Today creativity suffered a severe blow with the death of Alexander McQueen. A true visionary, McQueen never failed to delight and to inspire the senses. In a world where there is too little of pushing the envelope and too much of going with the sure thing, McQueen always took the more difficult path. There was none other like Alexander McQueen.

His 2006/7 Autumn/Winter collection deeply informed my first trend newsletter, Trendcites, which has been on my site since. As such that is the collection I want to feature here as a tribute to his storied and brilliant career in fashion. Ironically that show was his tribute to Isabella Blow, another industry stalwart credited for discovering the brilliant Alexander McQueen and who had committed suicide a few months prior. But it was his Spring/Summer 2010 collection that he went live with in a collaboration with Nick Knight and ShowStudio that showed just how much Alexander McQueen was going to lead the fashion industry out of the woods. I guess he has left it to the rest of us to figure it out from here. R.I.P. Alexander McQueen. You will be deeply missed and never forgotten.

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For some very luscious rooms done in pink, head on over to Style Rumors.

It’s hard to say which take on it is my favorite, but I’m loving this soft pink made even softer with the dove grey, and that retro look–very cool.

Great post all about pink!

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Alexander McQueen delivered his SS 2010 collection today with evolution as its theme and he picked snakes to get his point across. I don’t have the full inside scoop on that particular detail, but he certainly represented fashion, snakes and the process of evolution flawlessly.

And if that weren’t enough, he really made (air) waves by going direct to the cyberspace fashion collective by tweeting about his video of the collection done in conjunction with fashion photog Nick Knight. Just prior to the runway show, Nick Knight did an up close interview with McQueen sitting at a kitchen table drinking from a very proper cup of tea and truly I felt as if I were right there, sitting with Mr. McQueen himself listening to him explain some of his thinking behind fashion, the internet, and his own visions.

Marvelous, marvelous, marvelous stuff. If you ever wanted to know the definition of engagement (that thing all marketers are looking for when they combine mediums to reach their targets), this would be it.

The only hitch was that they had so many visitors to the site, (Lady Gaga tweeted the event) not everyone got on, and so were left disappointed. No worries…bright minds like that leave it on line for everyone who didn’t get to see it the first time. Check here at ShowStudio Alexander McQueen SS2010 Live.

Today marked a shift in fashion history by Alexander McQueen creating a presentation for the world direct to them, not just for that select group of editors and buyers and celebs. Not only was there an evolution in Mr. McQueen’s work, there was an evolution in how a luxury fashion designer presents his runway collection to market.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens after this.

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image New York Magazine

Like Lt. Colonel Custer fatally leading his army of men in the Battle of Little Bighorn, Fashion is battling it out to the end in an attempt to save the day (in fashion speak that means maintaining its current heirarchy of power players, including luxury retailers and their executives: see documentary The September Issue, and all about Fashion’s Night Out on September 10th, 2009 during Fashion Week in New York).

Who is Fashion’s Custer?

Looks like Anna Wintour (above image right sitting next to tennis great, Roger Federer), American Vogue’s Editor and highly esteemed fashion power player: mmmm, but that’s so yesterday. We all know we are in an age of ice melt.

PSA for Fashions Night Out.

History has it that Custer’s assumptions re his charge onto the battlefield were based on inaccurate information from the field (see Wikipedia). Wowser, you think?.

So, who might tomorrow’s leader of the fashion industry be….dare I say it…..could it be???

Yes, that gorgeous creature, Heidi Klum. Supermodel, TV producer and star of emmy nominated “Project Runway,” Heidi knows her fashion. But it’s not just that, she’s loved by all and represents a new generation as well as a new method of fashion speak. She’s married to the one and only “Seal” and she’s a mother of five.

Who in the fashion world would not want to know how Heidi Klum would steer the next generation’s fashion ship? With Tim Gunn as her wingman, or in keeping with the ship’s metaphor, the ships mate, the voyage would no doubt be interesting.

Am I wrong or what?

The biggest issue with print media is that it doesn’t know how to align itself with new media and still be what it is, whatever that is. In this case it’s fashion. And the fashion industry is struggling to keep itself relevant with it’s consumer. For decades, Anna Wintour has led that march by managing the shark infested waters of the industry as being an all powerful editor in chief of American Vogue. And she’s been incredibly good at it.

But as we know, all the kings horses and all the kings men couldn’t put humpty back together again. With the industry’s numbers, especially at the higher end, being as dismal as they are and have been, and confusion, to say the least, reigning, especially on Seventh Avenue….like “Oh, where did the fashion industry go?…” (China, anyone?)

To think they may fix it with a global Fashion Night Out and a documentary about the Devil Wears Prada American Vogue editor Anna Wintour …I don’t think so. That’s just akin to sticking one’s finger in the dike–am I the only one that sees that? The deal with Project Runway is that it’s already included us, for several year’s now…so for the fashion elite to all of a sudden declare themselves at one with their market is, shall we say, a little after the fact?

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In St. Louis, everything. It’s Our Town’s grasp at another World’s Fair opportunity.

