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The Need for the Modernization of Fashion Week

Chanel Fashion Week

1945, New York city marks the first fashion week in history.

Travelling to Europe at this time (especially to Paris) was difficult for people working in the clothing/fashion industry. As a solution to this issue, Eleanor Lambert created the “ Press Week” for fashion designers to unveil their collections. Fashion magazines and fashion buyers were at the front row as the main target of these presentations.

Almost 70 years later, is this model of Fashion Week still relevant?

The “Press Week” that was initially created in order to shift attention from Parisian designers to American ones in time of the World War had been a success from the beginning: magazines started to talk directly to designers and publish American Fashion at the time when Paris was ruling the industry; they changed the attention from Paris to New York fashion.

The Press Week was not only for designers to get press coverage, but was organised in order for buyers to get a first glance at the next trends, next designers and to prepare and place their orders.

From New York, Milan, London, and Paris, this model has developed and become a huge hit in order to present to the press the local star designers and their designs. This led to the boom of fashion in major fashion capitals like Ready to Wear in New York.

The post war economic boom contributed to the constant growth of the fashion scene, attracting more fans and becoming more affordable. Department stores became bigger, expanded, and fashion press developed and became more influential. Press Weeks turned into the super famous Fashion Week: the inevitable milestone for any true fashionista.

Galliano Fashion Week

The zenith of the 80’s showed an exuberance of style and confirmed the importance of Fashion Weeks and their importance on the Fashion Industry.

In the 90s, a more minimalist style trend developed and is a trend which is still relevant today: The Super Model.

In the 2000s, LVMH and Kering (formally PPR) brought large investments into this fashion frenzy. Capital, competition, and the advent of the Internet opened to these companies and brands new opportunities and markets.

With an evolution of the Fashion Week model, we are recently witnessing an event that has gained social and economical power, and visibility. This event has the power to tailor a whole industry. During this evolution, space and legitimacy gave way to Fast Fashion. By copying catwalks and making designs more accessible to the public, fashion became not only an entertainment of the elite and wealthy, but available to everyone.

This presents an issue: how are the high prices of luxurious clothes justified? Especially when you can get the same style, design, and trend at the shop around the street corner for an affordable price? The answer lies in branding for these big fashion houses. By creating the need to buy more coveted products with new lines of: leather goods (commonly shoes and bags), perfumes, accessories and cosmetics. These products are promoted and fashionistas feel a need to buy them through high branding. To do so, one of the strategies has been to use Fashion Weeks as a convector of value. The Fashion Weeks gradually transformed from a presentation of various collections to an extraordinary show.

The Fashion Week as we know it today welcomes all of the hit fashion editors to promote heavy communication about the shows, brands, and celebrities to add value (after all, they are the style leaders). Bloggers and extremely well known models (Kate, Naomi, Gisele, Cara among the many) are new influencers in the industry. From a presentation that targeted buyers and media, Fashion Week has almost exclusively shifted into an event for these two words: public relations.

Givenchy front row

 

As a designer company, to be able to present a collection at Fashion Week and gain attendants you need a lot of resources. In 2011, Robert Duffy revealed to the NY Times that the Fall Winter 2011 show of Marc Jacobs costed 1,000,000$. Not every designer can afford that level of investment.

How to get this return on investment? Again, on these leather goods, perfumes and cosmetics. Not on clothing.

So how can new designers get the attention of the media without the same resources as big brands? Where is the place of the fashion designer in all of this frenzy?

The concept of Fashion Week needs a change if we want to get back to the original idea of the concept. Nevertheless, it cannot come back to the event it was 70 years ago.

The target of Fashion Week has to be redefined in order to leave some place to the fashion buyers, give space to new designers that need the attention and excitement around the Fashion Industry.

Several events are on a good track to redefine the target of Fashion Week. The Vogue Night Out and Dublin Fashion Festival, just to name a few are bringing fashion back to fashionistas, bloggers, and customers while allowing branding to continue. Fashion Weeks should run as events held only for professionals: high-end media, buyers and shareholders/investors.

