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As one of the go-to brands for all things Parisian chic, IRO has steadily raised its profile stateside with its cool line of enviable streetwear and a strategic store rollout (two new L.A. doors will soon join their Soho flagship). And now it's decided to bring its sartorial sensibility to a younger crowd with its first-ever design for kids.
"As we both have children, we always find it fun to bring an adult style to the kids," explained Laurent Bitton, who cofounded and designs the line alongside brother Arik. And since no downtown look is complete without the requisite leather jacket, they've adapted the brand's biker jacket for the (much) younger set. Reworked—and reimagined—each season for women and men, this latest version brings a bit of the Bitton brothers' adult universe to the kids' world, shrinking down the rugged silhouette in soft lambskin leather.
"This is our iconic style, and we love the attitude that it gives to the cool girls and guys," Laurent said of their decision to focus on the unfettered jacket style. IRO has come to rely on cool girls and guys, and now cool kiddos can rock the signature style, too. The moto jacket is available for all types of tykes, boys and girls ages 4 to 14. And for the two designer dads, the jacket is likely just the beginning of what may become a full children's line as soon as next year. "As IRO collections have an androgynous style for women and men, I imagine we are going to develop a mix of looks with denim, T-shirts, sweatshirts, shirts, and leather jackets which define the casual IRO look."
British label Mother of Pearl is getting back to its roots this season by joining London fashion week’s Fall ’14 calendar. Until now, the brand, which was founded by Maia Norman, has quietly presented its collections to press and buyers. And, considering MOP has steadily amassed a high-fashion following (it’s stocked by such luxury retailers as Moda Operandi and Net-a-Porter, as well as on Farfetch.com), that method has served Norman and her creative director, Amy Powney, well. But as their business continues to evolve, the pair wants to expand their audience.
"The brand is growing season after season, and we felt it was time to maintain the support of our current clients and customers whilst using the presentation to introduce the brand to those who are not yet familiar with Mother of Pearl," Powney told cbamd.com. "We are hoping many national and international press and buyers will be able to view the collection up close and in detail for the first time. Simply being on the London schedule will introduce the name to new viewers."
Powney hinted that MOP’s London debut on February 17 will offer "romance paired with clean lines and a hint of sport." That sounds right in step with the artistic prints, playful embellishments, and bold color palettes that have come to define the brand. Norman has strong ties to the art world (it’s worth noting that she’s Damien Hirst’s ex-partner of twenty years), and each season MOP teams up with a contemporary artist to create its prints. Gary Hume, Mat Collishaw, and Jim Lambie are recent collaborators, so we’re anxious to see who’s been tapped this time around.
While most of the celebrity set took a break from the red carpet to celebrate the holidays, a few A-listers stepped out in their sartorial best for both intimate seasonal fetes and special happenings this week. On the holiday-party front, Jessica Chastain attended the Audi Celebrates the Holidays and Snow Polo event in Aspen last Saturday in a long-sleeve black Emilio Pucci frock with lace detailing on the bodice. On Christmas Day, the Duchess of Cambridge paired a small green Gina Foster hat with a blue-and-green tartan coat by her favorite designer, Alexander McQueen, for mass with the royal family in Sandringham, England. The following day, Rose Byrne made a splash in a water-printed Dion Lee Resort'14 dress at a Boxing Day shopping event in Sydney.
With the American awards season nearly here, China hosted its biennial Huabiao Film Awards on Thursday in Beijing, where Ziyi Zhang accepted the best actress trophy in a long black lace gown embellished with brightly colored details from Valentino's Spring'14 runway. On Saturday evening, Beyonce rocked Tom Ford at the release party and screening for her new self-titled album in New York. Her Spring'14 minidress was covered with fractured black mirrors. Naturally, she paired it with matching thigh-high boots. While the album was quietly released without warning, it bowed as Billboard's No. 1 a few days after its debut, proving that anything Queen Bey touches turns to gold—or, in her record's case, platinum.
