg, Ajak Deng, and seen Lala and Carmelo Anthony backstage. This has to be the best spring collections they've ever done. This season used references such as seventies surfer, Glastonbury music festival, with a great mixture of 90's minimalism and grunge. I'm so excited for the Rag & Bone store that will be opening in Boston on Newbury Street in the spring!

Call time for the Edun show was at 7:00 am and I arrived on set at approximately 6:30 am. My main tasks for the day was to prepare the press area and arrange seating. Press was going crazy as models were making their way in from other shows. In the midst of it all I spotted Naomi Campbell, Courtney Love, Bono, and watched the show standing behind some of today's most influential bloggers and editors. This collection uses references from the African culture. I loved the sheer tops, slouchy cropped silk pants , bold and subtle diamond block prints, bohemian dresses, and boxy jackets.