Custo Barcelona Fall/Winter 2012-13

I was very excited to be again the Custo Barcelona show today with backstage access. I call Custo's fashion style crazy, funky and couragous. He is definitely a very inventive and artistic designer. Not a single piece in his collection is 'plain vanilla'.

 

This collection called 'Rawvision' is a homage to Visionaires and the pioneers of creativity. As already seen in the Lacoste show oversized coats which create a cocoon shape. The colors are symbols, white - purity, red-love, green-nature, brown-earth and black-unity. Jackets and coats were made of wild wools and raw cuts.

I loved the shorts for women with suspenders, giving the boyish look. Kind of sexy. I will definitely get myself suspenders.

As always, I loved the show.

Lacoste Fall/Winter 2012-13

My first show for New York Fashion Week was Lacoste today. I was actually followed by a film team to promote my styling business on German TV with a special edition on my banker clients.

We started with the Lacoste show in the morning to get some ideas for my client Mark who likes to ski in Aspen. And as Felipe Oliveira Baptista, Lacoste's artistic director, was inspired by the 1966 France's national ski team, I thought this was a right fit for Mark's needs. The result was an inspired cutting-edge sportswear wardrobe with a distinctly urban feel. And the setup of the runway made you feel like being in the Alpes.

Alpine sweaters made from merino wool, large egg-like parkas for the men and for women dresses and shirts with sleeves split right up to the shoulder , creating the illusion of a cardigan draped across the shoulders which caught most of my attention and affection. Besides this women were wearing dresses where rugby meets ski-suit, tightly fitted like a second skin or a red dress like out of the series of Star Trek.

In terms of colors Baptista relies on a neutral palette: blues, winter whites and pearl greys vary in intensity and tone; while energy is transmitted through the vibrant remix of an old-school French classic: blue, white and red.

Lacoste is definitely a good choice for my banking clients who are more on the conservative side in terms of fashion but classy and elegant. Lacoste is a mix of elegant and sporty and a perfect match for this kind of clientele.

                                    backstage

Pictures by Lacoste

Lacoste presented various dresses and tops with the open sleeve arms. It gives a chic look to the style.

This dress reminded me of Star Trek, don't you think so? Kind of cool though.

Art of Fashion VIP Event by Sarar

Hello my dear readers. I have been taken off a little bit after the stressful time during fashion week and here we are and it is almost Christmas. Wow. Time passes by so fast. Anyways. I still have been very active, of course.
My friend Tunch had a fashion show and asked me to style the models again. This time it was a VIP event combined with art by Latin artists. Great paintings in a beautiful setting on the Westside of the city. He collaborated already before with the "Art of Americas" organization for his opening party of the new Sarar store in Little Falls, New Jersey in November. By the way, you should go and check it out, much bigger than the one in the city.



A lot of Turkish press was present and very interesting people from the worlds of art and fashion. What a great combination.



Sarar presented its fall/winter collection which includes the nice fitted suits that I love so much about Sarar and some casual oxford style outfits for the weekend. A hot smoking at the end for your New Year's Eve gala and and and. Check the pictures yourself.

 It was a great night and I cannot wait for their next event.

Happy Holidays to all of you and a happy and stylish new year 2012!!!!

(pictures by Delfino Cortes Photography and Ebru DOĞAN)

My interview with TV presenter and fashion journalist Louise Roe

Today is Friday and I am scheduled to have a phoner with Louise Roe, TV presenter, celebrity stylist, fashion journalist, designer and and and. Her resume does not end. What an amazing journey she has had yet with only being 29. Very impressive and congratulations and respect from my side.

I dial Louise's number and a very friendly and smiling (I could hear the smile) voice answers "Yes, this is Louise". In between her busy schedule with attending a lot of shows during fashion week in New York and the filming of her TV show "Plain Jane" she still made the time to answer a couple of my questions. I felt honored. So I did not want to waiste any of her valuable time and got straight to my interview:

1. When did your interest for fashion develop and when did you decide to work in this industry?
Hmmm....I always wanted to be a writer so I went to, my dad is actually a travel journalist, and I went to university and studied English Literature. And then when I came out as junior I went straight into an internship at Elle magazine.....cause as you know I knew in such a fun job you have to spend a while...you know....training and all that. So, that's what I did and worked for the magazine and loved fashion from the gecko. 