Didn't get quite what you hoped for this Christmas? Don't fret, just gather up those gift receipts, exchange your unwanted trinkets for cash, and head over to Christie's in Paris. On January 23 (which, it should be noted, is the last day of the Haute Couture shows), the auction house will put 180 items from Elsa Schiaparelli's personal collection under the hammer. The treasures—which include vintage Schiaparelli wares, a totally divine tete-o-tete chaise in pink (what other color would it be?), the legend's 1936 Giacometti floor lamp, and original portraits of the designer—are expected to grab about 700,000 pounds. If you can't make it to Paris for the sale, just tune in to cbamd.com on January 20, when Schiaparelli's newly appointed creative director, Marco Zanini, will present his debut collection for the revived house.
The fashion biz has had quite a year. cIn the final days leading up to 2014, we're counting down Style File's most popular twenty stories of the annum. So sit back, relax, and relive 2013's unforgettable moments. Read through numbers fifteen through eleven, below.
15. Gal Power: Nasty Gal's Sophia Amoruso on Her $100 Million (and Counting) Adventures in E-tail
Nasty Gal's Sophia Amoruso has been a newsmaker this year, to say the least. Shoppers and insiders alike watched in awe as her business took off, and now her multimillion-dollar e-tail platform is set to open a range of brick-and-mortar locations. cbamd.com's Nicole Phelps sat down with the 29-year-old eBayer-turned-CEO in August to talk about her passion for vintage, the New York fashion scene, and the future of Nasty Gal.
14. Delphine Arnault and LVMH Announce the New LVMH Prize for Young Designers
In November, cbamd.com broke the news that mega-luxury group LVMH is launching a 300,000 euro international fashion prize for young designers. cbamd.com's Matthew Schneier spoke with Delphine Arnault about the new initiative.
13. Nick Waplington Talks Alexander McQueen and Working Process
Before his tragic suicide in 2010, Alexander McQueen asked photographer Nick Waplington to document the creation of his fifteenth anniversary collection, the Horn of Plenty. Waplington was one of the only people outside of McQueen's studio allowed to observe the designer's creative process, and his new book, Alexander McQueen: Working Process, provides an unprecedented look at the creative genius in action. cbamd.com's Katharine K. Zarrella spoke with the photographer about the tome, what it was like to work with McQueen, and why the designer was so keen on preserving his legacy.
12. Alaia Walks the Dotted Line
Whenever Azzedine Alaïa holds a fashion show, it's a special treat. In March—well after the ready-to-wear collections had wrapped—the legendary designer quietly presented his polka-dotted Fall '13 offering at his Paris studio. cbamd.com had a front-row seat.
11. A Man's World: Nick Wooster Talks Pitti
At Pitti Uomo this past June, tattooed dandy and menswear insider Nick Wooster spoke to cbamd.com about the evolution of the Florentine fair, his favorite new talents, and why he's a "Disneyland attraction."
The fashion biz has had quite a year. 2013 was jam-packed with major designer shakeups, groundbreaking ad campaigns, celebrity collaborations, and pop star performance wardrobes filled with custom-made designer duds. In the final days leading up to 2014, we're counting down Style File's most popular twenty stories of the annum. So sit back, relax, and relive 2013's unforgettable moments. Let's kick things off with numbers twenty through sixteen, below.
Talk about dichotomy: Vivienne Westwood, she of SEX and naked cowboys T-shirt fame, has designed a collection of romantic costumes for the Vienna State Ballet that will be worn by dancers during a New Year's concert on Wednesday. Despite her punk past, the Dame has, of course, proven her adeptness in creating lavish, impeccably draped feminine frocks and gowns, and the dancers' silk and tulle wares are of this school. In fact, one costume is a riff on a look from Westwood's Spring '14 collection. But it's not all prim and proper attire—according to WWD, Westwood has put some of the dancers in her famed tartan kilts and bustiers. As the old saying goes, you can take the designer out of 430 Kings Road…
There's really never been a better time to be a model. Many will argue with me that the pinnacle of the profession was the glory days of Naomi, Christy, Linda, and Cindy. But they never had social media. In 2013, we witnessed the rise of a new class of supers who have since become household names. Cheeky Brit Cara Delevingne has amassed over 3.5 million followers on Instagram and is trailed by paparazzi everywhere she goes. Last week, Joan Smalls, Jourdan Dunn, and Chanel Iman became pop stars in their own right with the release of Beyonce's "Yonce" music video, in which they dance like divas alongside Queen B. Hell, they're even reclaiming the covers of fashion magazines.
