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subscribe to style file blog via RSSNinivah Khomo: The Cat (And Banana) Lady Takes London
October 22, 2010
“It’s a jungle in here.” That’s the tag for Ninivah Khomo’s new shop on Walton Street in London’s Knightsbridge. The logo is a whiskered panther; a riot of animal prints turns the place into a shrine to the feline; and Michael Roberts’ interior re-creates a sun-bleached beach hut on the rim of the rain forest in Bahia, hand-stenciled palm fronds, slatted screens, and all.
It’s been six years since Khomo last had a shop, but, in one of fashion’s curious little synchronicities, the designer is re-entering the retail fray at the same moment that graphic tropical prints, succulent color, and a forties-filtered-through-seventies silhouette (bowed necklines, ruched sleeves, and tea dresses) are major Spring trends. Add a healthy helping of leopard to those three ingredients and you’ve got Ninivah’s exotic dish in a Brazil nutshell.
Most of Khomo’s spectacular prints come from Roberts’ 1998 book The Jungle ABC. The two met when she was at Central Saint Martins in the late seventies and he was fashion editor for The Sunday Times. “Great prints, great eye, great editing,” Khomo says of her friend’s graphic skills, all of them on parade in a silk georgette tea dress in an orchidaceous pink and black pattern, or a vibrant banana print that should give Miuccia a run for her money come spring. Yesterday, Roberts was meticulously cutting out little palm fronds from a swath of green felt and arranging them on the back of a black cocoon coat, a foretaste of next fall’s offerings. Currently available, a gilded leopard gown would do full justice to a haute Hollywood goddess, Joan Crawford, say, in Jungle Red nail polish. “I was never going to be a minimalist or the kind of designer who was searching for something alternative,” the designer purrs.
If the flamingos, parrots, and palm trees are right now, Khomo’s big cats have been seducing customers for decades. “It was never ethnic,” she muses. “I just always loved Biba and 1930’s glamour and Art Deco.” Input from Khomo’s glamorously leggy daughter Delilah guarantees that everything stays on the right side of retro. Leopard shorts? No wonder equally long-limbed lovelies like Charlotte Dellal are Ninivah fans.
Photo: Courtesy of Ninivah Khomo
tags: Knightsbridge, London, Michael Roberts, Ninivah Khomo
Creation Cuff
October 22, 2010
Before The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, there was Fantasia, Walt Disney’s lushly rendered 1940 animated feature scored by the Philadelphia Orchestra. Fast-forward to 2010, where Disney, never one to miss a marketing opportunity, has commissioned nOir Jewelry to create a limited-edition collection of costume baubles celebrating Fantasia’s DVD re-release in November. Our favorite from the line would have to be the Dinosaur Cuff, a gold-plated Jurassic-era exoskeleton for your wrist covered in flashbulb bright CZs. Best part? The tail moves.
nOir for Walt Disney will be available for pre-sale on Tuesday, October 26, on www.noirjewelry.com.
tags: Fantasia, nOir Jewelry, Walt Disney
John Legend Mulls A Life Of Design
October 22, 2010
It seems Kanye West may have some competition in the male-musician-with-a-knack-for-finer-threads department. “Sometimes, I think about it,” John Legend said last night when queried about starting his own fashion or accessories line. “I would probably do clothes first.” The singer-songwriter was a guest of honor at a party celebrating the launch of Ferragamo World, an eco-conscious range of men’s footwear with rubber soles designed to decompose three to five years after hitting the landfill. Proceeds go to the Acumen Fund’s anti-poverty efforts in South Asia and East Africa. Saturday Night Live’s Seth Meyers, while not considering a namesake collection, was grateful for the new footwear option. “Guys are very knee-up people,” the funnyman noted. “I’m lucky the nice people at Ferragamo have me wearing much better shoes than I usually wear tonight. Great shoes are very important to my social life.”
Photo: Billy Farrell / BFAnyc.com
tags: Ferragamo World, John Legend, Salvatore Ferragamo, Seth Meyers
The Eco Entourage
October 22, 2010
Wear Chanel to save the environment? Well, not exactly, but buying one timeless tweed jacket instead of four trendy ones is just the kind of subtle lifestyle change Adrian Grenier and Angela Lindvall are advocating with their new eco-friendly pop-up, open today and tomorrow on Greene Street in Soho. “I’m never going to give up my Chanel pieces, because I’ll wear them forever,” Lindvall told us at a preview of the space yesterday. “It’s about knowing what you really need and finding a style that doesn’t have to be so consumptive.”
