For Hire

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

kiss my...

Of course you love M&M's and a good kiss, but do you love THE KISS? Well, love' em or hate' em, there's no more choices to be made, because they have released THE KISS M&M's! So eat' em!


When the colorful, glossy full page ad literally jumped at me from the pages of the New York magazine, I almost chocked! Did I not just introduce the Kiss Ski Masks in my store? Good things can come all at once!



Hilarious I think. You won't have any problems racing down the slopes in St. Moritz this Winter. If you wear one of these Kiss masks, you'll have free range to go wherever you want and how fast you want!

As much as I love sets, you can be certain I will try the hat with one of my Kiss Skirts too!



...while I am at it, I might maybe pre-order one of these Kiss boots coming soon here.



Kiss my butt!



Friday, September 25, 2009

sick of fashion?

Yes mam, you can imagine it happens that fashion designers have it up to here (over the head) with fashion. Now is Milan Fashion Week and before it was London Fashion Week, Paris Fashion Week has not even started. I am just glad New York Fashion Week was first! I was all energetic for it starting out. Saw a great many shows, including my own and mingled at the best parties in town. Lots of inspiration at the end of a season to go right back to the drawing table and start designing Fall 2010!

Over the course of the last 3 weeks I have become a little numb to the fashion news, sorry to say. That feeling will last for a day or two, then I usually snap right back into it! It's that one bad day per year we're all too familiar with. The quick fall after the long high. Melancholy maybe. But holy cow and thanks goodness: My customers don't wait, they want more designs, new designs, freakin' every day! And I love it. I do. I LOVE what I do. I have a dream job.

I guess I just don't understand why everybody has to come up with new collections at the exact same time, thrown at you all in a span of a mere 3 weeks!? It's commerce. I got it. The season clearly calls for us to buy new clothes now, the ones from last season are no longer fashionable.
You know I don't believe in this. I always wear my old classics, that is what personal style is about. It's about not letting anyone dictate what you wear at what time. You decide.

Oh, let me be grateful to you, for just hanging in there with me, while I freely dispose into cyber space what's on my mind, all these scattered thoughts which may or may not make much sense.... Thanks for just going through this little personal evaluation with me!

Anyway - so no - of course we are NOT sick of fashion just yet and I am confident once the last show goes over the runway and the curtains finally close, the lights are turned off, life goes on. We will come up with our own styles and we might buy a new dress or a coat. It's all up to us.

To my customers: Thanks! I adore my customers. Some of them send me pictures of themselves wearing the clothes they bought, sometimes they look great, sometimes not so great, but it's all good. Sometimes they look just stunning!

...karen and artist tyler jordan...


So to end this season on a really great note, here's the shot of Karen, the original hippie chick in the Woodstock Dress (the absolute bestseller of my season) and Tyler Jordan as Jim Morrison! PEACE.


O.K. I am on to Fall 2010!




Tuesday, September 22, 2009

opening ceremony

... all photographs by carl posey...

Na, I'm not talking about the Olympics. For the ones who are out of touch: Opening Ceremony is an immensely trendy shop/showroom in Downtown Manhattan which only takes from the Olympics (founded by Baron Pierre de Coubertinhe in 1896, who transformed what the Greeks had created into a modern day business venture) the guise of creatively merging sports, business, and global participation and applies these elements towards fashion.

Opening Ceremony - created by Carol Lim and Humberto Leon - currently features an array of international established and young designers. Collaborative design has also been a key aspect of Opening Ceremony’s retail philosophy.

...carol lim and humberto leon flanked by the olson twins at a recent oc opening in tokio...

As part of their unique concept they just added the Betsey Johnson Archive Collection, a line of clothing curated from the designers 30 year career span, carrying the original woven label. You can go right back to the 80's, with zipper clothing and raggy coats!

