Architectural Femininity at Rubin Singer

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Fashionably late? Not at Rubin Singer’s presentation. Fashion week is notorious for shows starting late, but when I walked into Singer’s presentation it was a packed space. The venue was filled with fashion-goers buzzing about the impressive looks that surrounded them on platforms. The designer focused on bringing new textures and shapes for the Fall/Winter season, while incorporating his love for architectural designs.

Through the Threads at Claudia Li

Claudia Li presented a stunning collection at Art Beam studios this Wednesday. For Fall/Winter 2016, she wanted to express the idea of preserving oneself after an emotional and mental destruction; embracing the stage that comes after. This stage is shown through various layers, wrapped silhouettes, origami knots, and juxtaposed panels.

The most impressive looks have knotting details– with yarn-sleeved jackets draped to perfection. Her collection is the most innovative I’ve seen in a long time. Keep your eyes peeled for this Claudia Li– she’s new to the game but will be a household name soon.

Fashion Week Begins at Vivi Academy

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Worth the “double-tap” and regramming this week–twenty-four year old Vivi Moya debuted as a designer this Wednesday at NYFW with a generation selfie-inspired collection, “Your Brain on Likes.” Her brand, Vivi Academy, kickstarted my fashion week at Sixty Tenth in Meatpacking district. The stages were set with platforms scattered around the room, surrounded by tall glass windows. Models came out one by one to stand and show off their looks while guests strolled around to check out the details up close while a projector cast a video that showed Moya’s inspiration. The short film was of a girl taking lines of sequined-hearts like cocaine, with the idea of the Vivi Academy girl getting high from likes and the selfie-focused mentality. The inspiration trickled from the film onto the models’ make-up styling, in which models had hearts around their eyes. Scroll through the slideshow to see Moya’s creations. After meeting her charming personality and hearing her enthusiasm to design, this designer is going places!

Michael Costello Brings Hollywood Glamour to Fashion Week

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Michael Costello designed one of the most glamorous collections I had seen during the entire fashion week. The past Project Runway contestant sent flowing gowns, Hollywood-esque sequined pantsuits, other elegant red carpet worthy looks all floated down the runway at Pier 59.  Each model entering the horse-shoe shaped catwalk was a “wow” piece—it was truly gorgeous!

Noon by Noor is Flirty this Spring

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Noon by Noor took the relaxation vibes of spring and channeled sporty, relaxed fits for their most iconic styles for SS16. The designers used fresh colors, punchy bold prints and luxurious details to their youthful line. Tropical leaf and flock prints created great graphic looks next to feather light fabrics,  with an offset of standout pieces like the sheer gold stripe dress and lavender bubble blossom cape. Sporty met femininity on this runway– and it was received well by the adoring audience. A cute (and tasty!) touch were the “N” and flower shaped cookies given to the audience– yes, please!

A Santorini Dream at Zang Toi

Greek goddesses graced the runway at Zang Toi‘s spring summer 2016 collection in a vision of ocean blues and greens inspired by Santorini. The mostly white palette was adorned with intricately hand-beaded detailing and couture pieces, accessorized with bold statement necklaces. The line spoke nothing but elegance; a jet-setter’s dream closet fully equipped with long flowing capes and sculpted separates. Toi ended the show with a literal show-stopping glamorous Santorini bride with a crown of white lilies. It was elegant, lovely, and so Zang Toi. The audience was thrilled and stood to applaud the designer when he went for his own walk down the runway.

America’s Sharp Southwest at Jeffrey Dodd

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Southwestern styles beamed with pure sophistication in SoHo during New York Fashion Week. Jeffrey Dodd presented his spring/summer 2016 collection at his modern showroom. I was lucky enough to browse through a beautifully detailed line of textures, frayed fringe, minimalist sharp tailoring and stacked sequins– all inspired by kachina dolls he collected growing up. Using these characters as inspiration led Dodd into creating not only a unique line, but one of great variety while maintaining the perfect cohesive touch that can drive you to mix and match the perfect outfit from his line alone. Here are some photos of key pieces in the collection. How amazing is that brown coat?!

Rootstein Mannequins Presents The Blonds: A Retrospective

New York Fashion Week kicked off with a bang at the Rootstein Mannequin launch party of The Blonds’ most iconic celebrity ensembles. The Blonds are known best for dressing starlets in gem-encrusted bodysuits, crystal corsets, and mini-dresses lavishly embellished with stars, chains, spikes, and sequins. You can catch celebrities like Britney Spears, Rihanna, and Miley Cyrus donning the brand at red carpet events.

The sky is the limit for this designer—as long as fun and rock and roll are incorporated in the extravagant details. At the event, each corner had mannequins scattered in various poses. Some of them looked so lifelike it was a bit eerie! The fashion crowd that attended arrived dressing every bit chic and sipped on “The Blondini” cocktails all night surrounded by the mannequins.

Off to the Pier! Katty Xiomara’s Flirty Fall Winter 2015

A trail of fashion-goers crossed the West Side Highway to make their way to Pier 59 for a sneak peek into Katty Xiomara’s fall/ winter collection. The large space was packed to the brim with guests at the edge of their benches waiting for the drama of the lights turning off and right back on when the first look hits the runway. The show consisted of a more spring-time vibe; full of bright prints, whites, short dresses and short shorts. Sprinkled throughout the collection were a few darker shaded looks of hoodies and the occasional coat, paired with adorable tomboy-boots and heels. The designer is clearly a girl’s girl– the femininity shown broke up a lot of the dark monotony that many designers brought this season. It was a sunshine-meets-sophisticated lunch meeting kind of show.

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Photos by Blaire Brown

Masculine Meets Feminine at Parchoonmoo FW15

If you are a neutral kind of woman, Demi Park has you covered in blacks, whites and sprinkled with a “gritty-dust” designs of grey, ivory and cream for the Parkchoonmoo collection this fall. Oversized coating, floor length maxis intertwined with alpaca wools, texture-blocking with fur and mohair. The designer opted for masculine shapes with subtle feminine detailing peek-a-booing through layers of garments that composed the looks together. I liked the interesting coat necklines- high with sharp angles to bring in the warmth this fall/winter is sure to deliver in New York.