Plus-Size Fashion Moves Beyond the Muumuu

When Sal Perez, a stylist and costume designer, was dressing the actress Rebel Wilson for her role in the movie “Pitch Perfect 2,” he had to find clothes for 20 outfit changes. This was an even bigger challenge than it sounds. Ms. Wilson is a plus-size actress working in a less-than-zero world.Mr. Perez ended up finding some items online and designing others, which were made in his costume workshop.
“Trying to find plus-size clothes that are fashionable and well made is very difficult,” he said. “I am horrified by some of the clothes I find in the stores. I don’t know anyone who enjoys wearing polyester. I think the fashion industry has to realize the potential the plus-size market has.”Styles for plus sizes, which range from 14 to 24, have long been characterized by down-market, back-of-the-store racks of drab tent-dresses, garishly decorated blouses and polyester pants. The uniformly dark colors and generous silhouettes serve the sole purpose of covering up and deflecting attention from the body.But a new crop of online boutiques, retailers and designers is trying to make plus-size styles more fashion forward. Instead of elastic-waist pants and muumuu dresses, these companies offer clothes that reflect the runways (think jumpsuits), surpass the smock (leather pants) and even show a little skin (crop tops).

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The plus-size customer is “really letting her hair down for the first time,” said Marie Jean-Baptiste, the founder and designer of Rue107, which sells form-fitting mesh dresses ($110) and purple metallic jumpsuits ($59, on sale from $89) in sizes S to 3X.Customers have clamored for more and better options. Last spring Sarah Chiwaya, 30, a lawyer in Manhattan, attended a fashion event at Saks Fifth Avenue. Captivated by a perforated leather midi skirt from Tibi, she was ready to spend. But the skirt was available only in small sizes.“I would have bought it immediately if it were in my size, 16,” she said.Frustrated, Ms. Chiwaya turned to her blog, Curvily, and bemoaned the lack of options. She used a hashtag, #plussizeplease, that has been adopted by others across all sorts of social platforms like Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter.“I wanted it to be a way to show retailers the money they’re losing,” she said.
The market, in fact, is robust. The average American woman wears a size 14, and women wearing size 14 and up account for 67 percent of the population, according to the industry analyst firm Plunkett Research Ltd. Last summer, the NPD Group reported that plus-size clothing sales grew more than 5 percent from May 2013 to April 2014, going from $16.7 billion to $17.5 billion.That is perhaps why youthful-leaning, mass-market retailers like Asos, H & M, Mango, Wet Seal, ModCloth and Forever 21 have begun selling either an expanded size range or a dedicated plus-size line.“We work in the exact same way as Asos core brand,” said Natasha Smith, a buyer for the new line, Asos Curve, in London.
“There’s nothing we wouldn’t try: hot pants, bodysuits.”Several new companies are making plus-size their sole focus. One is Eloquii, which aims to do for the plus market what Zara has done in the mainstream market: offer customers options that mimic runway trends but at prices that are lower than those in boutiques and department stores.Currently, Eloquii is showing items like a leopard-print baseball jacket ($138), a cashmere sweater with Breton stripes ($138) and faux leather culottes ($98).Eloquii was originally started in 2011 as a sister brand to the Limited, but was closed in 2013 when the Limited decided to shed its noncore brands. A group of former employees, including the creative director, Jodi Arnold, restarted the brand last year. (Its products are available on the label’s website as well as on Nordstrom). A former Gilt executive, John Auerbach, is a founding investor.“The team doesn’t have a plus background, which is a good thing,” said Mariah Chase, the company’s chief executive, using industry jargon to refer to the plus-size niche.“The starting point is trends, the runway,” Ms. Arnold added.For example, Eloquii’s Cady pant (made in an array of fabrics, from $88 in a graphic rose print to $78 in solid navy) is “a structured, fitted pant where our customer has just gotten stretch before,” Ms. Chase said. A faux-leather fitted midi skirt, $128, sold out in 72 hours, according to Ms. Arnold.
The company has recently raised $6 million from investors.In a skinny-celebrity-obsessed world, it has been difficult to overcome the dowdy image of plus size. What’s more, many women are uncomfortable identifying themselves as plus-size shoppers, which hampers word-of-mouth.But social media is helping to change that, said Aimee Cheshire, the president and a founder of HeyGorgeous, an online boutique that carries pieces from ABS By Allen Schwartz (wrap dress, $198), Lucky Brand denim (black straight-leg jeans, $89.50) and Ellen Tracy (angora coat, $169) in sizes 10 and up.“I’ll get emails asking, ‘How do I recommend it to my friend without offending her?’ ” Ms. Cheshire said. “I always say share it on Facebook.”She said she tries to encourage plus-size women to openly embrace their personal style rather than hide their shape. HeyGorgeous tells these women they “aren’t the ugly stepsister, they’re our main woman,” Ms. Cheshire said.“They’re not used to being wanted,” she said.
“There’s no aspiration, no Vogue for the plus sized.”Most plus-size clothes could be divided into three segments: “work wear, club wear and grandma clothes,” said Nicolette Mason, a plus-size fashion blogger. The problem has not been just a lack of options for consumers, but also retailers’ belief that plus-size women can’t support a high-fashion niche.“When you’re taught to look at your body as a work in progress, you’re not going to spend $1,000 on a coat to last forever because you’re not hoping for it to last forever,” Ms. Mason said.Gwynnie Bee, a clothing rental subscription service for sizes 10 to 32, is a more casual version of Rent the Runway (which began its own plus-size division in 2013). The site carries lines like BB Dakota and Three Dots. A $35-a-month commitment will get you one piece of clothing at a time; 10 pieces will cost $159 a month.
In the shadow of all the new focus on how to dress a larger woman, mainstays of the fashion industry that have helped propagate the connection between high fashion and small sizes are showing a greater willingness to embrace a curvier world. Calvin Klein used the model Myla Dalbesio, who is a size 10, in a lingerie campaign. In November,Vogue shot a lingerie spread using plus-size models.The 2015 Pirelli calendar, shot by Steven Meisel and styled by Carine Roitfeld, included the plus-size model Candice Huffine. Two edgy clothing lines, Chromat and Zana Bayne, sent plus-size models down the runway in their presentations last September.For now, any competition is welcome.“I would love to have more places to shop, for it to be a fun leisure activity with multiple sources,” said Kelly Goldston, the director of marketing at Eloquii. As more plus-size women get into the habit of expressing their personal style, business will be better for everyone involved, she said, adding, “New players would be good for us.”
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Job Lot Sponsors Prom Fashion Show to Benefit Sojourner House

Ocean State Job Lot, a leading closeout retailer headquartered in Rhode Island with 115 stores in New England, New Jersey, and New York, announces its sponsorship of the fourth annual Laura Ink Prom Expo Fashion Show. The event promotes positive self-imagery and raises money and awareness for victims of domestic violence.
This year’s circus-themed fashion show, called “The Greatest Show on Earth,” will be held on Saturday, January 3, 2015 at 8:00 p.m. at the Greenwich Odeum, located at 59 Main Street in East Greenwich. It features over 35 young Rhode Island women (ages 16-24) modeling prom wear from Sonya’s clothing boutique in Cranston, with all proceeds from ticket sales benefiting the Sojourner House in Providence. The Sojourner House is a nonprofit agency that offers advocacy and resources for domestic abuse victims.

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The women will be modeling the latest in prom styles and all of the featured dresses will be available for purchase at Sonya’s, located at 766 Oaklawn Avenue in Cranston. Students from the Toni & Guy Academy in Cranston are donating their talents in doing hair and make-up for the models. Also walking the runway again will be Jessica Marfeo, 2013’s Miss Rhode Island, who participated in last year’s fashion show.
East Greenwich resident Laura Sarlitto, owner of Laura Ink Photography, produces the annual events. Since its inception in 2011, she has designated the proceeds to a different charitable cause each time. “I am very grateful to have Ocean State Job Lot’s support for the 2015 Fashion Show. The event brings together many different women of all ages and organizations, all to support a worthy cause,” says Ms. Sarlitto. “One hundred percent of the proceeds will be given to the Sojourner House to fund their programs, which include providing shelter, advocacy, referrals and other resources, along with violence prevention education programs.”
Ms. Sarlitto said the models are chosen from a casting call and then participate in a month-long training. She takes the women on photo shoots, helps them practice runway walks, and engages them in creative discussions. The end result is increased confidence. “Something blossoms in these young women in the process and it’s the most rewarding thing to be able to work with them from beginning to end,” she says.
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Women Have a Role to Play In Ending Rape

Before circumstances and Providence brought me to a small, Christian liberal arts college in a sleepy northern Virginia town, I spent three years studying at the University of Illinois followed by a two-year stint in the Army. Needless to say, I spent much of my early twenties participating in American party culture, and I'm lucky I made it through those years relatively unscathed.
Looking back, I made a lot of foolish decisions. I put myself in a lot of compromising situations that could have easily taken a dark turn. What I have to say in the following paragraphs, then, does not come from a place of ignorance or unsympathetic idealism. It comes from a woman who's played the game, learned many lessons, and come to realize exactly what's at stake for America's young people if something major doesn't change. It comes from a mother who knows in her heart that it's her daughter, even more than her son, who has a role to play in the change that needs to happen.

