Denim Style To Try! Models & Designers Backstage At Fusion Fashion Show

Backstage at Fusion Fashion Show, an annual runway competition between Parsons and F.I.T. that has gained some serious street cred on the New York fashion scene (alumni include Prabal Gurung, Alexander Wang, and Chris Benz), cool denim looks weren’t hard to spot. From designers prepping frantically to models-off-duty, one needed only to point there camera randomly a shoot to come up with something covet-worthy. Check out the evidence below.

Photos, from left to right:

Model Logan wearing J brand (“J brand are the only jeans I wear.”) with Chanel logo tank top; Designer Meghan Spielman wearing wearing Dylan George denim with adorable lace top and floral combat boots; Designer Michael Maiello wearing Cheap Monday denim with layered knit top/scarf combo; Designer Woohyun Jang wearing acid wash jeans (“I don’t know, these are some Japanese brand.”) with all-black; Model Ernesto wearing designer Anna Lesassier’s red jeans; menswear designers hang with the models.

—Michelle Christina Larsen

Tags: acid wash jeans, Cheap Monday, Denim Looks, Dylan George, F.I.T., fusion fashion show, off duty model style, parsons, red denim

WWD News: FIT Show Looks at American Dressmaking, Emerging Brand Spurr Branches Out, Guez Brings New Blood To Dylan George, Juicy Couture to Open Airport Shops, Spring Men’s Suit Trend: Mixed Doubles, Fashion Scoops: Austrians in Tokyo… Anthropologie’s New Tie-Up…

Opening Friday is FIT’s exhibition “American Beauty: Aesthetics and Innovation in Fashion”, curated by Patricia Mears, displays the craft and intricacies of dressmaking. The show runs through April 10th.

Emerging menswear brand Spurr, designed by Simon Spurr, will be going back to its’ roots of denim related sportswear and t-shirts at a lower price point, mostly made in Italy. The higher-end collection, named appropriately, Simon Spurr, will continue to have hand-finished suits, leathers and knits all made in Italy and France.

Juicy Couture is on a jet-setting quest to make the world more juicier.  They are opening up a shop at Miami International Airport in December, then traveling north to open at JFK International Airport, continuing across the pond to Taiwan’s TaoYuan International Airport and then on to Athens Airport.

Read more of WWD highlights below.

–Nikki Cho Russo 

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FIT Show Looks at American Dressmaking

by ROSEMARY FEITELBERG

 

The incomplete cotton muslins on display in ???American Beauty: Aesthetics and Innovation in Fashion??? are the surest indication the Museum at FIT??™s newest show delves into the inner workings of design. 

Custom patternmaker Nicolas Caito personally inspected the muslins on the mannequins for Thakoon, Proenza Schouler and Francisco Costa to be certain they were just so. That attention to detail was just what curator Patricia Mears was after for the museum??™s latest installment, which opens Friday and runs through April 10. 

Rather than give a more predictable historic overview of American fashion, Mears has zeroed in on how the philosophy of beauty is relayed in the craft of dressmaking. During a preview of the exhibition Wednesday, she said, ???One of the things I wanted to do with this show was to not make it about sketching, diffusion lines, marketing or anything else. I wanted to show people who really know how to make clothes.??? 

Click here to read the full article and slideshow

 

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Emerging Brand Spurr Branches Out

by JEAN SCHEIDNES

Spurr is branching into two collections at different pricing tiers in an effort to position itself for global distribution. The split, which will take effect for fall 2010, is the first strategic move since Tommy Fazio became president of the emerging brand designed by Simon Spurr. 

Spurr will be a contemporary collection of denim-related sportswear such as T-shirts and jackets. The label is going back to its roots, having launched three years ago with jeans at Bergdorf Goodman, where Fazio was the men??™s fashion director. Spurr since has evolved into a full designer collection, but starting with the fall 2010 collections, the designer offerings will bear the new label, Simon Spurr. The Simon Spurr collection will feature hand-finished suits, leathers and knits, all made in Italy and France. 

Spurr, the contemporary collection, will continue to be made mostly in Italy. 

Click here to read the full article

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Guez Brings New Blood To Dylan George

by Khanh T.L. Tran

LOS ANGELES ??” Dylan George, the premium denim brand founded last year by Danny Guez, is looking to ignite growth with the addition of executive talent and the relaunch of its men??™s business. 

Rick Spielberg joined Los Angeles-based Dylan George in October after a four-year run with Hudson, where he helped grow revenue from $9 million to $60 million as vice president. Before Hudson, Spielberg was president of Blue Holdings, which was founded by Guez??™s father, Paul, and where Danny met Spielberg before the younger Guez left to launch People??™s Liberation in 2004. At City of Commerce, Calif.-based Blue Holdings, Spielberg oversaw the denim brands Antik Denim and Taverniti So for two years. 

Click here to read the full article

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Juicy Couture to Open Airport Shops

by JULEE KAPLAN

Juicy Couture is headed to the airport. 

The contemporary brand, which did $600 million in sales last year, plans to target customers when they travel, opening four stores at airports worldwide beginning in December. The first will launch in Miami International Airport??™s American Airlines terminal, followed by the British Airways terminal at New York??™s John F. Kennedy International Airport in January. In February, a Juicy store will open in the Taiwan TaoYuan International Airport??™s Terminal II through Juicy??™s Asian distribution partner, Lane Crawford. 

The fourth shop, which is planned for a spring launch, will be in the Athens Airport Duty Free area. This store will open with the help of the brand??™s new partnership with Elmec Sport SA. The retail license and distribution agreement will allow the firm to retail all Juicy Couture collections, including apparel, accessories, footwear, children??™s wear, intimates and jewelry in Greece, Romania and Bulgaria through freestanding stores and select specialty retailers. The wholesale operation with Elmec will begin with the spring collection. The three-year deal expires on March 31, 2014, with an option to renew for another three years. 