So, alright, so what's up??! Well, besides that this shop carries some really cool fashion, it has become a sort of save haven for alternative punks, which - if you haven't been in NYC for a while - are becoming an endangered species. The real estate boom - and collapse - has driven out cool New Yorkers in droves in recent years while the look and feel of the city has become more bohemian. So OC is a rare little island of creativity in the midst of our fast city.

...mini skirts and tights at the fashion night out event at oc...


...studded pockets...


...comme des garcon shirt...


Clearly one of the must-visit shops on every body's list that "Fashion Night Out" event during Fashion Week, was Opening Ceremony. Lines and lines of people trying to get a glimpse of cool in the shop. Many were disappointed and never even got close...

...the line outside...

For an exclusive unpolished look into the coolest things happening you can count on me though. Here's what went on inside as seen by photographer Carl Posey:

...jimmy from "band of outsiders" looking cute as a button like alain delon!!


...posing with erin wasson after a few cans of beer...


...posing in my jimi hendrix fringed tunic kaftan dress...


All photos courtesy of Carl Posey. What would I do without Carl? Would this blog exist? Or would it be as nice? You betcha not!

You expected bathroom pictures? FYI: the bathroom at Opening Ceremony is the tiniest ever and has no mirror.




Thursday, September 17, 2009

t magazine party

...carey mulligan gracing the covers of the style issue of t-magazine...


I have been on many rooftops in this city and I certainly appreciate the feeling they evoke: breaths of fresh air and a chance to shake off tension by gazing onto the busy city streets, seemingly never empty of yellow cabs! The rooftop at Standard literally tops everything though. The building is so high and since it is located in the middle of the Meatpacking District on the West side - not known to be a skyscraper neighborhood - you have a unhindered view of the NYC skyline up close. Fantastic! Well and who do you think would reserve this amazing new space in the city during Fashion Week? The New York Times.

After Anna Sui's show at the tents I headed straight down to Standard, where my Swiss friend, music designer, DJ, journalist, design insider, entrepreneur and my former manager Olivier Rohrbach was conveniently staying during his Fashion Week assignment. Tommy Hilfiger is on his plate tomorrow for an interview, the show and dinner. But tonight we are invited to the T Magazine party.

Everybody was there. Suzy Menkes, Terry Richardson, Courtney Love, Simon Donovan, Jonathan Adler, Robin Thicke, Helena Christensen, Carey Mulligan, Jeff Koons, Cecilia Dean, Waris Ahluwalia and so many more. A night to remember.

...carey mulligan checking out the many pictures of herself in T-magazine...


...robin thicke and olivier rohrbach chillin'...


... waris ahluwalia...


...terry richardson with his girl and friends...


...me posing? dancing?...


...i am simply enjoying myself...


...olivier rohrbach...


And I think I do get slightly better at taking bathroom pictures... n'est ce pas?




Tuesday, September 15, 2009

susie bubble in ny

...susie bubble in ny...

Heyah! I haven't slept tonight, because I was worried - while feeling slightly excited about the prospects of a 20 inch display iMac with a mighty mouse and a brand new keyboard - that I might have to purchase a new computer this morning, after I discovered - upon my return from the Dress Up Soiree, last night - that my laptop was blank, stuck, gone dark - - - Yikes!

Well, I've managed to get it to work again and so the new Mac will have to wait, oh well! Sigh!

O.K. so what was it like last night? Four words: Susie Bubble in NY.
A bit ahead of time, not fashionably late, I was one of the first to enter the back room at 171 East Broadway and I spoted Jennine Tamm, blogger, entrepreneur, creator of Independent Fashion Blogger par excellence, putting the finishing touches to the table center pieces. You'd come to expect a mogul, if you do not already know her quirky, girlie appearance from the pictures on her blog The Coveted.

...jennine tamm of ifb...


I recognized Susie Bubble instantly, by far the most famous panel member here. She thinks that blogging has reached the peak and says that no one knows what the future brings and it will depend on the bloggers who keep creating content. Why was I surprised to hear her thick British accent??! Well, that was an interesting discovery: we are indeed roaming through blog cyber space daily where we have no personal contact at all and only read about a person, while getting insight into their world. Well, with the fact that I heard her voice and am in the know now of her careful choices of words, I've added another dimension to Susie!

