:: The New York Fashion Industry Report ::

:: Friday, November 08, 2002 ::

It's a Plaid, Plaid, Plaid World:

Rose Marie Bravo was guest of honor and the host of a festive and elegant party Thursday night formally celebrating the opening of her crown jewel - the new Burberry flagship at 9 east 57th street. The six story, 24,000 square foot shop - which is literally a 'World of Burberry' - was aglow in candles and champagne, as guests (many of whom wore a Burberry item, or donned the famous Burberry plaid to fete the event) milled around eyeing the merchandise. Nadine Johnson, the publicist whose firm handled the event, did a first class job as usual.

Ms. Bravo chose a dramatic red satin floor length coat with a shot of the over-scaled Burberry plaid, several men were wearing one version or another of the fringed scarf, and I turned my Burberry trench inside out and let the plaid show. Well, okay, so Miguel Adrover did it first!

While we were not treated to Burberry trench coats as a party favor, each guest did receive a mini khaki trench belt, (the kind that decorates the cuff of a trench), which can be worn separately on the wrist, or around the neck…..or could even be used as a dog collar.

Vintage on Fifth:

Need more proof that vintage is a viable retail alternative and is gaining in consumer acceptance? True, Henri Bendel just closed its Resurrection Vintage boutique, but there is a growing trend for large stores to join forces with reknowned vintage dealers and experts. Saks Fifth Avenue is just the latest to get into the action. Having opened a Dider Ludot boutique on their third floor in September, they more recently partnered with Doyle New York for a first ever 'Vintage Couture Caravan'.

The four city event was kicked off at the end of October here in New York (next stop Chicago, Houston, and then Beverly Hills), with Doyle Couture Experts, Jan Glier Reeder and Linda Donahue, on hand for appraisals, as well as to host a slide presentation on Vintage Couture.

For the occasion, the store's Fifth Avenue windows featured 25 highlights from Doyle's November 6th Couture Sale. When I asked Jan Reeder afterwards how this impacted on the results of the sale, she told me, "I feel that having those pieces in those famous windows looking so good brought vintage to an even higher level of stature and desirability in the mind of the general public. Vintage is mainstream and important. Vintage on Fifth!"

She also stated that in general, she feels good that "the value for vintage couture and goods is holding strong", and was "generally very pleased with the sale…everything that should have done well sold within or well beyond expectations."

"We set a Doyle record for Fortuny with the fabulous biscuit white Delphos dress (which she termed "a once in a lifetime find") that came in the box AND most rare the cards from the Fortuny Shop on Madison Avenue. One card had a pencil drawing of a Delphos dress and a diagram of how to wrap the cords around the torso to create the classical look. Another card had a personal note written to the customer regarding the extra cord they were supplying her with. And the third was a printed card regarding how to care for the dress."

Ms. Reeder was also excited about "two Rudi's, icons of the 60's", which "outperformed any other 60's lot we have ever offered by a long shot". The Rudi's in question were two 'dayglow' Rudi Gernreich mini dresses with matching boots, that were featured on the cover of Time Magazine on December 1, 1967, with the caption "The Miniskirt Is Here To Stay (Till Spring Anyway)". Coincidentally, minis are back in force this spring as well.

My personal favorite - which I would have 'killed' to own - (well, not literally of course), and which also happened to grace the cover of the Doyle catalogue, was the 1960's Fabiani black and white swirling patterned surrealist dress which featured a trompe l'oeil design of "two attenuated hands, one adorned with a large teardrop emerald glass stone ring with rhinestone baguettes". Ms. Reeder referred to this as "a one of a kind three dimensional work of art in the form of a dress" (I could not have agreed more), which is why she was not in the least bit surprised that though catalogue estimates were in the $1,000 to $1,500 range, it actually sold for $3,250.

The highest price for an item ($16,000) was for a painting - the Emile Friant 'Portrait of Charles Frederick Worth', 1893, which according to the catalogue, had once hung in Gabrielle Chanel's Paris apartment.

When I asked Ms. Reeder what was surprising, or what trends she saw, she told me, "Pucci was very strong (no surprise to me) - fur definitely making a comeback, and fringes are still big", citing an Issye Miyake fringed leather hip wrap that sold for $700, well over the catalogue estimate. On the other hand, she noticed, "Asian inspired things were not as strong as in the past…maybe that trend is on the wane." Actually, quite the contrary, all things Oriental still continue to be strong on the runways, and in the fashion world.

