Fashion & Style

July 19, 2012, 1:00 pm

Q & A With Katia Kuthe, New Director of Creative at Kate Spade

By CORBIN CHAMBERLIN
Katia Kuthe, former Teen Vogue creative director, now senior director of creative at Kate Spade.Daemian Smith and Christine SuarezKatia Kuthe, former Teen Vogue creative director, now senior director of creative at Kate Spade.

2:50 p.m. | Updated

Kate Spade is in the midst of a creative “refresh” as Katia Kuthe, the brand’s new senior director of creative, put it. The 19-year-old brand is known for its approachable and unspoken childlike “dress-up fun” attitude, and for producing tongue-in-cheek accessories and clothes that nod to vintage.

In 2007, Liz Claiborne Inc. (now known as Fifth and Pacific) acquired Kate Spade and installed Deborah Lloyd as president and chief creative officer. Since opening its first store in 1996 in SoHo, Kate Spade’s colorful empire has expanded into Asia and the Middle East. Ms. Kuthe was hired this spring to be the driving force that continues to shape global expansion. Read more…

July 17, 2012, 6:17 pm

Fashion News We’re Reading Now

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

Louis Vuitton’s Bond Street location is beginning a bespoke program on July 30 that allows customers to design bags, another reason to head to London.

Lana Del Rey at the House Festival in London.Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Soho HouseLana Del Rey at the House Festival in London.

Cathy Horyn profiles the Queen of Jeans on HSN.

Lana Del Rey is the new face of H&M.

The CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalists have been announced.

Brandon Holley, the editor in chief of Lucky magazine, shares her advice for climbing the masthead at a magazine.

The most watched companies by British undergraduates on LinkedIn include fashion brands like Burberry and ASOS.

The popular online eyeglasses brand Warby Parker will open its first stand-alone store in SoHo.

July 17, 2012, 6:00 am

Intersection: Upper West Side Style Is Quiet, but Far From Mute

By SIMONE S. OLIVER


People said we couldn’t find someone stylish on the Upper West Side. We strolled every block from Central Park West to Riverside Park, and from 76th to 81st Streets. Not only did we find stylish residents, but we also found a cast of fashionable and indelible characters, including a dapper gentleman wearing a seersucker blazer with matching baby blue Tod’s driving shoes, a belligerent Mister Softee Truck operator and Ellen Albertini Dow, the 90-year-old actress who played the rapping nun in “Sister Act 2″ and a rapping grandmother in “The Wedding Singer.”

From Left: Joanna Nikas, Ellen Albertini Dow and Simone S. Oliver in the Upper West Side.From Left: Joanna Nikas, Ellen Albertini Dow and Simone S. Oliver in the Upper West Side.

It was an especially hot afternoon when we met Ellen Schneider, whose striking, long, thick gray hair made an alluring accessory to her outfit.

Street Style

Highlighting looks and inspiration from the pavement.

She was coming home from work and was upset that she had left her heels at her desk. (She didn’t want to be filmed without her heels, you see.) After some convincing, she got on camera and told us about her decision to stop dying her black hair, and to stop buying trends that she thought were geared toward younger shoppers. Read more…

July 16, 2012, 1:48 pm

A Cleaner Cream? Paris-Based Line Tries “Airless” Jar

By SHIVANI VORA
Patyka cream in its new anti-contamination packaging.Patyka cream in its new anti-contamination packaging.

In our neverending quest for better skin, many of us are willing to invest in the best creams and serums we can find, but do we also have to worry about them getting contaminated? Pierre Juhen, the owner of the Paris-based organic Patyka beauty line (and a descendant of Louis Vuitton), thinks so, and he is out do something about it.

“When you’re dealing with precious formulas like a top-quality face cream, you want it to be as pure as possible, but every time it’s exposed to the air, you run the risk of it oxidizing or picking up bacteria from the environment or your dirty fingers,” Mr. Juhen said.

Beauty Spots

Beauty news, trends and backstage coverage.

He has created new “airless” packaging for two face creams and two masks in the Biokaliftin (anti-aging) part of the line. Instead of putting their fingers into an opened jar, users press a lid cover to release the cream or mask. Mr. Juhen believes the design makes for a far cleaner experience. (The other six Biokaliftin products are in bottles with pumps.) Read more…

July 13, 2012, 8:54 pm

Ralph Lauren Pledges American-Made Olympic Uniforms for 2014

By ERIC WILSON

After complaints that the uniforms to be worn by American athletes to the opening ceremonies of the London Olympics this month were being produced in China, the Ralph Lauren company, the long-term sponsor of those uniforms, announced Friday night that it would begin making them in the United States beginning with the 2014 Olympics.

