- Andrej Pejic perfected his tuck to model a bikini on a rooftop in New York. All in a gay’s work. [Telegraph]

- Wet Hot American Summer 2. Happening. Get into it. [Huff Po]

- Is Barneys broke? The luxury retailer is having some fairly public money woes. Hey, the recession has hit us all in considerable ways. [WWD]

- Seems like I wasn’t the only one who had a rough night. But in all fairness, I didn’t get stuck in an elevator. But then again, I didn’t get to see Chaka Khan. You take the good with the bad, kids. [Racked]

- A history of the front row at fashion shows proves that celebrities have and will always take precedence. See Babs Streisand resigning Richard Avedon to the second row at Chanel in 1960. [The Cut]

- Calvin Klein, class of 1963 donated $2 million to FIT, the biggest donation from an alumnus in the school’s history. [WWD]

“The Great Designers” will also be accompanied by the book The Great Designers: Fashion’s Hall of Fame from A to Z, highlighting 500 of the museum’s masterworks by 100 of the 20th- and 21st-century’s most important designers. Publishing in April 2012, the book will include an essay by museum curator Valerie Steele on the history of fashion museums and exhibits,  along with short bios on the 100 designers. Click through the gallery for some of the designs featured and to keep you occupied until you can make your way to the FIT Museum to see them in person. [WWD, FIT]

Photo: Zimbio

“In order for something to mean something you have to part with things you really love. It doesn’t take much effort to ditch a pair of naff old boots now does it?”  – On a pair of boots she sold to a charity, which FIT purchased.

“Valentino is a nice man and a very gentle soul. What’s wonderful about him is that when you talk to him about art his eyes light up! And I really get that.” - On her good friend, Valentino.

“I’ve been wearing motorcycle rings since I was 16 then I began wearing crisp white shirts- And all of a sudden Karl Lagerfeld and I started morphing into each other.” -On how she and Lagerfeld dress in similar fashions. But which came first?

“Before my wedding I got 2 feet cut off my hair and I was so mad because they gave me this huge horrid hair. But it was the 80s so it doesn’t really matter does it?”- On her wedding to Stavros Niarchos.

“The dandy aspect of my of my dress stems from my love of literature – Wilde, Proust and Gide. It is also since I didn’t get to go to Eaton! Also, the way a jacket is constructed is very geometric and I like to adjust things a very small amount so I work very closely with the tailor. I like the idea of being a bit androgynous.” – On the Dandy section of the exhibition at FIT.

“It was really hard to get gold chain male made! It took five years!” –On working with Shaun Leane on her chain mail glove.

“A cat suit is so great to wear for a shoot because you can get into any position and they just don’t tear!” – Need we say more?

After I see the exhibit, I’ll tell you more about each piece. For now, enjoy fashion at its most powerful. See it now through January 7, 2012.

Exhibition photos by Tom Mendes; Opening reception photos by Patrick McMullan; Opening reception sponsored by Kim Crawford Wines

11. University of Delaware Newark, DE

Campus Tour: The smallest state also has a small design program that is focused on quality garment making from every angle. The program follows a garment through its entire lifecycle, from the creative design and tailoring, to a focus on sustainably producing goods on both small and large scale in a socially and environmentally minded manner. An entirely student run fashion magazine, UDress, and fashion shows exist outside of class, working to show and pull fashion out of this college driven town.

Programs: Apparel Design, Merchandising, Sustainability

Student Body: 16,500

Tuition:  $27,000

Star Alumni: Well, me. And a fierce force that is the backbone of the garment industry.

NEW YORK

- The Wall Street Journal called in an expert to explain why Linda Evangelista‘s son needs $46,000 a month from his father, billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault-Hayek. Turns out young Augustin James is ballin’ out of control. [The Cut]

- A report that Jay-Z bought Billionaire Boys Club – Pharrell‘s clothing line — have been refuted by Jigga himself, who claims he’s only “partnering” with the Neptune. [GQ]

When I say powerful Senators powerful, $250/minute NY lawyer powerful. Gurjot New York means business. In fact, seeing the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel speak is what inspired her to create a better suit. Hers was boxy and ill-fitting, Gurjot believed she could do better. Suits by Gurjots are designed not just to leave everything to the imagination, but to not even let one’s imagination wander there, rather keep the wonderment to what ideas might spring from her brain and lips. The cut addresses the feminine curves of the body, then hides them away beneath a jacket that feels like a second skin.

Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel

The changing of the guard at any house is bound to cause some ripples –  a loss of both footing and vision — and considering the immense talent Gaytten is following, it’s understandable he would want to assert his own voice into the Dior lexicon.

Gaytten’s voice was, however, lost in translation, producing one of the sloppiest and most incoherent couture shows I’ve seen in a while.

Granted, I’m observing, much like you, from my laptop thousands of miles away and thus the intricacies of the gowns are lost on me. Still, with haute couture, particularly with Dior Haute Couture,  there’s a brilliance that shines through in spite of the viewer’s distance or technical knowledge.

No doubt the pieces were brilliantly and painstakingly constructed by one of the most, if not the most, talented atelier in the world, but without Galliano’s influence there’s no clear identifying vision.

Instead, there are garish colors thrown together rather haphazardly with even more garish prints; an abundance of overworked and unfinished taffeta, gazar and organza that just ended up looking messy; and a jarring lack of cohesion that only hinted at the Dior aesthetic without fully realizing it.

If not for the big budget and even bigger name behind it all, this show could easily be mistaken for a graduate show from FIT or, even worse, a Project Runway finale collection.

Though the Christian Dior aesthetic was lost on its own couture show, it was certainly found by Giambattista Valli.

In his couture debut, Valli presented a beautiful collection heavy on the drama and on Old Hollywood, two Galliano trademarks that Valli managed to make his own. Hopefully Sidney Toledano and Bernard Arnault, the head honchos at Dior and parent company LVMH respectively, were paying attention.

Photos: Style.com

- Simon Doonan continues to be in the running for “World’s Best Person” with his advice to FIT grads: ”Make sure you have at least one drag queen in your life.” They’re very “life-affirming.” That’s the kind of real-world advice I like to hear. [Racked]

-Remember that time that Michelle Obama met Kate Middleton and I literally collapsed on the floor in a fit of screams and panting from all the fierceness. Because all of that happened. [The Cut]

- Behold new comedy duo Lady Gaga and David Letterman. They’re like an old Vaudeville act, if Vaudeville was full of ironic, egg-incubating popstars eating paper in nothing but a Viktor & Rolf jacket. Which it was. [Refinery29]

- A look back on the style of the romance of the century also known as Oprah and Gayle Stedman. [Fashionista]

- And of course, today is the last episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show. I haven’t seen it yet, but I can imagine when I do I will openly weep for hours until I eventually just turn into a pillar of salt. At least we still have OWN.

Style council members teamed up  to talk to fashion students about how to make it in the industry, educate themselves about the creative process, and encourage them to join the “vitaminwater color collection” competition, a t-shirt design competition that leads to a $5,000 grant and a tshirt produced and sold through vitaminwater.  The FIT panel included Gossip Girl stylist Eric Daman, Elle’s creative director Joe Zee and CFDA designer Richard Chai.

Attendees got to hear about how youthful passion led all three industry experts to their respective careers today.  Regardless of whether you end up in magazines, as a designer, or styling television and movie sets like the panelists one theme rang strong:  be open minded to new opportunities, be creative, and always ask questions.

Fashion students sipped on Vitaminwater while listening to the wise words of the fashion elite.  And a special treat at the end?  Several lucky audience members walked away with iPad2′s, copies of Joe Zee and Eric Daman’s books, and a certain special someone got a cashmere cardigan designed by Richard Chai (lucky me!).

To find out more about the nationwide style council tour and to join the competition and get your lucky break, click here!

You come from an eclectic, non-traditional family of artists. What type of art did you grow up around?
My grandfather revolutionized the interior design industry. He was one of the first people to bring colored wallpaper to California during the late 1960s and 70s. My cousin was in the music industry and has written songs for Whitney Houston. My grandmother was an illustrator, my mom’s first cousin’s husband is a well-known sculptor and she is an amazing painter who began her craft at 50 years old. Hillary Clinton asked her to paint a portrait of Chelsea when they were in the White House. My entire family gets together in Ojai, CA for Thanksgiving, and it’s like Woodstock revisited – with all these artists together, it’s the best energy and love you could ask for.