When an attendee pointed out that he never had imagined her to have this casual t-shirt style (he had expectations of the style-savvy blogger) - Susie wore a simple vintage t-shirt dress and flats, although she was sporting a frilly bow tie headband with that - she mentioned, as if excusing herself, that she just came from the shows - which in my book would call for dress up - but maybe as an employee of Dazed & Confused, shows are just work and require comfort in order to do the actual work. Anyway, I was not in a great mood my own self to dress up for this dress up soiree - after all we are heading into the 5th night in a row of Fashion Week and I am glad I have a clean outfit! I thought she best would have sticked to her follow up that maybe her take on casual is different from his.


...everybody wanted a picture with ms. bubble and so did i...

Afterward I had some fun in the bathroom, trying to photograph my outfit... without much luck, I should have asked someone to snap it for me...



... anyway - no hard feelings - but I just felt a bit awkward surrounded by all these bloggers in person (aren't we online networkers?) and thought maybe I like them as bloggers more than in person anyway and so I left Chinatown and the smell of it behind me. I take one advice though, I will stay true to myself and keep creating good content. Thanks for a lovely evening Jennine!




Monday, September 14, 2009

fashion week monday


Since the start of Fashion Week last week I have been running around the city constantly, in heels I might add. Like everybody else I kicked off NYFW with "Fashion Night Out", which I thought was really awesome!

I was chatting with Humberto Leon and Erin Wasson at Opening Ceremony, Selima and Larry at Selima Optique and Derek Lam at Derek Lam. Never in my life have I had that much champagne! Free! Vivienne Tam is now following me on Twitter after I twittered about her generous sale that night. Lots and lots of pictures were taken and I will post them as they are being downloaded, once I get a break here!

Yesterday I showed my Spring 2010 Collection to buyers and press at the Tribeca showroom on Franklin Street. We had a blast! Pictures will follow in the next few weeks...

As a fashion designer AND a fashion blogger is is important to me to cover both of the subjects this week, so tonight, I am very thrilled to go to the Dress Up Soiree an event created around independent fashion blogging, which includes a panel discussion about the world of online fashion and where it’s heading. Followed by a party.


There will be today’s most interesting and stylish authorities in online fashion. Susie Bubble is just one of them.



Wednesday, September 9, 2009

what's a bento box?


Leave it to the Japanese to come up with cute stuff!

I never spent a thought on what a bento box was... readily assuming that it was some Asian take out in a box. I recently felt dumb founded when I learned that bento boxes are cutely arranged lunches in boxes.
I came across an article which led to a wonderful selection of photos of KYARABEN - Bento very elaborately arranged in a style typically decorated to look like people, animals or characters and items such as flowers and plants. Contests are often held where bento arrangers compete for the most aesthetically pleasing arrangements. Here's to playing with food!




...my personal favorite: the mummy... mmm!












There are similar forms of boxed lunches in the Philippines (Baon), Korea (Dosirak), Taiwan (Biandang), and India (Tiffin).



about IDILVICE

My photo
New York, NY, United States
Just like the rare Swiss mountain flower Edelweiss - a symbol of prestige and distinction - the clothing brand IDILVICE (pronouced "Edel-vice") was born in the mountains of Switzerland and since then it's flourishing on the concrete of Manhattan and recently even in the rolling hills of the San Francisco Bay Area. However as the spelling indicates, the label is not meant to be associated with too much folkloric alpine tradition, but rather and probably in the contrary, with unconventionality. The IDILVICE label was founded in 1995 by Swiss Native fashion designer Idil from the city of Saint Gallen, Switzerland, who's foundation dates back to the 7th Century and which became famous for their quality textile products, especially embroidery textiles, which are still popular with Parisian Haute Couture designers today. In search for something less traditional, Master Graphic Designer Idil ventured out to New York City where she fell in love with American Pop Culture.