The Council of Fashion Designers 2009 included the likes of Michael Kors, Carolina Herrera, Oscar De La Renta and the Olsens but this time round there are some newer additions to the table. Sophie Theallet, Steve Allen and L'Wren Scott form part of the 2010 class, which has a total of 25 designers. The newer members are welcomed at a party in October at Vera Wang's house where they can get to know the good company they are in, even better.
Alexander Wang has been having quite the successful time in the fashion world. Aside from being a consecutive CDFA winner and after receiving an award for women's designer of the year, last year, Wang has earned himself another trophy. Unlike the rest, this one can be bought.
The young designer has just purchased a $2 million Tribeca one-bedroom apartment. Previously belonging to former New York Times style editor Holly Brubach, whose other work includes pieces for The New Yorker and Vogue, the one- bedroom, two-bathroom apartment can be found at 39 Worth Street. With exposed brick, mullioned windows and even original tin ceilings, the place has the charm and attributes that Tribeca buyers hunt for daily. A large open plan living/dining room, a big office and a "sun-splashed" master bedroom make up the Wang's new home. The question left on all of our tongues though is will this new apartment be a wonderful source of inspiration for his next collection or will he lose his edge, that might only exist back in the Lower East side?
News has flown in that the cool, yet undeniably chic Alexander Wang is soon launching another capsule collection. It is one that will be more affordable to the masses whilst up-keeping to his notorious urban edge on his well-known exquisite tailored style. Having celebrated his CDFA nominations for Womenswear Designer of the Year and Accessories Designer of the Year, Wang has been left in an ecstatic mood especially after the rapturous reception to his recent resort collection that was unveiled this week. Talking about this new collection he is working on, Wang said:
"After last season we started looking at our carry-over business, what our customers come back for again and again. There's also this perception that we're very young however, this is our way of being more democratic. "
In comparison to his other collections, in particular 'T' which was proven to be a huge hit, Wang explained:
"T is very casual and easy but I don't want to say [the new line] is based on tailoring or business attire, but they're two different focuses."
On Tuesday, the CDFA hosted an evening at Milk Studios and brought together a panel of insiders to discuss the future of the industry. Zac Posen, casting agent James Scully and Dutch model Doutzen Kroes got together to discuss the weight issues facing models today. Entitled "The Beauty of Health: Resizing the sample size," the evening saw the trio giving insight into the debate at hand, and the things aspiring models do in hope of forging a successful modelling career.
Scully claimed that he could "open up any magazine or got to any show and tell you what girls are taking Adderall, how many girls are taking Vicodin, how many girls are throwing up - girls are really resorting to dangerous things." If that wasn't enough, Kroes told of how she was a victim of the industry, too. She said: "I probably fit the sample size once, when I was eleven or twelve. It became a problem - I was always told lots of times that I should lose weight...'You look great, but you should probably lose a few pounds.'"
Sophie Theallet - Presentation
Last year, the Bloomberg administration, alongside the CDFA, set up the Fashion Incubator initiative. In order to be eligible, entrants had to be "working designers" with orders from retailers, to have been in business for more than a year and a half, have a member of staff to support, have been in receipt of "substantive editorial coverage" and to submit a business plan, detailing this. As a reward for jumping through all those hoops, a chosen 12 would win the main prize of moving into one of the design spaces in the Fashion Incubator space. Aside from being situated in the heart of the Garment District, the spaces (800 to 1000 square feet) would be rentable at subsidized rates ranging from $1,500 to $2,000, knocked down from $2,900.
So who are the lucky 12? That would be Prabal Gurung, Sophie Theallet, Jolibe's Joel Diaz, Alice Ritter, Gemma Redux's Rachel Dooley, Bibhu Mohapatra, Waris Ahluwalia of House of Waris, Maxwell Osborne and Dao-Yi of Public School, Justin Giunta of Subversive Jewelry, Ruby Kobo's Yuvi Alpert and Danna Kobo, Grey Ant's Grant Krajecki and Lewis's Alison Lewis. They'll soon take up residence in the spaces, which each come with a two-year lease. We look forward to seeing what fashion-forward creations come out of what will clearly be such a creative hub.