So you were very encouraged as a child to follow your dreams and do whatever your heart desired?
Both of my parents are entrepreneurs, so it makes sense that my brother, sister and I are independent. I wouldn’t say art was pushed on us, but we went towards it naturally. I spent most of my early days as a soccer player, competing on the early Olympic Development Team and in college as well. But somewhere in college, I decided I wanted to do something creative. I thought maybe I didn’t have the art gene, but suddenly, it’s all I wanted to do. I went back to school to study interior design at Parsons and took milliner classes at FIT. I secured an interior design job working with Bill Sofield, where I worked on everything from high-end residential to Tom Ford stores to the SoHo and Tribeca Grand hotels.

Interior design can be a very mathematical and structural craft. How did working in that industry influence your millinery?
I always say I make structurally interesting hats. Because I worked for an interior/architecture firm, I consider proportion, scale and how things move and look. I have the mind of an interior designer and the advantage of having worked with different materials. Unlike many designers perfecting their craft in the fashion industry, I came from people working with wood and ceramic. I am always asking how can I take these materials and techniques and construct them into something else, something new. That is my challenge, working with non-traditional materials.

Hats are almost becoming a lost dressing art. What made you want to go into the millinery business? Was it a lack of good product in the industry?
My aunt was a fashion designer in California and was always putting us kids in the fun hats she was making. Apparently, my great-grandmother was also a milliner in New York. My husband used to go to a milliner in the East Village, who we loved. I wanted to figure out how a milliner worked, so I asked if I could apprentice her, an unpaid position. Unfortunately, she rudely said no. It was very discouraging, but it motivated me to learn the trade and prove her wrong.

It came to the point where I was working long hours at the firm and was constantly stressed out. I asked myself “if I only had six months to live, would I be doing what I am doing now?” And I thought, “no, I would be working on my own. “ I looked down, saw all these hats I made and realized how much I loved making them. Selling hats to friends turned into selling them online. I just began selling at Charles Nolan, ABC Carpet & Home and will be in Treasure & Bond in the fall. But my big goal is Bendels.

Where does your inspiration come from on a daily basis? Do nature and people inspire you? What about the architecture of the city?
It’s so random. My husband and I travel a lot, and I spent a lot of time photographing anything I find interesting. I often find myself searching for things I photographed more than fives years ago and is relevant to my current project. I could be walking down the street, see something and think it would make a terrific structure or a cool color combination. People must think I’m a tourist because I walk the city with my head up. I see plants and flower arrangements and examine the proportion compared to the vase. I don’t make many large hats; I try to take the idea of a big hat and make it more me. I just styled women for the Frederick Olmsted Awards at Central Park and the Kentucky Derby with small fascinators and headpieces. I think small is the new big – fascinators are really in this season.

In the future, is there any other type of art you want to explore? What else could you design that the Satya woman would love?
I am a huge fan of dresses with pockets. Charles Nolan and I began our friendship over it – he always made them and I always love them. So I think next year, there might be a collection of vintage-inspired dresses and smoking jackets for women. I strangely like uniforms. Like the cartoon Daria, I work towards wearing the same thing every day. I want the same dress in a dozen colors and patterns to wear with black tights, black shoes and a jacket. I don’t like to think hard about what I’m going to wear. Comfortable, beautiful and chic is my motto. That is the Satya woman.

You can see more photos of Satya’s work and read her blog on her website.

The denim collection boasts every type of jean — skinny, boyfriend, drop crotch, straight leg — each treated with a burst of cosmetics  for a signature spin.  Whether it be a splash of purple eyeshadow on the butt or bursts of pink blusher throughout the thighs, the collection brought a bright, uplifting feeling into your Spring denim selection.

Here’s the amazing stylist Dani Stahl posing with the new collection — she was killing it in a pair of super skinny stretch teal jeans, heels, and a cute leather jacket.

Once you figured out what pair best suited you, Make Up Forever artists were ready to give you matching makeovers!  They were painting on bold lips and pops of eye color in magenta, teal, yellow, and blue, with their new liquid eyeliner.

The denim bar has fun spring colors including dusty blue, yellow, coral, teal, white, and railroad stripe. My personal favorite were the destroyed white skinny, which didn’t have much stretch but fit very true to size. A runner up were the super skinny stretch teal jeans, which were a powdery light color that once painted on your body, were surprisingly flattering.

Want to know more about the Powder of Diesel collection?  Tweet your questions at me @iamsamlim

April 1st industry legends and innovators will be at Fashion Forum held at NYC’s Fashion Institute of Technology. Panel members include: Cynthia Rowley, Julie Gilhart, Fern Mallis, and Adam Lippes. This is a must attend event for any designer who is looking to come up in the industry. Fashion Indie has two complimentary tickets to the event which you can win. Entry details after the jump.