One thing I did notice was that offerings by Arnold Scaasi - the subject of a current retrospective at FIT - did not seem to garner much excitement as most of his lots sold below estimates.

While I'm on the Topic of Vintage:

If you're like me, and are fascinated by the way in which past fashions impact on today's designs, there is an upcoming event that might interest you. New York University is holding a conference, December 5th through the 7th from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., entitled "Presence of the Past: Revise, Revival, and Renewal in Fashion" .

Among those participating are Stephen Burrows, Mary McFadden, Ralph Rucci, Lars Nilsson, Teri Agins, Cathy Horyn, Francois Lesage, Harold Koda, and Valerie Steele. For registration, call 998- 7171.

'Beene' There:

One designer for whom the past holds no interest, and who most likely would not be taking part in such an event (or if he did, he would have some choice words, not doubt) is Geoffrey Beene. Having recently been honored with the 'American Original' Award from the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, Mr. Beene was subsequently the guest of honor at a breakfast held at the New York Athletic Club on Central Park South, where he reflected on his career, and minced no words on a variety of subjects concerning the fashion business. The host, Mary Lou Luther, introduced the honoree, by saying, "Geoffrey Beene is the most inspiring designer I know. He never looks back, and he doesn't know the meaning of retro.

The dais also included Kim Hastreiter - Editor in Chief and founder of Paper Magazine, and Grace Mirabella, the legendary former editor in chief of Vogue, and founder of Mirabella.

Coincidentally, I interviewed Ms. Mirabella several years ago for the lookonline, and then later, as a contributor for us, she interviewed Geoffrey Beene for our 'Masters of Fashion' Series. Other interviews she conducted were with Arthur Elgort, and Rose Marie Bravo, who is very much in the news these days, since the opening of her flagship Burberry store on east 57th street.

In attendance at the breakfast were such fashion names as Elsa Klensch, Ruth Finley, Stan Herman, Jade Hobson Charnin, Gene Meyer - a former assistant to Geoffrey Beene, designer Jeffrey Banks, and Ira Neimark, the former head of Bergdorf Goodman.

Most interesting moments, and best quotes from the breakfast:

On the subject of fashion shows:

Geoffrey Beene: "They're quite boring." "Models walk like horses now". And then he talked about the importance of movement in modern fashion. "My clothes were always shown beautifully", citing a very expensive past show held at the Equitable Center, where he used ballet dancers to get the point of movement across.

Grace Mirabella: "The fashion show is a way to market and license…it's entertainment."

Mary Lou Luther: "The economics of fashion is all about the perfume and the bag"..and then she went on to illustrate her point by saying "John Galliano has carte blanche to do what he wants". (He has just launched three new fragrances this year).

On Design:

Geoffrey Beene: "Design is about pleasing people and making them feel good".

On Uniforms:

Geoffrey Beene has always believed in the idea of uniforms for women. In fact, Geoffrey's last collection for spring/summer 2003 was entitled, 'Uniforms'. But, as Grace Mirabella pointed out these are not the uniforms of men's suits, garage attendant's, or mechanic suits, but a chic, wearable, modern uniform, which actually flatters a woman.

And he admitted that he is still "an advocate of the jumpsuit". "The jersey jumpsuit from 15 years ago is the most versatile item".

And though Geoffrey has always loved and shown pants, he admitted that he wishes women wore more skirts and showed their legs more often. This prompted someone in the audience to note that while she agrees, she hoped that maybe he would design an attractive shoe that is comfortable, and still looks good with a skirt. As she aptly put it, "most women get dressed from the shoe up!"...Touche! I couldn't agree more - particularly in New York…unless you are Anna Wintour, and have a car and driver at your disposal, wearing leg flattering killer heels, is simply not an option for most of us!

On the High Cost of Dressing:

Grace Mirabella said that years ago, with the predominance of American sportswear, it was actually possible to find great looking, inexpensively designed items (and she cited the company Sporwhirl by Jeanne Campbell). Well, as she pointed out, that doesn't exist now. "Higher price doesn't necessarily get you design talent".

