Manish Arora and French denim brand Notify have collaborated on a capsule denim collection, bringing with it lots of fashion joy via the theme of ultra-glam adorned denim (remember Tom Ford’s Gucci denim circa the ’90s?). Illustrating Manish Arora’s continual skill for using color and texture to amaze and seduce, the collection will launch Spring 2012 at Colette, L’eclaireur and Manish Arora online. More styles on the flip via Manish Arora and Denim Hunt.
Last week we had the pleasure of attending the BLK DNM Spring 2012 preview and were fitted to test drive a pair of the brand’s signature denim. The concept spearheded by Johan Lindeberg includes women’s and men’s apparel centered around sleek classics with a gritty urban sensibility. The denim is long and lean with subtle weathered threatments. While there have been many a “fug” post on the woes of high-waisted denim, the retro silhouette of jean No. 8 (as seen on the flip) is one we admire and find quite the fierceness. On the next page a few images courtesy of William Yan and ShotbyJake.
Levi’s normally does a pretty good job previewing its collections, but it really pulled out all the stops last night in a presentation that hit all the heritage hot buttons, including a farmers-market-type stand displaying customized vintage denim, handcrafted mocassins, and homemade soap, there was also a floor-to-ceiling bicycle sculpture, live classical music, a mini-barn complete with a picket-fence-lined yard packed full with purdy locals all chilling in various Levi’s outfits (see one above), a giant rowboat and locally-inspired but super creative hors d’œuvres, some of which were handed out from a booth by a chef, who made them fresh throughout the evening. Like I said, Levi’s went all out!
And all the props of course were there to serve as a backdrop to the Spring 2012 collection with a lot of the looks harkening back to the brand’s more classic cuts and washes. For the most part silhouettes were simple and free of details, though there was a lot of colored denim on display–albeit with an emphasis less on bright colors and more on a countrified palette including rusty browns, washed-out greys and dusty pinks.
See more of the presentation on the next page, plus some shots of attendees.
A follow up on our post announcing G-Star’s Women’s Night event, which Highsnobette attended as featured bloggers for the Prince/Lafayette store in SoHo. That’s DJ Chelsea Leyland who spun for the ladies-only soiree, which included hair and make-up touch-ups, denim manicures, and hors d’oeuvres. The amazing part is the G-Star pulled off this event in 141 stores worlwide!
As my winging-it self is inclined, I arrived with somewhat wet hair–sadly not because it was raining either–and the ladies manning the hair station still managed sans blow dryers even to pull together a very awesome hair did for me (which thanks to champagne and high levels of post-event tequilla I didn’t manage to undo until oh-like four days later, but it still looked amazing even then!) Special thanks to G-Star p.r. star Ida Khabazian who pulled off the whole thing with her usual fierce yet smiling aplomb.
There are more images from the NY event on the next page. As well, a bunch of the attendees, including myself, pulled G-Star looks for the event and you can visit here to get a look at some of the highlights from around the globe.
After teasing with a couple of overly-short videos Armani comes with the full video, featuring Rihanni wriggling into the brand’s lingerie and denim. Worth a watch because it’s beautifully shot by Steven Klein, as well because of her own extensive music video background Rihanna has mastered the art of the sly glance not to mention the sexy swish. This all plays against Rihanna’s song “Skin,” which couldn’t be more perfect.
Armani just posted its first ad, featuring Rihanna for it jeans campaign. Luv the hair! And the denim is highwaisted–interesting! Will need some time to digest but so far, it gets a thumbs up.
Of course while at Project in Las Vegas, we visited the G-Star booth to see what this growing international denim brand is up to. Never one to chase trends, the focus remains season after season quality denim, featuring distinct washes and a great 3-D fit, which may look sort of “off” on the hanger, but looks and feels fantastic on the body.
We also learned while there per awesome p.r. rep, Ida, that G-Star will not show during NY Fashion Week this year. It used to be the runway collection was literally just for show, but now pieces will be available for purchase, thus a change in presentation as well. Plus, says Ida, G-Star thinks it makes more sense to focus on events like trade shows, opening more stores and denim innovation.
And I gotta concur that in many ways the way collections are presented on the runway and all the cost involved somehow seems very old school. You have to figure there is more of this trend of not showing to come.
We featured an image worn by a fit model at the booth above, but you can peep some of the Spring 2012 line on the next page.
Denim may come and go, but somehow it will always be in style–ever the amiable blank canvas and always ready for the next creative refresh that makes it look somehow new again. These jeans are from Superfine’s Autumn 2011 lookbook. I feel like the hooks would be perfect for hanging a set of keys from. Via Fashionising.
Emily Current and Meritt Elliot of Current Elliot recent answered random questions by the Fashion Informer. You get a glimpse into the minds of the talented duo whose effortless cool appeal we’ve been big fans of, enjoy a snippet below:
“We were drawn to fashion early on,” the bffs said when asked what prompted them to choose careers in fashion. “It is an easy and accessible way to express your mood. We really enjoy the sociology behind fashion and why people buy. We loved that developing someone’s image was essentially branding them and we have been focusing on branding people and products ever since!”
