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| February 22, 2010, 2:36 pm

Backstage glances

Glam hair at Oscar de la Renta. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Glam hair at Oscar de la Renta. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Making Fashion Week models picture perfect is the job of the army of hairstylists, makeup artists and manicurists who work backstage at the fashion shows each season.

With a couple of dozen models to prepare for the catwalk, it’s a chaotic scene as technicians wield blowdryers and brushes, and apply lipstick and eyeshadow. A model often has a couple of people working on her at once.

Included in the backstage battalion at many shows for the fall-winter shows was Matthew Morris of Denver, a salon owner who’s also enjoying newfound celebrity as a contestant on the Bravo TV show “Shear Genius.” Morris has worked at the shows before and says it’s a professional highlight. This time around, he did shows for Aveda and also worked with individual designers.

His favorite shows this season? Not those by new or avant garde designers, but a couple of old timers: Carolina Hererra and Oscar de la Renta. Herrera, he said was “super polished and couture-like to go with the formfitting dresses.” Oscar had “beautiful curls and waves,” a la 1970s socialites or Jessica Rabbit.

These styles were in stark contrast to the prevailing look of the shows – a messy, tousled style which Morris described as “real girl hair – like you went to bed and just got up the next morning and walked out the door.” Funny that such an unkempt look requires so much hairdressing.

Matthew’s rising star in the industry is gaining the notice of industry heavyweights like Orlando Pita, who invited Morris for a private tour in his New York studio of the archives of styles he has created for major fashion collections and photography layouts. “It was like going behind the curtain on ‘The Wizard of Oz,’” Morris says.

| February 17, 2010, 3:31 pm

Tory story

Tory Burch, center, poses with models at her fall 2010 collection Wednesday in New York. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff

Tory Burch, center, poses with models at her fall 2010 collection Wednesday in New York. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff

Tory Burch has earned a loyal following for her accessories and clothes, and her fans were out in force Wednesday morning for her presentation at Bryant Park. In lieu of formal shows, several designers are showing this way. It gives you a chance to see the clothes close-up, and less formally, while the designer mingles and talks about the looks.
Of the black and white sweater proclaiming “Divine,” she grinned said it was inspired by her mother “who says divine about five times in every sentence.”

And the splatter print on skinny pants, tops and a skirt were takeaways from Gerhard Richter’s abstract paintings and Picasso’s Mosqueteros.
The clothes are perfect for “the kind of girl who’s an art enthusiast, the girl you see in galleries in every city. She has an effortless, eclectic way of dressing and putting things together.”

| February 15, 2010, 11:01 pm

Fashion Diary

Models pose after Carmen Marc Valvo's show Monday at the NASDAQ Tower in New York. (Photo by Suzanne S. Brown

Models pose after Carmen Marc Valvo's show Monday at the NASDAQ Tower in New York. (Photo by Suzanne S. Brown)

So what if it was Presidents Day and most people took a holiday? By George, it’s Fashion Week and some of us have to do our duty. Here’s a capsule:

8 a.m. Grab a cab from Midtown to the Viceroy Cafe on 18th Street for breakfast and a walk-through of more than a dozen collections HSN is currently featuring, or will be soon. Now that everyone from Naem Khan and R.J. Graziano are selling their wares on TV, those who used to turn up their noses at shopping on the tube are giving it another look. Faves: the shoe collections Read more…

| February 14, 2010, 5:38 pm

Sealed with a kiss

Designer Diane Von Furstenberg on the runway at her fall winter 2010 Fashion Show (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Mercedes-Benz)

Designer Diane Von Furstenberg on the runway at her fall winter 2010 Fashion Show (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Mercedes-Benz)

You can count on Diane von Furstenberg to deliver a Valentine, which she sent out on Sunday afternoon to a jam-packed house at Bryant Park. Fashion Week’s round of fall-winter shows has been underway for a few days, but DVF’s presentation brought a smile and lift to an audience already weary of running around cold and windy Manhattan to far-flung locations in pursuit of the next great trend.

