Adam Resort 2011

ADAM by Adam Lippes' Resort 2011 collection is a group of interesting pieces. They're at best luxurious sportswear to be mixed into your wardrobe . They undoubtedly will beef up what one already has, if not get ones wardrobe started on the right note. He has a great eye and obviously discerning taste. Clearly, he knows the difference between good and great. I liked his Fall collection very much. There was so much that was unique and directional, even if there were hints of Phoebe Philo and Jil Sander, the references were excellent . The quality of his work was totally apparent and made me think that this collection was headed for the attention of important press and buyers. It helps that he has a beautiful shop downtown that presents his view in a complete way. It's always a pity when retailers cherry pick from collections giving the consumer a skewed vision of what it's about.
Where I saw so much that was great in Fall, this Resort was surprisingly tame. Perhaps he just felt that it wasn't a season to put a big effort into, but it seemed surprisingly devoid of must have looks. I like the leather shorts along with a great inky blue sweater with bold horizontal lines. The trench is smart as is a languid long dress in cream; very urban/beachy and something perfect to throw on with little fanfare or prep. My favorite piece is a strapless column in red silk crepe with a single deep pleat running down one side of the front. It reminds me so much of another column that I saw a couple of years ago, but for the life of me I can't remember who made it. That's not important as so much in fashion is drawn from the same well. It's the way a designer chooses to express the idea that matters and I like this interpretation. I look forward to spring to see what he has planned. I do hope that he pushes the envelope a bit more than this collection, or pushes the creative force behind the label.

The Report Card: Bill Blass

I know I have become predictable when certain names come up but I honestly look at collections before I pass judgment. It's not that I see myself as judge and jury and every collection lives or dies at the whim of my hands. I'll admit a degree of sadistic pleasure I take in watching the parade pass when a clown or trapeze artist is near the back on a stretcher or in some cases in a body cast, but I watch nevertheless, wishing them all well. I even look forward to when they roll back into town. I admit that I count the trailers and tents to see if everyone survived the run of the show. So before I start in on my opinions of Jeffrey Monteiro's first BlassResort collection and grade the cleverness or stupidity of the principals behind the brand, Scott Patti and a cadre of nameless others, I prayed that my premonition would be proven baseless. I'm willing to eat humble pie, no matter how much it makes me choke. I was reminded by way of a request that I should suss out the great talent that exists within the industry and not focus so much on the big names who are so well known to everyone. So with that in mind, I'm taking it alphabetically from the top, Adam should be first and will be included, but this collection stood out from the crowd and gets my attention first. You all can decide for yourselves as I will link you to the complete collection for your own edification.

This collection could not have been an easy one for Monteiro and the people at Blass. The owner, Scott Patti probably had more to lose or gain than his new designer. So many designers have slid between the jaws of this hungry beast only to be ejected from one end or another. Patti had to have approached the market place and press with a certain degree of trepidation. If he didn't, he should have. From the first exit to the last with maybe one or two dresses and a pair of shoes, this Resort 2011 collection of 23 looks was about 2o too many. I looked on in amazement that so little could come from someone posing as a designer and an owner pretending to be in charge.

The dresses were as tentative as a freshman's first muslin in design school. All the usual attempts at artfulness and invention went into this rancid stew with a couple of exceptions. The palette, fabrics and silhouettes were so pedestrian and below the level of what a house like Blass demands, I thought of a teacher I had in elementary school who gave me a P- in math: passing but below grade level. She put a note next to the grade stating that she didn't flunk me solely because she knew I could do better if I chose to. Maybe he could apply himself but if the ruler were in my hands I'd hold him back a year and make him go to summer school.

There was a lovely halter dress, all shirred at the neck in an abstract print (I love bold abstract prints) that had something. There was also a tweedy colored t-shirt of sequins that was also cute and throw away that looked great except for the flesh colored briefs he put with it, which made the model look as though she was wearing panties. That didn't make sense in the house that Blass built. The feeling at this point of the presentation was, the game is reaching the mid point and not one serve has gone in. Still, I sat there wondering if it was a gentle warm up to some heavy artillery to follow.