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Rape is terrible. It is something that no person should ever have to experience. The way the issue is being politicized and sensationalized by feminists and their sympathizers in the media, however, is not helping matters. It is eclipsing the true nature of the problem and preventing authentic dialog from occurring. The hysterical and sometimes supremely irresponsible media coverage of this issue has created the impression that America has a rape epidemic on its hands, and hordes of feminist activists have mobilized to combat it. On college campuses across America, students are protesting what they see as institutional indifference to an extremely serious problem. A group of students at the University of Virginia participated in a "SlutWalk" protest to draw attention to the problem of rape. Protest organizer Maria Dehart explained the origins of the provocative name. "[Slut Walk]," she said, "is trying to fight against this victim-blaming, slut-shaming culture we have that sexualizes women, yet shames them for being sexual. So we were trying to take the word slut, and the movement tries to turn it around and take the shame out of it."
With virtually any other public health crisis, Progressives are more than eager to examine the causal factors at play. Think of how they addressed the AIDS epidemic, or how they discuss the problem of obesity. "Why is this happening? What behaviors increase the risks of this happening? What can people to do avoid it?" Not so with the public health crisis that is rape. On this issue Progressives stop short of critical analysis and resort to the infantile tactic of indiscriminate male bashing. Anyone who dares ask these basic questions and ventures to connect the dots between behavior and consequences when it comes to rape is pilloried as a foot soldier in the so-called War on Women.
Professor Harvey Mansfield incurred the wrath of feminists when he suggested that feminism itself shares much of the blame for campus "rape culture" and that a return to standards of feminine modesty and gentlemanly honor holds the key to combating it. From his letter:
"In return for women's holding to a higher standard of sexual behavior, feminine modesty gave them protection while they considered whether they wanted to consent. It gave them time: Not so fast! Not the first date! I'm not ready for that! It gave them the pleasure of being courted along with the advantage of looking before you leap. To win over a woman, men had to strive to express their finer feelings, if they had any. Women could judge their character and choose accordingly. In sum, women had the right of choice, if I may borrow that slogan. All this and more was social construction, to be sure, but on the basis of the bent toward modesty that was held to be in the nature of women. That inclination, it was thought, cooperated with the aggressive drive in the nature of men that could be beneficially constructed into the male duty to take the initiative. There was no guarantee of perfection in this arrangement, but at least each sex would have a legitimate expectation of possible success in seeking marital happiness. They could live together, have children, and take care of them.
Without feminine modesty, however, women must imitate men, and in matters of sex, the most predatory men, as we have seen. The consequence is the hook-up culture now prevalent on college campuses, and off-campus too (even more, it is said). The purpose of hooking up is to replace the human complexity of courtship with "good sex," a kind of animal simplicity, eliminating all the preliminaries to sex as well as the aftermath. "Good sex," by the way, is in good part a social construction of the alliance between feminists and male predators that we see today. It narrows and distorts the human potentiality for something nobler and more satisfying than the bare minimum."
Feminists reject Mansfield's analysis wholesale. They scoff at the misogynistic notion that women have a responsibility to protect themselves from unwanted sexual advances by conducting themselves in a ladylike manner. On the contrary, they insist that women should be able to act however they please. They should let their libidos run free and wild. They should be able to participate in the popular hookup culture. They should be able to dress provocatively, and party and drink and flirt without any thought for the compromising situations this behavior might lead to, the dangers they might find in dark dorm rooms and frat houses, their reason and their inhibitions weakened by alcohol. And men should stand ready to respond to the whims of the feminine libido... but they must also be responsible for navigating the gray and foggy world of "consent." The "SlutWalk"ers don't explain exactly how this would look or should work, other than to suggest that we program our boys to be able to determine "conscious consent" without error, and that if in any way a woman is unhappy with the way an encounter plays out, it's 100%, without question always the man's fault.
This all speaks to the feminist's refusal to acknowledge reality, reality about their own nature as women and that of their male counterparts. And as Mansfield suggests, this refusal bears significant responsibility for increasing rates of sexual violence on college campuses. Feminist and cultural commentator Camille Paglia recently discussed the terrible danger of feminine obliviousness to their innate vulnerability and their cavalier attitude about the sexual power they wield. In the wake of UVA student Hannah Graham's disappearance, Paglia wrote:
"Too many young middleclass women, raised far from the urban streets, seem to expect adult life to be an extension of their comfortable, overprotected homes. But the world remains a wilderness. The price of women's modern freedoms is personal responsibility for vigilance and self-defense.
Current educational codes, tracking liberal-Left, are perpetuating illusions about sex and gender. The basic Leftist premise, descending from Marxism, is that all problems in human life stem from an unjust society and that corrections and fine-tunings of that social mechanism will eventually bring utopia. Progressives have unquestioned faith in the perfectibility of mankind.
The horrors and atrocities of history have been edited out of primary and secondary education except where they can be blamed on racism, sexism, and imperialism – toxins embedded in oppressive outside structures that must be smashed and remade. But the real problem resides in human nature, which religion as well as great art sees as eternally torn by a war between the forces of darkness and light...
The gender ideology dominating academe denies that sex differences are rooted in biology and sees them instead as malleable fictions that can be revised at will. The assumption is that complaints and protests, enforced by sympathetic campus bureaucrats and government regulators, can and will fundamentally alter all men. . . .
Misled by the naive optimism and "You go, girl!" boosterism of their upbringing, young women do not see the animal eyes glowing at them in the dark. They assume that bared flesh and sexy clothes are just a fashion statement containing no messages that might be misread and twisted by a psychotic. They do not understand the fragility of civilization and the constant nearness of savage nature."
Paglia, in discussing the pathology of sex crime, articulates precisely the problem with prevailing feminist attitudes about sex. In rejecting the notion that women have a responsibility of personal vigilance and self-defense, they are exposing themselves to grave dangers. For some, like Hannah Graham, the price paid is their very lives. For others, it is the trauma of rape or the embarrassment of an early morning "walk of shame."
If indeed American college campuses are experiencing an epidemic of rape, then women must be willing to consider how their attitudes and behavior might be contributing to the problem. This would likely mean a radical transformation of college party culture, including a female-led rejection of the hookup culture that has and continues to damage so many young lives. Would such a change eradicate all instances of rape? Certainly not, but in the case of the alcohol-soaked, consensually murky encounters plaguing America's institutions of higher learning; it would go along way towards solving the problem.
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KATE BOSWORTH'S SHOE COLLAB IS INFLUENCED BY 'BLUE CRUSH,' ARTIST ED RUSCHA

Style star Kate Bosworth has stepped into the world of footwear with the Kate Bosworth x Matisse Collection, slated to debut April 1. Her spot-on aesthetic sensibility makes her a standout in today's celebrity world — her Twitter feed is more often peppered with findings from the worlds of science, art, technology and sport versus relentless, ahem, selfies. Her point of view translates effortlessly into a collection of uber-chic, eminently wearable shoes for women who want an easy, smart moment without having to think about it. The former champion equestrian's line will be manufactured in Brazil and priced from $295 to $500.
We chatted with Bosworth about her love for shoes, how they can transform a character and what inspires her when designing (20th century pop art and Blue Crush are two key influences).

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Pret-a-Reporter: What can we expect to see in your shoe line?
Kate Bosworth: I’ve always been attracted to fashion that is transitional, meaning, designs that carry a woman from season to season, from day to night. That was a significant part of this collection. I wanted to think about footwear that is directional and also comfortable — very much in line with the Matisse customer. You can wear the “Charlotte" star boots with jeans for a more casual, classic ensemble or pair them with a skirt or dress for a more trendy look. Footwear should be able to transcend just one look; it should be functional in the sense that a woman can wear the shoe many different ways. That’s the type of footwear I have in my own wardrobe, and that I feel confident investing in.
What inspires you when you are designing your shoe line?
I find inspiration in so many things — art, film, to what is relevant in fashion right now or what I would like to see come back around, my own life experiences. One of my favorite artists is Ed Ruscha. His "Hot Shot" piece became my main inspiration for the “Hoyt" Boot. When I was very little, I was obsessed with collecting unique rocks and stones and this was the inspiration behind the "Wonderland" slide. The "Chadwick" and "Dawn" styles were a nod to my Blue Crush days.
Favorite pair of shoes you wore on the red carpet?
I’d say the most impressive, perfect pairing was for the Met Gala Superheroes theme in 2008. I attended the evening with Karl Lagerfeld and Chanel, and wore a beautiful beaded, multicolored vintage Chanel dress. The challenge was to find shoes that matched the dress but did not compete. The Pierre Hardy shoes I wore gave the illusion from the front that I was not wearing shoes as they had a transparent strap, but they had the perfect pairing of colors on the side.
Favorite everyday shoes?
Honestly, the KB x Matisse "Charlotte" fawn suede color with silver stars. These boots literally go with everything, from jeans and a tee to a short dress to a long skirt and sweater. I'm super proud of these shoes — they are so wearable!
When you get ready to play a character, how important are the shoes to you when you step into wardrobe?
My character's shoes are often the most informative physical detail. For example, when I shot The Warrior’s Way, my character was a girl growing up amongst men in a fantastical “carny" lifestyle — I only found the character when I put on a pair of oversized men’s shoes and actually clomped around.
What is your favorite part of designing shoes?
That I can covet them — and then get to wear them!
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Apps can bring an 'Uber' world of beauty to your doorstep

Getting an entourage of beauty professionals to show up at your door is no longer a privilege reserved just for celebrities and the ultra-wealthy. Thanks to a growing number of on-demand beauty apps, summoning hairstylists, makeup artists, masseuses and even personal trainers to a home, office or hotel is not just possible, it's often easier than swiping your smartphone screen to call an Uber car.
In fact, these services are being referred to by some users as "Ubers of beauty," due to the convenience, accessibility to a high-end experience and ability to execute all payment transactions online.
"Beauty has always been about instant gratification," says David Pirrotta, owner of David Pirrotta Brand Management, a Los Angeles-based firm that markets beauty lines including Rodin, Ilia and Sachajuan.
Lauren Remington Platt started an on-demand beauty app called Vensette three years ago after realizing there was no convenient way to transition her look from her day job in finance to the cocktail parties and charity functions she attended in the evening.

