Because I’m Addicted hit the runway shows at Boxeight, the new leader of Los Angeles fashion week now that IMG is out. She gave a full review of some amazing collections that hit the Gen Art stage. Follow our LINKAGE for a full review.

LINKAGE: BOXeight

READ MORE ABOUT: Boxeight, Gen Art

Your chance to walk the runways that held Zac Posen, Rodarte, and Peter Som will be yours this Monday. If your a young designer, be sure to submit your collections.

READ MORE ABOUT: Gen Art

The Gen Art 14th Annual Fresh Faces Fashion Show will be held on Thursday, September 4th, at the Grand Ballroom of the Manhattan Center. This is largest and most recognized program showcasing emerging designers in the United States. In addition to New York, the program will also feature innovative talent in Chicago (10/1) and Los Angeles (10/10). Fresh Faces has launched the careers of fashion’s most familiar, including Zac Posen, Rebecca Taylor, Phillip Lim (Development), Chaiken, Cloak, Eugenia Kim, Hollywould, Milly, Twinkle Sari Gueron, Duckie Brown, Dagmar, and many more. This year’s Fresh Faces New York program will feature Spring 2009 collections from 12 designers – four accessories in installations and 8 edited, but representative collections, from six womenswear and two menswear designers will make their way down a 70 foot runway.

Partnering with Yoox.com will bring the runway immediately to the world by offering select looks from a designer featured in Fresh Faces in Fashion. This year, JF & Son was chosen by a panel consisting of Gen Art, YOOX and former New York Times Style Editor, Holly Brubach The designer will showcase iconic pieces from their Spring ’09 runway collection, to be sold via yoox.com one day after the runway show.

Here are the nominees:

WOMENSWEAR

JF & SON was founded in 2007 by the duo of Jesse Finkelstein, a Brown University graduate and homeland security and terrorist financing expert and Kathryn.King, a costume designer, and graduate of University of California, Santa Barbara and Parsons School of design – as an attempt to marry the principles of modernist design with traditional fabric techniques. Each collection draws its inspiration from the geometry of the body and uses the shape, color, and materiality of textiles to alter that geometry. By integrating different fabric manipulations, like embroidery, beading, and printing into the design process, JF & SON hopes to advance these studies of the body’s form. JF & SON does all of their production in-house at their studios in New York and Delhi, India. Each piece is made in an equitable environment, allowing every employee the right to experiment with design.

Ideeen is a collection designed by native Japanese duo Junko Hirata and Atsuko Yanase. The two met at Catherine Malandrino where Yanase spent four years, while Hirata later left to work for Yigal Azrouel and Helmut Lang. In 2007, the two reunited to collaborate on their own collection, an edgy and intellectual aesthetic that is translated into an imaginative, organic and asymmetrical collection. The mix of New York sophistication and Japanese sensibility creates a wholly wearable yet distinct collection.

SARIAH

Custom prints, bold fabric selection and impeccable fit and drape make up designer Sariah Carson’s singular design and aesthetic sensibilities. Each one of a kind print is hand painted on high quality silks and each garment is produced locally in New York. Sariah graduated from the Parsons School of Design where her senior thesis collection as one half of the design team Carson Potter was bought and sold by Barney’s New York. Carson’s solo line debuted in Fall 2008 and will be available exclusively at Barney’s New York Madison Avenue and Beverly Hills locations.

LIALIA

Two sisters with individual personalities combined the harmonizing elements in their names, ideas and shared a vision to create Lialia – a modern interpretation of classic elegance. Fused with hints of the designers’ Spanish heritage, Lialia translates their experiences at Parson’s School of Design, and work at houses such as Phi, Reyes, and Oscar de la Renta, into their meticulously constructed garments and distinct design sensibilities.

Richard Ruiz

Debuting in Fall 2006, with a collection entitled “An Evening With Miss Vreeland,” Designer, Richard Ruiz currently works in New York City. A San Francisco native, he relocated to NYC in 1993 to study at the Parsons School of Design, studying also at the Paris campus. There he worked with Ted Lapidus and the Paris based Japanese couturier Koji Tatsuno. Since 2001, Ruiz has traveled internationally as both tailor and personal designer to a roster of celebrity clients including: Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, Heidi Klum, Keira Knightley, Mary J. Blige, Celine Dion, and Kimora Lee Simmons. These collective experiences, along with a love of history and the daily inspirations found in eclectic modern living, are reflected in the Richard Ruiz women’s wear label. The collection offers an assortment of classically tailored separates in luxurious fabrics and playfully sexy and elegant dresses with signature exclusive prints.