Well, sort of, but for a sports town like St. Louis, yes, the Major League All Star Game on July 14th and festivities of the week is akin to having the World’s Fair in your backyard.

Not being consumed by sports as many in this town are (don’t shoot me, okay?), I didn’t realize how the construction being done in the city last year (see Trendbites: A Little Local Color) was the town planners way of preparing for the onslaught of tourists destined to hit St. Louis for Major League Baseball’s All Star Game. Interestingly though, what didn’t get finsihed was the Cardinals BallPark Village which given the event seems like not only a major gaping hole literally but a major gaping planning oversight.

But just as nature abhors a vacumn, baseball didn’t let a wide open field right next to Busch Stadium lie fallow. It’s filled up with puffed up tents offering food, activities, paraphenalia and such. Sheryl Crow performed under the arch to an audience of 50,000 people Saturday night and Washington Avenue (our town’s Vegas strip) has non stop parties planned for the whole week.

from STLToday’s MLB All Star Game Visitor’s Guide.

I only live 2 blocks from Busch Stadium and thus am more or less in the center of all of this activity. I am not attending the festivities because it is hot…..crowded and expensive and my dog, Chloe, is petrified of fireworks going off which sadly are being set off downtown like water free flowing in fountains. They come with the territory. Chloe and I have learned to time our walks around them (read: sans the crowd).

I really knew something was happening when I saw a blimp hovering over the city Friday afternoon. When I was a kid, it used to be the Good Year blimp weirdly hanging in the sky. Now it’s Direct TV, but nonetheless a blimp. Yesterday a small bi plane flew around downtown with a Pepsi Max flag flying behind it. What a heydey for marketers this event is. Even Purina has gotten into the act with their building which hovers over the city anyway and the cutest cleverest cat and dog “playing ball” in a larger than life billboard hanging off the side of it. Truthfully it’s a little like being in a segment of Blade Runner or the Fifth Element with all of these signs airborne in the city. Forget being supersized. I’ve been futurized.

On a personal note and seemingly others noted by attendance, the biggest hit is City Garden. Two blocks long and one block wide it’s packed with plants, sculpture and fountains. And it’s not just busy during the day, but during the night. We have parks all over St. Louis, beautiful green areas, well kept, spacious, clean….. but they haven’t drawn the crowds City Garden has. I admit myself going through the park is an experience. They packed the Garden with so many individual spots of interest that it in and of itself is an event and you feel like a better person for having come through it.

As my dog, daughter and I were taking a swing through it, a young hip guy with a leather jacket came through exclaiming to us, “would we ever have gotten anything like this if it hadn’t been for Major League Baseball’s All Star Game coming to town?”

photo of artist/sculptor Jim Dine’s Pinocchio by Tim Archibald. For more City Garden images, check flickr here.

So again I ask, “What’s Major League Baseball got to do with it?” In Our Town this week, everything.

P.S. If you find yourself in St. Louis this week looking for some cool places to eat (places other than TGI Friday’s), I recommend Rooster on 11th and Locust. They have the BEST breakfast (to rival any cafe in any large city) and be sure to ask for their house Mimosa, it’s divine. And one of our best kept secrets is Papa Fabarre’s….housed inside Macy’s downtown at 601 Olive, the food is All American delish (the French Onion soup will rival any restuarant’s anywhere in the world, I’ll wager), the ambience definitely old world, and the prices very very affordable, just their hours only allow for daytime lunches, so check online to be sure you can time your visit correctly.

Rooster @ 11th and Locust….read the Chicago Tribune’s recommendation if you don’t believe me.

Inside Papa Fabarre’s. Photo by Jennifer Silverberg of the Riverfront Times.

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Live blogging the Home and Housewares Show in Chicago, exhibitors have decidedly and overwhelmingly used color to offset these recessionary economic times.

The theory is manufacturers and retailers must give the consumer a reason to buy and color can immediately outdate a product and make it necessary to purchase on the basis of color.

Color has always been used, though generally cautiously by most housewares manufacturers and retailers, i.e., Target…Wal-Mart, but without question, color is now THE statement. Case in point is Whitmoor, above. They’ve taken an ordinary ironing board cover and used great eye popping colors to enhance its utility.

I can tell you I don’t need an ironing board cover, but this is an inexpensive (relatively speaking) purchase that is going to make me feel good. That dull green (that I purchased a few years back in hopes of updating my everyday routine) can now be replaced by a HAPPY COLOR.

Other show trends are focused on cooking (as a large percentage of consumers have decided fine dining is expendable); so celebrity chefs are here, and gourmet cooking utensils now rule.

Lauren Greenwood, my pr contact at the show, also pointed out when showing me through the media rooms selected products, that manufacturers have also responded to these recessionary times by creating products and offerings to enhance a new DIY sensibility…..where you may have farmed out the cleaning to a maid at one point in time, you are now doing it yourself and manufacturers are enhancing that everyday utilitarian product.

My favorite of these is ALICE Supply Co., a self described hip housewares company who is putting fun into home chores by using HAPPY COLORS and designs (stripes and camouflage) on plungers and hoses and dustpans and broom handles, oh my!

