round sunglasses

You all must have seen the John Lennon Poster (Mr. Lennon’s image, in round sunglasses) allover the NYC town, peering at us from subway walls and billboards since May, publicizing a Lennon exhibition at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex in SoHo. That show ignited requests for round sunglasses at stores around the city.

...john lennon and yoko ono...

The hot eyewear look of 2008 was pretty much defined by plastic Wayfarer knockoffs, garish neon trapezoids often seen color-coordinated with a plaid shirt and sneakers. Or else it was “shutter shades,” those ventilated blinders popularized by Kanye West (that was really too much).

It's 2009 and sunglasses must be round! Why? Only last year round sunglasses were considered square?

...a pair from the linda farrow collection...

Round frames last appeared as a fashion trend about two decades ago. In 1989, when Alain Mikli introduced a thick-rimmed version. One of my very first were Mikli's!

Before that, they were a defining element of hippie style during the 1960s counterculture movement — just about the only time that round glasses could be described as an unqualified fashion hit. Throughout the last century, round glasses have been associated with celebrated architects, literary stars and intellectual thinkers — Philip Johnson, Le Corbusier, Dominick Dunne, Gandhi — almost all of them men and rarely a figure noted for his cutting-edge personal style.

...hippie...

And yet something about the style, as uncommercial as it may seem, has clicked with designers. Or, as it turns out, several things happened at roughly the same time, in 2007 and 2008, that help explain why you are seeing round sunglasses again.

The story of round would not be complete without a nod to the hippies. This year’s Broadway revival of “Hair,” while not exactly fashion friendly, had its first performances last summer at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. At a preview last May, its cast performed at the Costume Institute gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art before an audience that included a spectrum of international fashion designers.

...photograph by Mr. Sidibé...

Remember the black-and-white portraits taken in the 1950s and ’60s by the Malian photographer Malick Sidibé, who was given a lifetime achievement award at the Venice Biennale art fair two years ago? That was when Mr. Sidibé, now in his 70s, began to have an unexpected fashion moment. Designers sought out monographs of his work, notably a 2004 edition published by Steidl that conveyed the exuberance of postcolonial West Africa with images of stylish young men and women, many of them wearing incredible sunglasses.

...another Sidibé photograph...

But it was not Mr. Sidibé’s influence alone that set off the trend. John Lennon deserves some credit, too. In July 2007, Mr. Lennon’s name was again in the news when a pair of his wire-rimmed round glasses were sold at auction, drawing bids of more than $1.5 million, the BBC reported, though the final sale price, which was never disclosed, was believed to be far less.

But it also just makes plain sense that round glasses would return because they mesh with other eyewear themes occurring at the moment, like vintage, geek-chic and Hollywood.

This round shape is the most natural shape for designers to embrace and maybe, another signature Lennon style — an upside-down pear shape — would be the next big thing after that?

back to the 80's again?

The week is over and what remains is a lot of impressions. Our sales meetings went well and I am looking forward to a pretty good season ahead. During the shows, good design won the votes and I basically liked everything that was optimistic!

There were a lot of vintage looks on the runways, 80's especially (just have a look at Marc Jacobs collection, or Michael Kors's), the big shoulders, punk hairstyles, club wear, day-glow colors, asymmetrical cuts, etc. The regular Joe's on the street were mostly dressed in decent shades of grey..??! What a contrast! A disconnect maybe?

I thought these 2 bystanders went into the prognosed direction and had a pretty authentic style:



And here a very last impression from the tents...


...see you in 6 months!

ny fashion week

The iron statue of a factory worker manufacturing clothing in the midst of the ever so busy fashion district, reminding us of the humble beginnings and the hard work fashion really is.

You know you don't get the usual fashion coverage here and I hope you like my personal first days round up, as it reads a bit different than many other blogs that tell you the same old BS you may or may not wanna hear.

So, yes - I am convinced you know by now - the beast has come out and you see an immense and quiet perplexing amount of fur. Why in the world...?? It's beyond me. Fur, fur fur, the most ugliest of which. I started taking pictures to report it to you, but I prematurely deleted most of them because I really don't want to cramp up my posts with this stuff. As if someone would have money to buy fur next season...??

Of the commercial shows I saw the Barbie Runway Show and Erin Fetherston, which I loved both. Yesterday I went to Tibi and Narciso Rodriquez, which only really were so so...

I also visited the Digital Moda event, which was held at the top of the 110 building on 40th Street. Gazing out the windows you could see the ever so promising fashion week tents below...


..but in all - I really wanted to say something positive about Yuli Ziv's event - this event was nothing special and it seamed a waist of time talking to the, only somewhat fashionable, crowd. Plus the drinks were really cheap.

...there were animals and fur there too...

So, I quickly made my way downstairs again and headed over to the tents. Where I was greeted by friends and colleagues who were all chatting away waiting in line to see Tibi. I liked the Barbie display:


I mentioned Tibi was not interesting, so I really could not wait to see Narciso. I went to the bar and ordered a Vodka Martini with 3 olives and mixed in with the waiting crowd. One young fashionista had this bag which I thought was fun and fitting for the Obama Zeitgeist:


And I had a quick opportunity to chat with Simon Donovan, the Creative Director of Barneys New York. I told him I was sending him my new catalog next week.

simon donovan of barneys new york waiting to see narciso rodriquez

Then finally after more than 1 hour in line, I snatched my seat at Narciso's.


