LOOK VERA WANG!

I know the title of this post sounds like an order, but Look is actually the name of the new Vera Wang Scent.  Thats right, the new one - the well known bridal designer has several.   I have been vocal in the past about my lack of enthusiasm for the Wang scents.   I just about lost it when I heard about the Men's launch.. ???  I can just see a guy trying that pick up line.. "Wanna smell my Wang?".. and what was that song.."If I could have Wang in a bottle.... YOU CAN!!".   Ok, I know thats too much.   I just don't get it.  (previous blog about Celebrity Scents)

The press release says that the new fragrance contains : mandarin, lychee, misted greens, heart of lilly, freesia, jasmine, and a vanilla-chypre dry down.  Wow... sounds like you might need a can of OFF along with LOOK.   

I must give Vera credit.   She keeps smart people around her to grow that business.   They launched fragrance.   They launched Jewelry - but that didn't go so well.    They then launched Ready-To-Wear... I know.. you just want her wedding gowns..   Then they launched Lavender - a bridge line.   If it sounds familiar, your probably thinking of Purple Label - but that is one of Ralph Lauren's collections for men.   Did I forget to mention, Vera worked at RL before launching her own label.. uh huh.   Then they launched Simply Vera at Kohl's.   I guess there was just not enough Vera Wang out there?  Well, lets look on the bright side.   It could be worse - the house of Wang could be launchiing a.... C.D.    Smelling Vera Wang is way better than listening to her speak..   Trust me, its nails on a chalk board.

Look is available at Bloomingdale's

Victor Alfaro is back in Fashion!

One of the hottest names in the fashion world in the 90's was Victor Alfaro.    Every magazine you opened, there was Victor's sexy evening clothes on one of the super models of the day.  In fact, you didn't have to open the magazines, his drop dead gorgeous runway collection graced as many covers as it did editorials.    Alfaro had a pulse on what was sexy and what women wanted.   He also had a magical effect on the industry itself.   Victor was on the short list of magazine editors and fellow designers themselves.   Sometimes we see designers who are press darlings, and then there are those that are awkward in the press, but talented - Victor Alfaro has that rare combination of talent and charisma.

There was a CFDA award, a big bucks deal with Italian Fashion House Gilmar (Marc Jacobs designed for them previously for their ICEBERG collection) , and a very public friendship with Madonna.   Then, just when he was riding high - he decided to pull the plug.   His career was soaring, but Victor was looking for more personal growth.  Always a man of action, Alfaro acted quickly on his instincts.  He took to the west coast to give himself a fresh perspective and new references.   All of us that live in NYC can relate to needing a complete change of scenery now and again.   Within no time - the next big project in Alfaro's life was happening.   His passion for Art and Architecture led to the birth of Vista Art & Design.   An interactive website that connects buyers and sellers with one of a kind artwork, home furnishings, collectible objects, and real estate.   This was a true labor of love and his research trips around the globe really inspired the creative bug that he thought he had put on the back burner.    Just as Alfaro had launched Vista - the Bon-Ton group approached.   The premise was perfect for what Victor was feeling.  The idea of bringing amazing looks to customers that had incredible value.   Bon-Ton also gave Victor the ability to design not just rtw, but shoes, bags, and cj as well.  This is an incredibly difficult task when you have your own collection at designer price points due to the lack of big volume production..  and Volume they have.   The fall collection is available at the Bon-Ton stores all over the place.. With over 250 doors, those of you outside NYC (we don't have any here!)  know them better than I do!   Get to a store near you or for the states that are Bon-Ton challenged... click above to shop the website.   Like most big stores this year, Fall looks are selling for prices you just can't believe!     

I had been calling for Victor to get back in the game!  Look at my post from late last year in Miami asking when, when when!   Fashion Rag Post - Alfaro/Miami/Art Basel 

Hearst is the Worst!

In economic hard times, its not just fashion budgets that get cut.   We all take a hard look at what we spend our TIME as well as MONEY on these days.   Case in point, Page 6 Magazine has parted ways with model - Lydia Hearst.   She wrote a "column" for the editors bi-weekly that chronicled her so-called "SUPERMODEL" life.  To anyone who ever read "The Hearst Chronicles",  you know that one episode of the MTV show The Hill's is infinitely more interesting than Hearst' rants on nothing.    Well now, the Post thinks enough is enough as well.  In a big they said/ she said tiff, Hearst is no longer writing for Page 6.   The disagreement was over a quote Lydia gave criticizing Hearst Publishing's party schedule in the wake of the economic downturn.   While trying to recant her comments - it came out that Lydia was not actually "writing" the column as much as turning in notes to an editor that would in turn translate to coherent English.

