Edited by Lester Brathwaite
Call it a fashion foreign exchange program. The CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund will launch a new initiative with China this spring when Proenza Schouler‘s Jack McCullough and Lazaro Hernandez trek out to Shanghai and Shanghai-based designer Uma Wang takes a bite out of the Big Apple.
Edited by Lester Brathwaite
An audience of prospective designers and general fashion lovers — including Fern Mallis, designer Tracy Reese and stylist Phillip Bloch – gathered in Harlem’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture for an informative discussion with the CFDA‘s bespectacled CEO Steven Kolb last night, kicking off Harlem’s Fashion Row‘s 2012 conversations series. Kolb sat down with HFR founder and CEO Brandice Henderson to discuss an array of subjects from Kolb’s first meeting with Anna Wintour, to the guidelines required for membership to the CFDA, the future of garment manufacturing in Manhattan and Kolb’s short-lived days as a high school football “star.”
Edited by Jessica Lapidos
Be kind to the guy selling beautiful jewelry on that street corner in Soho. He could be the next CFDA winner. Justin Giunta did just that many moons ago, then took the prize in 2009. An artist of all trades, his creative self is steeped in painting, fashion, interior and industrial design, and has succeeded tremendously in the realm of making jewelry independently under the guise Subversive Jewelry. His philosophy, “In authenticity there is luxury,” translates quite clearly to his clients, peers and Royal fans.
Edited by Lester Brathwaite
- “She’s like a footballer’s wife, with the too-blond hair and that kind of face that anyone with enough money can go out and buy.” — casting director Sophia Neophitou on Sports Illustrated cover girl Kate Upton‘s prospects of walking in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. [The Cut]
- Get ready to go back to school and get some class. The Condé Nast College of Fashion & Design is now accepting applications. [Vogue UK]
- Michelle Obama wore Jason Wu — for Target — at an event in Florida over the weekend. And she looks super jazzed about it. [Huff Po]
Edited by Jessica Lapidos
The workhorse behind the CFDA, C.E.O. Steven Kolb, lingers momentarily on Diane Von Furstenberg‘s runway post-show, making his way from backstage to the front of house. I overheard him tell another journalist, “I do all the work, Diane takes all the credit. It’s established and out in the open.” It’s quite alright with all parties involved; if he didn’t do the lion’s share of the CFDA workload, when would DVF possibly have time to create a collection and run her powerhouse? That said, on the 50th anniversary of the CFDA, there is much excitement abounds with the relocation of CFDA headquarters, so we got a little nosy.
Edited by Lester Brathwaite
Eleanor Lambert founded the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 1962 and since then the organization has had some 600 members. This Friday, the Museum at FIT opens its latest exhibition, Impact: 50 Years of the CFDA, featuring 70 iconic looks that trace the development of American style over the last half century.
Edited by Lester Brathwaite
- Joan Rivers has had 739 plastic surgery procedures — meanwhile, Ground Zero has seen less construction. [Buzzfeed]
- Celebrities are clamoring to spice up their red carpet lives by wearing Victoria Beckham to this year’s Oscars. [Daily Mail]
- Victoria’s Secret Angel Kylie Bisutti apparently took her title too seriously and quit VS because god doesn’t care for that kind of behavior in his heavenly hosts. [Vogue UK]
Edited by Lester Brathwaite
Located at 1412 Broadway for the last 15 years, the CFDA has been, as president Diane von Furstenberg puts it, the “soul of the Garment District” — working tirelessly to preserve the once thriving neighborhood with initiatives such as the CFDA Incubator and Made in Midtown. Now that the Council is planning to physically abandon the District, some fear it will also leave the Garment…out to dry.
Edited by Lester Brathwaite
- The Fashion Fund is a new webseries that takes a look at the process behind the CFDA‘s annual award for up-and-coming designers. The first episode takes us behind the close doors of the committee that chose recent winner Joseph Altuzarra, featuring Anna Wintour in full HBIC mode. Flipping through the lookbook from Nice Collective, Anna purrs,”Well this is just generic…I mean, it’s fine. It’s not offensive.” And then she set it on fire and threw it in Jeffrey Kalinsky‘s face. [NYT]
Edited by Lester Brathwaite
- Rutgers is offering a class in Beyoncé and her impact on race, gender, politics and putting a ring on it in America. [Paper]