Not only will doing this lead to cuts in needed investments for the event by concentrating on the core of the business, but it will also allow new comers to get the chance to present their work, build networks and gain visibility. Maintaining an event that contributes to the branding of a fashion house and having an additional event could benefit all the audiences that Fashion Week draws.

Now, fashion bloggers get refused at the entrance of some Fashion Week events. Designers have also taken a step back from that frenzy (eg. Helmut Lang and lately Jean Paul Gaultier). The industry is slowly developing new events such as smaller Fashion Weeks (Istanbul, Stockholm, Warsaw, Athens, etc.) and Fashion Festivals. It seems that the industry is realizing the need for a shift in the Fashion Week model for the next decade 2010’s. To attract business and welcome new comers and customers while communicating through the media

Hopefully this will help in bringing more creativity on the fashion scene.

Chanel Fashion Week 2

This article was written by Alex. Follow her @Stylindublin

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A journey to Fashion Week San Diego

It all started on September 29th, 2014; Fashion Week San Diego was about to commence. It kicked off with a private event for the Designers and Sponsors at Rappongi in La Jolla. Loads of delicious Hors d’oeuvres and cocktails, and of course tons of fashionable people. Of the hosts of people, I was able to meet the FWSD founder, Allison Andrews. She’s got to be one of the sweetest individuals I’ve ever met. I see why fashion week in San Diego has grown so much, she’s a powerhouse!

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The first official night of FW, the focal point of the show was hair, makeup, and nails. We were able to see what trends would come about for the Spring/Summer 2015 season. My favorite part of the show was the <em>Ah Couture</em> segment of the Bellis Academy show. I love to see art come alive and it was amazing to see how it was portrayed through hair. Another really cool part was when the able jus professional team came out and did the models’ hair, live! It was sort of like Hunger Games: Fashion Week Style. I got a little hairspray shower, but I didn’t mind, it was a good show. 

FWSD2

On the second day, there was an overload of cuteness on the runway. First, Jessica Lynn showed her tot collection and had kid’s with larger-than-life personalities walking in her designs. Soon after, the annual <em>Haute Dog</em> show took place. So many cute dogs up for adoption strutting their stuff. It was a nice show for a good cause. My favorite show was Responsive Textiles. I loved the knit bottoms; they had sort of a resort feel.  There was this floor length skirt that was floor length with a high slit. I literally wanted to take it off of the model at that very moment and wear it home. I knew I wasn’t alone with that notion because everyone around me gushed at how cute it was. 

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*sings* On the third day of fashion week my true love gave to me… swimwear from Laced with B! Southern California designers were in the spotlight as this entire night was dedicated to them. Laced with an showed up and showed out with her sexy swimwear line. She featured one print and played around with the placement of the bikini straps. Sure we’d all have killer tan lines, but who cares because the bikinis were HOT! S. Mckeller, the luggage designer, had everyone in awe of his creations. The quality oozed luxury and style. There were no huge logos all over the bags which is great for a subtle, and classy luxe look. 

The 4th night of FWSD was all about elegance and sophistication. Everyone dressed up and wore their sparkling gems and it was divine! The collection that really caught my eye was Alpaca couture. The pieces were so well made. The dresses flowed beautifully and some of the pieces has some avant garde aspects to them which incorporated the artsy factor of fashion into their show.

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On the final day of the runway shows, everyone seemed to have made their fashion week friends and we all had a marvelous time. We closed the week with 9 designer shows and partied on the runway while over looking the harbor. It was quite a sight.

I had so much fun the entire week. I can’t wait to make my designer purchases, because between you and I, I’m a shopaholic and I need my fashion fix! Well, until next time!

Article written by Kat Blanca, a guest blogger that blogs about fashion on her personal blog Katblanca be sure to follow her Twitter at @Katblanca.  Designer pieces from Fashion Week San Diego are available now for pre-order at Luevo.