The first dress like the bodies of most of the shifts were long, lean, devoid of detail beyond elementary princess darts or an asymmetric zipper running up the front, all sleeveless and each forgettable, except for a brush stroke print here or a sandy color cotton something there. It was just like the sophomore class of Virginia Commonwealth University jury show: immature, valiant efforts to find a design voice but with a lot of too much and even more not enough.From a sophomore, that's a good sign, it means they're thinking, but from a professional it means they're thoughtless. That's what I thought looking at wooden jackets that should have been tailored to perfection, no matter the shape or detail. The bodies were generic as were the fabric choices. A Blass customer does not want a cheesy silk/cotton irridescent shantung that looks decidedly ethnic and about 6-10 bucks a yard from a storefront on 37th st between 7th and 8th Ave. , closer to 8th. The fabrics were lifeless, including the pleated and draped lame' chiffon which had been hard pressed and steamed sucking the life out of them. At this point I started to wonder who actually made the samples. The patterns were clearly Butterick or Vogue patterns , but the sewing was even worse except for the 2 or 3 knitted tube tops, bandeaus and panties. All else had been made by sewers in some kind of remedial training program. The lame' numbers at the end of this thankfully brief parade were as metaphorically mixed as all that came before. I didn't expect a gown and am grateful that he didn't attempt one, but the pieces that passed as cocktail were vague and unresolved. The styling of the show was as bereft of attention and funds as the collection itself. I had the impression that they couldn't afford interns (they are normally unpaid) or the services of even the most inexpensive,rookie stylist. The choice of shoes, a lack of any accessories that could have gone a long way to liven up this still born cluster of outfits was all sadly missing. Maybe I over exaggerate but I don't think so.It was as though he skipped the homework and walked into the final exam deciding to wing it. We did that in college sometimes after a night of pitchers of beer and too many bong hits. The last time I tried that stunt was the final for Classical Mythology which I basically skipped the whole term. Writing my name on the cover of the blue book was a challenge, but the real wake up call when I read the first question and then the rest of them and knew I couldn't possibly answer any of them. This time no P- for me, but a nice big F.

I think that showing a Spring collection at Lincoln Center in September is unwise. There is no focus or message here. It may be well intentioned, but so is hell. Scott Patti should take a long hard look at the picture, no matter how sketchy and dim it is. This made Halston look like Haute Couture. He should stick to private label men's shirts or whatever they do over there. He should have given someone like Charles Chang Lima the job. Hell, I'd do it for free for a season or two, just to show him that it can be done. This road he's on will only take him to a very dark and unwelcoming place. Look for yourselves and tell me I'm wrong. With this one out of the way, now onto some collections with life and excitement, at least some hope.

"Portrait of the Addict as a Young Man" A memoir by Bill Clegg

I was going to start in on a Resort Collection I've been thinking about but have decided to hold off for the moment. Feel like talking books? I do, so let's talk.

There's a new one hot off the presses that was published a couple of days ago, or maybe it was yesterday. I'd been reading about it in the New Yorker, The New York Observer and Vogue, no less. So I finished the one I was in and jumped on it by way of my Kindle. I'm not a huge Kindle fan, but when you need a book at 10 p.m., most book stores are closed and I can't sleep without a book to tuck me in. You'd think after Proust's "Guermantes Way"(10,000 pages and it's all one sentence) I'd essentially be all f***** out in the reading department, but I needed more, just like the author Bill Clegg needed more crack , the subject of this harrowing hell ride. With a certain degree of trepidation I ordered it and 60 seconds later, like the perfect dealer who makes house calls at odd hours, the book was loaded onto my screen.

This memoir is as much a dark passage as it is the ultimate cautionary tale. What does it have to do with fashion? What does it have to do with lives more conventionally lived? I think it has an awful lot to do with both. It's all over the place, but mostly it's that deep seated fear so many of us live with that manifests itself in all sorts of forms of acting out. Fashion in particular and the creative Arts in general is infested with people with junkie mind sets. The drugs of choice are attention, outrageous behavior, booze, sex, drugs, wealth, notoriety, self aggrandizement, workaholism and just unsatisfied lives and unhealthy living. Those life extinguishing patterns are common with so many people beyond the confines of fashion. They bleed into all forms of the Arts, Finance, Education, Government and home life. So it's everywhere.

