There was no way a trip was going to be made to Las Vegas without checking in with 80%20 designer Ce Ce Chin, a longtime fave around these parts. We didn’t get long to chat ’cause Ce Ce was BUSY, but she let us know that response to her line was so positive that she’s thinking of expanding her booth next year. Nice!

Here are some of the more casual elements of Spring 2009, but let it be known that Ce Ce is also expanding the dressier part of her line and it looks fantastic!

^^Canvass boots

Studded canvas loafers on the other side

Now that this new show, Compass, is in the mix, there’s gonna be a lot of brands that are going to have to decide where it’s best to show. The big dudes can afford to show in both if they please (though note that Converse chose to bypass WSA altogether), but smaller, budget-constrained designers often don’t have that kind of money ’cause trade shows aren’t cheap!. 

^^The lovely, talented, smart and funny Ce Ce Chin, designer/owner for 80%20, showed at the WSA, but not one to missed out on the action, we caught her playing hooky and visiting her pals at Compass.

Lois: HighSnobette at Hotmail dot com

FFANY, a big New York shoe show was yesterday so despite our lack of sleep from attending the M.O.B. party the night before, me and Samiya went to check it out. Samiya got some great images of some Faryl Robin gladiator shoes, which I’m sure she’ll post, but the highlight of the day was our visit with Ce Ce Chin, head designer in charge of 80%20.

We photographed her spring line (see images below), and got a peek at her fall line, which is amazing (no images of those–sorry–the knock-off artists in this industry are just to vicious and when you’re a small designer the fact is that all you have is your creativity and if you don’t protect it it absolutely will be stolen).

These were my faves for spring. I WISH so BAD that they came in a size 11 cuz I definitely would buy a pair. And not for nothing, if you are a big foot like myself and also a fan of 80%20, go to her site and plead with her to do size 11s!

Samiya like these flats cuz of the stud detail. The backdrop is a bunch of cool album covers. Designers showed in individual suites in the Hilton and Ce Ce used the albums to cover the beds. She also brought a working turntable!

Anything sparkle I will always love and the profile on these is pretty sweet to boot:

Having interviewed Ce Ce a while back, it was fun to finally meet her. She’s a totally cool chick and even helped contribute a name for our soon-to-be posted Men of Streetwear post.

If you wanna see some of the above styles in action, check out this 80%20 video:

Ta! Lois: LSakany at Gmail dot com