District L

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week announced yesterday the preliminary schedule for the Fall 2012 Collections. A few new names have been added to the list of designers showing at Lincoln Center this season, including last season’s off-site wonders like Kaelen, as well as fresh fashion acquaintances like Mathieu Mirano.

Spring’s sleepy sprites created buzz for Kaelen, who has been showing during Fashion Week for a few seasons. Her presentation at Drive-In Studios was set against a wooded backdrop and featured “moonshine cocktails.” This season, Kaelen Farncombe will be showing in the Box at Lincoln Center on February 9^th.

Mathieu Mirano attracted attention for his Spring 2012 Collection with a cocktail of violent seduction. Mirano narrated the story of a homicidal wife who grew younger as she approached deliberate widowhood. The provocative designer’s presentation will be held in the Box at Lincoln Center on February 12^th.

Post by Amanda LaMela

In NYE anticipation – yes, already – we have set a melodic tone to ring in the new year. At Manhattan Center Hammerstein Ballroom, Matt & Kim will be following Body Language for one last 2011 performance.

Brooklyn-based group, Body Language, released Falling Out this past September, featuring driving percussive beats and a hypnotic use of choral patterning. Their self-described “shifty disco” will harmonize effortlessly with leather skirts by Erin Barr, glitzy short-sets by Cheng, or a daring deep-V bodysuit by Miguel Antoinne.

Post by Amanda LaMela

Mathieu Mirano Spring 2012 narrates an old-fashioned love story, taken place in a simpler time before divorce lawyers, forensic toxicology, and fingerprinting were commonplace.

In hued leathers, elegantly draped gowns, and ombre sheaths, a murderous woman finds solstice in Mirano’s exquisite designs. Scandalous spins on classic silhouettes lay the foundation for Mathieu's winning recipe - but we think he might have a secret ingredient.

Post by Amanda LaMela

Minutes before our interview, cameras were devouring Katya Leonovich’s genuine joy and girlish modesty – a refreshing sight, as she stood before her collection this morning at Lincoln Center. Born in Moscow, Katya began her design career in Rome, continued in Paris, and has lived in New York for the past three years.

“It is new American inspiration,” Leonovich elaborated on her original works of football paintings that framed the model presentation. Displaying chiffon in these replicated prints alongside pieced blue denim, Katya exhibited her personal and professional transformation. “I combined the classic silhouettes from Italy with Parisian playfulness,” she explained. “But American football was so new and interesting to me – their costumes were something I had never before seen in Europe,” she explained.

The collection had an underlying theme of movement, with wind-blown hairstyles and sport-inspired backs, as well as draped and angular hemlines. And this ‘movement’ surpassed fabric and stylings, as guests milled through the Box, whispering adoring buzz-words like, “refreshing,” “energizing,” and “innovative.”

I have never eavesdropped on a coach’s winning locker room speech, but it seems like an appropriate time to use a resonating cliché... This win was for the fans.

Post by Amanda LaMela

“…The Renwick Ruins, an abandoned smallpox hospital still standing on Roosevelt Island, NYC. Something that once was, a haunted romanticism, evoking memories of its past…”

Gauzy cretonne, dusty chandeliers, and a phantasmal energy set a pleasantly disturbing vibe for Sally LaPointe’s SS12 runway. The air inside LaPointe’s usual West Chelsea venue, thick with artificial smog, rendered the typical pre-show fervor murky and indiscernible.

The designer’s familiar, monolithic silhouettes populated this evening’s showing, however this time with a less organic and more deliberate concept behind them.

The showing embodied a certain sense of finality – that an event had just taken place here, somebody once occupied this space, or at one time these objects served a different purpose. Now, the viewer cannot obtain closure from its current state, there is no resolution and no reassurance. LaPointe’s sepulchral forms occupy a space with their own more subtle brand of preterition; they loom like specters, ghostly forms with a palpable presence.

For many New Yorkers, this past week marked their first “earthquake,” as well as their first “hurricane.” Air quotes aside, it has been an eventful few days – on Twitter, at the very least.

Now, with the onset of New York Fashion Week, we face another highly anticipated whirlwind of events. And while a shower of invitations had entered our 10-day forecast, we were not predicting hail.

Despite our own miscalculated predictions, hailstones arrived in our mailbox – two transparent cubes imprinted with the specifics for Sally LaPointe’s SS12 runway show in microscopic font. Sally LaPointe, known for her show-stopping collections and innovative invites, continues to outdo herself each season. With cube invitations and an impervious reputation, our RSVP is crystal clear.

Post by Amanda LaMela

Chiffon, ruffles, and sashes sound very Sound of Music, but Cheng’s Fall/Winter 2011 collection is not intended for girls “sixteen, going on seventeen.” Plunging necklines, playful silhouettes, and translucent fabrics may play coy, but are clearly designed for a woman who knows what she’s doing.

Post by Amanda LaMela

Head to EVA for Sally LaPointe's retail event TONIGHT. Enjoy champagne and discounts until 9pm.

Take a look at what's happening there now...

After arriving home from an aneurysm -inducing day at the office, there is nothing more satisfying than plucking an edgy new lookbook from the pile of bills and junkmail in our mailbox. Mordekai by Ken Borochov provided more than enough fiery intensity to pull me from that post-work slump.

The New York-based stylist revealed his collection of scepters, ammunition necklaces, and noir feather headdresses -- all charged with a controversial take on power. With an underlying focus on sexual, religious, and political influence, Borochov was inspired to design pieces that would enhance his editorial shoots.

The line, which Ken describes as “extreme adornment,” will soon be available on his website.

Now it's time to nab that crown...

Post by Amanda LaMela