In fashion circles shopping at vintage stores has been on trend for awhile now. And, as noted, Prada and Louis Vuitton did an actual return to a MadMen style garmento for FW 2010. Fortunately, for a lot of us, the quest for vintage is showing up even in music and on websites. It’s a movement that brings warmth to the heart because it conjurs up a past that is innocent in a present that is anything but. So, it’s reassuring, and the times, they call for a little reassurance don’t you think?

Here are two of my personal faves:

For many on Twitter we’ve had the honor of getting to know this indie rocker and his talents personally, over time, over Twitter. He shares moments in his life, with his son, and his music, which speaks for itself. You too can find him on twitter @chrisblake or hear more of his music at chrisblakemusic.

The London Tea Room brings authentic Brit into the heart of St. Louis. You can even order their special tea leaves straight from the website, or if you want the whole deal visit the shop, it’ll take you a step back in time, too. I heart the London TeaRoom.

So, it’s a nice combo, been a rough day. I think I’ll just sip a little tea and listen to “Lullaby” by Chris Blake. That should pretty much take care of whatever ails me ;)

Enjoy!

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Louis Vuitton FW 2010 va va voom

Shows are over for now. Funny, they seemed to go on and on. Weird season. For all the incredible imagery and coverage, I am hard pressed to know entirely what the take away is. Not because the industry experts didn’t cover it well along with the fashionista blogger/press but, hmmm, upon reflection, if there is one really strong takeaway besides a return to curves it would be that leather and faux fur have infinite possibilities, all kinda good news, I think.

Chanel used lotsa fur for the fall season, but all faux. Gaultier went for 101 ways to do leather for Hermes and inspired by the legendery Emma Peel, the female protagonist of the 60’s hit tv program “Avengers.”

It’s just no one really had a to die for collection. I can think of some stand outs like Haider Ackermann, Balenciaga and Rick Owens but as much for their imagery and extremes as anything else so don’t know how well those will play out in retail.

Illustration from Legwork Studio (found it on the Takeover blog which documents good design) Legwork Studio’s site happens to be a finalist at SXSW this week in Austin. For the full list of finalists and their categories check here.

That’s the sweet spot isn’t it? What happens between now and showing up in the stores? It’s where I would want to be at any rate.

That said, there was so much exciting happening with the technology of the coverage that for me the collections almost got lost in it. I mean there were so many gooooood videos, and the very interesting interview industry experts like NYT’s critic Cathy Horyn along with others had with Charlie Rose (see Trendbites post on the past present and immediate future of the fashion industry), the live streaming which verged on filmmaking held its own marvels and then the Oscar coverage in the middle of it and twitter keeping us really up close and personal. This season more than any other I almost felt as if I were living a second life. So, kudos, industry. If you wanted to engage us, mission accomplished!

I’m not sure really what this all means for fashion in the long run. Maybe it means a second life for the fashion industry. It lends itself to a visual medium but there are practicalities to it. For instance, if you bring in images of the backs of the silhouettes from the runway as well as the front by the likes of the New York Times, Style.com, New York Mag TheCut, SHOWStudio, WWD, and Elle Magazine then the next thing we need to ask of them or someone is the ability to place ourselves in the outfits digitally (thank you Avatar), make adjustments digitally, and voila! order it, right there, right then, right now.

Garcon! Can you get on that please?

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See L.L. Bean Signature’s facebook fan page here.

Never thought I’d see the day, but finally we are here. A hip L.L. Bean line of clothes and accessories for both men and women. And their website says the precollection is already sold out.

Some twenty years ago I bought a pair of their wellies, and wellie, they’re still totally intact. However, they’ve been restyled so they’re much hipper than when I bought mine 20 years or so ago. On top of that, they’ve got some leather totes to die for. So, I’m thinking they know what they’re doing. Maybe Cathy Horyn, the New York Times fashion critic, will be able to update those paddock boots she gave up on a long time ago, but paddock boots w/style this time. Seems perfectly appropo.

For a preview of their preview check out a facebook group Bean has partnered with, Tremor Effect, who get to have a first peek at the collection being shown in limited release on 3/15/10 at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.

Meantime they’ve got a pretty sweet video on the www.llbeansignaturesite.com
that’ll have you coming back for more.

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And you can review it yourself at Prada’s website. or “>here

The set is the most dynamic. Hip indeedy and supported the mood for a 90’s/70’s Ashton Kutcher cum Jude Law look with 3/4 length coats and big buttons, high collars and wide lapels in an edgy beige or black vinyl, pop culture prints, and a beige wool. For a Milanese house though it all had a very British tone mixed with a lot of androgeny.

Kudos on the first live stream. Again, the set was to die for…and at one point, very clear lyrics, in an almost syfy voice, announcing, “time to forget a dead empire and build a living republic, time to forget a dead empire and build a living republic.”

Head’s up fashion industry. Prada speaks.

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A year many of us will glady put behind us, 2009 represents a turning point for business, for the internet, for media, for government, and for how Christmas itself is experienced. With food pantry lines up, unemployment at Depression high levels at the same time banks are recouping and the stock market is bouncing back, there exists one of the greatest disconnects between the haves and have nots on America’s very own shores I’ve ever witnessed, and I’ve lived awhile.