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"I wanted to create something that my friends and I would want to use and also considered how women want to interact with beauty in the Digital Age," says Platt.
Vensette, based in New York, now has artists available for hire in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami.
Vensette artists are trained to re-create styles displayed on the company's website.
"The key is consistency," says Platt, who was impressed by the uniformity of Starbucks when creating her company.
In addition to on-demand beauty apps that dispatch artists for at-home services, several apps aim to make the booking process for beauty appointments more convenient.
cCommentsGot something to say? Start the conversation and be the first to comment.ADD A COMMENT0Think "Open Table for beauty," as some are referring to apps like Beautified and Beauty Booked, which allow users to make last-minute appointments at salons and fitness studios in various cities.
Beautified, which is available in New York and plans to launch in L.A. in 2015, partners with salons, spas and exercise studios such as Frederic Fekkai, Bliss and Barry's Boot Camp.
"Women are time-strapped, and we provide them with a tool to help their day be more efficient," says Beautified co-founder Annie Evans, adding that, for women who are traveling to a new city, an app like Beautified eliminates the often time-consuming process of searching for a salon or spa, then hoping for an open appointment.
On-demand beauty apps also offer artists for weddings, bridal parties and fashion industry events.
Fashion publicist Shana Honeyman discovered an app called GlamSquad when the makeup artist she hired to work on a client's look book bowed out with food poisoning 45 minutes before a photo shoot.
Honeyman was hooked.
"I love a salon experience," she says, "but when on a tight timeline, having someone come directly to you feels decadent and time-efficient. It's the best of both worlds."
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A list of beauty-on-demand services
Here is the low-down on some of the new beauty-on-demand services.
Founded: 2011 by Lauren Remington Platt, with services available in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami.
Signature feature: Consistency. Vensette artists are trained to create several key looks as reference points for clients to choose from.
Services include: Hair and makeup.
How it works: The client books a service on the Vensette app or website, and an artist arrives at your home or office within 45 minutes.
Pricing: Hair, $100; makeup, $150; hair and makeup, $200. V by Vensette, a more customizable service available for photo shoots and high-profile events, is $300.
Founded: 2013 by Julia Carmona and Lauren Katzberg, with services available in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York.
Signature feature: Options. Customers can browse artist's bios, photos, pricing and reviews, and choose which artist and look is the best fit.
How it works: Book an appointment through the Stylisted app or website by choosing the service needed, date and time.
Pricing: Varies from artist to artist and is indicated from high to low in each beauty professional's profile, much like a restaurant guide.
Founded: July 2014 by Jocelyn Loo and Maile Pacheco, with services available in Los Angeles, Orange County, Las Vegas, Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston.
Signature feature: Glamour. As indicated by the beauty company's name, glamour is at the center of its service, with glam hair and makeup looks available, including fake eyelashes and group bridal packages.
How it works: Book via BeGlammed's app or website, choose the city, date and time. Individual hair or makeup appointments take no longer than an hour; hair and makeup appointments take 90 minutes.
Pricing: Services start at $95 and vary by city.
Founded: 2013 by former corporate attorney Anna Santeramo, with services available in Los Angeles.
Signature feature: At the end of each service, users rate their beauty professional. Users can also request the same beauty professional again should they favor someone for a certain service.
How it works: Book a beauty professional via the StyleBee app, choosing from a variety of services, such as blowouts and even face painting. Appointments must be booked a minimum of two hours in advance and ideally a day ahead.
Pricing: Blowouts, $50; makeup, including lashes, $85; men's cuts, $50; face painting, $50; 60-minute massage, $120; 90-minute massage, $150.
Founded: 2013 by Annie Evans, Hannah Bronfman and Peter Hananel, with services available in New York and plans to launch in L.A. in 2015.
Signature feature: A tightly curated selection of salons, spas and fitness studios, from brow waxing to barre classes, picked by the company's editors. Useful when traveling or trying to find a new service.
How it works: Download the app and select the service or class desired. Available appointments, dates and times will show up for you to choose from.
Pricing: Varies on type of service, specific salon, spa or class selected.
Founded: January 2014 by Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, co-founder of Gilt Groupe, Victoria Eisner, Jason Perri and David Goldweitz, with services available in New York and L.A.
Signature feature: A dream team of executives plus creative director and veteran hairstylist Giovanni Vaccaro and director of makeup artistry Kelli Bartlett. GlamSquad artists are trained in the brand's proprietary technique for consistent results.
How it works: Beauty services are booked through the GlamSquad app or website. A customer chooses from a menu of hair and makeup looks, and an artist is dispatched to the customer's preferred location.
Pricing: Blowout, $50; braid, $75; updo $85 and up; makeup $75.
Founded: May 2011, with services available in numerous cities, including New York, L.A., Las Vegas, Chicago and Miami.
Signature feature: The app and website are mobile and online marketplaces for booking beauty and wellness services. Makeup artists, hairstylists, personal trainers and massage therapists can use the site as a professional platform for their businesses. Users have access to about 260,000 beauty professionals in 15,000 cities and towns listed on StyleSeat.
How it works: Enter the service desired, location and date into the app or on the website, and a list of beauty professionals appears with each person's photo, rating, pricing and bio. Users can book an artist directly after reviewing the details.
Founded: March 2014 by Joseph Terzi and Morris Sutton, with services available in L.A. and Manhattan.
Signature feature: Variety. In addition to beauty services such as blowouts, spray tans and manicures, Priv also offers professionals who specialize in reflexology, gymnastics and self-defense. Priv also allows users to ping their preferred beauty professional directly to book an appointment.
How it works: Book appointments through the free Priv app by selecting service and date and time needed. A list of beauty professionals shows up on screen with a photo, rating, prices and availability.
Pricing: Ranges from a child's haircut for $45 to customized group fitness training for $160.
Founded: 2012 by former L'Oreal brand marketing executives Hillary Hutcheson and Ritika Gill, with services available in L.A., New York, Miami, San Francisco, Dallas and Houston.
Signature feature: BeautyBooked has partnered with Allure magazine, utilizing the beauty-dedicated magazine's popular "Directory" reviews on its website and app. Clients can use the reviews to discover and select new spas and salons.
How it works: Log on to the website or app and select the service desired, city and area, date and time. Available appointments will appear along with a corresponding Allure-fueled review. A reward system gives users BB points that can be used to receive beauty products and perks on services.
Pricing: Varies among different salons and spas.
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Fashion Philanthropists Train A New Generation Of Entrepreneurs

From the age of 15, Naimah Spann and Rondelynn Bell shared a love of fashion. Both were teenage mothers on tight budgets who started designing and creating their own clothes to save money. Soon, though, students and teachers at their high school in Hartford, Conn., began asking for their own signature outfits, and the girls had started a thriving, if informal, business.
After high school, both attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York before returning to Hartford, where admittedly the design scene left something to be desired. They started working for a social services program, teaching fashion design, but found something lacking. “We realized,” says Spann, “that the students were being taught how to make things but not how to sell them.” For Spann and Bell, the ability to market, sell, maintain inventory and understand financials was just as important as designing and creating clothing.