Last year, this deranged girl compared a backstage runway photo of her using Male hunk Tyson Beckford's hands as a bra to the infamous photo of her mother Patty Hearst toting a machine gun during a bank robbery.  The infamous case involved the 1974 kidnapping and brainwashing of the heiress by the Symbionese Liberation Army in Berkeley, California.  The bank robbery  led to one of the most publicly covered trials in U.S. history and ultimately jail time for Heart.  Are you kidding me?   A person was killed during that bank robbery and Patty went to jail.   Lydia blushed as a result of her picture and actually got press - because no one knew or knows who she was/ is!  More to the point, no one even saw the pic.   This educationally challenged girl was using her mother's  infamy to get press.   That's not living a life of Style.   That is just vile!  And for the record - Her name is Lydia Hearst Shaw.   So just like Melissa Rivers, Lydia jumped on the "use my mothers maiden name to become famous" bandwagon.  

I knew Patty Hearst in the 90's when Lydia was still a pre-teen.   Patty and Bernie (Lydia's father) were nothing but polite and charming.  I worked with Patty on a wild project for Thierry Mugler and we became phone buddies afterwards.   Mothers - don't let your daughters grow up to be models!!

I look forward to Lydia free Page 6 Magazine editions!   Maybe now Max & Co.. can change the ridiculous credit they gave Lydia in the ad campaign she models for them.   It states "Journalist and Supermodel, " - for the record, scribbling down a few sentences to be turned into an editor for a weekly glossy does not make you a "Journalist".  Furthermore winning an award for "supermodel" of the year does not make you a Supermodel.  Supermodel is a title you earn, like "Legend".   You don't win it, this isn't the lottery.   You already won that dear Lydia by being born a Hearst! 

Karl's Mother-ship has come in - CHANEL's Mobile-Art lands in Central Park

I was treated to an out of this world experience in Central Park today.   The CHANEL Mobile-Art pavilion opened in Central Park's Rumsey Play field to showcase modern artist's take on what CHANEL means to them.    This is the space that is home to Shakespeare in the Park every summer - and Mobile-Art is just as dramatic.    

Dreamt up by LagerfeldZaha Hadid to collaborate with the Kaiser on his image of this modern, traveling museum.   The building is assembled piece by piece as it is erected again and again around the world.  More pod or module than "building", you get the feeling a giant futuristic snake is uncurling in front of you as you approach.   Instantly, you are in another place and time.   The entire experience is a great metaphor for the effect CHANEL has on its biggest fans.   Fashion is but a dream after all, and surreal moments like Mobile-Art don't happen every day.  The level of anticipation Women feel as they enter a CHANEL boutique is given to all who enter Mobile-Art.   Security guards, docents, and ushers brisk you through the exhibit and Chanel really championed the ability to give you a sense of LUXURY when you are buying nothing.  This is no small task.   himself.   CHANEL commissioned architect

The level of pampering and care you are given at Mobile-Art simply has never been executed in this way before in relation to a gallery tour.    Once again, setting itself apart from the pack - CHANEL manages to excite the media and masses at a time when few eyebrows are raising over anything to do with the fashion world.

The artwork itself echo's this desire to convey emotion and experience.   You FEEL every work as much as you SEE it.   It is experimental theater much more than a gallery tour.   The surreal audio tour really delivers.   A very devilish sounding Jeanne Moreau takes you on a long, strange trip.   This French iconic actress remembers Coco Chanel herself and has made appearances on CHANEL.COM guiding you through Mademoiselle's hotspots in Paris - so it makes perfect sense that she is guiding us here too.  A list of the artists are here.

This project obviously got under Karl's skin.   He recently unveiled yet another new apartment in Paris for the press.   It was no surprise to see the futuristic theme throughout.  Karl's having a space odyssey moment - but then again - maybe he always was / is.

Tickets were available on-line through a free delivery system.   They roughly 30,000 free tickets "sold" out in moments, however there are standby tickets made available daily.    Even if you don't get in, just to stand next to the landed mother ship of CHANEL makes you feel like you are part of the event.   You can almost see it moving - catch it before its gone!

CHANEL MOBILE-ART NYC - OCTOBER 20- NOVEMBER 9th 2008