To enter all you have to do is email Mac@FashionIndie.com with what you think makes your collection unique. Contest ends March 24th so get those entries in ASAP!

Good Luck!

You can also buy tickets to the event here.

This week, students from Parsons New School of Design and The Fashion Institute of Technology faced off in the final round of the Fusion Fashion Show to determine: Which school has the best designers? This show has featured contestants in the past that you may have heard of: Alexander Wang, Chris Benz, Prabal Gurung. Yeah. So I watched with a keen eye as 15 designers from each school presented a collection of four or five looks; which of these talents might we see next at NY Fashion Week? Fashion Indie caught up with the Best Designer at FIT (the only designer I put a star next to in my Moleskin, pegging him the winner during the show) Wonki Lee. He just so happened to come from the winning school. Congrats FIT! Could Wonki be the next Prabal? Interview after the jump.

Your collection is entitled “Industrial Art: The Elegance of Mechanization,” what draws you to the industrial arts?

Whenever I am about to start working on a project, I try to go to a museum to get some inspiration. When I applied for Fusion, I got into some industrial arts at MOMA and took pictures of them. Usually, Industrial art is made with wood or metal marterial, so it has a kind of rough feeling. However, what I came up with for my collection was to translate the feeling of Industry art into an elegant mood concentrating on the geometrical shapes.

Yes. I made some kilts for men in my collection. The Kilt has been recently adapted as an item of fashionable male clothing and we’ve seen this fashion item on the runway for years. I felt that the pleats in the the kilt matched the geometric shape that I took from my inspiration. Also, I thought the kilt would be a good item to capture the audience’s attention because it’s unusual but it’s truly trendy and fun.

It is true that Fusion is a competition, but FIT and Parsons truly worked together. I would say that we are both winners. FIT designers were motivated by Parsons designers and I hope they were, too.That is what makes Fusion get more high quality collections. I think that Fusion makes both schools more strongly connected with each other. I hope that Fusion inspired  both school’s students.

Since my arrival here in New York, one and a half years ago, I have surely learned a lot about menswear design and the construction of garments. I wanted to show off my knowledge about menswear and Fusion gave me that chance. It was a great opportunity for me to share my passion with other  talented and amazing fusioners. It was such a pleasure to work with them. I will remember them for the rest of my life.

All winners:

FIT: Runner up – Alexa Wright. Winner – Wonki Lee

Parsons: Runner up – Meghan Spielman. Winner – Victoria Hayes.

School: FIT

“If you look at any movement… it’s people rejecting what’s just behind them and pulling something out of the past.” – Vivienne Westwood, 1986

At the beginning of her journey into the fashion world, Westwood opened a store with design and business partner, artist Malcom McLaren. Through many incarnations of names, a store called World’s End (with a 13 hour backwards moving clock over the doorway) became the breeding ground for their experiments of unisex clothing inspired by 18th-century men’s undergarments, swashbuckling Pirate-wear and other historically sound yet new-age garb. The photo below was taken in the store, Vivienne on the bottom left, Malcom on the right.

McLaren and Westwood took the anti-establishment of World’s End to the runway. The first look below is a unisex tunic and pants ensemble, which was part of the Pirates collection in 1981. The next is made of sweatshirt fleece supplemented with blouse and baby blanket material. The third look from the Buffalo collection of ’82 is an antique-looking brown satin bra top with a full cotton skirt; the show note went to the tune of Take your mother’s bra and put it over a sweater with a muddy face. The fourth look on the right is a pair of distressed pants suspended by springs “to show the movement”.

The Buffalo collection:

The influence of Vivienne Westwood and Malcom McLaren moved beyond the streets and runways of London and far past the doors of World’s End when musicians got involved. In fact, the Sex Pistols wore their designs back when their brand was still called “Let It Rock”. With the advent of MTV, celebrity fans of World’s End like Boy George and Adam and the Ants became fashion icons before the world on television, in Westwood.

Vivienne Westwood drew great influence from philosopher Bertrand Russell. It is his quote on her shirt, “Orthodoxy is the Grave of Intelligence.”

