Proenza Schouler Green PS1, $1,595 via NAP
The craze over the Proenza Schouler PS1 has not died down and frankly, I do not want it to. I still love this bag and for spring I crave bright pops of color being incorporated into my wardrobe.
Month: May 2011
Proenza Schouler PS1 in Green for Spring
Fill in the Blank: The Translucent Nancy Gonzalez Crocodile Satchel is…
You know how much we love to play fill in the blank with you! I saw this Nancy Gonzalez bag and felt stumped. With a great shape and of course gorgeous exotic skin, it is hard for me to decide what I think about the translucent blue Caiman fuscus crocodile skin. I immediately started thinking … Read more
Introducing: Mulberry Taylor Bag
Since the handbag fame of the Mulberry Alexa, there have been a few other bags that have made a name for the brand but none of them have ever come close to the Alexa craze. I am sure Mulberry aims to change that with their new Taylor collection.
The Fall 2011 collection for Mulberry found inspiration in the Great British countryside, bustling hedgerows and effortless English glamour. The Taylor collection delivers a brand new style that feels reminiscent of heritage shapes.
Gallery: Rebecca Minkoff NYC Sample Sale
Yesterday afternoon marked the VIP night of this year’s bi-annual Rebecca Minkoff Sample Sale. Since we were co-hosting the sale, Megs and I were invited to enter an hour before the doors opened to the public to check out the goods, mingle with celebs like Michelle Trachtenberg of Gossip Girl and chat with the RM … Read more
You really should take a look at VBH Fall 2011
I tend to fawn over VBH as often as possible, and VBH Fall 2011 Handbags proves why – it’s a line for real handbag lovers, not just women who buy bags because they’re necessary to complete an ensemble. These pieces are functional, extremely well-made, and most importantly, utterly gorgeous.
VBH has an eye for exotics and textures and how they’re best used, and bags like the fan-favorite Brera satchel give those materials an opportunity to take center stage and impress upon customers how nice they really are. Whether it’s regular leather, stingray, snakeskin or crocodile, the color and texture of the finish have been carefully selected to enhance the skin’s natural beauty. And don’t forget fur, calfhair, ostrich leg, suede and embossed leather – VBH has a little something for every taste, so long as your taste is good.
Louis Vuitton is once again the world’s most powerful luxury brand
Every year, consulting firm Millward Brown Optimor takes stock of the global luxury industry and decides who the key players are based on revenue, profits and overall brand value. And every year, Louis Vuitton takes the top spot with a valuation even more massive than the year before. Fashionista.com reports that according to Millward Brown Optimor, Vuitton’s worth was up 23% in 2010 over 2009, a year when it was also the most powerful and wealthy luxury brand on the face of the planet.
That puts its value at over twice that of Hermes, it’s next closest competitor and also a big gainer for 2010 with a 41% jump in valuation. With those kinds of increases, it’s no wonder why it seems as though LVMH, Vuitton’s parent company, might be looking to gobble up the independent French brand. And that’s not the only place on the power list that LVMH makes it’s mark. Spirits megabrands Moet & Chandon and Hennessy, who account for the M and H in the conglomerate’s name, also appear in the top ten. Take a look at the entire list, after the jump.
Join us at the Rebecca Minkoff Sample Sale VIP Night
It is Sample Sale Season again. One thing I have loved about living in NYC is the ability to literally walk down the street and find sample sale after sample sale when the season arrives. One of our favorite SS to attend is Rebecca Minkoff’s, not only because we love her bags but also because we get to host it with Rebecca herself.
Marchesa appeals to the magpie in me
To say that the Marchesa aesthetic is distinctive would be a massive understatement; season after season, the brand creates over-the-top, elaborately feminine evening wear and cocktail dresses that are as architecturally impressive as they are glitteringly ornate. Ruching, draping, beading, laser-cutting – not only might it all appear in one collection, but it might all appear in one dress. Marchesa’s handbags have a lot of visual splendor to live up to.
And mostly, they do a fine job of it. Marchesa’s Fall 2011 Handbags are exactly what you’d expect them to be, but with a few new shapes thrown in to expand on the brand’s first handbag outing. The exotics are of particular interest; I’d love to see Marchesa make day bags, and it looks as the the designers’ feel for crocodile may be pointing in that direction. Or maybe I’m just hoping that if I say it out loud, it’ll eventually come true.
Alexander Wang expands on the best of spring for Fall 2011
When I think of the Alexander Wang aesthetic up to this point, I always have a piece made of matte, slouchy black leather in mind. Not only has Wang made his accessories name with handbags that fit that description, but his clothing line can often be described with exactly the same words. For Alexander Wang’s Fall 2011 Handbags, though, the designer is mining the opposite end of the spectrum – the best designs from this collection are almost defiantly glossy and structured.
And those pieces are easily the best of the lot. I find myself growing a bit tired of the stud-bottomed Rocco and all of the auxiliary designs it spawned, even if fall’s calfhair and leather version is the best I’ve ever seen the design look, and the severe, mirror-patent bags provide a perfect antidote to that fatigue. The color palette and smart little metal-capped corners, first seen for Spring 2011, maintain continuity with Wang’s current work, but the results are a much-needed aesthetic refresher.
Jimmy Choo mines both ends of the design spectrum for Fall 2011
A bag doesn’t need to come from a collection with a strong and unified design vision to be good, but more often than not, the best bags do. Starting with a clear point of view gives a set of designs a singular vision and set of references from which to pull, and knowing what those are going in to the creation process tends to lead to better and more rigorous editing, something that Jimmy Choo’s Fall 2011 Handbags could have really used.
As I look at these pictures, I started out optimistic; a good dose of structure was perhaps exactly what was needed in order to set Choo on the right track. But as I continued to click through bags, things got weirder and weirder, and not in a chic way. Several bags are covered in metal Zodiac medallions, some of them are giant, structureless puffs of fur, one in particular is very much in need of a shave. My advice to the folks at Jimmy Choo would be to keep the box clutches and start from scratch with everything else.
