Nadine Kam photos A model wears one of Monique Zhang’s creations at the C.S. Wo Chinese New Year celebration.
C.S. Wo welcomed the Year of the Rat Feb. 16 with another of their grand celebrations combining food, drink, fireworks, cultural and fashion displays.
On view were the colorful couture garments of Monique Zhang, of San Francisco’s Cicada boutique, presented during a fashion show that preceded the evening’s lion dance. Several lions were needed to bless guests scattered throughout two floors.
Among those who came to see Zhang’s work were local designers Jeanne Chun, Bill Chow and Bernard Foong, who is currently working on Maui but has plans to set up shop in Honolulu. He wore an elegant Mandarin-style robe of his own design.
Monique Zhang, center, with Gloria Untermann, left, and Ethel Oyang.
Also showing her new creations was jewelry designer Julie Wong, who works with semi-precious and precious stones. I was particularly taken by one pair of multiple-strand dangling earrings and realized why when informed the stones on them were black diamonds. Very nice. Colored sapphires were also sparkling charmers. I ran away before becoming too enamored.
Bill Chow dressed for the party in a Moschino jacket with Versace trousers and belt, Paul Smith 100-button tie and a shirt of his own design.
Midweek style editor Yu Shing Ting and Travin Makinano brought 4-month-old Koen Kaimalieokalani Makinano to the party. Yu Shing showed me his urban-style booties, and she’ll probably see to it that he’s wearing the latest gear until he’s old enough to dress himself.
During her stay in Honolulu, Monique fitted several women, like Winona Machado, in her designs. She’ll have a lot of custom work to do once she returns home.
I have taken the liberty of dressing Avril Lavigne and semi-dressing Simon Cowell through Stardoll.
Have you discovered Stardoll.com yet? At first, I thought the idea of dressing celebrity dolls was kind of corny, but having just visited the Web site I really had to play. OMG! It is so much fun! Like dress up or paper dolls for the Internet age, fulfilling every wannabe stylist’s fantasies.
Basically, they have a bunch of celebrity dolls, which come with their own little wardrobes. You can pull pants, shoes, dresses and accessories to dress them as you wish. As you can see here, I’ve dressed Avril Lavigne and had a little fun with Simon Cowell.
You really can’t go wrong because the wardrobes are already well-coordinated in the style of the individuals. In that way, it’s not as much fun for people who prefer a more varied range of high and low fashion. It also provides ideas for people who want to clean out their closets, leaving only wearable, interchangeable basics. Consider it a fun lesson in Wardrobe-building 101.
There are hundreds of “dolls” from entertainment, royalty and sports circles, including Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Patrick Dempsey, Criss Angel, 50 Cent, Prince William, Amy Winehouse, Anna Wintour, Reese Witherspoon, Maria Sharapova and those usual suspects Paris-Nicole-Britney-Lindsay-Hilary, the two Beckhams, etc.
Two looks from DKNY’s Spring 2008 collection.
DKNY apparently has caught on to the idea, allowing the site to use drawings of its Spring 2008 collection, a smart way to get the word out and allow people too shy to experiment in store dressing rooms a great outlet for trying things on without any eyes on them.
It’s also great for all those who say they don’t know how to mix and match. Here, you can throw anything on your model and see how the pieces work or don’t work.
The Beauty Event is taking place at Neiman Marcus from Feb. 21 through March 2 so if you were planning to restock some of your favorite skincare products or add new spring colors to your makeup wardrobe, now is the time if you can a few days to scoop up some of the gift-with-purchase items.
As usual, there’s a seasonal NM Exclusive Tote that comes with any cosmetics or fragrance purchase of $100 or more. This time around, the bag is your choice of a pink, lime or teal duffel. Goodies in the bag are an Yves Saint Laurent Elle scented card, Lancome mascara, La Mer invitation for a .1-ounce Eye Concentrate, Chantecaille Rice and Geranium foaming cleanser, Fresh Sugar Açai Age Delay body cream, 5 sheets of Clé de Peau Beauté Le Coton, Orlane Repairing Night Cream and Prada towelette.
