fashion low down

After living here for a while, you sometimes forget how many amazing people live and work in New York City. When we walked into City Hall for the Fashion’s Night Out kick-off press conference today, we went through security with Lisa Mayock from Vena Cava.

Then, we saw Anna Wintour walking ahead of us and Alex Wang suddenly appeared behind us. A few minutes later Marc Jacobs, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez walked in. After we were seated inside the press conference room, the following people (in addition to the aforementioned) surrounded the podium: Prabal Gurung, Zac Posen, Phillip Lim, Tracy Reese, Kenneth Cole, Donna Karan, Carolina Herrera, Tommy Hilfiger, Thakoon Panichgul, Marcus Wainwright from Rag & Bone, Francisco Costa, Vera Wang, Tory Burch, Steven Kolb, Linda Fargo, the Mayor…and after a few moments, we noticed tiny Mary-Kate Olsen peeking her head out behind Marc.

Then, unfortunately, we died and are thus unable to report anything else about Fashion’s Night Out.

Just kidding – sort of. We tried our best to focus our attention on what Mayor Bloomberg, NYC & Company CEO George Fertitta and Saks, Inc. CEO Steve Sadove had to say about “New York City” and “The Fashion Industry” in between trying to get a better look at MK’s outfit and monitoring Anna’s facial expressions. Here’s what we got:

• Bloomberg said of the designers standing behind him, whom he called the “definition of trendsetters”: “If they say boot cut pants are back in style, then boot cut pants are back in style.”

• In New York City, there are 175,000 jobs in the $10 billion retail and fashion industries.
• He got really metaphorical when discussing the CFDA fashion incubator, saying something about “sewing the seeds for the next generation of young designers.”
• Saks, Inc. CEO Steve Sadove said the whole idea for Fashion’s Night Out happened when he got a call from Anna about how we were in the depths of a recession and she was so worried about the fashion industry and what could they do to help revive it, etc. He then said that after Fashion’s Night Out, retail sales actually improved and, direct quote, he “started to see people smile again.”
• We were beginning to worry that the only people we were going to hear from were CEOs in suits until Marc, wearing a kilt and the shiniest earrings we’ve ever seen, took to the podium. Yay!
• He kept it short and sweet, telling a story of how it took him an hour to walk the couple blocks from his office to his Mercer Street store on last year’s Fashion’s Night Out because people kept stopping to talk to him on the way. Instead of being annoyed, he loved it. He was happy to see people getting off their computers and going out and interacting with each other because that’s what he’s always loved about New York.
• Then, the Mayor asked if anyone had any questions to ask him about the fashion industry. Immediately, someone asked him some ridiculous question about the city’s use of oil and energy that was not remotely relevant. The mayor smiled and gave a vague, slightly sarcastic answer and asked if anyone had any questions that have to do with fashion. Everyone smiled and laughed (including Anna).
• Someone did ask about the future of the garment district. Bloomberg basically said that if a designer needs huge machinery or needs to produce a million t-shirts in a short amount of time, New York City is not the place to do it. But if you’re looking for talent, expertise, intelligence and artistic ability, this (NYC) is the place to find it. He then said that there are 500,000 people in New York whose jobs are “classified as manufacturing,” though we’re assuming most of those are involved with industries other than fashion and retail.
• Overall, everyone sounded very enthusiastic about and supportive of the fashion industry and Fashion’s Night Out and making sure New York City remains the world’s fashion capital.

In other Fashion’s Night Out news, there are 950 participants currently registered to hold events throughout the five boroughs, already surpassing the participation level of last year’s event.

NYC & Company, the city’s marketing, tourism and partnership organization, has worked with more than 40 hotels to create packages for the month of September, offering exclusive FNO deals to travelers.

On August 16, a full list of event details will be available on nyc.gov (or check our own lists here and here for a sneak peak)

Tickets for “Fashion’s Night Out: The Show” will go on sale to the public on Thursday, August 19 through the Lincoln Center Box Office, starting at a very reasonable $25.

There are over 400 product tie-ins to Eat, Pray, Love – NY Post

Marc Jacobs finds it difficult to keep his clothes on – HuffPo

Elle’s Joe Zee just got his own show on Sundance, which Whitney Port will probably not be on – TheCut

Lanvin and Alber Elbaz have pricey esigns to mark society’s decline - NYT

The Wall Street Journal will teach hipsters how to wear a hat, yo – WSJ

Post from: TheGloss

“I’m not Tom Ford in terms of the grooming and the knowledge of clothes and the precision and perfection of getting dressed. There’s nothing I can wear in this ad that isn’t going to look ridiculous. At one point, I tried jeans and a shirt, and it didn’t work. So then Juergen said, “Take off the clothes.” So I did, and that became the ad.” “I did feel good about the way I looked, so it was easy and—well, a guy looks better to me with no clothes on than with clothes! How’s that?” Marc Jacobs to Calvin Klein in September’s Harper’s Bazaar.

