CURIOUSER NEW YORK

Yesterday was my last class of the Spring semester at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), and until July, I'll be only visiting this place for the events, not the school. I'm actually looking forward to this summer schooling at FIT, and how could I not like coming to a place that looks, feels, smells and tastes like fashion and creativity?  And on my last day, I've decided to capture the 'atmosphere' of FIT - to show the many ways the students dress at FIT - the future faces of the fashion runaways:

White shoes!

Shoe Obsession exhibition and tour at Museum at FIT: F ebruary 8 through April 13, 2013. I keep telling you guys that if you live in New York - an ultimate city that offers everything for every interest: from great chefs and artists to fashion designers and financial moguls, you can never be bored. No one can possibly be ever bored in New York City - one of the reasons thousands of people come to the city every year to live, work and - most of the time, stay! This is why the rents are high, the restaurants - even with the thousands of them available - have waiting lists, the subway is over-crowded, and the museums charge entrance fees. [Unlike, say, most of the museums in Washington, DC that are free to the public!] So, you have no excuse saying that you are bored in the city and claim that you've seen and done it all, because it's absolutely impossible. Here's just a tiny portion of how you can acquint yourself with fashion, design and art, while meeting be...

I could have just said "Like father, like son" if it came to define the similarities in the human relations between the immediate relatives, but in this case, it's more like "Like fashion designer, like fashion show invitation" and I would not be far from remaking the saying to reflect what you are about to see. 

It's been three weeks since I came back from my trip to Germany and Sweden , and I'm snot even close to putting all the photos I took on the trip that I promised to show to my family and friends. I've never realized back when I was a teenager that with each decade new innovations would come - like photo cameras, gadgets, iPhones/iPads and such, that would result in us taking so much more photos that it would become a challenge to organize it all.  Back in the days, we'd take a few photos, then turn in the photo film at a drugstore and in a few days we'd pick up the print-outs - viola! Easy, fast, painless…But nowadays - it's a completely different picture. Now that we digitize everything, and with all the photo Apps we have - we store all our pictures on our gadgets for months and years to the point, where we loose any interest to dig that far back for the photos to put them up in the albums. That happens to me a lot -  unless I take care of my photos ...

  Yesterday I went to see Alexey Sorokin Spring 2013 fashion show that took place at the historic Pier 57. I talked about this Russian sensation, discovered by the NY-based fashion magazine Depesha , in my previous blog , and as I've anticipated, the show was incredible, but…too short. Meaning, according to my friends and the people sitting next to me on the first row - [yes, I had the best seats on the house!] - we all wished the show was a bit longer as it was visually very, very beautiful. Here's what I mean…

I got an invitation to attend the Spring 2013 fashion show by a designer from Russia, Alexey Sorokin. Well, since I have a soft spot for Russia, I was very happy about this invitation, especially after I've checked him out online and saw his incredibly creative works - [I've heard from him before, but not on a bigger scale, so I had no idea what to expect from him]. His show is tomorrow, September 12th, and I'd love to introduce this Russian sensation - [who, I pretty much sure, will take the NY fashion scene by storm tomorrow night and whose name you might be hearing very, very soon], but for now...here's his story:

I swear, I haven't planned it this way, but it happened, and it happened perfectly. I happened to be in the right place at the right time. On the day of my arrival to Stockholm, I've learned that it was the first day of the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Stockholm . And on August 29th, in the center of the city - or in one of the 14th districts, named Kungsholmen - the central part of Stockholm with the largest shopping district - the fashionable action was happening. Right there, on one of the central plazas of the city, there were tents set up for the fashion shows, next to the ones for the after-show parties... While I didn't go to the runaway show - [the main purpose of my trip, after all, was to see the city, duhh...] - I did go to an after-party, which was by the invitation only...

This photo I took the other day on the NYC subway reminds me that - the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week is coming soon!

I've been always a big, big, huge fan of Stella McCartney - from the very beginning of her fashion career, from her baby steps in the fashion industry.  I remember how many people were skeptical about 'a daughter of the famous Beatle entering the fashion industry' - just as another 'kid from a famous family who has nothing better to do but to be in a fashion designer' . Well, she's proven them all wrong, hasn't she?