Born Again Vintage stuns fashionistas at Fashion Week Brooklyn

An author, vintage expert and designer, Bridgett Artise is making waves in the fashion industry and her Spring/Summer 15 Born Again Vintage collection is just one of many successes she has seen. Her open attitude to different things has allowed her and her brand to expand and inspire others. Her career as a designer gives space for Artise to express her creativity. It is perfect as nothing binds her back from the freedom and space she has to create. Usually, it is just one component that Artise needs to birth a whole line made of numerous textures, prints, and colors. It seems that though her ideas are sporadic, there is a value to this spontaneity as the fresh appeal of her designs come organically and are produced masterfully.

“A turning point for me was receiving a phone call from New York Times about an article where I was deemed a vintage expert and about my teachings about this topic for my alma mater.”

Born Again Vintage

Called ‘born again’ vintage, the collection is centered on a theme of rebirth. Rebirth is at the essence of her brand as Artise’s design eyes continuously gain new understandings of the world around her and what her clothes should communicate. The lessons she has learnt and her persistent creativity come together to tell new stories each season.

Born Again Vintage has come a long way. It started after Artise’s hiatus from buying and spending time as a mother when one day she had an urge to create. Her productions received great responses though she never had any intentions of selling or making a business. These unexpected plans stumbled into her life and she hasn’t looked back since. We are so happy to see Born Again Vintage on the runway at Fashion Week Brooklyn, and we have the best selection of her Spring/Summer’15 designs here.

Ticket To The Tents: Day 5 Spring 2015 NYFW Trend Report

Featuring Lela Rose, Carolina Herrera, Dennis Basso, Reem Acra, Libertine & Oudifu

The FashionMingle.net team wrapped up Day 5 late covering the last shows of the day; Libertine & Oudifu.  Oudifu is considered an emerging label to the U.S., but is very popular in China!  In addition to bringing in designers from around the world to showcase their collections at MBFW, IMG has done a major push to feature international emerging and up and coming designers.  Grant it, this may be due to the fact that heavy-hitter names, such as DVF, Michael Kors, and more, have been pulling out of MBFW over the last few seasons to showcase offsite. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Young, emerging & up and coming designers have embraced the new culture of fashion, and with these gaps in the time slot of MBFW, they now have an opportunity to bring their designs to the masses.  Designers such as Libertine, Oudifu, Vivienne Hu, Mark & Estel, Falguni & Shane Peacock are just a few brands that have now become MBFW household names.

COLOR

The real first emergence of black and white combinations showed up on Day 5 of New York Fashion Week, starting with Lela Rose’s runway for spring. Lela Rose featured bold gingham and polka dot prints in black and white.  Carolina Herrera favored the color red in her collection, infusing single, and ginormous red flowers on white fabric.  The popular all white ensembles also showed up in CH’s runway, and like Victoria Beckham the day before her, Carolina Herrera featured a dark hue of purple, which is unexpected for Spring!

Lela Rose - Spring 2015

PHOTO CREDIT: www.fashiongps.com

Carolina Herrera - Spring 2015

PHOTO CREDIT: www.fashiongps.com

FABRIC

Dennis Basso opened his collection with a dedication to the late Joan Rivers. All of us at FashionMingle.net and our media partners send our condolences to Joan’s friends and family.  In typical, Basso style, his collection featured fur! Surprisingly there wasn’t as much fur as some of his previous collections, but there was fur nonetheless.  Reem Acra has the best name in the world for a fashion designer! Her name makes me think of fabric! Reem created looks that featured tons of sparkle and shine. The audience collectively let out ooohs and aahhs as the amazing gowns just kept coming.

