October 25, 2009
I have recently fallen in love with Rachel Roy’s designs, and I am so happy that they (specifically the Rachel Rachel Roy collection) are still available at Macy’s, because I have not had the chance to try them on and see how they would look on me. I usually have an issue fitting things around my hips, so we will see. But I have a feeling that they will look great. Roy is very beautiful and yet appears to be quite a strong person, and her designs seem to really reflect who she is. In other words, you can easily take a quick look at her and her designs, and see that the designs are like an extension of herself. Also, she wears her designs quite often, and always looks very ladylike. Ok enough with the “she’s beautiful” speech. Plus, Rachel Roy is also involved in charitable work especially with orphans in Africa, and who wouldn’t find that great?!
Many of her pieces would complete a woman’s wardrobe, and give them ‘versatile and special every day to evening’ looks. Her younger looks are also very interesting, which is why someone like me would really be attracted to them. She also has done recent work with graffiti on her designs including outerwear, shoes, and bags.
She recently had a sweepstake of $1000 worth of Rachel Roy designs plus a chance of being styled by her…. I did not win (boo hoooo) how sad but then again there were about 2000 entries. But I encourage anyone to check out her line, and if you have twitter follow her she has pretty interesting posts. Check out her line online at rachelroy.com for prices and shopping online.
Rachel Roy at Cinema Society Screening Event. (RRR Sweater and Blouse)
Rachel Roy and Estelle at one of her Fashion event (NY)
RRR Fall 24 hour dress $99
RRR fall Blazer Dress $129
RRR Fall $149
RRR Fall Vest $79
RRR Fall Chain/dress $89
RRR Fall $89
RRR Fall
RRR Limited Edition Graffiti
RRR Fall Jewelry
October 18, 2009
I recently stumbled upon two interesting articles, that both talked about women and size; the two words most women in the world today have problems dealing with when put together. Some of us have some horrible history with the word ’size’ while others perhaps have had a nicer time with it, but in today’s world women are becoming more and more conscious about the “SIZE” they are rather than their health. We have all heard expressions such as Size 10 is the new Size 14 or Size 6 is the new Size 10, and yes they are decreased because the focus has been about downsizing as much as possible. With fashion becoming even more a part of many women’s lives today, many women have been working hard to fit into the clothes they dream of wearing. On TV we are bombarded with Pills A to Z which are supposedly capable of slimming you down in a month or even two weeks. While this is going on in the world, it is interesting to see that many people have spoken out about the mind saturation with images of perfection (Photoshop images really!!) that has taken over the media. Glamour magazine for instance in their last issue, featured an article “These Bodies are Beautiful at Every Size” with plus size models, famous plus sized models I should say, to emphasize their efforts to show more average sized women in the media. They believe that women and people in general are tired of seeing abnormally skinny women represent what beauty means, and would like to see more average women strutting the covers and commercials airing around us by the media. With high fashion there is still a stigma as Glamour puts it, in making clothes that are sizes 14 for instance; even though women at that size would pay much more to have great quality clothes that fit them well, in fact it is an aesthetic decision made by the high fashion houses rather than a business decision, glamour states. Glamour also talks about the problem with sample sizes during shootings, meaning plus size models are usually not chosen to shoot because sample sized fashion clothing come in very small sizes that would just not fit an averaged sized woman; additionally a plus size model is really not plus size in our understanding, a model that is bigger than a size 4 might be pushed in the plus size model category especially when she is bigger than a size 6. I have to say Tyra banks is probably the only ex-Supermodel that embraced her body changes to do more lingerie for Victoria Secret, to doing America’s Next Top model and so on. You can check out a video detailing her choices on her online magazine here, then again she might just be intelligent and business savvy and almost an exception to the rule.
