The Gap Phillip Lim with his designs for The Gap, modeled by Lily Donaldson, left, and Irina Lazareanu.
When top designers have collaborated with mass retailers, we in Hawaii have felt left out. We don’t have the H&M, Kohl’s or Target. There’s online shopping, but when you can’t gauge the quality of the garments, it’s a hassle when you find you don’t like it and have to ship it back. It’s easier to donate your mistakes.
But we can get in on The Gap’s latest offering of the classic white shirt as interpreted by finalists for the 2007 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund: Phillip Lim, Band of Outsiders, ThreeAsFour and Michael Bastian, plus jewelry designer Philip Crangi. All are the the stores now.
The Gap Design Edition shirts, for men ($58) and women ($78), with a cut-out dress by ThreeAsFour going for $88. Jewelry is priced from $35 to $45.
Sales of the shirts will benefit the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, established to help emerging American design talent. The annual award features a cash prize of $50,000 plus mentorship by a panel of industry professionals tailored to the designer’s specific needs and goals.
Tomorrow, Cosmopolitan magazine will be at Nikki Beach in Miami, trying to break the Guinness Book of Record for the largest photo shoot by putting 1,200+ girls in bikini’s on the beach at noon and spelling out the word COSMO.
The shoot will appear in the magazine’s August issue. The previous record was set last September by Australian Cosmo when they photographed 1,010 women on Bondi Beach.
The magazine will be offering manicures, beauty consultations and massages, and the first 1,200 women who arrive will receive a free Old Navy bikini to wear at the shoot.
Hmmm, we have a beach and probably that many women willing to pose for their 15 minutes of fame. If this is going to be an annual thing, someone might want to pitch Hawaii as the next location.
Nadine Kam photos Bianca Bennett models a raglan-sleeve dress designed by UH senior Courtnee Lee outside of Michael Hoyt’s Norae Shanty. Sitting outside is Jeff Nisbet.
Was on the University of Hawaii campus yesterday to do a story on the senior fashion show, “Absolute Fashion: All Bottled Up,” taking place April 27 at the Sheraton Waikiki. Tickets are $40 for the 11:30 luncheon fashion show, and those unable to attend can get a sneak preview at noon April 19 at Kahala Mall.
Anyone who knows me knows I’m easily distracted, so I couldn’t help but take a timout and step into Norae Shanty, located right between the APDM department at Miller Hall and the Art Building, where photos were being taken of the fashion.The shanty is the work of visiting Minnesota-based, Asian-American artist Michael Hoyt, who creates work to “build bridges within and beyond community.”
Inside, he was there with a laptap programmed with karaoke music in his version of the Korean norae bang. The bangs are isolated retreats that provide a more intimate experience than larger karaoke bars, which can possess a more competitive and embarrassing spirit, according to Hoyt.
The shanty was built here with materials donated by www.reusehawaii.org.
Inside, Brian Laura, Jeff Nisbet, Young-Joo (June) Lee, Kelli Mercado and Sarah Breiby were singing up a storm, and I have to say, not all that well. (You can see for yourself in the accompanying video.) But it truly was a welcoming, inhibition-lowering experience. They tried to scare me by forcing me to sing and blocking the entrance out, but they didn’t know that I spent about 5 years singing in bands, so it’s no big deal to me. I have to say, most people pick the deadliest songs in karaoke. Like, they wanted me to sing “Losing My Religion,” one of the longest, dullest songs in the world in karaoke time. I considered doing Incubus’ “Drive,” but went with the short, sweet “Closer to Free” by the Bodeans, something they could join in on with relatively little pain.
Nadine Kam video
I asked Hoyt, who’s set up Norae Shantys in Minnesota and Chicago, if he ever gets tired listening to the bad karaoke, and he said, “Not at all. I love it; it’s crazy!”
I arrived on campus at about 2:15 p.m. and Mercado was already in the shanty. When I asked her when I was about to leave if she had to be in class, she said, “I came here after my class ended at 1:30 and I’m still here!” It was 4:30 p.m. and by then she and Breiby were dancing around outside the shanty. “I’m not even drunk and I’m having fun!” Breiby said.
The Norae Shanty made its debut April 4 at First Friday, and will also be open 1 to 2 p.m. April 17, and 5 to 8 p.m. April 18. There is a possibility of extending hours by calling 956-5253.
Went to the Design Within Reach grand opening party at Ala Moana Center April 10, where the top question was: “What’s your favorite piece?”
Oh, how to choose when every piece of furniture is so beautifully minimalist, elegant in addition to being comfortable. And, with a roomful of people, it’s kind of hard to look at everything, though the chandelier of Murano glass ($3,200, above) definitely caught my eye. Love the color and ornate silhouette, even if it’s not quite a match for my 1920s Liliha cottage!
Lesli-Ann Yano brings Miuccia Prada’s latest collection to life. She’s with Steve Simeone, left, and Prada’s Joseph Incao. I have last spring’s sunny yellow version of the purse Yano is carrying and we both love the style because of its retro mini suitcase vibe.