The Ralph Lauren company, which took over the license for the opening and closing ceremonies in 2008, found itself under intense pressure this week after an ABC News report that gave broad exposure to the fact that those uniforms were being produced in China, even though they have been produced overseas or in Canada for more than a decade with little objection. But complaints on Thursday about the uniforms by several members of Congress, including a call by Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic majority leader, to “put them in a big pile and burn them,” led the company to re-evaluate its position after it found itself under an unflattering media spotlight.

Announcing the change, the Ralph Lauren company released the following statement on Friday night:

“For more than 45 years, Ralph Lauren has built a brand that embodies the best of American quality and design rooted in the rich heritage of our country. We are honored to continue our longstanding relationship with the United States Olympic Committee in the 2014 Olympic Games by serving as an official outfitter of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams. Ralph Lauren promises to lead the conversation within our industry and our government to address the issue to increase manufacturing in the United States. We have committed to producing the opening and closing ceremony Team USA uniforms in the United States that will be worn for the 2014 Olympic Games.”

July 13, 2012, 3:25 pm

Made Where?

By ERIC WILSON
Top left, athletes outfitted by Roots in 2006 in Turin, Italy. Bottom left, Americans in Lauren uniforms in Beijing in 2008. Right, the Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte in the Ralph Lauren outfit for 2012.From top, clockwise: David Gray/Reuters, Reuters, Doug Mills/The New York TimesTop left, athletes outfitted by Roots in 2006 in Turin, Italy. Bottom left, Americans in Lauren uniforms in Beijing in 2008. Right, the Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte in the Ralph Lauren outfit for 2012.

8:54 p.m. | Updated Ralph Lauren announced on Friday night that it would begin producing the American athletes’ uniforms in the United States beginning with the 2014 Olympics.

3:49 p.m. | Updated AT least since 1998, when the United States Olympic Committee first approached sportswear companies to liven up the look of its team, American athletes have worn ceremonial outfits that were manufactured in places far from home. For a decade, almost everything they wore to represent the United States at the opening and closing ceremonies was actually being designed and produced in Canada, by the sportswear company Roots, until the American company Ralph Lauren won those rights in 2008.

But an ABC News report this week that pointed out that the Ralph Lauren uniforms the athletes will wear in London, for the ceremonies on July 27, are made in China has prompted an unusual degree of outrage, at least in Congress. Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic majority leader, told reporters on Thursday, “I think they should take all the uniforms, put them in a big pile and burn them and start all over again.”

This might have been a bit of grandstanding by Mr. Reid and other senators who piled on with condemning statements. But judging by consumer complaints to Ralph Lauren that have followed, the Chinese production appears to be a public-relations nightmare for the company. (On the other hand, one commentator described the fuss on an ESPN blog as “Freedom Fries, v. 2.0.”)

It should be noted here that the Ralph Lauren uniforms worn at the previous Olympics, in Beijing in 2008 and Vancouver in 2010, were also manufactured mostly overseas, prompting some outcry, but nothing like this. Read more…

July 13, 2012, 9:32 am

Packing Tips From the Land of the Compact

By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM
The American Apparel’s Unisex Circle scarf ($28) can be worn as a dress, skirt, top, capelet or head wrap.Annie Tritt for The New York TimesThe American Apparel’s Unisex Circle scarf ($28) can be worn as a dress, skirt, top, capelet or head wrap.

For my new travel column, The Getaway, I grilled Silicon Valley entrepreneurs (who log at least as many days on the road as travel writers) about their minimalist packing tactics.

Just because they travel light doesn’t mean they don’t travel in style. Here are some of their wardrobe essentials, many of which are quick-drying, wrinkle-resistant and able to slip easily into a carry-on bag. All of them can be worn in multiple ways, which means you can pack fewer outfits and no one will be any wiser. Read more…

July 12, 2012, 12:51 pm

The Second Life of Gemma Kahng

By CORBIN CHAMBERLIN
Looks from Gemma Kahng's fall 2012 collection.Billy JimLooks from Gemma Kahng’s fall 2012 collection.

It’s a small pool of fashion designers who get the chance to make a comeback. Gemma Kahng, whose heyday was in the 1990s, counts herself lucky to be in that pool.

Her threads had seen the skin of stars like as Sharon Stone in Vogue and Madonna in the infamous Vanity Fair photo shoot in 1992, where she sported a rump-less lavender romper.

The 2000s were a different story. Ms. Kahng’s work disappeared from stores, and Web sites like eBay and Etsy and the closets of fashion collectors became a graveyard. They were the only evidence of a once-thriving business. Scattered remains of pantsuits, jackets with dilated shoulders and tweed skirts echo the glory days of the Gemma Kahng brand. Read more…

July 11, 2012, 12:05 pm

Kusama Retrospective Is New Exhibit for an Old Idea

By ERIC WILSON
The artist Yayoi Kusama, center, with Louis Vuitton's second in command Jordi Constans, left, and Yves Carcelle, the chief executive, right, in front of the windows of the flagship store.Kathy Willens/Associated PressThe artist Yayoi Kusama, center, with Louis Vuitton’s second in command Jordi Constans, left, and Yves Carcelle, the chief executive, right, in front of the windows of the flagship store.