CRHEE was created from Christine Rhee’s desire to create a name that was at once her own and something entirely new. Born and raised in a small town in Ohio, Rhee received her BA in architecture from Princeton University and later worked for architect, Lynn Breslin and fashion designer, Mary Ping before venturing out on her own. Rhee utilizes her architecture education and love of fashion to explore her ever-present fascination with the relationship one has with one’s own appearance. CRHEE uses clothing as language to project the qualities of the wearer as strong, intelligent, and feminine. The aim is to create wearable clothes that are both modern and timeless while classic and unconventional.

MENSWEAR

Hyden Yoo made his New York debut in 2005. He set out to extend the utilization of the workplace wardrobe by updating the clothing men wear to work. He formulated a strategy to create slim fitting dress shirts with shorter body lengths. This concept added value to a man’s wardrobe by allowing him to wear them to work, tucked in or to a social setting, un-tucked. The line has now evolved into a full collection with items ranging from suits to sweaters to coats and of course, shirts. He utilizes modern fits and adds subtle details to inject edginess in his, otherwise, classic pieces. It’s a perfect mix of Wall Street business and Brooklyn hipster, and connects with everybody who’s in between.

Philip Sparks developed his sharp tailoring skills and from an interest in period-inspired silhouettes, fabrics and techniques in the costume departments of the National Ballet of Canada, the Canadian Opera Company and the Stratford Festival of Canada. Sparks draws inspiration from vintage photographs, unique materials and classic techniques to create collections that respect fashion’s traditions but continue to push menswear forward. Philip Sparks can be found at Holt Renfrew as well as specialty boutiques in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.

ACCESSORIES

In 2001, Antoinette Lee, came to New York where she worked for various design houses before starting her own label in 2005. “My vision when designing is to have each bag be the main focus of an outfit; it should catch everyone’s eyes when you’re out on the town or out and about in the daytime.” Her inspiration for her designs range from her everyday experiences in New York City, to her two dogs, Dolce & Vita. Her collections offer a range of edgy to sophisticated styles that women from the Lower East Side to the Upper East Side are drawn to. Each handbag is crafted in New York City with careful detail and workmanship.

DEKA RAY

Eugenie Huang spent her childhood in the woods of North Carolina, playing with insects, doing math drills, and practicing the violin. Between studying architecture at M.I.T. and Columbia, she spent a year learning how to rebuild motorcycle parts and motors. Her observations and experiences of biology, vectors, mechanisms, music, and her training as an architect have served to influence the objects, concepts and style that she refines into her jewelry for Deka Ray. Designing without literal representation of iconic ornamental forms, Ms. Huang creates objects that are familiar but not precisely realistic. Her work is otherworldly and technological in thought-process, yet imbued with the ambiance of natural environment as a tactile, material influence. While she designs she also shares the NYC-based architectural practice Formactiv with colleague Ron Eng.

Heutchy

Designer, Wells Stellberger made his 2008 Heutchy debut at the Shipley and Halmos show. Heutchy’s approach is refreshing in its simplicity. Just create a shoe that you know people will like. A graduate of Parsons School of Design, Stellberger also worked at Marc by Marc Jacobs.. The notice of a void in the market for a moderately priced, interestingly designed and well made men’s shoe was the impetus to create his own line. “I wanted to construct something that’s forward in design and concept but lacking pretense; something adaptable that mixes classic and contemporary. The key was making it attainable. Men’s shoes tend to be expertly crafted and expensive or poorly made and cheap. There wasn’t an in-between and we knew there could be,” explains Stellberger. Using Italian leather as well as Japanese Canvas, the collection offers a high quality product for an affordable price, focusing on clean, simple shapes and interesting materials to create a staple shoe for every man’s wardrobe.”

TNC Studio

The TNC Studio collection is designed by Parisian designer Tanya Cicanovic and features leather accessories (bags, gloves, belts, hats), as well as « bijoux de couture » jewelry combining Swarovski and vintage hand set crystal. The designer is endlessly inspired is by mythological origin. Her trade mark is the Griffin, the guardian of treasures and the fabulous creature admired for its mysterious dual nature, both divine and earthly. TNC Studio’s evening and resort accessories cater to tastemakers defined as extravagant travelers appreciating sophisticated and sensual style. The collection is currently sold at boutiques in Paris and the US including Intermix in NY.

READ MORE ABOUT: antoinette lee, crhee, deka ray, Gen Art, hayden yoo, heutchy, ideeen, JF and son, lialia, philip sparks, richard ruiz, sariah, tnc studio, yoox

Winning designer Yujin Song

The Project Runway stars didn’t take top prize at Mondays Gen Art Styles event.