Dennis Basso Spring 2015 New York Fashion Week

PHOTO CREDIT: Shalanda Turner, www.live-life-in-style.com

Reem Acra Spring 2015 NYFW

PHOTO CREDIT: Shalanda Turner, www.live-life-in-style.com 

UNIQUE FIND: Johnson Harting’s Libertine

Johnson is the designer behind the label Libertine. Every season I discover new brands…well at least they are new to me.  This was my first time seeing Libertine clothes and I had no idea what was in store! As soon as the lights went down, I knew I was in for a treat.  The models came storming out one after the other, to upbeat, pop culture tunes, while wearing the wildest street wear looks imaginable. Wild but functional and fun.  There were tons of colors, fabrics, and 3D enhancements on the clothes.  To finish the show, Johnson led his models around the room in true party walk style. The audience, who simply loved the collection, cheered and clapped for the final walk.  Johnson’s clothes may not be for everybody…especially the faint at heart, but watching the show and viewing his creativity is definitely exciting!

Libertine Spring 2015 NYFW

PHOTO CREDIT: Shalanda Turner, www.live-life-in-style.com


Written by Shalanda Turner, FashionMingle.net Style Editor

Ticket to the Tents: Day 4 Spring 2015 NYFW Trend Report

Featuring Fashion Shenzen, Nanette Lepore, Victoria Beckham, Czar by Cesar Galindo, Custo Barcelona, Vivienne Tam, DVF and Parkchoonmoo

Every fashion week, something is bound to go wrong! From losing equipment to someone being sick, and this fashion week is no exception! Our team is definitely being run through the ringer, working out technical difficulties with our laptops and  our website, but we won’t let that stop us! It’s all a part of the experience of covering New York Fashion Week. Even with our technical difficulties the team wrapped up Day 4 in one piece!

UNIQUE SHOWCASE

In addition to the regularly scheduled designers that show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, IMG works to bring unique shows to the venue. Fashion Shenzen is always a delight, as it features fashion designers from China.  Fashion is a universal industry, and it’s amazing to see styles and design aesthetics from around the world! The Fashion Shenzen designers featured looks made in shiny and sheer fabrics. They also favored highly embellished gowns with lots of sequins.

Fashion Shenzen Spring 2015 NYFW


Fashion Shenzen Photo 1- Spring 2015 NYFW

STYLES

Custo Barcelona and DVF took us to shorter lengths with miniskirts and above the knee dresses respectively, while Nanette Lepore and Victoria Beckham featured ankle-length styles.

PRINTS & FABRIC

Custo Barcelona featured abstract prints and perforated fabrics. Vivienne Tam incorporated palm tree prints into her collection, continuing the popular tropical prints theme we’ve been seeing over the last couple days. Cesar Galindo used metallic and sequin fabrics in his collection.

DVF Spring 2015 NYFW


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COLOR

All white ensembles are still popular going into Day 4. Nanette Lepore featured a few all white looks, but the favored color for her collection was definitely yellow! Yellow shoes, yellow-based prints, and solid yellow dresses, Nanette let us know that yellow will be trending for Spring, and she’s not the only one. Cesar Galindo also featured yellow in his collection, along with greens, pastel oranges, and metallic.  Victoria Beckham’s spring collection was heavy on the tans & neutral colors black and white. Victoria even featured an oxblood hue that is typically reserved for Fall!

Nanette Lepore - Spring 2015 NYFW (2)


Victoria Beckham Fashion GPS

HAIR

For the most part, there’s been 2 big trends for hair: Braids or slicked back and loose. I think braids will always be a popular choice for Spring & Summer!

ACCESSORIES

The bigger the better! The Czar collection featured bold, colorful necklaces that would make the wearer the center of attention in any room.


Written by Shalanda Turner, FashionMingle.net Style Editor

Ticket to the Tents: Day 3 NYFW Trend Report

Featuring Mara Hoffman, Alon Livne, Amir Taghi, Anya Caliendo, Herve Leger, Malan Breton & Venexiana

For Day 3 NYFW trend report,  the FashionMingle.net team again split up to bring you maximum coverage. Style Editor, Shalanda Turner headed to the Garment District to cover Amir Taghi’s debut New York Fashion Week show, while Heather, Jeanine & Arielle covered Alon Livne. Later in the evening, our team reconvened at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week to cover Malan Breton and Venexiana.