Kim Hastreiter: "A true designer is a problem solver. I have found that most designers adore a challenge, the challenge of designing inexpensively". To that end, she recalled how she once devoted an entire issue to Target - a personal favorite of hers (she admitted to having bought all of Stephen Sprouse's recent items, which she is saving in her own personal time capsule), and she invited designers to create something for the issue (she asked Manolo Blahnik to design a shoe horn, and Geoffrey Beene designed his and her laundry bags).

She also said that Todd Oldham, who has contributed to Target, has designed a boat that will dock at Chelsea Piers - (Pier 62) enabling New Yorkers to shop at the chain …There will be a press event on November 14th from 6-8 pm (for information, contact Kaplow Communications, 221- 1713), and it will be open to the public from ll/15 through December 1st. Just in time for holiday shopping...perfect!

I must say, there was a real love fest going on between Kim and Geoffrey…a real admiration society. Geoffrey lauded Kim's commitment to seek out and showcase great design wherever she finds it, at all price levels, in all mediums.

Jeffrey Banks told the audience that his most memorable 'Beene moment', was the show where he presented both couture and his lower priced Beene Bag line. Mr. Beene told the audience that in fact, the Beene Bag collection used exactly the same cuts as couture (something he said he thought the press was completely unaware of). The only difference was in the fabrics, and the workrooms where the clothes were made.

Coincidentally, the day before, at our roundtable discussion with three well - known black fashion writers, held at Bottino's restaurant, Bernadine Morris arrived clad in a fabulously chic jacket, which I assumed was Beene couture. It was actually Beene Bag - beautiful, timeless, thoroughly modern, and very couture looking - perfectly proving Geoffrey's point.

Jeffrey Banks also mentioned that another standout memory of this particular collection was that Mr. Beene used a gray jersey sweatshirt fabric - 15 years before Norma Kamali! As Geoffrey admitted, "I am still fascinated by the cotton sweatshirt."

When asked if he would consider doing Beene Bag again he said, "hopefully". We all hope. This could not be a better time for fabulously chic, well- made couture quality clothes at realistic prices.

On the Subject of the Press:

Goeffrey Beene: "I'm always putting down the press because it's so easy." "Bad reviews by good critics can be very useful."

On Retail:

Geoffrey Beene: "Stores are dinosaurs"…and he pointed to the recent news that Courreges was planning to pull out of the big stores, and just sell in their own boutiques. GB said he made the same decision four years ago.

Advise to Young Designers:

Geoffrey Beene: "Be true to yourself"

"Inspiration":

Geoffrey Beene claims he was inspired by Harlow, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford…in fact, the reason the former medical student claims he gave up drawing bones and anatomy was "because of Bette Davis."

Mentors:

Gene Meyer, a former assistant, said the reason he stayed so long (about 10 years which delayed the start of his own career) was because working for Geoffrey was such an amazing learning experience.

Geoffrey Beene singled out Elsa Schiaparelli as his mentor. "Hers was the first couture show I saw". "She experimented to her death".

Blithe Spirit - The Windsor Set:

And speaking of the legendary, 'Shocking', and terribly influential Elsa Schiaparelli, many of her designs are on display at the latest exhibit at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "Blithe Spirit: The Windsor Set". Hardly a coincidence, since according to Andrew Bolton, the Associate Curator, who organized the exhibit (with the support of Harold Koda, Curator in Charge), "Schiaparelli epitomized the period of fantasy and frivolity."

I met with Mr. Bolton at the press preview, and spoke with him about his maiden exhibit, which dates from 1935 to 1940, and features more than 80 couture items by design legends such as Chanel, Lanvin, Vionnet, and Schiaparelli.

When I asked what his favorite group was, he automatically said that since he has a very pronounced "dark side", it was the "ghoulish" (how perfect, since it was Halloween) Gallery 4 (the exhibit was divided into 5 galleries) which he referred to as, "The aesthetics of ruination".

He illustrated this by pointing out the Vionnet silk satin dress embroidered with black sequined black birds…Black birds were considered to be an ill omen in dreams, and "the birds on the dress seem to swarm around the body of the wearer like ominous raptors".

And then there was the Schiaparelli 'Tear' evening dress - the long white gown was printed with fictive tears, and had actual tears on the headscarf, which acted as "a warning against the dangers of Fascism at a time when image and reality seemed inverted."