It could be. And while it’s a cute bag, I have a tiny problem with it. The Marc Jacobs Parachute Cammie Crossbody Bag looks, to me, like it was made out of greenish golden tin foil. Someone just bunched that stuff up and stuck it under the zipper.

But there’s a general problem with this. First of all, it’s called the Parachute, so the designer must know that it looks like it was made out of flimsy parachute material (which pretty much looks like tin foil to my inexperienced eye – when it comes to adventurous air travel). The other problem is that I’m disappointed with the stock photo.

Because the bag is plopped on the set counter, we can’t see what it looks like when it’s full and being worn on the body. My guess it that once items are put inside and you carry it, it’ll look much, much better – not bunchy at all. If anyone has seen the bag in person, please enlighten me. For now, I’m giving Marc Jacobs the benefit of the doubt. Buy through Bloomingdale’s for $495.

As you may have heard, Naomi Campbell spent her morning testifying at former Liberian president Charles Taylor’s war crime trial. She may not know what Liberia is or what diamonds look like unless they are “shiny in a box,” but she does know how to dress for a courtroom. The supermodel begrudgingly delivered her testimony in a sweet, cream-colored Alaia number with a sheer cardigan.

We think she stayed appropriately conservative, but the outfit reminded us of when Winona Ryder caught flack for wearing a really cute see-through Marc Jacobs dress back in 2002 when she was on trial for shoplifting. It’s interesting to see what celebrities (or their stylists?) put together when they know they’ll be judged not only on their poor decisions, but their outfits as well. Perhaps real judges aren’t paying much attention to whether a potential criminal is wearing Fendi or Moschino, but we definitely are. So, click through for our favorite courtoom fashion moments.

Marc Jacobs’s bag line is so big that it’s hard to ensure that you get a glimpse of all the different styles every season. His designs generally range from whimsical to tailored in a single collection, but as logic would dictate, the furry, sequined and tassel’d offerings sometimes overshadow those on the other end of the spectrum.

The Marc Jacobs Camille Satchel, in all of its chocolate-brown glory, is here to remind us that Jacobs hasn’t forgotten the women who actually buy his clothes – urbane, sophisticated and desirous of high-end, high-style objets for use in everyday life. And that’s exactly what this bag is: a beautiful piece for a woman whose bag needs to function in the real world.

First let’s talk about structure – the utilitarian nature of this bag only makes it more beautiful. From the front, the design looks to be that of a flap-top satchel which would require some maneuvering to use, but in reality, the bag has a zip closure all the way across. The design cleverly hides the closure in order to retain the ladylike form of a more traditional bag, but on inspection, it’s totally pragmatic.

The other major design element on this simple satchel is, of course, the weathered brown leather. I’m not a big fan of brown accessories or clothing in general, but for this bag, I’d gladly make an exception. The wonderful textures lends itself to a decidedly vintage vibe without allowing the bag to actually look old, putting it perfectly in tune with this season’s trends. I knew you had it in you, Marc. Buy through Nordstrom for $1850.

Image via WENN

Last night, Crushable editor Erin Carlson hit up an event for GLAAD in New York. She was nice enough to get some fashion goss for us while she was there. She spoke with Alex McCord and Simon van Kempen of The Real Housewives of New York, and the twosome talked about their favorite designers.

Alex: [My favorite designer is] anybody creative.  We like to wear people whom we know, like Walter Baker, who’s a friend of ours who we go out to dinner with. Of course we wear his clothes.

Simon: His clothes or him?

Alex: No I wear his clothes… Malan Breton is another one who’s amazing. We also like bigger designers like Roberto Cavalli. Or I love the stuff that Marc Jacobs did for Louis Vuitton. You mix it up.

Simon: “We’ve had a chance, in season three particularly, to bring exposure to small designers. I wore a lot of John Bartlett and John Barlett’s not so small.

Post from: TheGloss

WWD is running their 1998 interview with Daria Morgendorffer. If you don’t subscribe, today would be a good day to do so – WWD

ABS is making a Chelsea Clinton wedding dress knock-off – Daily Beast

Racked has a transgendered blogger who will teach you how to tuck. We wish we’d thought of this – Racked

Marc Jacobs is making clothes for normal people! – TheCut

Finally, a fashion police for men – E! Online

Post from: TheGloss

The Suede Hudson from Marc Jacobs’ FW10 footwear collection is a low lace up ankle boot. Featured in sage green suede, the boot is fully sheepskin lined, detailed with d-ring eyelets and finished with a leather trimmed crepe sole. Oki-ni has stock.

More looks at the new MJ boot follow.

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Read the rest of Marc Jacobs Suede Hudson Ankle Boot

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