Fan Fare

NY Fashion Week models feel economic chill

Models at New York Fashion Week are facing an even more competitive environment as many designers continue to down-size and opt for cheaper presentations over runway shows, said Marques Nolan, an agent for Code Model Management.

Model Emily Fox, backstage before the Academy of Arts runway show, said designers are holding less castings making it even more competitive than usual to get modeling work.   It has also become more common for models to be paid in clothes rather than money, she said.

Another model, Alice Gibb, said she was told last minute she wouldn’t be needed for a show she had been booked for.

“Sex and the City” fans can shop Carrie’s closet

Fans of “Sex and the City” rejoice — Patricia Field, stylist for the hit television series and movie, has created a clothing collection based on the wardrobes of characters Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte.

And Field says breaking to the closets of the “Sex and the City” ladies won’t break your bank. Prices range from $39 to about $200. “You don’t have to get a mortgage to afford them,” she told Reuters . “Money doesn’t make style.”

Field showcased her Destination Style New York collection, which will be available on the Home Shopping Network, at a catwalk show during New York Fashion Week.

“Sex and the City” chronicled the lives of four single women living in New York City and ended in 2004 but returned with a blockbuster hit movie this year. For six seasons American women tuned into HBO to see what Carrie, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, and her friends were  wearing, from expensive Manolo Blahnik sling-back shoes to apparel from high-end designers such as Jean Paul Gaultier.

(Reporting by Jan Paschal; picture: Fabrizio Bensch, Reuters)

What do you wear to interview Valentino?

(posted on behalf of reporter Silvia Aloisi) 

What do you wear to an interview with Valentino?

I asked myself that question as I was dressing in my hotel room ahead of another busy day at the Venice film festival which included an afternoon sit-down with the fashion guru, on the Lido to present “Valentino: The Last Emperor”, a documentary about his career.

Preparing for the interview, I had read that Valentino once said: “I have had the life of an aesthete. I’ve always loved beautiful things, beautiful people. I hate sloppiness, disorder. Even relaxations must be kept under control.”

But it was a hot day and I knew I would have to run around all day between screenings and press conferences, so wearing comfortable clothes was my priority. In any case I had packed no tailored suits, let alone an evening gown … simply because I don’t own one and am not particularly fashion-conscious.

Still, wearing jeans and a striped T-shirt, I felt slightly uneasy as I sat in front of the impeccably dressed Valentino, with his light beige jacket, white trousers and pale blue shirt matching a pair of suede shoes.

I asked him about what he thought about modern fashion and whether the era of haute couture was well and truly over. Not so, he replied.

“Project Runway” turns Project Tablecloth. What were they thinking?

Fashion Design TV show “Project Runway” got off to a cracking start for its new season Wednesday night, swiftly sorting out the good, the bad and the just plain ugly among clothing designs that featured way too many tablecloths and shower curtains in its Season 5 premiere.

Even oh so polite Tim Gunn, the show’s star along with Heidi Klum, could barely restrain his horror at the number of contestants who opted for the easy way out in the grocery store challenge by choosing to make outfits out of tablecloths, shower curtains and garbage bags.

 ”I think the judges are going to  say you guys are a bunch of slackers,” Gunn said, dismayed.

And indeed, Gunn was right. Stella, who threw her outfit together in the last few minutes after complaining all day about the ”ugly, cheap-ass garbage bags’ she had selected, only narrowly avoided getting “Auf’d” by Heidi.

It it was Jerry‘s white plastic shower curtain horror raincoat topped off with yellow plastic gloves that really freaked out the judges.  Judge Michael Kors said the dress underneath the coat looked like “a handiwipe gone wrong”. But when Nina Garcia termed it “what you wear when you’re killing someone” you just knew it was curtains for Jerry.