1:03 p.m. | Updated THE new Yayoi Kusama retrospective that opened on Thursday at the Whitney Museum serves as reminder that the aggressive melding of art with fashion, what seemed to be a relatively recent phenomenon, is not really recent at all. Ms. Kusama, who likes to claim she taught Andy Warhol the ropes, has been blending them for decades, from the clothing store she ran to her “accumulation” works, including many shoes, coats and, yes, her macaroni pants from 1968 that are on display at the Whitney. There’s also that Louis Vuitton collaboration and pop-up shop in SoHo, for which Ms. Kusama, even at 83, has been a tireless promoter.

A wax model of the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama is displayed in the windows of Louis Vuitton's flagship Fifth Avenue store in New York.Kathy Willens/Associated PressA wax model of the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama is displayed in the windows of Louis Vuitton’s flagship Fifth Avenue store in New York.

For a preview of the exhibition on Tuesday, the Whitney went a little overboard in playing up Ms. Kusama’s signature red dots and hairdo, bathing the museum lobby in red lights and serving a menu of red foods. There were red currants dotting a summer squash salad, which were fine, but the beet dashi poured over halibut was enough to send many dinner guests away from their tables and back into the exhibition. Read more…

July 9, 2012, 4:17 pm

Fashion News We’re Reading Now

By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Costumes from the 007 exhibit at the Barbican Centre in London.Andy Rain/European Pressphoto AgencyCostumes from the 007 exhibit at the Barbican Centre in London.

Inspired by the men’s satchel Brynmore, Mulberry introduces its newest It bag, Bryn.

Also in menswear: Brendan Mullane, the former Givenchy menswear head designer, is the new creative director of Brioni.

New York magazine is expanding its fashion blog, The Cut, next month to include creative fashion shoots and more coverage of fashion shows.

Estelle Ellis Rubinstein, magazine veteran, died Sunday.

Another model named Jourdan is kicking up a storm on the runways.

The new semiannual fashion, art and culture magazine, Document, will hit stands on Fashion’s Night Out, Sept. 6.

Self magazine is introducing the first “virtual trunk show.”

The Business of Fashion tries to make sense of Hedi Slimane’s decision to drop the Yves in Yves Saint Laurent.

T Magazine rounds up its coverage of shops, restaurants, hotels and things to do if you’re in London for the Games.

Celebrating 50 years of the 007 films, an exhibit at London’s Barbican Centre is a journey through the style choices of Mr. Bond.

July 6, 2012, 5:44 pm

Tweets We Loved From #Couture

By THE NEW YORK TIMES
July 6, 2012, 2:05 pm

On and Off the Fashion Grid

By CATHY HORYN
From the couture collections, left to right: a streamlined Valentino jumpsuit, wide-leg pants from Chanel and a Dior pencil skirt with four layers of net.Photographs by Valerio Mezzanotti for The New York TimesFrom the couture collections, left to right: a streamlined Valentino jumpsuit, wide-leg pants from Chanel and a Dior pencil skirt with four layers of net.

THE Paris couture shows sometimes come off like a wild rampage of creativity slowed only by the odd paralytic wait as seamstresses backstage close that final seam. And then everyone returns to their black hired cars and the beetling traffic on the Rue de Rivoli until the next flash of brilliance. It has been ages since people killed off the hours between shows with a lazy, gracious lunch, a couture tradition. I smiled when a fellow journalist commended the variety of international takeout his co-workers had tasted. Personally, I like the salads at Eric Kayser, a bakery chain that opened a branch near my hotel a couple of years ago.

Couture Fashion

Cathy Horyn’s reports from the haute couture shows in Paris.

I did manage to go to the Ritz bar this time. It was still the same old Ritz, with the piano player and the stranded-looking tourists clasping their cocktails in a booth as a bit of air came in from the patio. I stayed for one drink.

Since couture is a cradle for extravagant clothes made individually for rich women, it’s not widely looked upon as a source of trends. A pencil skirt made of four layers of couture net (in four different gauges and colors) overwhelms any thought a copycat might have of duplicating the classic shape. It’s enough that couture refreshes your picture of fashion, and maybe, inspires you.

