Fashion Reviews

Silvia Arguello on NBC’s Fashion Star and Her Upcoming Rosa Clandestino Online Shop

Posted on Apr 26, 2013 in Fashion Reviews, Featured, Muses | 0 comments

I have been a fan of NBC’s Fashion Star. I think the premise is brilliant and progressive; not only it gives the featured designers a great dose of exposure, it also builds immediate shopping impulse for the featured retailers.

Tonight on NBC’s Fashion Star (Season 2, Episode 8), my favorite Silvia Arguello was shockingly eliminated*. A Milanese fashion designer and Vogue Italia favorite, Silvia has made her mark on this season as the highest seller on the show ($905K record sales for NBC’s Fashion Star Season 1 and 2, successfully selling to all three retailers: Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Express). Here, she discusses her shocking elimination, experience thus far, and positive outlook to launch her prestigious Paris-based clothing line Rosa Clandestino in the US market through the upcoming launch of her global e-commerce store.

Curtsy for Cheay Rochelle’s Fall/Winter 2013 Collection

Posted on Apr 24, 2013 in Fashion Reviews, New York fashion | 0 comments

First of all, let me apologize for nearly two months of no blog updates. I will explain that on the next blog post. For now, I want to express my admiration to Cheay Rochelle’s Fall/Winter 2013 Collection, aptly titled Victorian Nobility. The clean lines and tapestry print cleanly brings out the vintage romance feel in the garments’ modern structures.

With Victorian Nobility, Ms. Rochelle wants to take us on a journey along the modern Victorian road, where New York meets Britain. The outfits are feminine and romantic, but not overly girly. Instead, they are sharp and possess the right amount of edginess inside the romantic realm. I am thoroughly impressed. Even though I heard about this collection from Divine Influence PR early this month, I just had to feature this collection on my blog. I don’t care if it’s late. If you haven’t known about this collection, I hope you love them like I do.

The Art Wold of ILJA Couture and Ready to Fish

Posted on Mar 6, 2013 in Fashion Reviews, iWanna | 0 comments

In a very saturated world of fashion, one of the biggest challenge is to be memorable. I think the fashion weeks happening right now can silently speak volumes to that.

About one and a half month ago, I received ILJA lookbooks from THV PR, which just announced that Ms. Visser joined the roster. So when I remember AND raving about most (if not all) of looks from a Dutch designer Ijla Visser’s ILJA Couture and absolutely loving the shoes worn on all the looks of Ready to Fish RTW collection, Ms. Visser’s works are truly memorable for me.

Academy of Art Fall 2013 at NYFW

Posted on Mar 5, 2013 in Academy of Art University, Fashion Reviews, New York fashion | 0 comments

The winter blizzard cannot stop the Academy of Art talents from showing on the runway last month. The Academy of Art Fall 2013 at NYFW presentation is modern, chic, and sophisticated (as well as a bit wild, which is a good thing). The students’ work once again proves that there is no excuse to underestimate their capabilities compared to their professional peers just because they are ”student” designers.

Thank you Academy of Art for sharing the video; the collections shown for New York Fashion Week can be viewed on the video below:

ØDD Fall/Winter 2013 at NYFW

Posted on Mar 4, 2013 in Fashion Reviews, Featured, New York fashion | 0 comments

It’s quite impressive that ØDD storefront at Manhattan’s Lower East Side materializes less than a year after ØDD online store was launched in 2011. The avant-garde fashion destination at 164 Ludlow started with menswear-only destination and is equipped with pieces from the likes of Gareth Pugh, Raf Simons, and Thierry Mugler. Now, starting from February 11, ØDD’s first namesake collection join the store offerings and this time, women can join in on the fun.

The February 11 presentation of ØDD Fall/Winter 2013, titled “People Have Weapons” consists of (mostly) black-and-white androgynous pieces with geometric shapes, architectural lines, and slim silhouettes. Even though each pieces were assigned for men or women, I can definitely see either gender wearing most garments. It’s less about the gender wearing them and more about the mood they convey across, and I definitely enjoy the poetry flowing from each wearable arts cloaking themselves as clothes. Co-designers Judson Harmon and Jordan Klein explore “the mind’s psychological arsenal” to create a collection that’s both introspective and progressive that “speaks to those dark, often undiscovered, corridors’ of the human persona”.

The ØDD Fall/Winter 2013 was presented with a live video distortion of guests as they enter by Jason Akira Somma and live music by Chrissy Lancaster. Clicking on the pictures below (click on the picture once to bring up the whole album) will show not only my favorite looks from the collection, but also the uber stylish audience that attended the event.

Heather Lawton Fall/Winter 2013

Posted on Feb 23, 2013 in Fashion Reviews, Featured, New York fashion | 0 comments

Making her New York Fashion Week debut, Canadian designer Heather Lawton showcases her Fall/Winter 2013 collection on February 7 at Studio 450 (450 West 31st Street). The so-called “dark horse” of her Parsons class first debuted her collection at 2011 Toronto Fashion Week.

The theme for Heather Lawton Fall/Winter 2013 sound so dramatic on paper: a collection conceived “with a dark and bewitching tale” of a “glamorous woman pushed into the carnivorous clutches of winter’s barren landscape”. Oh my, poor woman. However, it is hard to feel that somber fairy tale mood when looking at the pieces.

Ivana Helsinki Fall/Winter 2013

Posted on Feb 21, 2013 in Fashion Reviews, New York fashion | 0 comments

“Childlike fun” is the mood I feel when I’m viewing Ivana Helsinki Fall / Winter 2013 collection for New York Fashion Week. The Finnish fashion brand designed by Paola Suhonen offers clean lines of dresses and coats splashed with colorfully elegant patterns and prints. Ivana Helsinki’s runway show was held on February 7 at Studio 450 (450 West 31st Street).

The “Rotterdam” title is inspired from the Rotterdam pinup girls in the 1960s, vibrantly enjoying life and drinking whiskey at dimly lit, dusty bars while winter freezes outside. The red, blue, and yellow pops in Ms. Suhonen’s signature prints of circular geometric patterns, which are clearly front and center in the feminine and romantic silhouettes.