Part sustainable artwork gallery, part green goods shop, the pop-up is a joint venture between pureDKNY and SHFT. Lindvall is the face of DKNY’s environmentally minded fragrance (the bottle is recyclable and the vanilla bean that makes up its key note was sourced from female farmers in Uganda), and Grenier, along with film producer Peter Glatzer, created SHFT as an online forum that promotes an eco-conscious lifestyle that’s more Stella McCartney than Birkenstock.
The attractive activists, who first became pals through Grenier’s television show Alter Eco on the Discovery Channel, stress that it’s easy to make a difference with simple changes like turning off all the electricity during a dinner party (how romantic) or buying vintage instead of new. “The boogieman is not a good spokesperson for change. You don’t want to be preached to and you don’t want to be scared,” Grenier stressed. “It’s all about finding a balance.” You can preach to us anytime, Adrian.
The pureDKNY SHFT pop-up gallery is open to the public today, October 22, and tomorrow, at 112 Greene St.
tags: Adrian Grenier, Angela Lindvall, Pop-Up Shops, pureDKNY, SHIFT
Before They Were Stars, They Had Pores, Too
October 22, 2010
Unretouched celebrity photos have become so rare, they’re marketable (see Marie Claire’s May Jessica Simpson cover: “The Real Jessica: No makeup, No retouching, No regrets!”). But before PhotoShop helped celebrities look as good as inhumanly possible, a great portrait was the product of lighting, makeup, and a skilled photographer. Johnny Rozsa, who’s been immortalizing household names over the past three decades for publications like Vogue and The Face, collected 115 unfiltered, never-before-seen photos of stars before they hit super-fame—and, not to mention, before many of them went under the knife—into a retrospective coffee-table book, Untouched. There’s Catherine Zeta-Jones—back when she was just a beautiful Welsh girl—posing with her tracheotomy scar prominently displayed. And a younger, curvier Halle Barry in a beret, cheekily mooning the camera. Arnold Schwarzenegger makes an appearance, too, pulling a practically adolescent Andrea Dellal into a beefy embrace (pictured). Untouched is on sale at Barneys, and Rosza is celebrating the book’s release with a solo exhibition that opens today at Christopher Henry Gallery in Chinatown.
Untouched runs until November 28, 127 Elizabeth St., NYC, (212) 244-6004.
tags: Andrea Dellal, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Halle Berry, Johnny Rozsa, Untouched
Calvin Shocks Australia, Anna Does Pop, And More…
October 22, 2010
If a Calvin Klein ad isn’t banned, does anybody see it? That age-old marketing adage was trotted out in Australia, where Lara Stone’s newest jeans ad for the label has been deemed uncouth by the Advertising Standards Bureau. [NY Mag]
Anna Dello Russo’s eponymous fragrance is set to launch on Yoox.com in December, but we’re more titillated by the possibility of finding her on iTunes. “I want to do a record next,” she told WWD. “Everyone expects me to do a clothes line. It’s too obvious. I want to do the opposite.” Lady Gaga, watch your back. [WWD]
Another pop-up shop in Building Fashion’s sub-High Line space opened last night (we covered an earlier tenant), featuring Richard Chai’s men’s and womenswear. On ice, as it were. [The Moment]
Lindsay Lohan is due in court today—on charges of drug-related probation violation. How many days of reckoning can one person have? [NY Daily News]
Photo: Courtesy of Calvin Klein
tags: Anna dello Russo, Calvin Klein Jeans, Lara Stone, Lindsay Lohan, Richard Chai
Lulu Kennedy’s Perfect Ten
October 22, 2010
For a decade now, Lulu Kennedy’s Fashion East has incubated some impressive talent: Gareth Pugh, Marios Schwab, Richard Nicoll, Roksanda Ilincic, and Henry Holland have all come through the one-time raver’s runway training ground. Kennedy commemorated the milestone Thursday night with a raucous launch party at Harvey Nichols for Lulu & Co—a capsule collection by ten of her designer discoveries, each of whom culled one standout dress from Fashion East’s memorable archives for the occasion.
The collection, which will be available at last night’s party locale, got a test run on the designers’ boldfaced friends. Kennedy modeled Jonathan Saunders; Holland paired up with Pixie Geldof; Nicoll outfitted Josephine de la Baume; and Poppy Delevingne poured herself into Gareth Pugh. Kennedy, quizzed on the past decade’s highlights, had trouble stopping at just one. “When Gareth’s ‘lit up’ dress came down the runway at the Electric Ballroom…and when Aggy opened Henry Holland’s show in leather hot pants, with the crowd going nuts…and then, of course, when Victoria Beckham actually turned up at my show.”