STYLES

Apparently, crop tops are here to stay! Amir Taghi favored sexy crop tops that incorporated deep V-necks. Mara Hoffman’s collection featured wide-leg pants, in all lengths (culotte and full). Mara Hoffman is also the queen of maxi dresses and sent a plethora of vibrant maxi dresses down the runway. Alon Livne stayed true to his warrior woman style, presenting a fierce collection full of sparkles, cut-outs, and 3D-enhancements.

AMIR TAGHI Spring 2015 NYFW

PHOTO CREDIT: Shasie, www.live-life-in-style.com

Alon Livne Spring 2015 NYFW

PHOTO CREDIT: Arielle Breedyk, www.ariellebreedyk.com

FABRIC

There seems to be a lot of transportation through clothes going on this week! Malan Breton presented his “Journey to Taiwan” Spring Collection, complete with dancers and musical performers.  Malan chose to use sateen-finish fabrics for the majority of his collection.  At a minimum, Malan Breton showed 60 looks last night.  He may win the award for the most extensive runway presentation during fashion week!

MALAN BRETON Spring 2015 NYFW

PHOTO CREDIT: Shalanda Turner, www.live-life-in-style.com

PRINTS

As fashion week continues, we’re starting to see more and more prints. Herve Leger by Max Azria featured bold prints and embellished fabrics in their Spring 2015 collection. Tropical prints are pretty popular for Spring! Nicole Miller took us to Rio De Janeiro on Day 2, and Mara Hoffman took us to the beach with palm tree prints, and prints that resembled the sun rising over the ocean.

HERVE LEGER SPRING 2015 NYFW

PHOTO CREDIT: Fashiongps.com

COLOR

Lots of all white ensembles, pastels, and pops of bright color! Designers who featured tons of prints incorporated color by default, choosing vibrant and bold prints.

ALON LIVNE SPRING 2015 NYFW

PHOTO CREDIT: Arielle Breedyk, www.ariellebreedyk.com

ACCESSORIES

Mara Hoffman takes the baseball hat to a girlie level by adding a tie-back scarf for the cap closure.  Heather and Jeanine checked out Anya Caliendo’s hat show at St. Regis Hotel! Of course we have to feature some of Anya’a amazing work for Spring! Wearing one of these hats will definitely escalate your fashion status from blah to haute couture faster than a sale at Bloomingdales!

Anya Caliendo Spring 2015 NYFW

PHOTO CREDIT: Heather Petrey, www.lafashionsnob.com

Ticket To The Tents: Day 2 Spring 2015 NYFW Trend Report

(Featuring Trina Turk, Charlotte Ronson, Zimmermann, Nicole Miller, Monique Lhuillier, & Mark & Estel)

For Day 2 at New York Fashion Week, the Fashion Mingle team kicked off the day with Mark & Estel’s Spring 2015 Collection at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. After that the team split up. Heather, Otaymah, and Jeanine covered Saunder, and conducted an interview with David Tupaz off-site, while Michelle, Jane, & Shalanda stayed at Lincoln Center to cover the shows there and conduct an interview with Nicole Miller.

FABRIC

Sometimes less is more as displayed by Mark & Estel.  Their collection was solely made out of cotton found in your everyday denim, sweatpants and t-shirts. How do I know? Because during their final walk, Estel Day announced it to us during their closing song performance. Attending a Mark & Estel is always fun, and it was a great way to kick-off Day 2 of New York Fashion Week.

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PHOTO CREDIT: Shalanda Turner, www.live-life-in-style.com

In stark contrast to the cotton-heavy Mark & Estel Collection, Monique Lhuillier, opted for shiny, and metallic finish fabrics such as satin and silk and glittery fabrics for her plethora of gowns and dresses.  Zimmermann also favored metallic hues in suiting.