Lesli-Ann Yano also caught my eye when she walked into the room in head-to-toe Prada. Lucky girl is associate buyer for Prada Hawaii so it’s her job to wear the line. She also has to go to Milan twice a year. Tough job Lesli-Ann!
Kihan, from Chop Salon, cut her hair and shared a tip for getting those choppy bangs. His choice of fancy tool was a child’s blunt scissors. Gotta try that, my bangs grow so fast.
Afterward it was on to Doraku Sushi for the opening of Kevin Aoki’s latest baby, a kick-off event for “Destination: Groove Dance Hawaii.” I guess I stayed at DWR too long because when I got to the Royal Hawaiian Center restaurant, John Berger was leaving and said the party was over. It seemed too early so I kept going and found there was still food, desserts—damn I got distracted and never got the vanilla ice-cream topped brownie—drinks, and of course, lots of dancing. It got pretty steamy in there!
Guests left with a gift bag that included a freshwater pearl necklace from Anna Meng’s Meng Dynasty. Very nice and looks so great on black.
Carlos Chang and Elyse Hironaka were among the dancers on the floor. Carlos has his own dance event planned for summer. Dancers are often forced into the role of designer for lack of readymade costumes, so Hironaka designed her own Bedazzled dress.
Christine Yasunaga was the evening’s gracious hostess, and was lucky enough to win a piece of art donated by Gary Hostallero, who achieved fame painting images of samurai, but has since moved on to fashiony images of tattooed women. I missed the fashion show by Anne Namba, but Gary said he and the local designer are collaborating on a project that will incorporate some of his images. Look forward to seeing it.
Dance instructor Carlos Chang gave Vivan Stackpole an impromptu dance lesson, telling her which way to turn and spin, making it look as if they’d danced together before.
Too bad his Hawaii appearance wasn’t a public one, although he decided during his first trip here that he may just have to come back to explore our beaches and compare them to those of Miami, where he grew up.
He was here for only a day to show the new Sex and the City by Cosabella collection during a training session with Neiman Marcus staffers. The line will be arriving in Hawaii in early to mid-May, just before the “Sex and the City” movie opens. Can’t wait to see the clothes in that one! I might have to see it four times or something. When “The Devil Wears Prada” opened, I had to see it twice, just for the opening credits and Anne Hathaway’s ensembles. Multiply that by the four leads in “Sex”; see what I mean?
Beautyanalysis.com The mask, fitted over an Asian face.
It’s not often you’ll find male reporters on our staff tackling beauty issues. Most often, they’re laughing heartily at story meetings in which I share what’s new in fashion (which would explain their rather clueless, careless appearance which wouldn’t fly anywhere else but a newsroom).
But, if you check out Digital Slob Curt Brandao’s column today, he talks about new software that quantifies feminine beauty, meaning someday you won’t have to turn to an online community to confirm whether you’re hot or not. Instead, you’ll likely get the cold, hard fact in the form of a number.
(According to Curt, the formula doesn’t yet work with men because there are too many variables associated with male attractiveness. What? Like the size of their bank account and make and model of their car?)
Curt sends the reader off to Marquadt Beauty Analysis beautyanalysis.com, where there is a mask that shows the Golden Ratio of beauty that fits women of different races and time periods, so we can see how women from Nefertiti to Renaissance beauties to Marilyn Monroe all fit the mask.
There is nothing new about measuring beauty in the form of ideal proportions. In print, we follow a rule of thirds in our page designs to create a range of visual experiences, from harmony to dissonance, depending on the story.
What’s new in quantifying human beauty is potentially negative applications. It may seem like fun now, but Curt raises the idea that later, it might prevent you from getting into a club, or might be used to pre-screen applicants for certain job positions or dating services, as if a 10 and a 5 have no chance at love.
What such a program can’t do is take into account physical quirks that are endearing. How else to explain how Steve Buscemi is just as appealing to me as a conventionally handsome man like George Clooney seems to be appealing to everyone else. I actually find conventional good looks rather boring, but I’ll always look twice at a guy with a snaggletooth.
There was a sea of T-shirts at the Incubus concert. While there, I took a photo of Patrick Simmons and the amulet he was wearing, which he picked up in Tahiti. It inclues the figure of a surfer carved into seal bone, set with a black pearl. For Simmons, it serves as a protective talisman whether he’s in or out of the water.
You can find similar amulets at Summer Vaimaona’s Soleil boutique at 909 Kapahulu Ave.
Then, at Green Door last night, I spotted Thaddeus Pham dining with his friends. He had just come from work as an H.I.V. counselor at Diamond Head Clinic. I liked his geek chic style with short-sleeved shirt and bow tie that he just started wearing this year “to play to my strengths as a nerd,” he said.
I didn’t get it into the photo, but inked onto his forearms are verses from Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” and “Song of the Open Road.” “I read a lot,” he said.
If you’re going to have any words on your body, those are pretty cool choices.
“Song of the Open Road” begins:
“Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.
Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune,
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,
Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms,
Strong and content I travel the open road. …”
“Song of Myself” begins:
“I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.
I loafe and invite my soul,
I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.
My tongue, every atom of my blood, form’d from this soil, this air,
Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their
parents the same,
I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin,
Hoping to cease not till death. …”
