Simply Stylist hosted yet another fabulous event, this time at Kitson on Melrose. Speaking on the panel were actress Mena Suvari in an amazing leather bustier and Chanel necklace; Pursuit of Shoes blogger Ashley Torres, who dispensed advice about following a career path you want instead of one you feel like you must travel (she left the world of accounting to pursue fashion); WWD writer Khanh Tran, who pointed out that what journalists do in today’s digital world isn’t different from what we’ve always done—it’s the execution that has changed (e.g. finding sources through Twitter); and Kitson’s Director of Operations Courtney Saavedra, who emphasized the importance of networking for your career. It was an engaging and entertaining discussion that ended with champagne and yummy snacks.
Nina Garcia explores Google Glass for NYFW. Photo courtesy Marie Claire
I’ve been going back and forth on this whole Google Glass thing. As much as I love technology, there is a point where it will be too intrusive in our daily lives. But I don’t think Google’s latest contraption is (yet), only because I can see the benefits of what may come from it for the fashion industry. Marie Claire Creative Director Nina Garcia plans to wear it during New York Fashion Week come fall, and it’s going to be extraordinary. That might seem like too grand of a word, but think about it: We’ll be sitting front row with Garcia during the biggest fashion event of the year. Most of us would have to work for decades to get that seat—not that I’m not going to try—and I’m thrilled that we can have the next-best thing.
And that doesn’t have to be all of it: photo shoots, first looks, interviews, shopping—there are so many glimpses to be had into the lives of the fashion elite.
According to WWD, Garcia’s photos, videos and other fashion week insights will be beamed live across several of Garcia’s and Marie Claire’s social media channels, including Vine, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and marieclaire.com. Hearst is tagging the event “Be Nina.”
“Usually I have lots of devices during fashion week. Google Glass Expedition is controlled by your voice or a tap of your finger. It’s a very different device than the iPhone. It’s like wearing a little computer,” Garcia said to WWD‘s Rosemary Feitelberg. “It’s a hands-free experience which is kind of liberating. I can go to a show and just be and not be looking down at my iPhone all the time.”
Despite the “liberation,” Garcia did note that the device’s short battery life of one-to-two hours will be hinderance, as fashion week demands closer to a 12-hour workday. Nina problems, right?
With the arrival of the Prince of Cambridge Monday (his name has yet to be released), many designers joined in on the royal baby fun by designing clothes, rocking horses, prams, etc. for HRH. Check out more of the designs on WWD.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Cameron Diaz and many of her fashion choices (particularly when she was a brunette). But her recent appointment as Pour La Victoire‘s artistic director is questionable. Hers is just another name on a growing list of celebrities who have been signed on to famous brands as some sort of director of creativity or artistry. Let’s not forget Rihanna’s disastrous collection for River Island, seemingly inspired by a passion for 90s midriffs. And, oh yeah, remember the time Lindsay Lohan declared an undying love for pasties in that Ungaro collection?
Designers spend years developing their talents in classes and ateliers, so why do we think it will be so easy for yet another celebrity with no actual design experience (and being sent free clothes or becoming besties with your stylist doesn’t count) to step into these roles so easily? I’m not asking to direct the next Spiderman—HELL NO would be the resounding answer—so it seems even more unreasonable for a fashion-happy celeb to suddenly shoot to the top of the industry’s very narrow ladder.
“I don’t do endorsements really. This is completely different,” Diaz told WWD in an exclusive interview. “Being influential in a brand and in its [advertising] campaigns interests me. I love fashion. It’s a large part of my life. What I wear is looked at. It influences what other people wear because that’s just the world we live in.”
Oh honey, I know, I love fashion too. That doesn’t mean I trust what you’re about to do. Not that it matters if Diaz is qualified; I’m not sure how much that factored in. I’m willing to bet a nice, juicy celebrity endorsement was the main motivator—but hey, I guess that’s just the world we live in.
wild pieces 