From the opening outfit of a rosette bolero worn over a gray blazer and wool pants through a series of silk jersey dresses, short metallic skirts and blazers tossed over everything, DVF’s collection had an anything-goes kind of elan that looks effortless but is in fact not easy to pull off.

The designer took her bows to the strains of Franki Valli singing the classic “Who loves you, pretty baby,” and she stopped to grab a kiss and flowers from her husband, media mogul Barry Diller, before rounding the runway to be joined by her grandchildren and accept more flowers on her way backstage.

Also on hand to blow kisses were Diane’s media savvy fans, including Tina Brown, Charlie Rose and Fran Leibowitz. Sitting next to Diller was Cecilia Sarkozy, the ex-wife of the French president Nicolas Sarkozy.

| January 28, 2010, 10:01 am

Kell on earth

Bravo has been able to take viewers inside the fashion industry with shows like “Project Runway,” “Shear Genius” and “The Rachel Zoe Project” but the show it debuts Monday might leave some rethinking their desire to work in the rag trade. “Kell on Earth,” which debuts at 8 p.m. MT Monday, features fashion publicist Kelly Cutrone of People’s Revolution and her staff as they prepare for Fashion Week shows in New York.
It’s low on glamour and high on anxiety, at least in the episode we screened. Terrified interns, bickering among the staff, and equipment failures put viewers on edge. Sure we know it’s stressful to stage a fashion show, but can’t people be a little more chilll? Cutrone is fond of saying “If you have to cry, go outside” (also the name of her new book), and makes it clear she’s not going to let her young charges get away with meltdowns. Cutrone and her partners Emily Bungert and Robyn Berkley talked about the show in a conference call. Here are some excerpts, edited for clarity:
Q: How do you handle show crashers and seat changers at fashion shows, which is always an issue.
Emily Bungert: It does happen a lot at Bryant Park, where people come to the shows and they are not invited and they are just hoping that they can get in because maybe there will be some extra seats or space at a show. Sometimes if we have a show that’s not full to capacity and there’s someone who is a student or someone that really does want to come in, if we have space, sometimes we will accommodate them.
Robyn Berkley: Well, in my experience of doing seating, it’s easier just to grab security because most people don’t want to move from their front row seats.
Kelly Cutrone: I look at it like the Whack-a-Mole game at the fair, the one where you have the mallet and like the heads keep popping up and you have to keep hitting it on the head because you know those front row seats end up costing about $300 to $500. Those first three rows are the money seats and that front row is very, very limited and you always have more requests and need for the front row than you have seats.
There are a lot of writers that will just split out of there(if someone takes their seat). And I don’t want to be the person afterwards standing backstage getting fired because the reviewer left.
(She’ll say) “Excuse me, could you please get up out of this seat. It’s not your seat.” And then they’ll go like, “You are so rude.” And then they go to steal the gift bag underneath, and I’m like, wait a minute, you’re crashing. Now you’re going to steal the gift bag and I’m rude?
Q: How do you deal with designers who want all A-listers in the front row, but they might have a bad crowd or they’re up against a bigger show across town and the logistics aren’t working out. How do you explain that to the designer who thinks that everybody from Anna Wintour on down should be you know there?

Kelly Cutrone: We tell our clients that they have to take responsibility for their brand and that we’re publicists, not magicians. So you want to be in “Vogue,” then make “Vogue” quality clothing.
If you come in here with some kind of rinky-dink rickrack cotton dress that’s selling for $149 and you think that it’s going to sit next to Givenchy you’re kidding yourself.
Emily Bungert: Yes, I think most of our clients we definitely have to manage their expectations right from the get-go.
We go out to the press, we do all the introductions (to top magazines) and we can’t promise their attendance but we can do our job and outreach to them.

| October 29, 2009, 1:29 pm

Gardening for Facebook geeks

If only I’d known growing food was so easy: the FarmVille app on Facebook is apparently the new digital hangout, according to the New York Times. It’s taking college kids away from their books and husbands away from their pregnant wives. All because they’ve gotta harvest their virtual soybeans.