Clegg takes us on a journey in this blessedly slim novel, whose signposts are dizzying numbers of glamorous hotels he uses as crack dens, dealers who deliver thousands of dollars worth of the drug as often as most of us have a coffee, take showers or just breathe.We're introduced to hustlers, derelicts and just plain unsavory folks (they're just the white-collar cast) and that's before we get glimpses of the truly down and out. His writing style is spare but also the equivalent of a blunt object wielding fiend who doesn't quit swinging until long after the victim is nothing more than over tenderized meat. I was so uncomfortable and anxious I hardly took a deep breath in the 5 hours it took to get through it along with 2 shower breaks and three cups of calming tea, not to mention about a half a pack of cigarettes. One thing I was clear on was I didn't want today to start with another page. This book needed to be finished in one sitting.

His story brought to mind the price so many people pay for self destructive behavior. Drinking too much and smoking are awful for ones health, both mental and physical. Crack addiction along with a few other choice drugs is a someone just begging to be mowed down by an oncoming 18 wheeler. I was reminded of the time I decided I needed to stop drinking, or else. Like Bill Clegg so many of us come to these habits and addictions as kids. What was experimentation, naughty and incredibly fun, can too easily develop into a way of life. High School, College, then Adulthood in the big or small city does little to break those patterns. He was a product of some messy family dynamics, like many of us, overly sensitive and creative, like so many more of us and fell into a cozy ditch he took along with him into adulthood, like most people I know, in one form or another. The difference being he embraced this free fall like a gibbon embraces anything he can get those frighteningly long arms around. I won't spoil it by telling you too much, but I do recommend you take a look at this book. Though I never had experiences that came close to his, I still felt like a passenger in his car as he drove at break neck speed with both hands on his pipe and not on the wheel...forget looking at the road.

It took me back to the insanity of collection time and the pressures I was under to get the work done, to succeed and not fail, to support a staff, maintain and improve my reputation and find value and self esteem through other people's opinions of my worth. If that isn't a recipe for a melt down I don't know what is. I would venture to say that many in this field live the same sort of hollow, "chasing the dragon" sort of existence that does nothing short of grinding one down slowly or quickly.

I don't know what I was expecting to find in this book. Maybe titillation or an opportunity to say to myself that thank god it's not me, instead, some blonde, blue-eyed, good old boy, A-Gay, Icarus type whose flight to the sun scorched his wings, crack pipe, ATM card and reputation all in one fell swoop. What I found was a story that I could relate to, that made me terrifically anxious and uncomfortable. I found myself looking at how we all go from day to day and the mistakes we make that can be fatal in figurative and literal ways. I found that I don't want that sort of high wire life where it's all or nothing.

Eric Wilson is a Man for all Seasons.

Eric Wilson is a man for all seasons, not just resort, pre-spring, spring, pre-fall and fall, but all the time. I enjoy his dry, droll humor and microscopic/telescopic eye for the finer points of this business. I'm sure that this "business" is often tight sneakers for him. He's surely itchy for subjects and events that resonate beyond Madison Ave, the Via Corso or Place de Victoire. Nevertheless, I enjoy his wry take on whatever is stumbling down the runway.
Some of you will surely think that I write this because of the "outing" he gave me in the Times almost a year ago. He did me an unplanned-for honor by that piece, but I had no idea what would come from it. My life did change and that change has not necessarily been a walk in the park. Having said that, let me continue.
I'm inclined to focus on him after reading his story the other day in the New York Times about the CFDA Awards and its shift in focus from the seasoned designers and brands towards the teeny boppers who have edged closer to center stage. Its not a put down, but the unnatural cycle of things in these turbo charged times we find ourselves living in. How else can you explain the ascent of an Alexander Wang, Jason Wu or any number of relatively new companies that have risen to the top. His description of the CFDA journal reminding him of Tiger Beat magazine was so spot on. I remember that magazine so clearly. It is a mirror image of the heart throb designers who are the rising stars. Never before (not since the 80's and 90's) have there been such a force of posing, pouty faces that shift the focus from the work to their photogenics: think Jack Lazarro.