One pronounced change this season was the number of designers showing pants. Raf Simons kicked things off with Dior’s black cigarette pants worn with jackets or embroidered minidresses (the idea was to suggest a ball gown chopped down to look more youthful and wearable). Chanel had loads of wide-leg trousers, worn with skimmy blouses. The king of pants, Giorgio Armani, offered loosefitting velvet styles. Valentino’s opening numbers included a streamlined navy jumpsuit with slightly rounded shoulders. Jean Paul Gaultier had his share of pants, too. Read more…

July 5, 2012, 9:01 pm

Fashion News We’re Reading Now

By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Giorgio Armani Privé Couture show in Paris.Valerio Mezzanotti for The New York TimesGiorgio Armani Privé Couture show in Paris.

International fashion brands are tapping into the Chinese market using the social media site, Weibo.

Christian Louboutin displayed his red-soled Cinderella slipper creation in Paris yesterday.

Chloe Sevigny is the new face of Miu Miu for the second time.

We have you covered for couture coverage. Catch up on what designers sent down the runways in Paris.

Katie Holmes makes the news without getting personal. Ms. Holmes will present her label, Holmes & Yang, at New York Fashion Week this September.

All eyes were on what the other Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, wore to Wimbledon yesterday.

The pint-size blogger, Tavi Gevinson, will release her first print edition of Rookie and promises it will be a whole new experience than viewing it online.

Luxury fashion’s global reach widens: The Business of Fashion reports one of Brazil’s biggest mall operators, plans to open or expand eight malls by 2015.

July 5, 2012, 10:24 am

At Wimbledon, Game, Set, Outfit

By STUART EMMRICH
The Duchess of Cambridge arriving at Wimbledon, wearing the same white knit dress from Alexander McQueen's 2006 collection that she had worn almost exactly a year ago. (Price tag: an estimated $1,800.)Stefan Wermuth/ReutersThe Duchess of Cambridge arriving at Wimbledon, wearing the same white knit dress from Alexander McQueen’s 2006 collection that she had worn almost exactly a year ago. (Price tag: an estimated $1,800.)

Yesterday’s big news at Wimbledon wasn’t Roger Federer’s triumphant return to the semifinals after an absence of two years or even the continuing success of the local hero Andy Murray.

What really had the crowd at center court stirring was the unexpected appearance of Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, their first visit to the tournament this year.

And all eyes were trained on Kate’s outfit, which the British press was quick to report was the same white knit dress from Alexander McQueen’s 2006 collection that she had worn on a state visit to Prince Edward Island with her husband almost exactly a year ago. (Price tag: an estimated $1,800.) The vaguely vintage (with stylistic references to the 1920s) tennis-inspired dress was also paired with the same exact shoes — navy blue suede from LK Bennett — that the duchess wore on that trip to Canada, according to press reports.

Afterward, Federer seemed pleased that the couple had come to see him play — and, in fact, stayed for his entire match, while leaving before the end of the fourth and final set in the Murray match. ”I met Kate for the first time, William I’ve met before after Australia,” he told reporters, showing a bit of familiarity with the royals that is perhaps his due as a six-time Wimbledon champion. ‘They were very nice, very friendly.’

If both Federer and Murray win on Friday, they will meet in the final on Sunday. Will Kate and Wills return? If so, they will have the chance to meet another fashion deity, Anna Wintour, who confirmed in a chat before the Armani couture show in Paris this week that she was booked for the royal box for the semis and finals.

The Vogue editor seemed optimistic that her favorite player would return to the winning circle this year despite a nagging back problem and a near-disaster in round 2, when he came back from two sets down against the unheralded Julien Benneteau, saving three match points in the process, in a match that was both thrilling and nerve-racking.

“I think I watched most of that match with my eyes closed,” Ms. Wintour said with a slight shudder.

July 3, 2012, 5:43 pm

Chanel: Giving Some Soul

By CATHY HORYN
Looks from Chanel couture 2013.Photography by Valerio Mezzanotti for The New York TimesLooks from Chanel couture 2013.

Karl Lagerfeld called Chanel’s fall couture collection “new vintage,” then quickly added, “But it has nothing to do with what she did.” He means Coco Chanel, of course. Since Mr. Lagerfeld’s brain is a virtual storehouse of ideas, images and arcane styles, it’s safe to say we’ll never know the source.

Actually, the term is misleading. Although there was a whiff of vintage in caftans, palazzo pants and patchwork dresses, as well as the models’ floppy tams, the pieces were too refined for such a threadbare category.

Couture Fashion

Cathy Horyn’s reports from the haute couture shows in Paris.

The beauty of haute couture is that things can be exceedingly odd and individual. For me, that is the basis of dreaming and constructing stories for the woman (me!) who might inhabit these clothes. This was a collection, done primarily in pinks and grays, with touches of pale blue and silver-gray (and naturally black), where tweeds were very often embroideries, where a pair of blue sequined palazzo pants appeared to be dip-dyed in rose pink. In fact, it was all illusion; the pants were entirely embroidered. Read more…