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It became clear that if they were going to create a new generation of fashionentrepreneurs they would need to do the teaching. In 2007 NIRO Design Center opened in downtown Hartford, offering programs in design and merchandising to kids ages 8 to 17. A small showroom in the center allowed young trendsetters to learn about retail, but within a couple years Spann and Bell realized that for a truly hands-on experience, they needed an actual shop.
And so, NIRO Boutique was born. “The store is the classroom,” says Spann. It’s where her students develop not just their fashion chops but core skills such as networking and personal finance, as well as inventory, credit card processing, window dressing and advertising. “Even if they don’t start a fashion line one day,” says Spann, “they’ll have the skills to start any kind of business they want.”
When kids see how they can apply what they’ve learned, their level of motivation and engagement soars. As part of a sales event, for example, students bought jewelry-making supplies to craft accessories, sold the pieces, and then were required to use a portion of their earnings to buy more supplies, to sell more jewelry. Spann says students made a profit and started wondering what they could sell next. Really, they say, these exercises are about building confidence.
The kids aren’t the only ones benefiting from NIRO’s mission. Spann and Bell focus a large share of their inventory on local designers, and bring the designers themselves (some of whom are NIRO alum) to teach in the program and connect with the next generation of talent. They’ve also taken NIRO on the road, teaching a modified version of their program in five school districts in the region, as well as in a correctional facility. In an effort to reach even more burgeoning entrepreneurs, the two are developing a workbook series based on the NIRO program.
“We’re growing,” says Bell, “but faster than we can handle.” Their core staff, four including themselves, struggles to keep up with the growing demand for their services. Their goal is to raise enough capital to hire more staff so they can bring NIRO onto the national stage, whether through their workshops or books. “Our dream,” says Spann, “is to one day be able to say ‘NIRO has created over 5,000 small business owners nationally or internationally.’”
And, of course, to dress us all in the process.
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We're One Big Step Closer To A More Sustainable Fashion Industry, Thanks To This New Initiative

Efforts to create a more sustainable fashion industry have long been the norm for some people. Designers like Stella McCartney and advocates like Amber Vallettahave rallied and emphasized the importance of creating sustainable goods for many years. But when it comes to the fashion industry at large, there is still a long way to go in terms of consumer education. That's why we're so excited about Fashion Positive, a new initiative powered by the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute that's seeking to make sustainable clothing accessible for the masses.
First, a bit of background. Currently, people interested in purchasing sustainable wardrobes might be priced out. Because of the lack of resources, fashionable, sustainable clothing is currently produced at a premium rate. But beyond the financial aspect, it appears that consumers do not know the true meaning of the term.

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Jason Keehn, CEO of Accompany, an e-commerce site aimed at selling ethical fashion, spelled it out to The Huffington Post at the initiative's launch party in New York City. "Sustainability comes from an ethical point of view of not harming -- it's about becoming conscious of the choices we make all the way through the supply chain," he said. "That is not the same as a brand feeling that it needs to get out there and help underprivileged people."
So how can Fashion Positive help? Well, the first-of-its-kind initiative is focused on creating the tools needed by the designer to make sustainable clothing purchases available for everybody. That means connecting those designers to experts who can help ensure products are, in fact, sustainable at every step of the process. It also provides funding to designers and brands who aim to change the industry with quality practices and new, revolutionary products. Finally, through collaborators, Fashion Positive hopes to develop a library of high quality, sustainable materials so that designers actually have the resources available to them when they want to design a new product.
As Wendy Schmidt, philanthropist and president of The Schmidt Family Foundationputs it, the timing is inevitable. "Eighty percent of the garments made end up in landfills. We need to figure out how to use materials more wisely, how to create social fairness and how to think about the life cycle of everything we make. It's revolutionary because it acknowledges that energy is expensive and resources are limited," she told The Huffington Post.
As Fashion Positive grows, the folks behind the initiative hope that it will become economically viable -- something that not just the wealthy can afford to take part in. As Schmidt puts it, "When it gets to be viable, that's when people will jump on. That, of course, will take some time, but this is a wonderful first step."
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Women in fashion design demand recognition

Saudi authorities still do not recognize fashion design as a valid career path in the Kingdom despite the fact that many Saudi designers have earned relevant degrees from national and international universities, said an industry expert.
Rania Khogeer, member of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s female fashion designers committee, said there are no specific licenses for such businesses and the Saudization drive has harmed the industry in the Kingdom because it is squeezing out expatriate tailors who were previously easily obtainable.
Speaking during the committee-organized First Forum of Fashion Designers on Saturday, she said: “There aren’t many experienced Saudi fashion designers in the country and not many Saudi women want to work as tailors (whom designers need to bring their creations to life).
“In return, many fashion designers seek to open their own businesses outside of the Kingdom where they can secure their intellectual properties and find experienced tailors and co-designers.”

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It was disclosed at the forum that the fashion industry in the Kingdom is worth around SR13 billion.
The Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s deputy secretary-general Muhyiddin Al-Hakami said the female fashion designers committee is the only one of its kind in Jeddah that links professional women designers with the chamber and tackles the obstacles they face.
The committee aims to unify professionals in the industry to create unique Saudi products that can rival their international counterparts. It also aims to produce designs with the combination of modernity and Hijazi heritage.
Committee head Umaimah Mahmoud Azzouz said: “The committee made sure to invite all of the talented and interested girls and women from schools, institutes and universities.
“The fashion design market can provide 70,000 job opportunities for Saudi females within the next five years. This will decrease the rate of female unemployment in the Kingdom by 18 percent.
“Statistics show the number of tailor shops in the Kingdom reached 70,000 last year. This is a clear indication that more funding and support should be granted to women, especially in the field of fashion and design. The committee aims to establish a national factory that utilizes local talent to produce internationally acknowledged designs.”
Designers are trying to advertise their designs locally and internationally by cooperating with companies through their corporate social responsibility programs.
The committee also aims to establish a fashion design academy to train over 500 Saudi women on an annual basis and employ over 5,000 of them. This can be done by founding more small and medium enterprises in the industry, said Azzouz.
The forum was packed with university students, designers and fashion design enthusiasts.
More than 300 Saudi female fashion designers gathered to discuss the obstacles faced by female designers, businesswomen and female fashion enthusiasts in the Kingdom. The recommendations of the forum will be forwarded to the concerned authorities.
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High Museum to showcase Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen in fall ’15

Atlanta will grow more fashion forward in fall 2015 with Thursday’s announcement from the High Museum of Art that it will host a major exhibition of cutting-edge Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen.
Opening next November, “Iris van Herpen” will mark the Atlanta museum’s first presentation of fashion design. The High also will become the first U.S. museum to present a major show by van Herpen.
If new to the American museum world, the designer has burned a distinct path through the fashion world. Style trendsetters including Lady Gaga, Beyonce and Bjork have worn her clothes, and her lines have been modeled on Amsterdam, London and Paris runways.
“Iris van Herpen” will feature will feature 45 outfits selected from 15 collections she designed from 2008 through 2015.

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The designer is known for interweaving traditional handwork with of-the-moment 3D-printing technology (with examples to be included in the show), computer modeling and engraving. To create her futuristic haute couture, she has collaborated with architects, engineers and digital design specialists.
Her sculptural designs often feature unusual materials such as magnets, umbrella ribs and synthetic boat rigging.
“Iris van Herpen’s work is an incredible fusion of artistic expression, craftsmanship and creativity,” High decorative arts and design curator Sarah Schleuning said. “The marriage of traditional, handcrafted designs and 21st-century technology makes her work innovative, dynamic and a signifier of a bold, new future for fashion design.”
van Herpen’s couture will be displayed on custom mannequins and accompanied by music and videos from her multimedia runway shows. Her words will be featured in accompanying wall texts, revealing the underlying concepts for each piece.
Co-organized with the Groninger Museum in the Netherlands, the exhibit will make its U.S. debut at the High, where it will remain view through May 2016 before continuing on a North American tour.
More on Iris van Herpen
Biographical sketch provided by the High Museum: Iris van Herpen (b. 1984 in Warmel, the Netherlands) had an intuitive appreciation of fashion and art as a youth and became interested in designing clothes while attending the Preparatory Course Art & Design at the Artez Institute of the Arts Arnhem.
van Herpen went on to study Fashion Design at Artez and held internships with Alexander McQueen in London and Claudy Jongstra in Amsterdam. Her 2006 graduation collection “Machine Jewellery” demonstrated her interest in the visualization of elusive concepts and intangible elements and her inventiveness in material use and treatment. A year after graduating, van Herpen began designing womenswear collections under her own name.
Through her extensive interdisciplinary research and collaborations with other artists, van Herpen has developed a unique and avant-garde style aesthetic that has been lauded by Time magazine, InStyle and Women’s Wear Daily, among other notable publications.
In 2011, at age 27, she became the youngest member ever to join the exclusive official calendar of the Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week, and in 2014 she was awarded the highly prestigious ANDAM Award. Her designs are currently featured in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
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Venus Williams nurtures love of design

This is what you get when you hire Venus Williams as your interior decorator: an enthusiastic designer who has traveled the world, drawing inspiration from Moscow to Beijing, but never quite had time to complete formal training; a team of professionals working with her; and a place on a client list that includes celebrities and professional athletes.
And, of course, you get Venus Williams.
She’s one of the great tennis players of all time: seven Grand Slam singles titles, an Olympic gold medal, a woman who changed the face of modern tennis. Her father gave her a racket when she was 4 years old and told her she was going to become the best player in the world.
“Most people decide what they want to do later in life, and some people know really early,” she says. “For me, what I was doing was already decided. Thankfully, I liked it.” But that was her father’s dream, not hers. “This was like when you get to make your own choice about what you love.”