There was a time when we were inundated with pretty boys like David Cameron, Christian Francis Roth, Victor Alfaro and Angel Estrada, just to name a few. They burned bright and flamed out. They were talented each in his own way and worked hard. Now there are crowds of attractive young men who also have talent and work hard, but seem to divide their time equally with the marketing of their faces as well as their collections, I guess that's the definition of branding. It never seemed more like a beauty contest as it does lately. Eric Wilson seems to be blind to the hype in fundamental ways that some older veteran editors are not. Fawning, uncritical editors,well past retirement age are annoying and start to look like junior reporters for Fashionista.com.
He never gushes , even when he likes something. He also never slashes when he doesn't , though he makes it plain and clear when something or someone has performed poorly. I love the subtlety of his message and always learn something from him. Sure, there are times when I wonder why he's not swept up in rapture over a collection that flips me out but I find myself learning more from him and appreciating his analysis that much more when he's cool and not hot. He's a master of metaphor an the quietly uttered reality check. As a rookie blogger who tries to dig just a little deeper, I hope to be thoughtful in sharing my views, kinda like Eric. He's many things to many people, but thoughtful is the quality that I think most would have to attribute to him. I know some who find him remote, even a bit icy, but I think he walks that tightrope much like the Frenchman whose danced his way between the Twin Towers so long ago. So even if this job is old hat or an exciting treasure hunt for him, he's an adept journalist and one I enjoy.

And the winner is.......

I was feelin' lucky tonight . I was sure I'd won the Trifecta, but Jason Wu slithered past the 2 horses on the outside, the Mighty Gurung and Altuzarra to inch ahead by a nose. Well, there's nothing more prestigious than that coveted award and I applaud any fortunate soul to be awarded one. Perhaps the only thing more exciting than winning one is perhaps winning 3 or 5, but seriously, Bravo to all who were awarded. This business is about 90% hard work ,5% glamor/perks and the other 5% you're asleep. Anyone lucky to be nominated is batting a 1000.

Tom Ford probably reached his quota(5 awards) which was good for Rag and Bone who took home best Menswear. Marc Jacobs, who thanked Bloggers and his partner in the biz, Patrick Duffy, won for best Womenswear, which I predicted along with Alexander Wang's win for the Swarovski top award for Accessories. It just goes to show you that ugly has taken a front row seat to pretty. I heard that Pretty was turned away at the door...something about not being on the Guest list. But that's not a surprise either, considering Desiree Rogers was temping as the Hostess checking in guests tonight. A big deal was made over Wi-Fi being provided for bloggers and twitterers to broadcast throughout the evening's proceedings. My question is Who in the Blogging world was invited? I'm transmitting from my ultra exclusive front row seat in the VIP section of my living room in Brooklyn Heights with Housewives of New Jersey on, just to keep me honest!

Sure enough, Fashionista, committed the unspeakable by referring to Alexander McQueen as "Lee". That brand of presumption is in such poor taste and beyond the limits of decorum. Again, I'm not surprised. They banned me from commenting on their blog. Their brand of familiarity is contemptible. The pics of the guests will flood the Internet any minute. SJParker passed on her shopworn Halston for a shot at a couture McQueen designed by the new creative director, Sarah Burton. There was a presentation on stage of his last works when his Special Tribute Award was announced. That was probably the most powerful moment of the evening.

I hope your favorites won and for those who didn't , it's fantastic to be in such rare and glamorous company just being nominated. Now, back to the publicity machine, I mean the sewing machine.....

It's Awards Night.....and they're off.

When I was about 10, there was a show on TV on Sunday mornings called, "Community Auditions". It was so abysmally stale, I was hooked on it like a follower of "High Society". The jingle was as rank as the acts:

"Star of the day who will it be? Your vote will hold the key! It's up to you, tell us who, will be Star of the day!"