The photographers are ready too, so let's get on with this show!



My attention span was beginning to stagnate and so I was just looking for a cab! Ah, there is one!


A last look uptown in direction of the ever so lit up Times Square.


And so I survived another day of NY Fashion Week!

fashion rocks rockstar magazine

Yeap, just came hot off the press! Fashion Rocks collection featured in Rockstar Magazin! Thanks to my all time top photographer Carl Posey and Swiss connection PR genius Arnold Meyer.

shoebamania

Hey, I just designed this shoe...



...made from my pictures taken during the day of the election November 4th, 2008 and you can be sure: more will follow! Especially the ones matching all of the Fashion Rocks clothing pieces... exciting isn't it?

copyright idil vice fashion rocks, 2009.

bag business

Yes, sure I also make bags... Believe it or not, I get a lot of ideas from my customers. Many of them start by asking me if I could make this or that for them... the buyer of this specific bag had already bought a few of my items from my online shop and is a huge Grateful Dead fan - she desperately was looking to get a bag made from the same material.




I love making custom things for my clients and will make time, if it seems worth while. Depending on the project they can cost a ton of money though, because they require me to run around town for one piece of ware, but it's always worth it and it inspires me to do more and more... Dear valued customers: Keep it coming, please!




The bag has a life inside as well. Gold leather zipper pulls, a bear charm and matching striped lining...



Looking a bit mean for no reason, posing with my (sadly not mine anymore, it's shipping out tomorrow morning) bag, I guess I was contemplating the cold and the fence and the chain..??

Anyway, I am looking forward to more bags that rock!

cp photos

shooting 2009

...twiggy mod style for the Nico Velvet Underground Dress...

We just shot the first part of the 2009 collection! Nowadays, in the digital world, one does not have to wait for weeks to see images, but still it takes time to edit those shoots, that understandably increase in quantity :[ anyway, here are a few behind the scenes pics with make up/hair pro Elisabeth, Nicolette Ross as the longest legged model I've seen in a long time and of course Carl Posey, the photographer. Last but not least, Idil Vice, styling and behind the scenes photographer, during the few moments of down time. Enjoy!

...it's getting darker and darker and colder and colder...

...finally the last shot!

...and at last, a deserved dinner chat with drinks in the heated restaurant! Well done guys!

fall winter 09/10

Can you believe it? We are already 10 years into the new millennium.. at least in the fashion designers mind... yeah, I know most of us are still unsure which jacket or coat will be purchased in a couple of weeks and you wonder if you should indeed go for the bright orange version or stick with the more subtle gray or - god forbid - black again!!

Well, that I will leave entirely up to you, but if you have to get a tip: go with the orange.

So, as this blog is about the life and work of a fashion designer, I am going to explain why and how we are already 10 years into the millennium.

First, we need to plan ahead because we need time to come up with, sample, sell, show, produce and deliver a collection in time, and that process takes exactly 1 year.

Right now we are figuring out what the mood will be... it's like the stock market, really, you bet on a look, a feel, a silhouette, a color.. if you choose the wrong one, you can loose big money.

So you got to be careful, a bit, not too much, because you don't want to seam watered down and you still need to make a mark and be ahead and stand apart of your competition, so this is not always easy, especially if you do this over and over again, every season.

Now, I have mentioned before that these may be the times of the end of trends and indeed it's hard to pin down anything, as really everything goes and you must go with your guts!

Trend agencies are also consulted, listen to the laguage and what they are talking about:

Relying on knowledge and adopting stimulating trajectories. Sparking unusual reactions and bouncing back with creative mechanisms, to project oneself into a radiant future. Exploiting interdependent chain sequences, playing with identifying visual markers and wittily distorting them. Moving forward in time and imagining sensitive and concrete answers to create new linkings and new silhouettes.

Although vage, it sounds nice. I like to let myself put into the mood. And there is more philosophy:

Connecting sense to reason, approach to intuition, and joining in a pertinent forward thinking attitude. Openly considering the most daring initiatives, and relying on a thoughtful examination to make considered choices, and lasting commitments. Ambitiously anticipating, to project oneself into a positive outlook and invent a better world.

Gotta love that! I think anyone could use this as a inspiration for any day ahead...and here a bit more specific:

Studying a pure and generous design. Connecting roundness and angularness, precision and suppleness in patterns, fabrics and clothing. Developing volumes through fabrics with the easy-to-handle solidity, of massive and softened cottons, the flexible thickness, of stretch double faces and dense milanos, the consistent suppleness of silks and mouldable broadcloths. Moving away from rigidity and rounding out the angles, softening the geometry, structuring in arabesques and favouring the curvilinear with moving fabrics, with a woolly lightness and controlled vivacity.

...and even more:

PRINTS neo-camouflage: enlarged or fragmented pixellisations. folklore, two-tones, mini-florals: inked as if overdyed or bleached out. forest-like vegetation: mysterious or nearly surrealistic.


So with all this in mind, you're going to the drawing board and put it down in your own way! That is the initial process, the first touch and thought of a new collection.