And it's hard to forget the Schiaparelli shocking pink silk jersey evening dress entirely covered with small black sequined flies, which suggested the "pestilence of war."

When I asked Mr. Bolton what surprised him most about the exhibit, he answered, "the Duke of Windsor", some of whose clothes were on display in Gallery One. He said he was struck by how self aware and self conscious he was...the way in which he carefully chose his wardrobe with the idea of what looked best on television, in photos, and in public - he always dressed to augment his public persona. Mr. Bolton also mentioned the Duke's vanity - illustrated by the fact that he even had belts (girdles actually) sewn into his evening pants, in order to flatten his stomach.

What I found interesting was the importance of the dinner suit in the exhibit, with many standout examples on display. Most featured jackets that were small and fitted, and boasted opulent embroidery, metallic threads, colored rhinestones, decorative buttons, shown over simply cut, long black dresses.

The dinner suit was actually invented by Elsa Schiaparelli in the early 30's, and she claims that her "first one created turmoil in the fashion world and proved to be the most successful design of my career." The dinner suit was born out of the fact that "theatre, restaurants, and nightclubs became the major sites of fashionability, and they were known to be very photogenic with their face framing attributes. As the museum pointed out, "many of the smartest women wore them to the smartest places where they were invariably targets for every camera." Hmm, I guess there are some things that never change.

New Roundtable Discussion:

Held at Bottino Restaurant in Chelsea (special thanks to Deborah Hughes PR for their help), the Look on Line's Contributing Editor Bernadine Morris (and a legendary fashion writer herself) moderated a group of three well known and highly accomplished black fashion journalists - Constance White (formerly of The New York Times, Talk), Teri Agins (The Wall Street Journal) and Robin Givhan (The Washington Post, who had also been Associate Editor at Vogue Magazine).

As Bernadine saw it, "This is a story not just about black reporters, but about women." "This is all about women reporters in fashion (black women as a subdivision of women)". "Has the woman's situation cleared up?"

Each of the three spoke frankly and honestly, and there were many insightful quotes. Here are just a few:

RG: "I can't understand colleagues who rave about a spectacular show in which there are no clothes (only costumes) shown."

CW: "I don't mind being labeled as a black journalist unless it's used in a limiting way."

TA: "If you give people a good story - newsworthy and surprising - anybody will read it."

RG: "The biggest compliment I can get from a reader is "I'm not at all interested in fashion, but I liked that story." When our publisher, Ernest Schmatolla asked Robin if she thought the term 'fashion journalism' is an oxymoron, she answered, "I'm not sure what fashion journalism is"…and then she added, "I'm not sure what political journalism is."

RG: "The point of a fashion magazine is to champion the designers that it believes in, to champion the trends that it believes in and not to take a critical stance". That's what's wonderful about the magazines, if there's something wonderful about them, it's that if they decide that they believe in a designer, they can get behind a designer and catapult them forward. I think that's what they do best."

CW commented that the great eye opening moment in her career was early on, at Elle Magazine, when Amy Gross told her, "Constance, Fashion editors do not cover journalism in an objective way. We are not journalists. We are here to edit - to be subjective, we are not here to be objective." And she recounted how later, at another publication, she was warned by a boss, "Your pregnancy is a disaster." Though she would not name names, she did promise to spill the beans when she writes her 'memoir.'

At the end, Bernadine asked each what they considered to be the most definitive fashion highlights of their career. Teri Agins first mentioned an Isaac Mizrahi show in the 80's complete with the world's biggest supermodels, which was so entertaining and over the top, it was like a Broadway show, but then changed her mind - Christian Lacroix's New York debut at the Winter Garden in the mid 80's, where she was backstage observing the whole extravaganza.

Constance said it was a Helmut Lang show in Paris in the mid 90's (where he used green as his accent color) that sent chills down her back. For her, it exemplified precisely what modern fashion should be - the perfect combination of fashion and wearability. Robin cited Tom Ford's breakthrough Gucci show in Milan in the mid 90's where he formally turned the label around, and where the news was not just the clothing shown, but literally on the runway.

(Please don't miss the complete roundtable interview with these three editors co-hosted by Bernadine Morris and Vivian Kelly on-line next week.)


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