I'm reading: Almost 30 years ago Paganne fashion house closed its doors due to the economic recession, along with many other fashion prominent houses. The brand became a legend, and only the most vintage lovers were tracking it down, gathering piece by piece from various exclusive vintage shops, collectors and fashion galleries, so that they could have a record of once worn by celebrities and fashionistas around the world print fashion brand.  And the blood flow in my body starts to sending me hives - the kind of hives that make your excited about something. I've been waiting for the release of this video for months. 

Last March I've learned that a legendary fashion house that used to be the 'it' to go to in Hollywood and among the most notorious fashionistas around the world - PAGANNE fashion house - is coming back after almost three decades of being 'silent'.   When I learned the history of PAGANNE fashion label, I was mesmerized by how exquisite - and mysterious - and customized the brand, found by Gene Berk, was back in the days. Celebrities wore it. Vogue and Harper's Bazaar featured it over and over again. But not only that, when I started digging in, I found many vintage lovers who up until today have been writing about PAGANNE printed dresses as if they were talking about an 'urban legend'. The fact of the matter is that PAGANNE has taken over the world of fashion back in the 60s and 70s. All the prints that were going into the design of these spectacular immaculate dresses were hand-made and customized and the fabric and the final dress were man...

Last Thursday, I was invited to attend a fundraising event for Fashion For Autism organization that is being supported by Edwing D'Angelo , a NewYork based designer, who I first met last February during the Couture Fashion Week Fall 2012.   D'Angelo's Fall 2012 collection was one of the best I saw during the fashion week and I took a note. I covered his collection on my blog , as well as posted a short video on my YouTube . It caught his attention and he wrote to me, thanking personally for covering his show and we became Twitter friends.  Having been exposed to the fashion industry for a while now, I know that it doesn't happen often that a designer him/herself would follow up with the press and bloggers and keep in touch with them, but it's the case here. So, when the next opportunity came, Edwing sent me a personal invitation to attend his fashion show runaway, which he was doing as a fundraiser for Fashion For Autism, and, of course, I could neither s...

Two years ago I happened to be in the South of France and visited The French Riviera, including Cannes. It was in June, right fresh after the Cannes Film Festival, which happens in May each year. The red carpet was still there. The posters and big billboards of Cannes and celebrities were still there, and the 'atmosphere', thanks to the tourists, was somewhat festive... Of course, I had to 'inspect' the city and make my own impression of it, rather than from the blue screens of the television during the festival, when it's all about fab, fun and glitter. Here's how I saw it....

I usually try to not post the photos I didn't take. I only post non-mine photos of the pieces from the designers and collections I really, really admire and desire... Such as these few pieces that have been on my mind from Proenza Schouler fall 2012:

Today's day - Sunday, May 6, 2012 - happens to be one of those days, when I'm coming up with many ideas for many aspects of my life, some of which are doable and some of which fit the category of 'sweet dreams' not to be ever executed, or, ever to be possible to be executed for some reason or another. Either way, I'm dreamy today....  Being at home is so much nicer in the presence of your beloved pets. Meet my Chester. I haven't done much all morning - being laaaazy!!! , except for making French press coffee - [ I'm wired!!! ] - and my grandma's old recipe's chicken soup from scratch just because I'm, actually, sick again - [and in this case, I've made too much of it again, which I very soon will get bored of!] . 

One of the most successful and genius artistic collaborations between a director and an actor of all times is Pedro Almodovar and Pelenlope Cruz. Last week I've attended a rather interesting - [and, a fascinating for me] - lecture-presentation at the Museum at FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) dedicated to the fashion in the films of Pedro  Almodóvar.

Photo: DKNY 2012 Spring Collection, courtesy of DKNY. I must  publicly  admit - [ or rather, declare?! ] - that Donna Karan has been always one of my favorite American designers. She seems to know not only what a woman wants - globally! - but she's actually one of the rare designers, who makes the clothes to fit any woman - any size, any age, any profession - she just seems to know the woman's body very, very well.

I'm extremely excited and happy for my friend, Leonid Gurevich , whose hard work and unbelievable creative vision finally paid off last week, when he tributed his collection at Aurora Fashion Week in St. Petersburg, Russia .