Below you can check out some of the models (Crystal Renn, Amy Lemons, Ashley Graham, Kate Dillon, Anansa Sims, Jennie Runk, and Lizzie Miller) that featured this article and chose to accept their natural size and natural body changes rather than fit into the demanded size-zero (these photos are not from the glamour article):
- Crystal Renn
- Kate Dillon
- Anansa Sims
On the other side, I just read an article featuring Designer/Creative Director for Chanel Karl Lagerfeld’s comments on the current objections women are having with very slim or skinny models. He is quoted to have stated that people prefer to look at skinny models (ie. size 0) and those that do not are “fat mummies’ and overweight women who do not want to be reminded of how overweight they are. This came out of his reactions to a German magazine editor who elevated the issue and encouraged recent auditions to feature “normal” sized women in the magazine rather than skinny models. According Lagerfeld, the debate of the skinny model has become a cliche. It is interesting to see his reaction being directed in this way, since he is also known to have lost a lot of weight and drastically changing his physical appearance, you would think he would be more sensitive to the debate. But to each is own. What we know is that it is becoming more and more of an issue, and when you have fashion personalities like British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman appealing to major fashion houses to stop the “size-zero” model culture, it is a sign that things are more likely to change quickly today and that perhaps the future of fashion will have more ‘normal’ sized women. Crossing my fingers 
- karl Lagerfeld
- Model wears a Karl creation/Image From Guardian.co.uk
October 18, 2009
(Picture by James Alexander Harding)
After my last post on Boston Fashion Week and my attendance to a fashion show “The Perfect Muse” by an upcoming Boston designer, Gregory Fritz LaPlanche (Click here to see post), I had the chance to meet with him thanks to one of my classmate who managed to get in touch with him. It was very exciting to see that he was willing to meet with us since he agreed to let me join them. So we went to a popular restaurant on Newbury street in Boston to have a late lunch and chat a little bit. I have to say that Gregory LaPlanche seemed very humble, and it was easy to notice this about him because he is so easy to talk to and he also exudes a very generous spirit. Although he did correct me at one point since I did mention in my initial post that he was really shy at his fashion show, and insisted that he is not really shy but rather he is more reserved and usually tends to avoid the “shi shi”, which is a french expression for the fuss and pretense that is sometimes found in the fashion world and in fashion shows. It was also easy to see that he is grounded and very much driven; he enjoys life and is very close to his family. He also spoke about his love for traveling since his early years in his native home of Haiti, to Miami, Paris, Spain, Italy, a couple of places in South America. He loves traveling so much that he finds it hard to settle in one place or one city for a very long time, in fact he feels that he has yet to find a city where he truly feels “at home”. Gregory’s inspiration comes from many places, but for the last particular show he held, he wanted to depict that a woman’s beauty can not be categorized in one way or one size, height, color, or face structure or hair color. But that a woman’s beauty can be see in different people who may not necessarily look like your typical high fashion model; this explains why he chose a wide and diverse range of models for his show.
Gregory also talked about his journey to becoming a designer/artist. After changing from a concentration in medical studies to an art/design/architectural concentration, and also after driving every week from Boston to New York in order to finish his art degree, you can tell that behind his humble/generous character, Gregory is a designer that knows what he wants and fights to get it. In fact, one of his wishes is to make Boston a renowned fashion and art city. Boston is known for its first class education and academic culture, but many artists in Boston do not get enough limelight and recognition for their work. It was admirable to see that his goals went beyond just producing art and designs for himself, but to help construct and elevate the art/design culture in Boston.
Not only does he design, he also paints, and his upcoming art exhibition will be held in February (the location is not confirmed yet), but this event as he mentioned is going to be free, and a continuation of his fight to bring more recognition to what artists and designers are doing in Boston even if it means not charging at all. So we wish him the best in his future endeavors, and do look out for the next post on his Art Exhibition in February 2010.
Tah Tah 
October 18, 2009
Last week, the news that Spanish Fashion store MANGO will open in Nigeria got me hopeful, although some people were concerned about MANGO’s choice. I think it is an interesting idea, and it think it goes beyond just opening a European fashion store in an somewhat emerging economy. When I heard the news I thought, ‘it is little advancements like this, that actually bring development in emerging or developing countries’. It does not always have to be a big loan from the World Bank, sometimes it can just be a store opening like Mango to show the world and world investors that the country is progressing in some way. For a fashion store to open in an emerging country, it has to be confident that there are enough people in the country with strong purchasing power to go to their stores. Many will argue that it is only the wealthy Nigerians who will benefit from the store and who will bring revenue to the store, but like I said signs of development come and show up in different ways, and I think this is one of them. It shows that there are enough consumers in Nigeria who are world travelers, who are familiar with Mango, and who would likely be shopping there every now and then. It also means that people visiting Nigeria will be able to find global fashion stores like Mango in Nigeria, and it might actually enhance their visiting experiences, believe it or not. Most emerging countries would like their nations to be seen as a potential place to visit and explore for the rest of the worl; Africa is one of those places filled with culture and worth visiting, but many times the history and the negative situations of many countries in the continent suffocate the potential that it’s countries have as destinations for world travelers. To me it is a sign that there is a change in the perception that people and world investors have of developing countries. It is shows that they gradually becoming a part of the global economy, and are a less likely to be excluded as much from it in the future. So I chose to look at it from a positive light, and hopefully if Mango succeeds in this new endeavor, maybe their competitors like ZARA fashion will also take more risks and enter new markets like that of Nigeria. I really believe that development in the future will also come out of the Arts/Fashion industries. I say good luck to Mango, hopefully they will be able to get and keep enough customers to stay in Nigeria.
By the way check out the new campaign of Mango with Scarlett Johansson if you have not, click here
October 4, 2009
I usually don’t post about Model searches, but since many women do like VS I thought I should post about this opportunity. So I just got an email from Victoria Secret, announcing their VS Model Search which will allow winners or selected women to feature in a VS fashion show which will be shown on CBS on Tuesday December 1st 2009 on CBS at 10pm/9pm central time. The deadline to enter is October 24th 2009. You must be 18-30 years old and at least 5′8″ and available to be in NY from October 29th to December 3rd 2009 to continue competing and participating in search. If you are interesting or know someone who would be direct them to this link or go to http://www.vsallaccess.com/index.html. That is if you or they don’t mind walking down the runway in just lingerie in front of the whole country on TV!! :-p
Tah Tah