Maria Barnes and Raili Clasen are the brains behind ALICE Supply Co.. Friends since college, Maria and Raili both came out of the fashion industry having worked for Roxy and Quicksilver. Using those connections and those sources, ALICE Supply Co., now all of two months old, is bringing that same hip cool formula from the surfer world and making waves in a formerly staid part of the housewares industry. You can find their product currently at Fred Siegal in Los Angeles and Lisa Perry in New York. Their website is www.alicesupplyco.com but is in the process of being designed so is coming soon.

As to the GREEN category it’s still alive and well but it looks to have receded to some degree in importance (with the exception of water bottles which proliferate at this show) while manufacturers decide how best to define themselves in the green/sustainable environment. There is a focus on more durable long lasting product as opposed to throw-away disposable products. This in itself can be defined as part of the green movement. But I can tell, overall, the lingo of what is green and what is not or where a product falls on the GREEN SCALE (a term I’ve coined) is yet to be clarified.

In an effort to help not only the consumer but other manufacturers clarify their position on the sustainable movement, I’ll be using Aladdin and Eco Gen (I blogged about Eco Gen launched at last year’s housewares show) as the best of the best when it comes to walking the walk.
Check back soon for the details.

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As soon as I knew the dress was made by Isabel Toledo it had my vote. Seconds before I knew who the designer was though, I was puzzled. Mainly because Michelle Obama has been more contemporary in dress choice for the most part than this silhouette seemed to be, but this was a special day so it called for another kind of statement and fashionista per se wasn’t one, nor was being Jackie O the Second. She set herself apart for sure, from everyone without alienating anyone (unlike the election night red and black dress which created a real uproar both pro and con).

So, mission accomplished. Isabel Toledo understands women and their moments so I wholeheartedly signed on for the choice.
That said, the color, while both a brilliant and unusual choice, is also the kind of color that gives photographers and printers headaches and nightmares.

AP Images notes in their image base that the color of Michelle Obama’s dress seemed to change during the day making it difficult to know what to call the color. After doing searches on the web to see what others were saying, I also understood the variations on how it looked based on how it got printed. I’d say not only did people not know what to call the color but they didn’t know what the color was. This was a good day to snag a swatch to go with the dress.

When I saw the St. Louis Post Dispatch cover, I was impressed. By Doug Mills, I thought the image captured the relationship of President and Mrs. Obama well, their genuine look of happiness, and the essence of Michelle’s dress: sunny, different, and comfortable though chic. She appeared confident which made it all the better. But I don’t know that the dress fared that well under all paper or magazine printings.

AP Photo/Elise Amendola

It was a toughie to be sure to reproduce correctly and the color of the gloves and shoes didn’t help. Where to set the dials and for what to begin the print? The greens (of the dress, the shoes and the gloves) were each a different color and not necessarily in the same family. Then there was the lighting and whether or not the shot bleached out the color of the dress or darkened the gloves so much you couldn’t tell what color they were.

And I haven’t even begun to cover what different computers do to color. So, bottom line, it was a color that did her justice…and set her apart. Albeit a printer’s nightmare.

So next time do you pick something that is easier to photograph but still does the same thing, sets one apart, makes a specific mood statement as Isabel Toledo said her choice of color for the dress was meant to do which was to create a sort of sunny attitude…bright and hopeful (our futures?) or not consider the uniformity of color printing and let variations come through that weren’t the real color, thus not the real message being sent out?

I’d have the designer working directly with Michelle Obama instead of through this shop Ikram Goldram in Chicago because I think designers know a thing or two about what they are doing and they know how to work with a subject especially the kind of designers Michelle Obama is using. They may not have had household recognition until now, but they are certainly capable and talented designers who if they had a visit directly with Michelle, may have been better able to anticipate some of the issues that come up in the process of wearing clothing for certain events.

Disclaimer: the above top Associated Press Image is by Jae Hong, which was closest to the Doug Mills image I found on the St. Louis Dispatch cover edition…..the St. Louis Post Dispatch is selling packages of their covers so the image is not available to me for reproducing.

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This seems appropo for this year.

May your holiday be filled with joy and all the blessings of the season.

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I couldn’t resist. And some of you may remember me writing about this (here) before, but trust me, you will be thanked heartily for it.

Just buy a brick of Brix (the medium dark chocolate is excellent) along with a bottle of syrah and they’ll be eating out of your hand (if the chocolate is in it).
Depending on how much you want to spend, you can throw in a small cutting board and small knife to chip away at the chocolate with or just put the wine in a lovely wine stocking.

The chocolate must be served at room temperature and should be chipped into chunks to served with the wine.

The wine and chocolate is a pairing that makes for a taste you won’t soon forget. It’s devine (and developed by an Italian pulmonologist because both are good for your heart!) If you decide on the extra dark chocolate, that goes well with a cabernet or bordeaux.

You can find the Brix chocolates at a Worldmarket near you (as well as the wine and the cutting board and small knife).

Have a blessed party and carry a sober driver with you at all times or spend the night!

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