2. How did you get to your current status of career and how did it start?
Well, I was actually off to go on TV one morning in the UK on the news as one of the editors was too nervous to do so she said: you do it and I did and I loved it. I enjoyed it so much. More offers came from then, luckyly I got a call from the producer that day and then one thing let to another and I ended up having a show in the UK and then I moved to America to do a show.

3. What do you recommend newcomers in this industry, e. g. a stylist, to become successful and popular?
Don't give up, it is a tough industry. Keep in touch with everybody that you work with, that's really important, to keep people's names and addresses. You wanna be in peoples mind when a gig comes up and then just be creative like writing a blog or setting up your own photoshoot at home with a friend. I think that people in magazines and fashion now want to see a little bit of that initiative.

4. What shows did you attend during fashion week and which one was your favorite?
Oh wow, I attended a lot of shows. I think Marchesa was my favorite. It was sooo historical, it was like a fairytale. And Tibi was beautiful, really clean and modern and bright. DVF was great, too. The bermuda shorts were with it.

5. What did you think of all the colors, there were lots of colors this year?
Lots of color and I don't remember to have seen that has more bright, really skinny powerful palettes and trends.

6. How did you choose your outfits for these shows and did you do your own styling?
I did choose them, I always choose my own, I think that's part of my job. I'm lucky enough to be lend a lot of clothes from the designers (and out of respect to the designers you wear their outfits). So for Tibi for example, I wore a high waisted red leather pencil skirt which I thought was so out there and awesome. (She apologizes to me for all the noise because she is in a vehicle. Sweet. That's also why I might have missed some parts here and there). I did wanted to mix up different colors and textures and ....hmmm. I think fashion week is always the time to really experiment and try really crazy trends which my boyfriend would probably hate if I wore them at home....(we both laugh)....
7. So how would you describe your own style if it's not fashion week?
I think it's quite 90s / 70s with bright color. You know, I like to play with silhouettes, so if you gonna do volume on the top then the button half is skinny.....you know....I like to sort of balance it out. And always a really high heel (Oh yes, I totally agree, the heel is a MUST).

8. Who is your fashion idol?
I think Lauren Hutton in the 1970s.  

9. What was your drive to launch your own collection?
I always always always wanted to but never really had the platform to do it so once I had been able to be introduced to the people who might be interested in doing a collection with you. I always had the idea for years to do a collection based around shape and flattering body shape, no matter how tall, thin....you know....curvy you are. You have a go-to-address and the idea to be quite 70s save because I love those colors...hmmm...and yeah....it's looking great. 

10. With the launch of your own collection do you anticipate to participate at New York fashion week next year?
Wow, that would be a dream-come-true....that would be a dream come true. That would be amazing.
11. With all the different jobs you have, stylist, TV host, writer, designer, etc. what is your favorite position?
TV host (in a very certain voice). I love the TV hosting the most. And now I even get to sell my own line on TV and can actually talk about it on TV.

12. Which celebrity would you like to style?
With the TV show going on I am not really styling anymore but I would love to style Angelina Jolie. She always looks great on the red carpet with a vampy leather look but in her private life she could do much more besides wearing black. (I agreed as she is such a beautiful woman, she would look great in almost everything).

13. My last question to Louise was: What is your favorite color to wear?
Ohhh, red or purple. Red........

It was such a pleasure to talk to Louise, she is so friendly and open and easy to talk to. I am wishing her a lot of luck and success with her line which launched last Friday, September 16 and hope to talk to her soon again, hopefully on fashion week commenting on her own runway show.

Sarar Fashion Show

My friend Tunch, Executive Vice President of Sarar, asked me if I could help out at his fashion show as a stylist which of course I did. The show was held at Hudson Terrace. It was a beautiful day and they opened the roof so we could actually see the sky and had a nice breeze coming in.


Models, Hair and Make-up artists started to roll in at 6.30pm and the action began. The girls needed to get their hair and make-up done while the guys were just waiting. It was pretty hot down there so most of them were going topless. Hmmmm, what an eye-candy. I didn't complain. In fact, I had to pose with them like that :).