But that’s just the beginning. Several of the beauty companies are offering their own gifts with purchase as well, so double up where you can. Here’s a list of what is being offered:
Men
>> Boucheron: .5-ounce Miss Boucheron eau de parfum and 25-ml Pour Homme Soothing After Shave balm; $85 minimum purchase.
>> Burberry Men: Black logo travel pouch; $85 minimum purchase.
>> Dolce & Gabbana: 1.7-ounce Refreshing body gel or 1.6-ounce Pour Homme Shower Gel with $85 Light Blue purchase.
>> Gucci Men: 1.6-ounce our Homme II After Shave Balm with $85 Pour Homme II purchase.
>> Issey Miyake: L’eau d’Issey: 10-ml eau de toilette or 6-ml Pour Homme eau de toilette with any purchase of any two Issey Miyake products.
>> Prada Men: .24-ounce Prada Man eau de parfum and .24-ounce Classic eau de parfum; $100 minimum.
>> Tom Ford: 4-ml Black Orchid eau de toilette with $65 minimum purchase.
>> Vera Wang Men: .13-ounce eau de parfum and .75-ounce after-shave balm; $70 minimum.
Women
>> Bobbi Brown: Black cosmetics bag with .12 ounce “Beach Honey” Long-Wear cream shadow, .1-ounce Everything Mascara in black, and miniature cream shadow blush; $150 minimum purchase
>> Chanel: Bag with .1-ounce “Sundress” Glossimer, .21-ounce Sublimage Essential Regenerating Cream, and 1.7-ounce No. 5 Velvet Body Cream; $200 minimum purchase.
>> Fresh: Silver bag with 20-ml Soy Face Cleanser, 5-ml Appleseed Brightening Exfoliant, 2-ml Appleseed Brightening Essence, and 1.6-ml “Sugar Flirt” Sugar lipgloss; $125 minimum purchase. Fresh Sugar Açai Age
Delay body cream will be added with $175 minimum purchase. (more…)
Courtesy Sean Aiken
Sean Aiken enters the world of fashion with his boss for a week, Mercedes Gonzalez of the Global Purchasing Group in Manhattan. Luckily, he’s a quick study. Some people need a lifetime to learn this stuff.
Who wouldn’t want to be in Sean Aiken’s place? His career, since launching his project Web site, Oneweekjob.com, has been to work at a variety of weeklong jobs over the course of a year in hope of determining his dream job.He’s worked as a pizza maker, preschool teacher, advertising exec, exterminator, etc., and was just on the Big Island working at the University of Hawaii at Hilo Institute for Astronomy and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
A stint as a fashion buyer took him to New York, where he learned about fashion forecasting and its impact on the retail world.His rationale is that the typical trajectory for most of us is to go to school and get a job like every other adult. The assumption is that by age 22 or 23, you should be ready to commit to one endeavor. But the reality for many is that lives and careers are always in flux, and there are people in their 50s who still don’t know what they really want to do or have been too afraid to really pursue their interests.
In searching for a career, Aiken now believes he may have found one in motivating others to pursue their passion. After his road trip ends in a couple of months, he’ll be working on a book for Random House and a reality TV series is being planned.
My full story is in the Feb. 14 daily www.starbulletin.com under “Features,” and you can check out a video of Aiken’s week as a fashion buyer here:
Was walking through the new Waikiki over the weekend. With so many new luxe boutiques opening at Royal Hawaiian Center, it’s beginning to look like Ala Moana Jr.
It was fun checking out Kate Spade, White House/Black Market and handbags at Furla. I was disturbed to find employees using a dressing room as a nap room at Juicy Couture. Wanted to try on but was somewhat grossed out. If they want to sleep they should go to the 3rd floor where nothing seems to be happening right now.
After running away from there I was strolling past Prada when I remembered I wanted to check out the purses they’ve been featuring in their advertisements. There’s already a waiting list for an $1,805 Cervo Lux Faeries print bag by L.A. artist James Jean. The print is beautiful, full of flesh-eating flowers and insects. It reminds me of “Pan’s Labyrinth.”
You can catch an animated film, “Trembled Blossoms,” based on Jean’s work at www.prada.com.