Click here to read the full article

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Spring Men’s Suit Trend: Mixed Doubles

by Alex Badia

The double-breasted suit represents for many the epitome of masculine power dressing, elegance and style. For spring, designers presented multiple variations on the iconic DB, from the traditional three buttons on each side to a soft-shoulder, elongated silhouette to the youthful crop jacket and, finally, the shawl lapel blazer.

Click here to view the slideshow

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Fashion Scoops: Austrians in Tokyo… Anthropologie’s New Tie-Up…

by WWD Staff

AUSTRIANS IN TOKYO: Earlier this week, a few of Austria??™s up-and-coming fashion designers got a chance to showcase their talent for a Japanese audience. Spot On Wien, an initiative sponsored by the Vienna Tourist board and other Austrian organizations and companies, staged a fashion show at the club Velours in Aoyama to coincide with Tokyo Designers Week. Ali Zedtwitz and Valerie Lange, both alums of Jil Sander and former students of Raf Simons, debuted the avant-garde stylings of their new label, Diptych. Zedtwitz also showed off some sculptured, edgy looks from her own namesake brand. Klaus M??hlbauer, the fourth generation of a milliner family, took advantage of the evening to unveil his playful, feminine headgear for women and his short-brimmed creations for men. The designer has already snagged custom orders from celebrities like Brad Pitt and George Clooney.

ANTHROPOLOGIE??™S NEW TIE-UP: Anthropologie is on a roll with the young designer partnerships. On the heels of a collection with Ruffian??™s Brian Wolk and Claude Morais, the company is set to debut a collaboration with L.A.-based designer Koi Suwannagate later this month. Named Lawan after the Thai word for ???beautiful,??? the four-style lineup is Suwannagate??™s first stab at a secondary collection. ???We had so many requests for pieces with a more affordable price point,??? explained Suwannagate. ???But we make everything in-house and it would have been too expensive for us. Working with Anthropologie was a natural fit.??? The Lawan collection, which retails from $228 to $298, will feature a gown, two cardigans and a sleeveless top, all cut from wool blends and embellished with the designer??™s signature frothy, hand-sculpted appliqu?©s. ???Each of them represents my past bestsellers,??? said Suwannagate, adding the collaboration will be an ongoing one.

TOD??™S IN THE SHADE: Tod??™s is about to fill one more gap in its lifestyle offerings. Just in time for cruise and Christmas shopping, the luxury goods brand will roll out a few styles of its new eyewear line to select Tod??™s flagships and opticians worldwide. The full range will debut in February. The capsule is comprised of 13 models for men and women, plus unisex ones, in acetate and metal, or combinations of the two. Colors include black, bronze, gold, silver and blush pink. Some styles are available in different sizes. The designs already have attracted fans such asJessica Alba, Freida Pinto, Jennifer Garner and Demi Moore. Retail prices for the Marcolin-produced eyewear range from $289 to $541.

FRIENDS OF MEN??™S: Men??™s wear veterans and young CFDA members came together to fete Robert Bryan??™s new men??™s wear tome, ???American Fashion Menswear.??? David Lauren stood in for Ralph Lauren, who wrote the foreword. The book combines historical images and recent looks from new American designers like Michael Bastian and Tim Hamilton ??” no doubt a result of the CFDA??™s involvement in the project. Scores of industry friends came to the Ace Hotel to congratulate Bryan. Diane von Furstenberg, Calvin Klein??™s Italo Zucchelli and Kevin Carrigan,Phillip Lim, Richard Chai and the duos behind Duckie Brown, Rag & Bone and Shipley & Halmos all paid their respects.

OUT THERE: Dysfashional, the conceptual fashion exhibition curated by Luca Marchetti and Emanuele Quinz, is set to present two new stages in Paris and Berlin. The avant-garde show, which does not feature any clothing, will include a video installation by Raf Simons and experimental exhibits by the likes of Maison Martin Margiela, Kostas Murkudis, Pierre Hardy and Damien Blotti??re. Up-and-coming Berlin-based designer Michael Sontag has conceived an interactive installation inspired by the dressing table. Parasite, a hybrid gallery-cum-store space that will feature a labyrinth of ???wallscapes??? designed by Bless, will showcase work by emerging artists and designers exploring the boundaries of contemporary fashion. 

A Dysfashional fanzine was released for the Paris leg of the show, scheduled to run at the Passage du D?©sir until Nov. 29, with a German edition to follow for the Berlin session, to be housed in the city??™s Haus der Kulturen der Welt venue from June 18 to July 18. Both editions will then be bound to form a catalogue. 

HER TURN: Damir Doma, a rising talent on the Paris men??™s wear scene, is turning his hand to women??™s wear, too. The Croatian designer plans to show his debut women??™s collection on the runway during Paris Fashion Week next March. Earlier this year, Doma opened a boutique in Paris on the Rue des Arquebusier in the Marais.

 

 

Tags: Ali Zedtwitz, American Fashion Menswear, Anthropolgie, Damien Blottière, Damir Doma, Danny Guez, Diptych, Dylan George, Dysfashional, Emanuele Quinz, F.I.T., Juicy Couture, Klaus Mühlbauer, Koi Suwannagate, Kostats Murkudis, Lawan, Luca Marchetti, Maison Martin Margiela, Pierre Hardy, Raf Simons, Rick Spielberg, Robert Bryan, Spurr, Tod's

Deciphering Mom’s Jeans

“. . . give her a gift that says i’m not a woman anymore. i’m a mom.”

Tags: DENIM, F.I.T., mom jeans, mother's day