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And Williams loves, loves, loves designing. She talks about space planning, construction, lighting and fabric swatches like nobody’s business. In fact, it is a business: For more than a decade, she has quietly run an interior design firm in her adopted home of Florida, both capitalizing on and overcoming her famous name.
She recently unveiled her latest work in the District of Columbia, the renovated Southeast Tennis and Learning Center, an after-school tennis, arts and academic program created for children. Other people at the gala saw her as the tennis legend; she was there as the person responsible for the look and feel of the space.
“As a designer, you design and it’s beautiful and people feel great when they walk in – but how have you changed the world?” she asks. “For us, this sort of project means so much to us because it’s going to impact so many lives.”
Love of creativity
Williams had been playing tennis for 14 years – and was two years away from her first Wimbledon and U.S. Open singles titles in 2000 – when a letter arrived on her doorstep when she was 17 or 18. She can’t remember if it was addressed to her or was a random solicitation, but it invited her to study art and design at a technical school in Tampa, Florida.
“Oh, I want to go to design school!” she remembers telling her mom. She loved being creative: She grew up sewing and still has the homemade skirts she made for her first professional tournament at age 14.
Tampa was too far from their southern Florida home, so her mother vetoed that plan. But she allowed Williams and younger sister Serena to enroll in a Fort Lauderdale, Florida, arts school, where they both studied fashion design. Between training, practice and traveling the world for tennis, they learned pattern-making, clothing construction, textile design and computer programming.
It was not, as one might guess, a calming counterpoint to their grueling day job. “School was not relaxing. It was intense,” Williams says. “I had breakdowns just like any other student. I worked a little bit slower because I liked everything perfect.” The other students weren’t fazed by their famous classmate because “everyone was so stressed out that they didn’t really care.” Williams graduated in 2007 with a degree in fashion design and launched a small sportswear line called EleVen to a mixed reception.
But it was interior design that really captured her imagination. While traveling, she would slip away to explore art and museums – in Moscow, for example, she loved the intricate ceilings of St. Basil’s Cathedral. She began reading books on interior design and consulted with professional decorators.
In 2002, after finding a partner who could handle the business while she was on the road, Williams founded V Starr Interiors, a small boutique firm in Jupiter, Florida, not far from where her family lived after moving from California when she was 10 years old. The real estate market was booming; she thought it was the perfect time to try to break into the field.
Today, the firm has four full-time professional designers, all women. The operation is housed in a small townhouse with a discreet sign out front, but there is no hint of the famous owner until you step into the foyer, where there are small photos and two tennis prints. The second floor is filled with fabric samples; the third with a workroom where all the designers sit together. Williams doesn’t have an office; when she’s in town, she perches at the main worktable with her laptop.
Williams is the only one on the team without a degree in interior design. She studied it for two years – “I would sit there and draw a line, then erase it, and draw it and erase it. I drove myself nuts” – before finally deciding she could be more effective to the company if she got a business degree. (She’s working on it.) It was, all things considered, the practical choice: Williams, now 34 years old, heads an estimated $60 million empire.
But she’s deeply involved in all of the design projects, emailing ideas back and forth while on the road. V Starr began with residential work.
Future in design
On a trip to Beijing earlier this year, Williams sought out an outdoor antique market she had visited years before. She remembered they had “amazing” stones and minerals, and wanted to bring back something special for a custom door design the firm was creating. No one spoke English, and no one really understood her Chinese.
“I know how to say ‘too expensive,’ ” says Williams, who brought back three geodes – one for the door, two for herself.
She just sold her midcentury Hollywood Hills house – a project she never had time to finish – and the plans to build a dream home in Florida are on hold. “It’s always a dream house until you realize you don’t want all the things you dreamed,” she explains. “Why am I doing this? I just want a closet and a gym.”
For the moment, tennis is still her top priority: more majors, a spot with the Washington Kastles, and one more shot at gold at the 2016 Olympics. She’ll play as long as she’s healthy and having fun. After that? Designing full-time.
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Pratt launches fashion, design, tech accelerator in Pfizer Building

A crowd of more than 500 people attended the opening celebration for Pratt Institute’s Brooklyn Fashion and Design Accelerator (BF+DA), which launched Nov. 11 with a reception headed by Pratt Institute President Thomas Schutte and BF+DA Executive Director Debera Johnson. This entrepreneur incubator — designed to bridge the gap between college and earning a living in the real world — is located on the seventh floor of the former headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer on Flushing Avenue on the South Williamsburg and Bed-Stuy border. The building is already home to many thriving food and beverage start-ups, including Kombucha Brooklyn, Village Fishmonger and Liddabit Sweets.
Currently at 21,000 square feet with room for further expansion, the BF+DA’s “tenants” pay rent for their space and use of amenities, which includes a 3-D rapid prototyping center, textile and technology labs, a showroom, retail space and conference rooms. The space includes 30 studios. Not all tenants are Pratt Institute alumni, and the businesses are not limited to being fashion or design-oriented. Some are focused on technology, developing products and materials.

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“It’s about jobs, jobs, jobs,” Dr. Schutte said in his opening remarks. “It’s about economic development, being creative and being able to contribute to society.” Schutte spoke passionately, but was reticent to hog the spotlight away from BF+DA Executive Director Johnson and guest speakers Deputy Borough President Diana Reyna, a native of the area, who remembered the economic impact of Pfizer’s closure after 150 years of operating in Brooklyn, and state Sen. Martin J. Golden, who spoke about the importance of building the local economy via micro entrepreneurship.
BF+DA was launched with more than $2 million in funding pledges from Pratt Institute, the state of New York, New York City and the Borough of Brooklyn. The investment for businesses in the area stemmed fears that Pfizer would add to the condo-ization of Brooklyn’s working class neighborhoods, thus further cutting job opportunities. The BF+DA’s motto is “Make The Future Here” and, naturally, it comes written with a hashtag: #MaketheFutureHere.
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Oscar de la Renta’s Legacy

On Monday afternoon, friends of fashion designer Oscar de la Rentagathered at his funeral in Manhattan. Guests included Hillary Clinton, First Lady of the Dominican Republic Candida Montilla, Matthew Broderick, Hugh Jackman, Diane von Furstenberg, Michael Kors,Tommy Hilfiger, Donna Karan, Vera Wang, and Valentino Garavani. Here, two who knew the designer in very different contexts explain what he meant to them.
Cornelia Guest, New York author and socialite:
“Having grown up with Oscar de la Renta, I have countless memories of this amazing man. He was part of my life for as long as I can remember. When I was growing up we loved to go on Sundays to play miniature golf. I would move everyone’s balls and no one could figure out who was doing it—until Oscar figured out it was me. When I was graduating from day school at the age of 12 or 13, my mother [CZ Guest] took me to meet with Oscar. He gave me a lovely white peasant blouse and eyelet skirt. Everyone else had on these little dresses and mine was so special. All my life when I have needed something really beautiful, he was where I would go. He made my mother a red Christmas dress, which she gave to me when I was in my 20s. I wear it every Christmas Eve and this year I will be sure to give a little toast to them both.”

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Nikki Kaia Lee, a junior at Savannah College of Art and Design:
“My story with Oscar begins when I was 13, the year I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer that spread throughout my throat, chest and lymph nodes. The doctors planned a radical treatment, and I was dreading it.
Then, Ginny Branch Stelling, Peter Hale Cooney III, and Chelsea Rose Cook—SCAD fashion design alumni who had befriended me during my first round of treatment— offered a week of immersion in their fashion world in New York City right before my surgery. They called everyone they knew in the industry and their efforts soon reached Bridget Foley of WWD. She immediately began to arrange a dream experience: the chance to meet many top designers, including Alexander Wang and Oscar de la Renta.
Over lunch in his studio that week, Oscar shared that he was also battling cancer. Although I have no celebrity status or vast wealth, Oscar showed me great respect and kindness. Seeing my joy in his Spring 2009 collection, he selected a dress and custom-tailored it to me, saying a couturier never lets a woman leave the atelier without fitting her dress to perfection. Before leaving the studio that afternoon, Oscar offered me an internship, which was the most generous gift of all, since he knew how hope was an essential path to recovery. That summer, I came to understand the Japanese concept of “on,” the sense of gratitude combined with the desire to give back, as an innate sense of obligation that recognizes the support and love of others. They say that legends never die, so Oscar will forever live on, in my heart and in my mindfulness of passing on to others what he has passed on to me.”
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Fashion world bids farewell to designer Oscar de la Renta

The fashion world mourned the loss of one of its greatest designers on Monday at the private funeral of Oscar de la Renta, who died last month at 82 of cancer.
The tall Dominican-born de la Renta dressed New York socialites, Hollywood stars and American first ladies during a career that spanned five decades.
Young women in black dresses equipped with digital clipboard checked in impeccably dressed guests, including designers Valentino and Diane von Furstenberg, as they entered the Church of St Ignatius Loyola on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
Fans and photographers were kept behind police barricades that stretched a city block at the large, imposing church on Park Avenue.