Monique Lhuillier Shalanda Turner

Photo Credit: Shalanda Turner, www.live-life-in-style.com

COLOR

As seen on the Day 1 runways, pastels were again the favored choice amongst designers for day 2.  Charlotte Ronson featured peach, pale blue, and pale green hues and Zimmerman featured pale yellows.  And while there was a pop of pastels here and there, Trina Turk stood by her claim to fame and design aesthetic of using bold and vibrant colors. It appears that even if pastels are trending, Trina will rebel and stay bold, and who can blame her? The scene during her presentation was fun and flirty and the bold hues added to the playfulness of the collection.

Zimmermann Shalanda Turner

PHOTO CREDIT: Shalanda Turner, www.live-life-in-style.com

ACCESSORIES

Trina Turk collection’s was not only playful, but it made me think of the 60s, especially with the models wearing wide scarf headbands!  The models wore bold, statement necklaces and posed with handbags of all shapes and sizes.  Popular in both the Charlotte Ronson and Trina Turk collections were these comfortable looking sandals.  Is the gladiator sandal being replaced next season as the it-shoe for Spring? We’ll find out.

Trina Turk Shalanda Turner

PHOTO CREDIT: Shalanda Turner, www.live-life-in-style.com

PRINTS

Nicole Miller’s collection stood out on Day 2 for having the most prints. Her vision of transporting her wearers to Rio De Janeiro Brazil was creatively conveyed to the audience. The models wore prints that featured birds and palm trees, while carrying luggage.  Charlotte Ronson featured a few floral prints, but overall prints were pretty minute throughout the collections with solid colors dominating day 2.

CHARLOTTE RONSON

PHOTO CREDIT: Shalanda Turner, www.live-life-in-style.com


 

Written by: Shalanda Turner, FashionMingle.net Style Editor

Ticket To The Tents: Day 1 Spring 2015 NYFW Trend Report

(Featuring Nicholas K, Richard Chai, BCBGMaxAzria, Tadashi Shoji, Marissa Webb, CuteCircuit, & Desigual)

It’s September! Which means we’ve arrived at another New York Fashion Week. If you’re like us, this makes September one of our favorite months of the year! In fact, we’d go so far as to agree with Instagrammer, Candy Price Pratt that “September is the January of Fashion!” New York Fashion Week officially kicked off yesterday with designers presenting their Spring 2015 Collections. The FashionMingle.net team was on the scene covering the first day of New York Fashion Week.  Representing FashionMingle.net this year, we have Fashion Mingle Style Editor, Shalanda Turner, Videographer, Michelle Elise Harding, Photographer Jane Kratochvil, and Contributors, Otaymah Bonds, Heather Petrey & Jeanine Valiente.

COLOR

Nicholas K kicked off Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in their usual 9am spot on day one inside the tents.  While the draping, layers and loose silhouettes are not new to Nicholas K, their introduction of a pretty, pastel teal green was a change from the browns, tans and whites.  We’re hoping this color is a fixture in all the runways for Spring.

Nicholas K - Jane Kratochvil

PHOTO CREDIT: Jane Kratochvil, www.janekratochvil.com

And continuing with pastels, it appears that pastels will continue to dominate next Spring as they did this year.  Lubov and Max presented a collection for BCBGMaxAzria that included pastel pinks & blue along with a ton of white and off-white garments.  However, some designers opted to include pops of bright colors in their collections. Richard Chai featured a bold lime-yellow color for spring, and Desigual, known for bold and colorful prints did not disappoint.

Desigual - Jane Kratochvil

PHOTO CREDIT: Jane Kratochvile, www.janekratochvil.com 

PRINTS

In contrast to Desigual’s bold use of prints in every garment, most of the runways were absent of significant amounts of prints, with the designers opting for solid colors to convey their visions. If there were prints, they were mosaic and abstract in nature, versus typical floral prints that usually dominate for Spring.