I watched some little girl in a tutu on toes shoes complete with taps twirling a baton while doing an interpretive dance, en pointe, (while tap dancing) to "The Star Spangled Banner". Yes, it was that level of entertainment, but somehow, I still believe it informed my taste and eye for the career in which I would later shine. Well that show comes to mind when I think of tonight's equivalent of the Oscars for the Design stars of today, tomorrow and forever.

The awards for journalistic greatness to Kim Hastreiter of Paper Magazine (well earned and much deserved), Iman for Style Icon (why/what/so???) A Special Tribute to Alexander McQueen for his brilliance, otherworldly contributions and influence ( if someone refers to him as Lee, which was his first name only used by his closest friends, I'll choke), The Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award to Michael Kors which seems a bit premature but not totally far fetched, and so on. Those "poke and stroke awards" are all a necessary ingredient to raise the level of entertainment and bring in the crowds and funds for the many charities that they support.

My interest is piqued by the Swarovski Awards for Womenswear and Accessories. Those categories are the "maiden races" for the young colts and fillies new to the track,though some are well past the age of 3 or 4 year olds. There's one in the race that's won on 5 separate occasions going all the way back to 1995: Tom Ford. It's like the fourth leg of the Triple Crown. Some of these ponies have as few as 1 leg and others as many as five, I'll leave that to your imaginations. The repetition of names from previous years for the same categories is always a source of amusement. It's a bit like musical chairs; random and predictable. Even those of us who were not math geeks can figure the odds if you know the tiniest thing about the criteria.
For the Swarovski Womenswear award there are 3 nominees, 2 of whom have dressed the
First Lady, one of those 2 most recently and the third is now carried by Mrs. Obama's (un)official stylist, Ikram Goldmun of Ikram boutique in Chicago. Prabal Gurung, a very talented man, specializing in evening wear, a past Assistant at Blass, whose collections have received greater and greater praise, successively, is in a prime position close to the rail to take this race. The only thing that might hamper his lead is that he's known for designing evening which has rarely won the day with the exception of Tuleh several years back. As beautiful as his clothes are, Joseph Altuzarra poses a formidable challenge for the simple reason that he is a brilliant young Sportswear designer which is consistently embraced by the voting body. His work is both original, technically precocious and extremely popular with the stylists and editors. I would have handicapped him to win until Prabal got the Obama Bump a few weeks back which increased his visibility and chances considerably. The "Obama Bump" is not for nothing. The other horse (a pony in my estimation) in this race is Jason Wu. We all know too well his story: "Obama Big-Assed Bump" with the less than inspired Inaugural gown, all sorts of inflated stories about the instant empire from that fateful gown and the collections that have come up lame ever since. Few people talk about his disqualification from the Parson's Stakes for unsportsmanlike behavior. When you add up these statistics, he becomes the dark horse (pony) in this race. I place my bet on Prabal Gurung. It would be fantastic to see someone who's not only talented, but who's put in the time to come to this race in shape, fast, graceful and fresh.

The Menswear of the Year nominees are a very interesting mix. There's Tom Ford who should skip these categories and just be given the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement award considering he's won in 5 categories dating back to '95,'01, '02, '04, and most recently for Menswear Designer of the Year in 2008. This becomes redundant, except that this time around his reputation not only precedes him, but he's got an Oscar nominated feature film to add to his list of achievements.That's one thing the competition failed to do. Michael Bastian follows the Ralph Lauren/Tommy Hilfiger formula in that he's a lapsed stylist who has created a business by "re-interpreting" classic style and selling it at absurdly high price points. They are familiar clothes, with a tiny twist that very few can afford....kind of an (un)common man's Thom Browne. Rag and Bone rounds out that race. They won in this category 3 years ago which may or may not help them. They are wildly popular, editorially and in the retailing world which could be a magic combination. My bet is, nevertheless, on Tom Ford. The glossiness of his coat, the way he instinctively knows where to position his head and haunch for the photographers is hard to discount or ignore. Let's face it, he could race in the opposite direction and still get to the finish line with time to spare for hair and makeup.