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"He was an icon and a guru of fashion and a wonderful man who changed people's lives in fashion," Kim Wolfe, 44, said of de la Renta.
"His couture and his design were really created for the sophisticated lady, not necessarily of the 21th century, but of a lady that once was."
De la Renta died at his home in Connecticut on Oct. 20 surrounded by his family, friends and more than a few dogs. As news of his death spread, Hollywood stars and former first ladies, whom he dressed, expressed their condolences.
Former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, who wore a plum-colored de la Renta gown to her daughter Chelsea's wedding in 2010 and a beaded gown for an Inaugural Ball, credited de la Renta's exquisite taste for elevating American fashion.
Nancy Reagan praised him as a fashion legend and Barbara Bush said, "We will always remember him as the man who made women look and feel beautiful."
De la Renta's designs were known for their detail, fabrics and embroideries. His classic creations ranged from fitted suits to feminine pastel and floral print dresses, to elaborate, flowing ball gowns that were favorites on the red carpet.
Actresses Sarah Jessica Parker, Amy Adams, Jennifer Garner, Tina Fey, Cameron Diaz and Oprah Winfrey chose his gowns for award ceremonies.
Most recently, de la Renta created the lace, off-the-shoulder wedding gown worn by London-based human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin for her September wedding to actor George Clooney in Venice, Italy.
De la Renta was also known for his philanthropy, particularly in the Dominican Republic, where he was born and had a home. In 1982 he established La Casa del Nino for underprivileged children there.
President Danilo Medina led the nation in mourning and praised the designer for changing the lives of thousands of children in the country.
"My greatest strength is knowing who I am and where I come from - my island," the designer is quoted as saying.
Dominican Foreign Minister Andrés Navarro credited de la Renta for being "a permanent ambassador of our country abroad" and for raising the international profile of the Caribbean nation and attracting investors and tourism.
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Designer refashions clothes into scary costumes

Jen Rocket comes from a long line of seamstresses -- four generations of them, in fact.
“I’ve been creating since I could remember,” she says.
Between then and now, the 32-year-old Highland Park resident has turned the family pastime into her career. She runs a design and alteration studio out of her home, where she caters to requests for everything from couture dresses and dance costumes to refashioning old wedding gowns into something fresh and modern. Companies also recruit her for product design assistance.
This time of year it’s not unusual for her client list to include the likes of the Bride of Frankenstein. Ms. Rocket is a sought-after designer forHalloween and theatrical costumes -- including for the annual ScareHouse attraction in Etna -- that have a fashion flavor, often by upcyclingapparel and accessories into something that’s, well, terror-ific.

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“Jen is one of the most adaptable artists I know,” says ScareHouse creative director Scott Simmons. “I’ve met many creatives who can thrive in one genre or style of costuming, but Jen is someone who thrives in multiple styles.”
Mr. Simmons first tapped Ms. Rocket’s talents about a decade ago while she was a student at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh studying industrial design. When she moved to Los Angeles to further her fashion education, she continued to ship creations across the country back to Pittsburgh. She’s also worked for three years at Pittsburgh-based costume and prop company Specter Studios.
“I feel like it adds a layer of whimsy to my design,” Ms. Rocket says about the range of her work. “I’m not your straightforward fashion designer. I don’t do lines of clothing. I do whatever is in the air.”
The calls she gets for Halloween costumes come in all kinds -- from Peter Pan to peacocks, she says. But it’s not all frights and fun; the spooky business is serious stuff.
“We’re not just making something scary or creepy for the sake of it,” Mr. Simmons says. “We spend a lot of time determining how that character got into the story in the first place.”
Ms. Rocket collaborates with ScareHouse wardrobe manager Allison Boyle, art director Macabre Noir and other set and costume designers to make looks that bring characters to life and leave a shocking impression on visitors. Work for the season can begin as early as July. She spends time surveying stores for pieces she can make over for the monsters.
This year some of her designs include the dresses for the burlesque entertainers in the 1930s-era party set and the bellhop, dressed to kill in a fitted jacket with epaulets and gold trim. Ms. Rocket and her husband Joey, who serves as creative director for her business, also made the burlap costume for Sam from Legendary Pictures’ “Trick ’r Treat.”
“There’s a theater aspect that comes in,” Ms. Rocket says. “Trends have to be louder and softer in certain areas. You also can make things a little off kilter. There’s a whole process of learning.”
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New Jersey Fashion Week held at the Bridgewater Marriott

New Jersey Fashion Week doors opened at the Bridgewater Marriott at 2 p.m. on Oct 12 with hundreds of guests enjoying a day of fashion, fun and networking. NJFW provided attendees with the opportunity to"sip a signature cocktail, mingle with models and visit media personalities". LEXUS of Bridgewater and NJFW created a special 'Lexus Lounge' where attendees could sit and chat, while greeting celebrities and models. Guests also enjoyed the offerings and displays from participating brands and companies.
NJFW founder Donnella Tilery, consultant and NYC Membership Committee Chair for Fashion Group International, remarked that "NJFW is the result of a collaborative effort by local companies, designers, models, stylists and fashion consultants who believe that New Jersey has a fashion presence that deserves recognition in the fashion industry". As part of NJFW, Lexus of Bridgewater hosted a VIP party on Saturday, October 11th and acted as the sponsor of the runway show, on Sunday, October 12th.
The runway Show was held from 6 to 8 p.m. with fashion presentations by Victoria Wong, Robert Greco and the Bloomingdales collections from the Bridgewater Commons Mall. Bloomingdales presented a special preview of their fall/winter collection with the fashion selections chosen by Shantonia Amee, Celebrity Stylist and Wardrobe Consultant.

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A highlight of the runway show, were the youth designers and models from the 'Crayola Experience'. This annual, youth (ages 7 - 16), runway show was held in July; sponsored by Crayola and NJFW. According to Donnella, 'the Crayola Experience' is a fashion show for kid designers and models that is devoted to designs that are created by kids for kids". Dajahnae Saddler, a 4th grader at William A. Carter in Middletown, NJ, created two designs that she and youth model, Nevaeh Jolie, an 8th grader at Woodbridge Middle School, NJ, displayed at the fashion show. Lia Edlin Miller, a 3rd grader at Dickinson Avenue school in Northport, NY, modeled her fashion design work.
A special, featured runway presentation, included celebrities and adult cancer survivors. Donnella and her NJFW team wanted to celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month by highlighting cancer survivors who volunteered to be part of the fashion show. Bloomingdale's "dressed the men and women cancer survivors who walked the runway" and modeled the latest in fashion designs and accessories.
Attendees were treated to the latest trends by fashion designers Victoria Wong and Robert Greco. Victoria Wong is an "emerging design talent with Chinese roots that influence her collection of hand-painted separates for men and women. The urban appeal make for a one of a kind 'street chic' collection". Robert Greco is "known for his custom gowns and dresses. He is a favorite regional designer with a strong following out of his Montclair store and showroom". During the runway show, his models added drama and flair to his fashion statements.
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Stephens College fashion department courts possible CFDA affiliation

On a Wednesday morning, a throng of students milled quietly about in a classroom in the Catharine Webb Studios on the Stephens College campus.
One of their classmates, Tonya Pesch, was presenting sketches of cowgirl-inspired ensembles.
“You could do something very high fashion,” a man said as he looked over the drawings.
Pesch looked pleased with that pronouncement.
Every year, senior fashion design students at Stephens present their portfolio sketches to critics, fashion industry experts who offer tips on such matters as construction, cohesion and marketability. This year’s critics were Neil Gilks, director of educational initiatives at Council of Fashion Designers of America, or CFDA, and Sara Kozlowski, senior manager of professional development at CFDA.
Their presence is notable because it could point to a burgeoning relationship between the Stephens College School of Fashion Design and the CFDA.
The CFDA, a 400-plus-member trade organization, is well-known among casual observers for its star-studded Fashion Awards ceremony, but it also is a fashion incubator aimed at cultivating and promoting American talent.