This year, I was also thrilled to see a few of my favorite catwalk veterans make comebacks. Naomi herself had jaws on the floor when she opened and closed the Atelier Versace show—looking fiercer than ever—back in July. After a couple of years off the runways, Catherine McNeil walked in forty-two Fall shows (she's kept the momentum going with a profusion of ad campaigns and editorials, in addition to an impressive Spring season), and Daria Werbowy had a cameo at Balenciaga. Who doesn't love @dotwillow? As for the hottest newcomer? That prize goes to Edie Campbell, who was crowned Model of the Year earlier this month at the British Fashion Awards.
Here, a year's worth of model high points.
Virgil Abloh's career to date has conspired to put him in the periphery of the spotlight. As one of the creative directors who works with Kanye West, the Chicago-raised designer plays a key role in creating tour merchandise, pop-up stores, and West's shows. He collaborates on graphics for the cult streetwear label Hood by Air. And last year, on 12/12/12, he launched Pyrex Vision, an ultra-limited line of logo-fied T-shirts and shorts that sold out nearly immediately at every store they arrived at, from Colette, in Paris, to VFiles, in New York. Abloh's name is well-known to a few overlapping groups of hip-hop and streetwear obsessives—he is part of the Been Trill collective, with Matthew Williams and Heron Preston, as well as part of Donda, the creative arm of West's entourage and enterprise—but he's eluded wider recognition. That is, potentially, until now.
Abloh is preparing to launch Off-White, a streetwear-meets-fashion line that builds on, and expands upon, Pyrex Vision. Pyrex Vision was comprised of third-party merchandise, such as Champion T-shirts, screen-printed with Abloh-designed graphics; Off-White will be a full cut-and-sew line, made in Italy. "Streetwear has a one-trick-ponyness to it," Abloh says. "I want to give my point of view and merge street sensibilities in a proper fashion context. I think that if I can merge the two, it'll make something interesting."
The first collection, for Spring, is largely based on Abloh's graphics: a motif of parallel lines, crossing over a "WHITE 13" logo. (On the name, he says only: "It's just a bucket for me to put my thoughts into." The graphic element was inspired by the geometric lines of Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House near Chicago, an inspiration point for the entire collection. Abloh trained as an engineer and an architect before coming to West and, by extension, to fashion.) There are jeans and chinos in unbleached canvas, cut wide through the thigh and skinny in the leg; inflated A-line flannels; and perforated mesh shorts. The clothes have a broken-in, occasionally pulverized look, a far cry from the pristine crispness that's often prized in streetwear. "It's not so much about brand-new. It's about the washed nature of clothes, the relaxedness. That's what I love, to bring a Ralph [Lauren] take back into streetwear. Streetwear is generally brand-new. It's fresh out of the box, you wear it once, it becomes trendy, then you get rid of it." The inspirations he rhapsodizes over are not necessarily predictable ones. "I have this deep infatuation with Montauk and Martha Stewart and Nantucket," he says. "My parents are from Ghana, and I grew up in Chicago, but for some reason, this lifestyle, shabby chic—it's grown [on me] since I got older." The Off-White bag is an updated beach bag; the one shoe made to date is a mesh espadrille. "Outside of the sneaker conversation, I think, is much more interesting," he says. "No one in the hood is wearing espadrilles." Continue Reading "Exclusive: Kanye West's Creative Consigliere Virgil Abloh Launches His Own Fashion Label, Off-White"
Our shopping is just about finished, and cravings for eggnog and gingerbread men are setting in. The holidays are fast approaching, and not unlike this furry fellow (who's got some enviable travel gear, we might add), our bags are packed and we're heading home to toast the season with our kin. We'll be back bright and early on Thursday morning, but should you find yourself jonesing for a dose of sartorial cheer, it's never too early to start planning your New Year's look. Happy holidays to all!
