District L

Two weekends ago, we spent our post-brunch Saturday afternoon on the High Line, people-watching and terrorizing children with bubbles. Ever since its opening in June 2009, The High Line has managed to maintain its stylish appeal to locals and visitors alike. With People’s Pops, The Porch, and Melt Bakery, everyone’s favorite elevated park boasts everything but the Nutz4Nuts and street-meat that never fails to stink up your hair.

Living up to its magnetic reputation, the High Line Park has again lured expanding retail to our feet. New York’s newest Intermix frontier opened last month at the High Line’s southern entrance. Located on 812 Washington Street, this spot was formally occupied by The Manhattan Refrigerating Company, with trains that ran straight through the shop to off-load inside. The two-story boutique retained the building’s overhead steel tracks, embracing the area’s history while enjoying its chic transformation.

Post by Amanda LaMela

Anna Dello Russo, the Editor at Large and creative consultant for Vogue Japan, is celebrating her new Editor at Large arrangement with INC for the Fall/Holiday 2011 season. During this evening’s event, guests previewed ADR’s launch at Openhouse Gallery.

With a full champagne bar and music by DJ Sky Ferreira, we spent our Wednesday night mingling amongst a line-up of fabulous color-blocking and fuchsia fur.

Post by Amanda LaMela

Thakoon Resort 2012 challenges the polished urbanite, inciting a distinctive tinge of wanderlust. By blending West African-inspired motifs with crisp contours, Thakoon Panichgul introduces a more sophisticated perspective to the current bohemian trend. The cosmopolitan collection adorns fitted blazers, tennis dresses and A-lined skirts with ikat prints and mina-khani patterns.

“Resort,” in this case, is an inaccurate term: Rather than signing up for an all-inclusive package, Thakoon’s muse would much prefer to follow her own itinerary.

Playlist inspiration: The Raveonettes - ‘Forget That You’re Young’

Channel Thakoon’s aesthetic with a sound that is distant, yet aware, like the vocal-centric harmonies of The Raveonettes.

Post by Amanda LaMela

Images from Style.com

Languish in New York's newfound heat with a look that is breezy and effortless. The April 2011 issue of Vogue Turkey published a lucent spread of hazy bohemia, embracing long, light silhouettes in sunwashed fabrics.

Last season, Jac Langheim impressed DL with her innovative use of latex, combining this uncommon texture with more traditional luxury fabrics. Her primarily-rubber collection offered structured vests, A-lined dresses, and body-skimming cocktail frocks. Sophisticated, unexpected and adaptable, Langheim’s line earned her an enviable level of rising esteem.

This season, Jac revisited her successful recipe of “astonish and acquaint.” Once again using latex, she created modern silhouettes in solid and printed rubber. Clean lines, asymmetrical paneling, and minimalist legwear lent a more futuristic emphasis for F/W11.

Images by Romer Pedron

Post by Amanda LaMela

On March 23, Gallery Bar got a taste of clamor-glamour as Damon Johnson celebrated "The Beautiful Chaos: A Style Installation." Johnson's exhibition unearths the synthesis of street art and fashion using WALLS 360 graphics.

If you couldn't make it out to the reception event, check out the beautiful chaos here.

[Edit: The Beautiful Chaos, March 16]

March sucks. Fashion Week has passed, every weather report threatens rain, and transitional-dressing is always difficult. So while you've been schlepping around your umbrella in vain, stuffing extra layers in your oversized tote, and longing for the Fashion Week nights of free champagne, DL has been marching forward...

Wednesday, March 16: Blaise + Co. Comtemporary Art Presents "The Beautiful Chaos: A Style Installation." Good thing we got word of the correct day of this event, or else we would have arrived a day late. Artist Damon Johnson will celebrate the fusion of underground art and fashion at Gallery Bar from 7:00-10:00pm.

Thursday, March 17: "WHAT?" The Black Soft hosted by The East Village Boys at Pyramid Club. After enjoying your wine at Gallery Bar, meet us over on Avenue A to check out EVB's latest discovery. Lady Bunny will be there, why won't you?

Tuesday, March 22: Tumi "Tag with Us" Event, celebrating their new collaboration with graffiti artist, John "Crash" Matos. From 6:30-9:00pm, join us on 12th Street as we meet Crash, view the collaboration, and throw back a few cocktails.

Post by Amanda LaMela

This past Friday, NOMIA’s sleek, geometric FW11 collection was presented in the intimate Highline Room at the Standard Hotel. The venue’s attuned blend of nature, urbanity, and notorious exhibitionism matched perfectly with the theme of NOMIA’s runway. Staying true to the designer’s body-conscious aesthetic, Yara Flinn demonstrated an artful use of cutouts and scandal-stirring hemlines. Pops of green infused a palate of neutrals and greys, providing an organic tone to this angular motif. Sheer overlays also added an ethereal ingredient to an otherwise structural collection.

The most fantastic part: No pants! The collection did enjoy its fair share of seamed leggings and jumpsuits, appropriate for Flinn’s streamlined-yet-sensual silhouettes. With versatile brunch seperates, a trench for walks along the Highline, and dresses made for afterparties at Le Bain, NOMIA’s collection set a gold Standard for FW11.

Post by Madisen Walker

Most people tip their mailman during the Christmas holiday. If we knew our mailman, we'd tip him right before Fashion Week. Invites of all sizes begin satiating our hungry little mailbox; one that exclusively handles junk mail and credit card bills during the rest of the year. As I was rifling through yesterday’s mail, one invite stood out in particular.

When I unraveled the poster-sized Geisha-in-an-opium-den image, I immediately knew I was going to be making room in my Fashion Week schedule. The Blonds had the most fun last season and this invite looks nothing short of extraordinary. But be sure to read the fine print:

Invitation management isn’t the only Fashion Week preparation we engage in. Today I’ll be sitting in on Lois Eastlund’s model casting. Her February 14^th runway show is quickly approaching, so click here to support the fabulous!

Tonight, we’ll be heading west for another debaucherous Saturday evening. Before Starboard Hudson goes on a one-month hiatus, DL will be boarding the boat once more for music, neon, and the occasional makeshift photo shoot. The party at Starboard will return for their Mardi Gras event, taking place on Saturday, March 12. The Chainsmokers will be bringing their high-energy performance on board and Kirill from KirillWasHere will be there to capture all the madness.

Post by Amanda LaMela