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Monica McMurry, dean of the School of Fashion Design, said last year Stephens College was invited to participate in the CFDA’s four scholarship contests, an opportunity bestowed upon only 20 fashion programs every year. Stephens’ inclusion provided not only valuable résumé fodder for the students who were finalists in the competition, but also signaled what could be a CFDA affiliation for Stephens. McMurry said there’s a two-year probationary period, during which the CFDA examines how well students from the design program perform in the scholarship competitions, as well as the school’s curriculum and record in student internships, job placement and performance.
“They’re really looking at us; we’re really looking to them,” McMurry said.
And a CFDA affiliation could mean that more are looking at Stephens. Most of the students now hail from the Midwest, McMurry said. A CFDA partnership might increase visibility to prospective students from other regions.
What’s more, a CFDA affiliation would provide access to ideas and information from faculty and students at other member schools.
“There are a lot of great perks,” McMurry said.
In addition to the scholarship contests, students at CFDA-affiliated schools can upload their portfolios and share them with other CFDA members and attend workshops.
But networking aside, an affiliation with the CFDA could create a greater Midwestern presence in the fashion industry as a whole.
“They don’t know about us,” McMurry said of the largely bicoastal industry’s view of the region. “Anything west of New York City is west.”
Although New York City and Los Angeles often are considered the fashion capitals of the United States — and with good reason — McMurry points out that most of the United States does not live in those areas. Although Midwest fashion might not have the same cachet as New York fashion, it has distinct qualities.
“When I think of the voice I see here, it has an organic, holistic quality to it. It tends to be about the whole person, the whole lifestyle of a person. It is kind of nuanced,” McMurry said.
So there’s a practicality to it, even a softness.
“Sometimes it is difficult to have a harder edge here. We don’t live that super-compressed, fast lifestyle,” McMurry said.
And aesthetics are only part of the current fashion conversation. McMurry said designers are starting to look more at the ethics of fashion production and consumption.
“The Midwest needs a voice in that,” McMurry said. “I know” the CFDA is “looking for partners that have a balanced approach.”
One of the students presenting her portfolio sketches earlier this week was Katlyn Lee, a senior hailing from Fulton. Lee’s children’s wear collection, designed for girls and boys ages 2 to 6, was inspired by the colors and textures in Dr. Seuss’ “Horton Hears a Who.” Drawing on the beloved book’s imagery, the collection features textiles that beg to be touched, such as leather and reversible brocade as well as embellishment rendered from a technique called nuno felting.
Although it is very much a children’s collection, there are strong elements from fashion geared toward adults, such as cutouts, scalloped hems and racer backs. The overall effect is at once playful and sophisticated.
“I wanted it to be innovative and new, like Dolce & Gabbana,” Lee said, pointing out that the Italian fashion house has a children’s line that takes its cues not from the playground but from the brand’s adult lines.
During his critique, Gilks noted that the collection would appeal to a fashion-literate parent with an expendable income. He then offered some practical considerations, such as washing the fabric for softness before constructing the garments and the fact that a little boy might not wear a waistcoat happily.
“This is cool, this is edgy — edgy children’s wear,” he mused.
After the critique, Gilks said he doesn’t consider it his job to tell students what to do. Rather, he wants them to draw on their experiences and challenge themselves, whether that means creating a collection that skews more commercial or conceptual.
“There’s a lot of different voices here. I try to understand where they are getting direction and then provoke them,” Gilks said.
Lee later said knowing that the critics for the senior portfolio presentations were from the CFDA did create some additional pressure.
“I wanted to make this look amazing — the high standards they have,” she said.
But the demeanor of the critics turned out to be reassuring for her.
“My nerves just went away when they came just because they were so relaxed and casual. They were the first critics that sat and gave us great criticism to let us know to go big and don’t hold back and give it your all,” Lee said.
But though the portfolio critiques are finished, now is not the time for Lee and her classmates to rest on their laurels. They’re already taking the critics’ suggestions and applying them to their pattern making and garment construction as they prepare for the grand finale of their time at Stephens: the student designer fashion show, which will be held April 25.
For Lee, this will mean revisiting and playing up some of the details of her designs that most grabbed Gilks’ and Kozlowski’s attention.
“I have thought about it a little bit,” Lee said. “… He pointed out certain details in my designs, and I’m going to bring more of the cutouts, more felting, more of the scalloped edges, really mix and matching the prints more and making it all new and modern, playing with colors for the boys so it can be interchangeable, unisex.”
Overall, Lee said the critiques bore a refreshingly inspiring message.
“Before today, we always had people coming in and giving us their ideas about how we should make our collection better, how it would sell in the world. Today, Neil definitely told us it’s really not about that. It’s about what you can do and how big you can make it — how loud you can tell your story,” Lee said.
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At Home With Fashion Designer Nicole Miller in Her Tribeca Apartment

“I like to spread out my Sunday newspapers with my coffee in the morning,” said Nicole Miller, while sprawled on her couch on a rainy afternoon in Tribeca. Ms. Miller shares the 3,200-square-foot loft with her husband, son and Godzilla, her beloved Rhodesian ridgeback. The palatial space consists of three bedrooms, a dining room, a kitchen, three bathrooms and a large living area. The arched windows and simplistic white walls are enhanced with views of the Freedom Tower. Bright accents, including orange and green rugs, Verner Panton royal blue chairs, and midnight black wood floors add depth to the airy space. Even Ms. Miller’s vase collection, ranging from a Scandinavian blue vase to a forest green vase handmade by her teenage son, proves that the beauty of the home’s décor lies in the details.From home goods and handbags, to jewelry and bridal gowns, Ms. Miller has been one the power players in the fashion industry since the 1980s. Calm and serene in demeanor, she confessed to being a real foodie. “My mother’s French, so I was always obsessed with food, except I hesitate to mention foie gras anymore because people want to kill you.” The designer can be found picking up fried sea urchin from Nobu, dining at Da Silvano, or finding the right ingredients at Chelsea Market for Bouillabaisse or risotto.
You are an avid collector of contemporary art. Have you always been collecting? I went to RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) and the first paintings I ever bought were at RISD alumni auctions. The first one was a still life from one of the teachers. I’ve bought a lot from my friend Mary Boone who also attended RISD. As for my Ross Bleckner painting, I told Mary I wanted one and she said, “I will keep it in mind.” One day she called and said, “I have the Ross Bleckner for you.” I went over to the gallery and was thinking, “What if I don’t like it? How can I say no?” Then I walked in and said, “Oh my god. Sold!” She couldn’t have picked out a more perfect piece for me. I also love this painting by Julio Galán. He had been painting my dresses in Mexico and I ended up introducing him to my friend Paige Powell, who worked for Andy Warhol; Andy loved his work and bought some pieces.

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Who designed your home and what are a few of your favorite things? Dan Rowen designed my home; you can see his modernist aesthetic. He had previously done many art galleries in the city. A few things I love are my Serge Mouille light fixture from a 1950s art dealer and a red Jean Prouvé sideboard that has all my kitchen stuff in it. The color makes the room so happy. My painting by Damien Loeb is a favorite, too. He actually lives in the neighborhood.
How long have you lived here? When I first bought this apartment about 30 years ago, it was just one apartment, but since then I have connected two more spaces to the original loft space. My first apartment was on East 77th street, then I gradually crawled downtown to 52nd, then 38th, and so to here. I couldn’t live above 14th Street now. I always felt going home to Tribeca was like going home to the country at night. It has changed a lot since then, but it is still very much a neighborhood. The restaurants are great.
How does being a fashion designer influence your ideas for designing a home? Since I work in such an eclectic environment, I try to keep my apartment pretty sparse, however, it’s hard to keep things minimal the longer you live in a place. We also have a lot of plants here. My husband is more of the gardener, where as I check my basil every day and love herbs.
You spent time studying fashion in Paris. How important a place is it for you? Every year I go to Paris for the fabric show Premiére Vision, and sometimes for vacation. Having a French connection has always been meaningful to me. It was really helpful growing up speaking French and I’ve always had a lot of French friends. Paris always reenergizes me, but so do a lot of other places. I travel a lot in the United States and I love going to Los Angeles. New Orleans is one of the most fun cities. I’ve always loved the cities that have a culture and a personality.
I know you love to ski and wakeboard. How long have you been doing those activities and how did you start? I started taking waterski lessons about 12 years ago with Camille Duvall-Hero. She taught me how to get up on one ski. Later, I started skiing with Global Boarding in Sag Harbor. Now I ski, wakeboard and wake skate. coMy husband, son and I all enjoy it.
You’ve lived here for 30 years, what makes New York home? People always say, “Are you a New Yorker?” and I say, “Well, I didn’t grow up here, but I just can’t imagine living any place else.” I just have a sense of calm when I come back to New York. I’m always happy when I return from a trip. New York just feels like home.
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Michelle Obama and fashion designers show students the grit behind the glamour

For a Wednesday afternoon luncheon in the State Dining Room, first lady Michelle Obama wore a sleeveless navy dress with a full skirt and a fitted bodice. It had a racer-style back and a sensuous front that showed off her shoulders. The relatively simple frock didn’t carry the weight of an inaugural gown but it was particularly significant nonetheless, because it was the dress she chose to wear to the first White House fashion education workshop.
The event was organized by the East Wing with the aim of giving a leg up to aspiring fashion designers and stylists, writers and entrepreneurs from 14 East Coast high schools and colleges. A significant portion of Seventh Avenue came to Pennsylvania Avenue to give the students a pep talk, including Jason Wu, Tracy Reese, Narciso Rodriguez, Diane von Furstenberg, Thom Browne, Reed Krakoff and Prabal Gurung. But Obama’s dress made it clear just whom she wanted to be the stars of the day: the students.
Her dress was imagined by Natalya Koval, a student from New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, who was the winner of a design competition. A second winner, Chelsea Chen, another FIT student, had her design — a color-blocked sleeveless dress in green, white and navy — displayed on stage.