At the after-party at Glo Glo’s, Lulu & Co’s designers presented Kennedy with the evening’s anniversary present, a patchwork quilt of fabric from each designer stitched together by Louise Gray. “Somehow, I can’t imagine sleeping in it,” Kennedy said. “I think it will be framed and hung up for all to see at Fashion East. That just seems right.”
Photo: Courtesy of Lulu & Co
tags: Fashion East, Gareth Pugh, Henry Holland, Louise Gray, Lulu Kennedy, Marios Schwab, Poppy Delevingne, Richard Nicoll, Roksanda Illincic
Assembly Line: Greg Armas’ Ludlow Boutique Reopens Down The Block
October 21, 2010
Assembly owner Greg Armas has overseen a growth spurt lately, expanding his store’s namesake collection of unisex-y menswear, developing a range of overdyed vintage, and opening the vintage-only boutique Everybody Goes to Heaven on New York’s Lower East Side. Now Armas is consolidating his efforts. This evening, he celebrates the opening of his new Assembly shop, two storefronts down from the old location and about twice its size. (Veteran Lower East Side shoppers will recall this as the TG-170 space.) A room at the back will house some of the vintage that Armas was selling at the now-shuttered Heaven; the Assembly production studio is going downstairs. Up front, meanwhile, browsers will find a more robust selection from Assembly designers such as Raquel Allegra, including exclusive items, pieces from new-to-Assembly designers including Jonathan Saunders and Julien Macdonald, and ever more Assembly-brand product. This now includes men’s boots, produced in collaboration with A Détacher, small leather goods made with Japanese brand NEJIcommu, and incense and a solid unisex fragrance with notes of vetiver and bergamot. Armas says he intends to develop more beauty and home products, as well as using the new store as a launch pad for special projects. And, given the popularity of his clothes among women, it’s no surprise that Armas is also contemplating the launch of a women’s line. “Not immediately,” he said when prodded. “Maybe in another season, probably more like another year. We’ve been growing at a nice pace, and I don’t want to fall into the trap of doing too much, too fast.”
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Macy’s Goes Luxe, The Twins Go Gucci, And More…
October 21, 2010
Could a Macy’s collab inspire mass euphoria à la H&M? That seems to be the hope as the retailer announces a partnership with former Versace and Calvin Klein designer Kinder Aggugini today, the first of many fashion-forward partnerships to come. Call it the start of a Kinder, chic-er Macy’s. [NYT]
An early look at Jennifer Lopez’s much-touted Gucci ad—the one starring her toddler twins—appeared today, with all parties looking appropriately glamorous and adorable, depending. Let’s see how long Max can keep pureed peas off of his logo polo. [Us Weekly]
After a multi-day spending spree, Diego Della Valle scooped up 30.7 million shares of Saks stock, making him the majority stakeholder. Shall we expect more Tod’s at a certain department store, then? [WWD]
Today’s best leak: Daphne Guinness has a faulty bath. [NY Post]
Need some polos with your jeans? Come March, Lacoste will sell co-branded apparel at Earnest Sewn boutiques, and vice versa. Look for alligators on your back pockets. [WWD]
What Palin effect? Opinion is divided over whether pantsuits or “rump-hugging skirts” best serve women in politics. We nominate Celine as the ideal campaign trail label, and ask that all politicians steer clear of rump-hugging anything. [NYT]
A dentist weighs in on Kanye’s new diamond smile. Consensus: It’ll cost him. [NY Daily News]
tags: Daphne Guinness, Diego Della Valle, Gucci, Jennifer Lopez, Lacoste
On Our Radar: Fallon’s Ecstatic Necklace
October 21, 2010
A great bit of accessories design can go miles and miles. Just consider for a moment how many YSL Tribute sandals have been sold over the past few years. When we spotted the second generation of Fallon’s Vieuphoria choker at the Fenton/Fallon preview earlier this week, we sensed greatness in the making. There’s just something about its universally flattering, classic, ladies-who-lunch shape with just the right doses of bling and spike. “It was such a popular style in the brass finish for fall,” explained designer Dana Lorenz. “It seems to work on most everybody.” The spring update (pictured above) comes in gunmetal. But you can still get your fall fix now at Lorenz’s store in Freeman’s Alley. (Unfortunately, the Vieuphoria is already sold out on Shopbop.com.)
The Vieuphoria, $315, available at Fenton/Fallon, End of Freeman’s Alley, on Rivington St. between Chrystie St. and the Bowery, NYC, (212) 477-1315.
tags: Fenton/Fallon, Yves Saint Laurent