What I can’t believe is all the art sites talking about the artist as being a sell-out for allowing Prada to use his work. Isn’t the aim of art to communicate with as many people as possible?
The criticism just sounds like sour grapes from artists who I’m certain would not be ashamed to put a price on their own work if there were any interest in what they’re doing.
Reminds me of the “New Media Douchebags” video by Kelstew2 sent by one of my Pownce/Twitter pals:
Some others have focused on the wastefulness of luxury. The extravagance of what these companies create does make them an easy target but I think the bigger problem is the cheap goods market that over 60 years has turned clothing into disposable items. With fine goods, you have to think long about whether or not to buy. But how many times have you gone to a sale, spotted a top or jacket you like, not love, and told yourself, “I have dozens of these, but why not, it’s so cheap!”I know I’ve been carried away at H&M, picking up five things at once, that haven’t lasted more than two months, fading or getting pill-y. Clothes like that get trashed, fast, whereas Pradas tend to stay in closets a long time.
And let’s face it, for most people, luxury exists as an ideal of the ultimate beauty man can create. We don’t have to own it to enjoy looking at the pictures and being inspired, or not.
Designer Anne Namba will be the special guest on “Long Story Short with Leslie Wilcox,” airing at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 12 on PBS. The two talk about their childhood together, including sewing lessons that showed Namba’s promise at an early age, plus her work now as her kimono couture is about to debut next month at the new Nordstrom’s.
What’s fun about their friendship is that Wilcox is able to reveal the sort of thing most people would not if they could erase the past. Like, having lived in Thailand as a child, Anne had adopted the custom of wearing a book bag around her head, which wasn’t cool when she started at Aina Haina Elementary School as a third grader.
And Anne reveals her low opinion of Wilcox’s sewing ability when they took their first classses together, as well as an early entrepreneurial streak. The session has the feel of two girlfriends getting together after time apart than the typical formal interview.
AP photos Above and below are a trio of designs by Marc Jacobs for Fall/Winter 2008.
As expected Friday, nothing on Marc Jacobs’ runway fit any preconceived notion of silhouettes and proportion. Slouchy blousons and long over short and short over long designs will have others chattering and heading back to the drawing boards for weeks to come.
Meanwhile, the attention has moved on to London, where the runways are the most eccentric of them all. Sadly, some of the city’s best known designers have always chosen to show in more highly populated, media-blitzed shows in Paris and New York, but with coverage guaranteed pretty much anywhere these days, London’s fashion grande dame Vivienne Westwood is returning for her first show in nine years. Can’t wait to see that!
Eley Kishimoto sent this ensemble down the runway on Feb. 11, during London Fashion Week. Below is a design by PPQ.
“Project Runway” left five designers standing this week, with two scheduled to be auf wiedersehen’d Feb. 13. So viewers taking Fashion Week’s “Project Runway” fashion show today just had to guess who made the final three and who were there to throw us off track.
Judging from the runway looks and the labor that went into the designs, I’d say Christian Siriano, Rami Kashou and Jillian Lewis were the ones who made it through to the two-part finale, Feb. 27 and March 5, when Victoria Beckham will be a guest judge.
Along with clothing trends, New York’s fall shows hint at color trends in makeup as well. Makeup artists work with designers as the collections are being created and try to communicate the designers’ vision through makeup colors, textures and application techniques.
M.A.C created looks for 70 designers this season and the company uses the word “dramatic” to define Fall 2008’s aesthetic, with color emphasis on the lips. Here are a few of the looks from M.A.C’s Autumn/Winter 2008 Trend Report:
Illustrations courtesy of M.A.C
Luca Luca: If there’s one lesson that never changes in beauty it’s this: Pick one feature to emphasize and underplay the others. Tom Pecheux put gold and eyelids, with lips done in transparent coral. To balance the shiny eye, she has matte skin. (more…)
Photo courtesy Cicada Designs by Monique A model is draped in iridescent silk taffeta and organza utilizing applique, stitchery and dye techniques.
On the Style pages today, designer Monique Zhang talks about her love of fabric and how she starts her creations with couture fabric she manipulates with several surface treatments, going beyond most designers who rely on readymade fabric.