Anyone who has read my blog for the last few years knows I pick a holiday music video that represents the culture of the moment, and this year is no different. For this year I’ve selected Band Aid’s 84 classic “Do they know it’s Christmas Time.” “>Feed the world.

Oh and Merry Christmas….whatever that means for you and your loved ones this year. May 2010 indeed bring about the change we are looking for.

2008’s holiday music video pick here
2007’s holiday music video pick here

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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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To be fair and balanced about what is happening in this economy one has to take a look at what is currently up with the retail behemoth Wal-Mart and David Faber, a CNBC anchor and reporter, has done just that in his special report “The New Age of Wal-Mart” airing several times throughout October.

Preview The New Age of Wal-Mart.

He covers everything from their new site explorations to their growth overseas and plans for growth in the United States and in the process uncovers the issues Wal Mart is facing as they try to continue this massive expansion. It’s not a bed of roses for the king of retailing and one wonders if in their attempt to solve problems if they aren’t creating more.

I give Faber lots of credit in how he covered the story, being very fair to Wal Mart, covering both its pluses and its minuses while allowing us as viewers and consumers and citizens of the United States to determine for ourselves whether or not Wal-Mart actually is a good thing for this country. Its debatable and is debated in every community they try to move into.

One thing I didn’t fully understand until I saw this report, was how instrumental Wal Mart is right now in the passage of a health care reform package. Their employees for the most part can’t afford the health plan Wal Mart has; according to first hand accounts, it’s expensive and not very good so most don’t carry it. Given the sheer number of employees and size of Wal Mart in the world let alone the United States you would think they alone could bring down pricing on insurance…..I mean they supposedly have on product.

Which begs the question, what kind of buying power does it take to create a good insurance plan for your employees? What’s really at issue here when the largest corporation in the world doesn’t or can’t provide decent health benefits for its employees?

For times and listings of show dates, check CNBC’s site here.

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During Milan Fashion Week, as a way to boost the sustainable movement in fashion, Princess Charlotte Casiraghi, 23, daughter of Princess Caroline of Monaco, chose the Cittadellarte Fashion: Bio Ethical Sustainable Trend event to fuse fashion and the sustainable movement by featuring eco fashion as the theme of her and her partners first publication for The EVER Manifesto a publication focusing solely on ecology and sustainability and published only when they feel they have something to say or people to support.

From the New York Times: ‘ “It’s only recently that I’ve questioned the way that I’ve been consuming,” said Ms. Casiraghi, who mentioned as her personal inspirations the environmental activism of her uncle, Prince Albert II, as well as her own stint as guest editor at the eco-slanted Above Magazine. But, she added, “I haven’t been as conscious as I should have been.” ‘

Wow. That’s impressive. First of all that she’s admitted it or is even conscious of it, and secondly she admitted it in public. Well, that’s, um, I’m a little speechless. It’s laudable.

God knows the movement needs some support, especially in fashion, and from a grass roots level. If someone like Princess Casiraghi can be a spokesperson for the younger set to become conscious of anything besides twitter, facebook, youtube, Iphones, Ipods, and video games then I’m all for it!

Did her appearance overshadow the event? Who cares? If these posts get put on twitter, if her interest as a royal in sustaining our earth is highlighted and along with it what appeared at the Cittadellarte in eco fashion then it’s a win win for everyone, but most particulary our great green earth.

Let’s see what follows. Meantime, you can view the eco fashions created for the event at the Cittadellarte from September 23, 2009 through February of 2010. What’s really cool about this, is that the Cittadellarte founded by a Mr. Pistoletto, now 76, has labs dedicated to art, education, politics and ecology. He organized this project because he thought fashion needed an eco boost. (from NYT) “It’s about unifying aesthetics with ethics,” he said. “The mission here is what I call ‘The Third Paradise’ — the unification of technology with nature so that both can coexist in harmony.”

Mr. Pistoletto said sustainability had been a guiding principle for activities at Cittadellarte since its founding. But the topic is still relatively unexplored within Italy’s fashion industry. Eleven different designers were brought into the event to create fabrics, dyes, and garments all ethically and sustainably and of course they confronted the issues that come with the territory.

There are more than a few that come up in production….availability of materials is one because the science just isn’t there….and I hear that, frequently. It is, actually, but demand has yet to be built up enough for the supply to happen, for manufacturers to get behind it, and once that happens lots of things can be discovered and pricing can drop.

So, yes, by all means, enter someone as glamourous as Charlotte Casiraghi and things just might start to happen.

Cittadellarte Fashion

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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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People’s minds and eyes are on the inauguration and the transition. Who am I to buck the tide?

To that end, the music of the day was one of my favorite highlights:

‘Air and Simple Gifts.’ composed by John Williams and performed by Itzhak Perlman on violin, Yo-Yo Ma on cello, Gabriela Montero on piano and Anthony McGill on clarinet.

What a lovely way to begin a new administration.

(P.S. After the fact: the muscians explain how they lip synched so to speak to avoid messing up their instruments. Doesn’t really bother me, so here on Trendbites it will remain a footnote to the events of the day.)

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