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“When it comes to the fashion industry, so often people think it’s all about catwalks and red carpets and ‘who wore it best,’ and whether some famous person wore the right belt with the right shoes,” Obama said in prepared remarks at a luncheon for the students and visiting designers. “But the truth is that the clothes you see in the magazine covers are really just the finished product in what is a very long, very complicated and very difficult process.” Then she reeled off a couple of numbers: Last year, Americans spent $350 billion on clothes and shoes. And 1.4 million Americans are employed in retail and fashion.“Fashion is really about passion and creativity, just like music or dance or poetry,” Obama continued.“For so many people across the country, it is a calling; it is a career. It’s the way they feed their families.”
Before more than 150 students nervously eyed their lunch of chicken taquitos, miniature red velvet cupcakes and chocolate eclairs — “Eat!” implored a member of the White House staff — they’d broken into smaller groups for sessions on fashion inspiration, construction, journalism, wearable technology and entre­pre­neur­ship.
The first lady made short visits to the two workshops focusing on what are, perhaps, the least glamorous — but most essential — aspects of an industry that prides itself on its ability to sell dreams and magic. One looked toward the future in ways meant to be revolutionary but pragmatic. The other was a lesson in fashion’s fundamentals.
Obama walked into the Diplomatic Reception Room to the sound of gasps and a loud “Oh my goodness!” from the students. They were hunched over iPads, flashing LEDs and circuits. The only visible garment in the room was an otherworldly cream-colored gown strobing with colored lights. It looked more like an IT tutorial than one about design.
What they were doing, well, that remained a bit of a muddle. Led by Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman, a professor of industrial design at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, the students created hockey puck-size devices that flashed lights at a predetermined speed. If there was a particular practical application, it was not clear. One could only glean the possibilities based on Pailes-Friedman’s interest in technology, sports and fashion and the sight of a woman standing off to the side wearing a helmet embedded with flashing white lights. It looked like the ultimate in night biking gear.
The designers who participated in the workshops represented a wide spectrum — from mass brands to high-end glamor to the more intellectual. Specifically, the design sensibilities ranged from Jenna Lyons of J. Crew and Maria Chen of the Gap, to the glitz of Naeem Khan and Zac Posen, to the mathematical allusions of Maria Cornejo and the allegories of Browne.
Missing from the workshops and, later, a panel discussion, were representatives of Seventh Avenue’s big three: Calvin, Ralph and Donna. The day really trained a spotlight on the generation of designers that emerged in the last decade, as well as those just starting out, such as Azede Jean-Pierre, who launched her collection in 2012.
The construction workshop had students crafting their own frocks on miniature dress forms — giving them a sense of the difficult task of fitting a garment and what it means to draft a pattern.
“That looks like something I would wear!” Obama exclaimed, as she surveyed the work of a group of students being mentored by Posen. It was unclear whether she meant a rather elaborate single-shoulder metallic bronze gown or a black tulle skirt that was barely more than a length of fabric. Both have antecedents in the first lady’s wardrobe.
Posen debuted as a designer in 2002 when he was only 21. His work, particularly his evening wear, is distinguished by its highly technical construction. Obama has been photographed in his exacting suits. But he is probably best known for this starring role as an impatient judge on Bravo’s “Project Runway.” He was a much gentler, almost paternal presence with his White House mentees, “Don’t ever put [pins] in your mouth,” was his admonition to one young man. “It’s a bad habit.”
Lela Rose, a favorite designer of former first daughters Barbara Bush and Jenna Bush Hager, was focused less on the technical aspects of garments and more on the romance — which wasthe focus of another workshop. But no matter: “We’re having fun,” she said, “and hopefully learning something.”
“We’re making journals,” Rose told Obama. “I was stressing how really important it is to record your ideas.”
The concept of a fashion education workshop has been on the table since at least May when Obama mentioned it at a ribbon-cutting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for the renaming of the Costume Institute in honor of Vogue editor Anna Wintour.
But it has taken decades for the fashion industry to once again be so prominently on view at the White House. Hillary Rodham Clinton recognized the industry’s philanthropy during her tenure as first lady. And in the 1960s, Lady Bird Johnson hosted a fashion show to celebrate American style and to goose the economy.
“When I used to come to D.C., I represented an industry that was considered decidedly unserious,” Wintour said in her introduction of Obama at Wednesday’s luncheon. “I was the lady in the funny clothes.”
Wintour credits Obama with helping to change that perception. “Fashion can be a powerful instrument for social change. . . . It allows us to think about who we are as individuals and as a society.”
And as for the first lady, who named Cornejo as one of her favorite designers and declared her affection for Spanx: “Fashion plays an important role in my confidence.”
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Meet the 8 Anti-Diva Design Stars Who Are Transforming Fashion Now

The fresh green shoots of fashion are gathering in a baking New Jersey cornfield for their generational portrait. Joseph Altuzarra and Danielle Sherman, creative director at Edun, have driven out from their studios in New York City. From London, Simone Rocha, Peter Pilotto, and his design partner, Christopher De Vos, are blinking in the blinding sun. Their London compatriot Jonathan Anderson of J.W.Anderson is looking dazed after landing from Tokyo, direct from the opening of a new outpost of Loewe (his new gig). Anthony Vaccarello has arrived from Paris, Marco de Vincenzo from Rome.
Though it’s up in the 90s out here on the farm, there’s no sign of anyone wilting or complaining. Hanging in the shade of the location truck, they’re behaving true to peer-group form—being sociable, joking, keeping one another going. They’re happy to be here, this hardy crop. They’re the anti-divas, the grounded ones. The children of the crash.
Their background stories could make an economist’s mind boggle. All eight began slap-bang in the carnage of the global financial crisis, sending out their delicious micro-varieties of clothes—colorful, individualistic, well made, and expertly targeted things—into a fashion world that had turned dull and conservative. “What happened with our generation?” Altuzarra is trying to explain how things went right. “We really had to sell those clothes. Because we’ve built these brands during a recession, there is a pragmatic approach to clothing. You have to be unique—be your own brand.”

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It’s been less a style movement than a careful infiltration by fresh, creative, business-sensible minds coming from behind the scenes and out of cupboard-size studios in New York, London, Paris, and Rome. Altuzzara vividly remembers starting up in his Manhattan apartment in 2008. “I was at Givenchy, and I thought that if I wasn’t going to do it then, well, when? We opened selling the day after the market crash. Which”—he laughs—“was awesome.”
Go behind the scenes of the photo shoot with Camilla Nickerson.
A fearlessness came into it. Vaccarello says he didn’t feel a moment’s angst when he left Fendi and gambled his livelihood on a tiny collection of five jackets and five swimsuits in Paris in 2009. “It was the perfect time!” he insists. “I’d saved up—I never wanted to borrow from a bank like designers did before—and I knew my customers were waiting.”
What counted vitally was a laser-like instinct for knowing whom you’re speaking to—whether that means Vaccarello and his talent for sexily sliced tailoring or someone like Sherman, his polar opposite, who started her career with Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen as the perfectionist designer of T-shirts at The Row. “Everything I do has to be quite functional and have an integrity and honesty,” she says. A fabric geek, Sherman took a route behind the scenes, where she learned to work closely with local factories, and then to Asia with Alexander Wang. (“I was his twelfth employee!” she boasts.) She’s now quickly upgrading Edun to a polished designer level for New York Fashion Week while building the collection’s ethical production to 85 percent–made in Africa status.
Now aged between 28 (Rocha) and 37 (Pilotto), these crash babies have become adult professionals attracting all kinds of fashion attention amid an upsurge of sponsorship, mentorship, and prizes that arrived to support young designers in the mid-2000s. Altuzarra benefited from winning the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund in New York; Peter Pilotto, Anderson, and Rocha from London’s NEWGEN sponsorship; Peter Pilotto, meanwhile, also won the BFC/Vogue Fashion Fund in London. In France, Vaccarello took both the Hyères prize and the Paris ANDAM prize, and in Italy, de Vincenzo emerged through Italian Vogue’s Who Is On Next? competition. It’s made them all much more open to building relationships than the designers who went before. As independents, they’ve been meshed into the culture of publicity-generating collaborations—most recently, Anthony Vaccarello x Versus Versace; J Brand x Simone Rocha; Altuzarra for Target. With Instagram and Web video, they’ve moved even faster.
Rocha, with her sweet-but-tomboyish dresses and Lucite-heeled brogues, and Peter Pilotto, with its mesmerically textural colors, have quietly gathered customers from across the globe—a far cry from the fate of London’s lone-wolf indie designers in the nineties. They get out and travel, learning to calibrate their collections for different climates and cultures—and they’ll never boast about just how successful they have been. Pilotto practically has to have his arm twisted before he admits, “Well, we sell to 200 stores on six continents. There’s only one we don’t sell to—Antarctica!”
This serious, savvy generation has even transformed the attitudes of major luxury-fashion conglomerates, which are suddenly in a flurry of competition to sign them up. Altuzarra is in expansion mode, designing in a renovated office after negotiating a minority investment from France’s Kering group. “Having a partner like Kering, who are able to fold you into their manufacturing capabilities, is something that makes a huge difference,” he says. Anderson, with a new minority investment from LVMH, has moved out of the unheated basement in Shacklewell Lane where he and his stylist Benjamin Bruno froze in the winters; now he’s in a three-story building with an e-commerce studio. In Rome, de Vincenzo is turning out his beautifully elaborate, streamlined clothes with a different kind of LVMH backing: He’d worked as a highly rated Fendi bag designer for ten years before telling the company he was desperate to start his own collection of clothes. “Silvia Fendi was brilliant,” de Vincenzo says. “She said I could stay and have my own studio. I think it is a unique arrangement.” LVMH, Fendi’s parent company, smartly got to keep its star bag designer—and to bet on his future in ready-to-wear on the Milan runway.
Now their talent and knowledge are beginning to be almost as highly valued by the fashion establishment as Premier League footballers are in sport. The analogy works for the 30-year-old Anderson: As he shoulders the dual responsibilities of managing his own brand and being creative director of Loewe, he talks about it in sporting terms. “My dad was an Irish national rugby player. He’s always drilling it into me: ‘It’s all about your team!’ ”
What’s really different about this generation, though, are the family, friends, and loyal stylists around them. “I like growing with the people who know me and support me,” says Vaccarello. Rocha’s mother, Odette, is her business partner. Anderson’s brother, Thomas, is his HR director. Altuzarra’s mother, Karen, is chairman of the board, and Altuzarra’s words stand for the whole group: “I believe in creating this like a family—one that has worked together from the beginning. To me, that’s a beautiful thing.” If there is a common denominator among all these disparate talents, the thing that has taken them all past survival to the point of flourishing, it is their normality, their loyalty. They’re rooted.
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