 



Topmodel and face of Sarar for 30 years, Joe Kloenne, was visiting New York from Miami so we hired him for the runway. I was so happy to see him after him in Miami in July on my vacation. He is such a handsome man.



Working and organizing a fashion show can be very stressful. The setup of runway had to be discussed and organized, the order of models, and and and but we managed. By 9pm the place was packed with press and people waiting for the show to begin.


The models were looking gorgeous, all of them and the collection of course, very European style with fitted suits for men and nice accessories like ties, gloves, hats and scarfs. I like it when men accessorize themselves. Who said that only women can do that? Loved it. The special touch on the female models was that we styled them with ties either worn as actual ties or even like a scarf loose around the neck. This gave it a cool look on the otherwise very classy and chic dresses. Colors here were a lot of dark purple, black & white and some green. Sarar is a great brand if you work in the corporate world and don't want to look too boring. The big finale was when Joe Kloenne ran the runway and everybody was clapping and cheering. Even though already more mature for a model he still has IT. Don't you agree ladies?



The show was a total success. Everybody liked it and we got a lot of press exposure, especially in the Turkish press. Loved working with Sarar and can't wait for the next show.

Saturday - NY Fashion Week

For me the second day of fashion week with a scheduled show from PLITZS at 7pm. I decided to meet up with my friends Kerri and Georgi before at Moma PS1 as it was the last day they had their 'Warm-up' event before the saison ends and I just love that place. Not only the music is always great but also the crowd. You can say it's a fashion show on its own. People there are beautiful, a little crazy sometimes and creative in their outfits. I loved one guy's outfit, pink pants with pink shirt. Well, I would probably not recommend it to any of my clients but it looked great on him.

Always fun and interesting at that place!



Anyway, it was time for me to leave to attend PLITZS' fashion show at 7pm in the city. My outfit during the day of course was different from the one I wanted to wear to the show so I needed to find a place to change which usually shouldn't have been a problem but I had no time to loose. I went into my car and started changing clothes while driving or whenever there was a red light and I stopped. Not so easy, let me tell you, but I managed and even without anybody seeing what I was doing, at least, that's what I thought.

Finding a parking spot on that street was like a miracle and I was so happy. I rushed to the entrance and saw this guy with at least 10 inches of blue hair standing up in his punk hairstyle. I guess, I am right here. But entering the building was not as much fun. It was such a tiny stairwell that you can barely pass one person and let me tell you, it was PACKED and hot like hell, no air conditioning. No, no way I am waiting here. I had the excuse that I am Media/Press and pushed my way through two stories up. Puhhhh. Upstairs at least you could breathe and I took my seat. The designers were all newcomers and beginners trying to fight their way into the world of fashion or how you could call it too, this tank full of sharks. Not easy, so I can only imagine how nervous they were backstage. Unfortunately, the technical setup was not finished yet so I spent one hour waiting for the show to start, so what was I rushing for again?

The show started with newcomer SofistaFunk and without having big expectations I was pleasantly surprised. She had some really intersting designs for the girls. Men were more on the 'normal' side with sweaters and pants. But also the girls wore a lot sweaters buttomed up in the back, puffy skirts and dresses, high waist pants and skirts again and mostly black and white as colors. It was not really a 'ready-to-wear' line but definitely creative. Good job.

With Avril Lemieux's "Alicat" line I felt like I am watching demons and the music from the movie "The 5th Element" matched very well. Wow, some really couragous outfits and some that are actually possible to be worn on the street with necklace like chains on the back of the dresses. Men were walking topless, nice to look at for the ladies and some models wore a piece of jewelry that I hadn't seen before. It was a chain going around the ears going toward the mouth which actually reminded me of these outside wearing bracelets. Hmmm, didn't like that so much but I appreciated the creativity.



Next up was Donnastella Designs which was not bad. Very colorful with yellow combined with silver, royal blue and green. Her designs ranged from classy to very sexy. My favorite piece was the silk-like fabric green-white Overall.



This was definitely a good start for a newcomer designer and I wish all of them good luck for their future.