Yujin Song won for ready-to-wear, Timothy Franklin for menswear, and Ninaki’s architectural jewels for best accessories. Maria Potesta took home the prize in the avant garde category. Louissa Parris won the Botox Design Vision Award for Eveningwear with soft, color-blocked dresses that had guests enchanted.

Hate to admit it but I really like the piping on this jacket. Damn it. I need one.

Photos Yahoo.com

Text FashionWeekDaily.com

READ MORE ABOUT: Gen Art, louissa parris, maria potesta, ninaki, robert verdi, timothy franklin, yujin song

I love Gen Art and for a long time we’ve looked to them as the model for how we set up our events but their newest sponsor is making them seem a like they’ve gotten a bit old.  Botox is the official backer of tonights Gen Art Styles event at the Hammerstein Ballroom, even going as far as to announce a Botox Design Vision Award for three lucky designers.  In it’s tenth year, it seems that Gen Art is growing up to be a little geriatric.  Of course, the claim is that the Botox is being used for excessive sweating, but any marketer will tell you that if you want to promote a product for a new purpose, a name change might help.

Listen Ian, if you need a fresh young start-up to change your image around, look no further than your friends at Fashion Indie. Our fashion events don’t require membership and we don’t let the folgies in.  Plus, all our sponsors fit our audience.

So keep this in mind young’uns.

Gen Art = Adult Diapers, Dentures, Botox.

Fashion Indie = Forgetting Who the Fuck is Lying Next To You After An All Night Fashion Show Dance Party.

READ MORE ABOUT: botox, Gen Art

Yes, Christian Sirano has been tearing up the scene since his Project Runway win–but all is not lost, design hopefuls! Gen Art is still looking for more talent.

It’s the 10th anniversary of the Gen Art Styles International competition, the launching pad for tons of famous fashion faces (think Peter Som and Rodarte).

Lucky finalists will get to show their looks on May 19 at the Hammerstein Ballroom, in front of over 1,500 of industry insiders. The cut-off for submissions is this Friday, April 4, and all student designers are welcome!

If that’s not enough to whet your design whistle, winners in the ready-to-wear and menswear categories will receive production awards for the first time ever, courtesy of the L.A.-based sample production company, The Evans Group. Plus, the Ready-to-Wear and Menswear winners get development services and sample production for the Spring ‘09 season!

READ MORE ABOUT: Gen Art

So fashion week has been crazy, from the shows, to the afterparties and all the goodies in between. I am tierd (mainly of standing in line waiting), and stressed (because somehow, RSVP’s get lost in translation) , and beyond in love with some great new talent (love Terexov, and not only because of the caviar and vodka filled afterparty).

I’m running out of outfits for events, and sick of seeing the same non-celebrity celebrities (Cory Kennedy, cute girl but far from stardom). On the bright side, fashion week is almost over and the good stuff is only yet to come. Tomorrow night is Peter Som (9pm at the tents) and then the Gucci/Madonna/UN cocktail party. Yes, Indies, we are cool enough to get an invite, personally messaged over this morning. Very excited, especially since feeling jealousy toward Susie Bubble for getting an invite, who we met Sunday night at The Box. What a sweet girl! Thursday is the NY Couture show. Everyone needs to be there! After all, she is the new Heatherette.

Then Friday, off to the Gen Art Fall 2008 Fashion Show. And this year, they are mixing things up. The nations leading art and fashion organization is showcasing one chosen designer, instead of their normal three. Camilla Staerk will be presenting her label, STAERK. The collection titled “Bride of the Black Moon,” will return her beloved noir palette and luxurious textures of leather and lace. Looking forward to seeing that, and meeting the designer. Below: piece from Camilla’s previous collection.

Many shows have come and gone this past week, but one still stands out in my mind. Maybe because of the celebrities, maybe because of the floor length gowns that I would never have a place to wear to, but mainly because of the abundance of FUR. I know, I know! Fur is bad, PETA will not be happy with me, but what can I say, it’s the Russian in me. Venexiana was a show unlike any other. With looks that included full length fur coats, sequence cocktail dresses, and floor length silk gowns. I was speechless…Imagine that!

All photos courtesy of a very good friend, Rick Louis. Entire collection available on Flickr.

READ MORE ABOUT: Camilla Staerk, cory kennedy, Gen Art, gucci, Indies & Gossip, Madonna, Peter Som, rick louis, susie bubble, Terexov, venexiana