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.

Tibi at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week

Today, I visited the Tibi fashion show at Lincoln Center. Wow, this show was crowded. Front row seats were taken by Olivia Palermo, Sophia Bush, Emma Roberts, Louise Roe and many others. It was again at "Stage" where also Custo had his show but this time seats were added in the middle and made it a U-shaped runway. I had a great seat where I could actually peak into backstage where the models lined up and waited for their turn. Perfect.

With some energetic music by Javier Peral the show started off with a combination of pastel yellow long wide-leg pants and white blouse. Pastels, whites and light colors ruled the line but not solely. Tibi showed a lot of suit type combinations with pants in different variations like short, long skinny & wide.

Dresses had mid-lower-leg-length in a flowing chiffon/silk fabric.

One of my favorite pieces was the green strapless overall with wide legs. With this silky material it looked like the model was floating over the runway. Beautiful. Green is definitely playing a major role for the season.

When Amy Smilovic, designer and founder of Tibi, came out at the end of the show she ran straight to her two sons that were sitting front row to hug and kiss them. How sweet. They can be very proud of mommy!

Fotini

Canadian designer Fotini with Greek and Egyptian roots fulfilled her lifelong dream to introduce her collection of ultra-feminine clothes for the first time at New York fashion week at the luxurious penthouse of Gramercy Park Hotel. Living the life of society dinners and cruises gave her the inspiration to design these beautiful gowns with austerity of a silk column, minky-hued chiffon and tulle making them look so romantic and seductive. But also young and sensual designs like sleek cigarette pants, a silk dress and a classic jersey dress with delicate lace are part of her collection.

The models' set up reminded me of an antique baroque painting. Each in their own position either standing up, sitting or laying on a sofachair. This is a perfect set up for a magazine or catalogue.

Fotini in purple dress

Fotini describes her clothes as perfect for the red carpet, the hotel suite and dance floor as we women are all "part angel and devil". How true!



Erik Hart's "Factory" Fashion Show

Erik Hart's "Factory" collection was presented at the Standard hotel in Meatpacking District. It was a quick in and out in a small loft-like room with a L-shaped runway. Erik's line was majorly jersey fabric asymetric dresses long and short in black white and some pastel color and 3 out of the norm pink dresses. Very basic and therefore very good to actually wear on the streets. As also seen in Custo's and some other shows the hairstyle was wetlook loose hair.

Pictures of Custo's Runway

Pictures taken by Custo FB

Custo Barcelona - "Tripolar"

After Yigal's show in MPD I headed over to Lincoln Center to see Custo Barcelona's "Tripolar" collection. When I came to the backstage entrance, Diane von Fuerstenberg was just leaving from her show. She looked fabulous. I admire her fashion style. A lovely lady called Petra who is Custo's German PR agent got me in backstage which was an amazing experience. Backstage you really get that fashion-fast paced-stressful-behind the scenes-feeling of fashion week.With one third of area beeing occupied by make-up artist, the second third with hairstylists and third part with the dressing room where I met Custo. He was so calm that you could totally have forgotten that he has a big show going on in only 60 minutes. I asked him for a picture which he agreed to immediately and as I was by myself he asked his assistant to take it. How nice. Thanks.

Custo & Me Backstage

Model Andrej Pejic

It was very exciting for me to see all the action in the background. Every model had its own clothing assigned to them with pictures of the outfit. I talked to a bunch of German media people and met second contestant from Germany's Next Topmodel, Rebecca Mir. Very sweet girl.

After an hour of observing the backstage vibe with celebrities like Ashley Tisdale showing up, I took my place for runway show. I have seen the outfits before but they look so much better on the models which walked fast paced to some vibrant music. The line name "Tripolar" results out of three ascending groups, each with its own unique theme, creating triple personality. The first group 'Dual' offered androgynous casual looks for both women and men, dominated by contemporary graphics. 'Kaleidoscopio' as the second group featured patchwork fabrics (typical for Custo), assembled to create a geometrical universe inspired by the kaleidoscope. And as final group 'Mirame' featuring evening wear. These pieces are created with 3-D technology seen on long and short dresses, shorts, tops and swimwear. So 3-D made it from the movie world into the fashion world. Who would have thought that?

 

Following pictures taken by Custo FB

Loved the show, loved Custo, loved everything. Great finale for my Sunday at Fashion Week.