BCBGMaxAzria - Jane Kratochvil

PHOTO CREDIT: Jane Kratochvil, www.janekratochvil.com
SILHOUETTES
Long is the new black! Tadashi Shoji favored knee-length dresses and full-length gowns.  BCBGMaxAzria also went long for spring with wide-leg trousers and ankle-length skirts.   Marissa Webb featured super-chic outerwear pieces for spring from ankle-length trench coats, to peplum wind-breakers. There’s a lot of material on the runways for Spring.  Long and free flowing fabrics that offer tons of movement for the wearer.

Tadashi Shoji - Jane Kratochvil
PHOTO CREDIT: Jane Kratochvil,
www.janekratochvil.com

UNIQUE TREND
Wearable Technology is all the rage right now and CuteCircuit has taken the world by storm with their technological clothing innovations.  Their collection for Spring, featured cool, digital enhancements that were incorporated into the clothes, shiny and glittery fabrics, and even digitally enhanced bathing suites! Forget wearable tech bracelets, we want the clothes version!


Written by: Shalanda Turner, FashionMingle.net Style Editor.

Shop Isabelle Donola Straight Off the NYFW Runway!

When does the love of fashion begin? For Brazil-born designer Isabelle Donola, that love started when she learned to stitch at the age of three, making Barbie clothes by the time she was six. This early passion sparked a career in fashion for Donola who has been a participant on Project Runway and is showing at this year’s New York Fashion Week.

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Growing up, Donola’s creative and imaginative eye allowed her to draw inspiration from many different art forms, ranging form cloths and textiles to metals and recycled materials. For her most recent collection, Donola was inspired by abstract shapes, well-fitted garments and oversized structural pieces.

Even after exploring various other hobbies and career opportunities, including journalism and ballet, Donola knew from a young age she was destined for the world of fashion design. With such a deep passion for every step in the design process, fashion design is more than just a job or interest, for Donola it is a necessity.

Donola was featured as a designer on popular T.V. show Project Runway on the “Under the Gunn” season and has shown at various New York and Los Angeles Fashion Week events. Donola currently has a successful fashion line “ Isabelle Donola NYC”.

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Isabelle will be showing her new collection this Monday at New York Fashion Week. She describes the collection as:

“Nude. That was the first word that came to mind when I thought about this collection. The reflection of human nature and how people so often wear a mask. So I created a collection to evoke the naked beauty of the human being, raw in its essence and beautiful just as it is. I want people to embrace their inner beauty and extend that to their second skin. Allowing the garments to fearlessly speak to the world about who they are.”

We are very excited to have Isabelle Donola as our debut designer at New York Fashion Week. You can take a look and shop her collection live from the runway starting Monday September 8th at 4:00 p.m. EST here.

Salute the Runway Kicks-Off NYFW by Giving Back

New York Fashion Week is here – and we could not be more excited! We always look forward to seeing the fashions that will hit the runways but we are thrilled that the show that kick-starts NYFW is all about giving back!

Air Force Staff Sergeant Kayla Manthey. Photo from http://www.wwd.com

Air Force Staff Sergeant Kayla Manthey. Photo from http://www.wwd.com

This year, fifteen female army veterans and active-duty service women will take to the runway to raise awareness for the difficulties faced when transitioning from the military back to civilian life.

Non-for-profit organization Fatigues to Fabulous and Little Black Dress Wines are the sponsors for the Salute the Runway show that is held today at the Lincoln Centre.

These 15 women will be wearing different variations of the iconic little black from top designers including Calvin Klein, Mara Hoffman and DKNY and will have their hair and make-up professionally done by the designer’s stylists.

Along with the runway show, historic war uniforms will be on display from the Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation in Washington.

To learn more about the organization and today’s event check out their Facebook page here.