The Swarovski Accessory Award is the least interesting and possibly the most easily to predict. If you feel as though you've got the previous categories figured out , you might as well go for the Trifecta with this one. Eddie Borgo, Dana Lorenz and Alexander Wang make up the nominees. Eddie Borgo has collaborated with Marchesa (why haven't they been nominated, ever? Oh, I forgot they do STRICTLY Evening), Philip Lim and Joseph Altuzarra. His jewelry is very aggressive and interesting. Dana Lorenz does work that is both glorious in its use of precious stones and metals and inglorious in its more mundane elements. Then there's Alexander Wang. In accessories, Wang is best known for his Dream boot. If the stylists adore it and pull it repeatedly for all sorts of shoots and the editors and their magazines shoot that boot again and again, then I think the race is his to lose. Alexander Wang's trajectory has been atomic for the last few years with an award last year and countless lesser awards and honors over the past year or two. He's clearly a track favorite. It's no small feat that he's also nominated for Womenswear Designer of the Year along with Marc Jacobs and Donna Karan. This category is very hard to handicap. It could simply be a musical chairs race. If that's the case, I would bet on Marc. He's smart, fast, buff and if aerodynamics have any part in the time clock, he's got the least amount of hair to slow him down.

There are other races being run tonight which I'll re-cap when all is said and done. These entries are the ones that are the most anxiously awaited and hotly contested.In these races you can be a horse with an unimpeachable pedigree or have only one speed(fast) and little breeding. The outcome has as much to do with your ability to show and place, as it does the folks in the grand stands.

New Blass star to debut first collection

This is curious. Blass owner Scott Patti hired Jeffrey Monteiro to act as Creative Director for the company 1 1/2 years ago. That's right, a year and a half we've waited as he's sat on this egg anxiously awaiting it to hatch. The term Creative Director takes on a whole new meaning with this hire. Now, one is no longer obligated to create or even really do any substantive work. It's enough to wear the name tag and maybe show up at the office when you have a spare moment.

I can't imagine what this first collection, which is Cruise 2011, can possibly herald beyond the fact that it's also late. For probably the last 8 or 9 months I figured that Patti and his team of industry experts realized their mistake and quietly let Jeffrey go, almost as quietly as they announced his hiring. What else could explain taking 18 months to put together a cruise collection or any other collection for that matter? It takes on average about 3 to 4 months, tops, to do all the leg work and get a season on a rack, which is all they plan to do. The confidence meter seems to be registering very low on their expectations. The presentation will take place next week in the Blass showroom to a probably carefully vetted and culled audience. As a hopeless optimist, I hope it's a good collection for all of their sakes. It will fall immediately after the Fashion Awards which will take it out of contention as fodder for laughs during the ceremony.
That's probably one of the wiser moves on Scott Patti's part. But that still doesn't protect them from the harsh light of day. The pictures of looks from Monteiro's work for his eponymous collection that promptly died when the new gig was announced were so wanting and unbelievably tired, I still have night mares about them. This is a designer whose work is ideally suited for a junior dress house on Broadway, or at best something Missy. Remember those tired and banal categories from the bad old days. That's Jeffrey's oeuvre on a good day.
Perhaps you wonder why I'm so harsh? I don't like mediocrity and I like even less charlatanism. This dog that is about to be let loose on the public has little to offer beyond an annoying whine and just another pile of droppings that will have to be picked up(maybe) or stepped in by others.
The Fashion industry is suffering enough from a mixture of gout and overcrowding not to have to take on added dead weight that only tips the rubber raft dangerously close to the rising surface of the sea. Why not make wise decisions? What's to gain from another bloated collection that was still born until life support and a defibrillator were instituted as a part of its daily regimen? Why throw good money after middling talent? This movie was supposed to go to the big screen , not straight to DVD in the bargain bin at Lowe's.
Out of respect for you all, I will not illustrate this piece with pictures. How can you show the Emperor's old clothes, when they don't exist? Well on second thought , I am going to show images. You need to see why my feelings on this are so strong. Look and decide for yourselves. Any one of you or I am as qualified for the job as any.........