No dirt, no bugs, no broken fingernails, no rotator-cuff injuries.

Of course, you can’t tear up your FarmVille swiss chard and make a frittata out of it. But that’s the only drawback I’m seeing.

| September 16, 2009, 4:22 pm

Meanwhile, backstage at Fashion Week

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In the trade it’s called “the look of the show.” Translated, it means the makeup and hairstyling that a fashion designer, cosmetics and hair people have collaborated on to make the most impact on the runway for a given collection. Hours before fashion editors and buyers air-kiss their way to their seats at the fashion shows in New York, the makeup artists, manicurists and hairstylists are busy working on the models.
“Pretty” doesn’t usually suffice, as these creative teams want the photos that result from the collections to stand out from the pack and have editorial as well as commercial appeal to retailers and customers.
Here, we share some of the inspiration behind looks that have been appearing on the runways previewing the New York collections for spring 2010, provided by the PR teams for the brands and artists:
For Marc Jacobs’ collection, inspired by the contemporary dancer, Martha Graham, the look was to be old-fashioned and theatrical but graceful and precise. At the same time, a darker side appeared: a quality of gothic romance. François Nars, Founder and Creative Director of NARS Cosmetics was certainly up to the task, creating a theatrical look.
The models weren’t meant to have perfect makeup- rather, they were meant to encompass a “just came off-stage” effect. “Dancers in theater and opera always have white faces, pointed lips and an eye that is drawn outward, not upward-it’s very theatrical, very ballet,” Nars said. He stressed the importance of the eye for this look, noting that “the shape of the eyeliner is important- it should open the eyes, especially underneath. The slashes of white is something they used to do in the 70s- it brings a 3-dimensional feeling to the makeup.”

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For Rodarte Spring/Summer 2010 runway show, MAC Senior Artist, Chantel Miller designed the Maori-inspired geometric tattoo makeup seen on the runways, left.
“The idea for the tattoos stemmed from Kate and Laura’s (Mulleavy’s)desire to celebrate makeup as art not only for the face, but also for the body in a similar way that Indian culture uses henna,” Miller said. “They want women to look at makeup as an accessory for an outfit the way you would a bracelet or a necklace,”
She worked closely with the designers and key makeup artist James Kaliardos over a month to create the full-sleeve, half-sleeve and neck tattoo designs, which were meant to evoke the feeling of a futuristic tribe. The morning of the show, Chantel, who specializes in body painting, spent four hours with a team of 40 artists hand painting the elaborate body art, according to a MAC publicist. Each model received a customized combination of the designs depending on which look they were wearing in the show.
“Application is key to creating a body-art look like this, so the brushes play an essential part,” says Chantel, who recommends using such tools as MAC’s PRO Micronized Airbrush in Black Black, brushes 252 and Brush 242 and Liquidlast Liner in Point Black.
She didn’t say anything about how to take it off.
While on the topic of edgy Rodarte, lead hairstylist for the show as Odile Gilbert for Aveda.

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The look was daring, yet natural, with hair pinned away from the face in a thin veil of black wool. Hair was matte, roughed-up and textured, and raked back into a braid-like cascade.

| July 29, 2009, 3:43 pm

Wardrobes that work

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Lloyd Boston might just be a working woman’s best friend. Through his books, in-store seminars for such companies as Jones New York, and TV shows on Fine Living Network, he keeps one finger on fashion’s pulse and another on the practical needs and budget constraints women have to deal with. Sure, we live in our favorite jeans and relaxed shirts on the weekends, but for the job — five days a week — it’s a different story.
Boston recently shared tips on how to dress for an interview, but also elaborated on what he likes that women are wearing to work. “I love a woman who understands that a suit is meant to boost your style mileage,” he says. “In the past few years, women have gotten a lot more creative with business suits – breaking them up and styling them in ways that don’t look so boxy, corporate and traditional,” he says. He likes to see skinny belts over a suit jacket, and the sleeves pushed up.
“It’s a good way to create a waist if yours is gone.” Or belt a sweater under a jacket and over a dress, as in this outfit from Banana Republic, above.
He’s not a big fan of long jackets. Petite women should wear shorter jackets, and even bigger, curvier women shouldn’t wear them too long.
And don’t worry if your blouse is longer than the jacket’s hem. “It gives a little individuality to the outfit, versus looking like a flight attendant,” he says.
An alternate work outfit, for a woman in a more casual dress situation, is “dark denim trousers with a black or dark jacket, and a beautiful blouse beneath.”