With that, in 1984 when she and McLaren parted ways due to artistic differences, she went against the grain of the eighties. Where most of the industry was creating silhouettes of power shoulders and boxy suits, she drew from the Victorian era and developed the “mini crini”; a knee length version of the crinoline understructure. She also dipped into the seventies and Japan and pulled out platforms, but gave them a pirouette; the rounded up toe allows for perfect balance on point. Even more radically, she resurrected the corset, bringing it back in a liberating manner for it was no longer required. The quote on this photo reads, “…taking tradition into the future.” – Vivienne Westwood.

Feminizing the Scottish kilt, futurizing the corset and harking menswear back to medieval times, Vivienne Westwood in the late eighties was well on her way to stamping her unique print on fashion. She ended the decade with a bang: November ’89 cover of British Vogue.

More on Vivienne Westwood and the FIT exhibit:

Photography by Tommy Mendes

Don’t miss these tidbits about some of the world’s top fashion designers:

Point of origin

• Kate Spade – Kansas City, MO
• Yves Saint Laurent – Oran, Algeria
• John Bartlett – Cincinnati, OH
• Anna Sui – Detroit, MI
• Texas – Todd Oldham, Tom Ford
• Bronx, New York – Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein

Getting started

• Marc Jacobs — stock boy for Charivari, a New York clothing store
• Ralph Lauren — road salesman for a neckwear manufacturer
• Halston — window dresser at Carson-Pirie-Scott
• Coco Chanel — clerk in a hosiery shop
• Tommy Hilfiger — freelance designer for Jordache jeans
• Tom Ford — actor/model in TV commercials
• Michael Kors — sales assistant at a boutique
• Giorgio Armani — buyer’s assistant for a department store
• Alexander McQueen — tailor’s apprentice
• Jil Sander — fashion journalist
• Laura Ashley — secretary
• Manolo Blahnik — jeans buyer
• Salvatore Ferragamo — factory worker making cowboy boots

Education

Fashion Institute of Technology

• Calvin Klein
• Norma Kamali
• Jhane Barnes

Parsons School of Design

• Donna Karan
• Mark Badgley & James Mischka
• Tom Ford Anna Sui
• Alexander McQueen – St. Martins School of Art
• Issey Miyake – Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne
• Gianni Versace – No formal training, learned tailoring from dressmaker mother

Started on a different path

• Vivienne Westwood — teacher
• Thierry Mugler — dancer
• Christian Dior — art dealer
• Miuccia Prada — PhD, political science
• Joan Vass — museum curator

(Credit: About.com)

All you have to do is tweet @FashionIndie with the phrase “I want to go to Fashion School” These tickets go for $100 each and are being giving to you free courtesy of Sokenbicha.

This is going to be a spectacular exhibition and FI”s very own Daniel Saynt will be in the building.

For more info on the exhibition check out The Museum at FIT’s website.

LINK LOVE: Mothe

Daphne Guinness will exhibit part of her wardrobe at the Fashion Institute of Technology in September 2011. About 80 to 100 pieces including outfits by McQueen, Balenciaga, Comme des Garçons, Dolce & Gabbana and Azzedine Alaïa will be in a show on her personal style, which will run through January 2012.

LINK LOVE: WWD

San & Soni is available at TG170 in the Lower East Side (170 Ludlow Street) 

GALLERY: RUNWAY RUNDOWN: San & Soni Fall 2009

Like Katherine Heigl’s character in the movie 27 Dresses, many women’s closets are stuffed with bridesmaid dresses that are unsuitable for any other occasion.  Fashion Design students at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) have taken on the challenge of transforming bridesmaid dresses into the perfect outfit for a Friday night date, dinner, concert, or other festive occasion.

The challenge is part of a competition sponsored by Bridal Guide magazine and Alfred Angelo, a bridalwear manufacturer.  Open to all full-time FIT students majoring in Fashion Design, Bridal Guide provided each student with photos of three bridesmaid dresses. Participants submitted three sketches and fabric samples of the redesigned dresses.  Then, each finalist received an actual bridesmaid dress to redesign according to her sketch.

Three finalists, all women, are Heamin Choi, Xiaonan Gao, and Juda Selkowitz. Their final designs are shown above. The finalist with the most votes will win $1,500 in cash, with the winner announced on or about June 18.

From June 5-13, vote for their favorite dress redesign at www.bridalguide.com/vote.

4:00 PM – 7:00 PM

FIT Senior Collection 2008 Fashion Show,
Fashion Institute of Technology, John E. Reeves Great Hall,
Seventh Avenue at 27th St.