My mother could handle me leaving the house in straw cowboy hats, Rasta colored skull caps, Contempo Casuals maxi skirts, fake fur shrugs, and even leather mini dresses (I swear, bought at the Gap), but when it came to ripped up jeans she finally drew the line. Mind you, I still walked out of the house defiantly in the trend, but she was left dismayed. Just imagine if I were a fashion conscious youth of today and dreaming of doing it for around $900 – inspired by the extremely coveted torn and tattered, but simultaneously glitzy and tailored, looks of Balmain's Christophe Decarnin.

True, his recent collection didn't turn any major pages from where he's sizzled and made jacket lovers swoon for the past few seasons, but who says fashion has to move so fast, especially when his Michael Jackson jackets of Spring '09 and his pointy shoulders and bandage sequins of last season still feel so fresh and timeless despite being equally trendy?

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Posted on October 5, 2009

I love Peter Som's Spring collection! It's like an eccentric old lady meets her feminine socialite of a granddaughter. The unexpected combination of fabrics, silhouettes, textures, colors, and print is delightful.

I look forward to approaching my own wardrobe with his whimsical eye and dressing to the tune of overall directive of “extreme happiness”.

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Posted on September 21, 2009

Been thinking about designer Zandra Rhodes lately. Her clothes were always so feminine and off kilter and I LOVE them. Aside from her own collections, she created costumes for Queen and dressed Lady Di.

I found a great bunch of vintage photos come in one of my old Italian Vogues and posted some on Rotating Corpse. I would die for a great piece of hers, but with the demand, rarity and price, it may be a long time coming.

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Posted on September 7, 2009

Do you like your hard edged fashion in black and white and shades of gray? Do you like your skinny Central Saint Martins “l'enfants”, “terrible”? Do you take drama over comfort? Do you do whatever Beyonce tells you to? Then you might be a fan of Gareth Pugh, the little it-boy who gets off on distorting the human form with inflated dresses and synthetic hair.

I do hope though that his recent blast of more mainstream attention via Miss Fierce could possibly lead to some more commercial paths. Not just because I dream of buying a space age high shoulder padded checkerboard dress from Target someday for $40, but because (according to Wikipedia) the poor guy is making no money and just got kicked out of his squatters hole. Talk about suffering for your art… until of course he takes over at Dior Homme.

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Posted on July 6, 2009

Rogan Gregory is at the forefront of creating a green culture in industry. He's a champion of eco and cultural ethical production. His line, Loomstate is made from entirely organic cotton and Edun, a line he coordinated with Bono, brings trade to the developing regions of Africa:

“I could go to China tomorrow and have some samples in a month which are all perfect. That's the reality, but we haven't chosen that path, we've chosen a much more complicated sourcing base. We are pushing though, wherever we go, to create sustainability. To be loyal to the factories we're in and to help them to get to a point where they're benefiting as we are.'

More affordably, Rogan did a line for Target that again used organic and environmentally sensitive materials and he'll be doing it again this week when Loomstate for Target launches.

His is exactly the kind of forward thinking mind in business and the arts that can spark movements for larger change.

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Posted on April 20, 2009