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He also likes cardigans as a jacket alternative. “Sweater stets have come a long way since your mom wore them,” he says. “You can find versions will fuller, puffed sleeves,” beautiful colors and romantic touches. To take them from the ordinary, add a belt in metallic or patent leather, and team them with a “more stately” bottom – a pencil skirt or pants in pinstripes or lace.
Above all, experiment with what’s in your closet, Boston says. “Most of women I bump into at style clinics want permission to wear unexpected combinations. They’ll say, ‘I never thought I could wear a tunic under a leather jacket.’ So step outside the box. It can be liberating to try something new and you won’t have to spend a boatload of cash.”

| March 19, 2009, 8:12 pm

This just in: They’re the Gardeners in Chief!

The White House is going to have a vegetable garden.

And Michele Obama says every member of the First Family will be helping to pull weeds — “whether they like it or not.” (Except, perhaps, her mom.)

If you’ve been following Digging In since last spring, you know that we’ve been following Kitchen Gardener International founder Roger Doiron and his quest to return part of the White House Lawn to its historical function: growing food crops. Doiron and many fans of this idea, including celebrated authors Michael Pollan and Joan Dye Gussow, have been indefatigable, launching Internet petitions and igniting a worldwide campaign — long before we even knew who would win the primaries — for whoever won the White House to put in vegetables.

They’ve won. We’ve won. The New York Times is reporting tonight that Friday — tomorrow — within hours — ground will be broken on a garden to grow 55 varieties. No beets — the Prez doesn’t like them. But it’ll have arugula, berries, chard, sorrel, peas, lots of peas, and every culinary herb imaginable. Tomatillos and hot peppers (you’ve probably heard about the first family’s fave Mexican restaurant). Two beehives. And if you’re on KGI’s email list, you got an email tonight (Thursday) with the new White House garden plan.

Michele Obama told The Times her goal is to educate children about vegetables and healthy eating, thus combating childhood obesity. “My hope is that through children, they will begin to educate their families and that will, in turn, begin to educate our communities.” A local school that’s had its own vegetable garden for years will help her start digging. Tomorrow.

Food gardening is as viral as the internet. Congrats to Roger and all the KGs who worked their outrageous soil mojo upon Washington. You’re crazy brilliant!

| March 1, 2009, 1:35 pm

Common threads

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Men’s and women’s designer fashion markets are typically held at different times in the major cities, but during the recent round of New York showings, there was plenty of menswear on view. Designers like Michael Kors put both men’s and women’s collections on the runway at the same time, while Calvin Klein Collection staged two separate showings. We prefer seeing them isolated so we can dissect the details, which is what menswear is all about, anyway. Fabric selection, tailoring tricks and the nuances of button placement and pocket treatments make one garment distinct from the next.
Blame it on the economy, but the overall palette was dark and muted, with designers using heavy doses of gray and black. There were less of the woodsy browns and greens you typically see for fall. We spotted a lot of double-breasted styling, in plaid at Tommy Hilfiger, and in everything from trench coats to pinstriped suits at Z Zegna. Fall is shaping us a good season to invest in come classics pieces, with designers like Hilfiger showing camel blazers, classic navy blazers (complete with gold buttons) and tweed suits from such designers as Kors and Zegna. To keep it all from being too predictable, they’d throw in a pop of orange in a sweater, muffler or tie.

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