ADVICE SISTERS GREAT RELATIONSHIPS & ADVICE WEBSITE

 Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Fall 2007 Preview - Alice Ritter, Akiko Ogawa, Venexiana, Gustavo Cadile,  Rafael Cennamo, Zang Toi 

 by Alison Blackman Dunham

---

Although I didn't attend these shows backstage, here are some photos of Fashion Week in general, and of Bill Blass, Alice Ritter, Akiko Ogawa, Gustavo Cadile, Rafael Cennamo, Venexiana, and Zang Toi Mercedes Benz Fall 2007 Fashion Week runway shows. I hope you enjoy it!

This is typical of the scene on the steps to the tents. The woman in the middle has a very cold job...giving away The Daily magazine to those entering the tents. The Fashion Week Daily is just what it's title suggests: a special-edition magazine featuring the latest news, celebrities, shows, and gossip. It's published daily during Fashion Week, and given away free.  Reading The Daily is a Fashion Week "must."  Photographers, reporters, and guests show passes or invitations to get past the guards at the door, while tourists and onlookers stand on the sidelines, hoping for a glimpse of "someone famous."

 

   There is a lot of concern that models are too thin. but every show provides some healthy nourishment for the models, should they choose to eat it.  This is just one photo of many I took backstage at various shows, proving that yes, models do eat!

There isn't much time for socializing or small talk.  Everyone involved with a fashion show has tasks to complete in very little time. In this photo,  Cynthia Rowley (black dress)  takes time out for just a moment, to talk to a reporter and check in with her staff. 

Once the doors to a runway show are opened, people start scrambling to find their assigned seats. When the show is about 5-10 minutes from starting, the security guards start sending in people who have been patiently waiting, sometimes for over half an hour, on the standing room only line. Most of the people at the shows are there to do a job, and they're relatively dignified and polite.  Alas, at every show some people behave badly, acting pushy and rude, taking other people's seats (and refusing to give them up to the rightful recipient) and even stealing goodie bags.

 

Bill Blass's show shows how classics can be totally modern,  with a soundtrack featuring a classic Benny Goodman song: "Sing Sing Sing" by made completely modern, remixed by Johnny Dynell with a loud, driving, drum beat that throughout the entire show, adding a bit of burlesque sass to the otherwise classy, feminine Fall 2007 fashions (three photos above).  The photo below shows another departure from the classic:  models walking in groups, talking, laughing, just being themselves as if they were at a party, and not on the runway. The effect was startling, and lovely. The clothes were inspired by the traditional s well as the new, with many references to NORELL-LIKE designs. There was plenty of classic black, but also beautifully tailored day clothes and elegant evening gowns, in colors including deep green, moss green, gold, cinnamon, olive green, cocoa, indigo blue, champagne, and coral. Makeup was created by the M.A.C. Pro-Team, and the modern buns by Jimmy Paul for Bumble & Bumble. Carlos Falchi supplied the handbags, Global Fur Group, the furs.

 

  Venexiana's designer, Katie Stern, creates feminine clothes with undeniable flair, combining unusual materials such as leather and fur, with metal.  This collection was a nod to old-time Hollywood glamour, with lots of charmeuse and chiffon, silk and fur and leather, for day and evening. Her daywear designs are girly,  flouncy, and body-conscious.  Even the evening gowns were styled with a few quirky touches to make them witty, such as a silvery rope  that trailed up and over one shoulder, draped around a black evening gown, or a beautiful fur coat cinched with a huge belt.  Paul Labrecque did the hair and makeup for this show, and nails were by Creative Nail Design. Front my front-row seat, I could see that the focus was on glossy pink lips, with expressively-done eyes in earth-toned shadows, but very well defined. Hair was side-parted, long, flowing, bouncy and full of body and wavy curls. The look was pretty and modern, but with womanly (not little girl) elegance and a hint of "avant-garde."   Venexiana embraced the socks-with-footwear trend and showed even these flowing dresses with high-heeled pumps, worn with legging and/or knee and/or ankle socks. Although this isn't a look everyone can pull off all the time, it's fun, for a change of pace. Shoes were by Guieseppe Zanotti, Via Spiga, Sam Edelman, and Carlos by Carlos Santana.

  Here's the designer, Katie Stern, taking her well-deserved walk down the runway at the end of the show.  She earned more than a few standing ovations!

     The last show I attended was Zang Toi's (photos above).  The invitation was strange. It listed the time for the show as "3.57 p.m."  I later learned that the designer, Zang Toi, was born and raised in Malaysia, and thinks the number "four" is a bad omen that sounds like the word for "death" in Cantonese. Zang Toi refuses to use the number "4" for anything, so when he was given the time slot of 4pm on Friday, February 9th to mount his show, he requested that people assemble at 3:57. The clothes were youthful and fun. The actual theme of the show: "The Iconic Catherine Deneuve" and the luxurious fabrics and "forever young" vibe was truly evident in the 43 different looks that walked down the runway.  The clothes are extravagant and a bit bohemian, and very expensive-looking.  Featured was a lot of brocade, fur, jeweled pins, and collars of beads that give these clothes a no-need-to-add-more functionality.  I loved the halo-like poufs of romantic, ruffed curls styled by Eiji Salon. The makeup was done by NARS, and although I didn't get a close look at the model's nails, manicures were by J. Sisters.

 

         Two shows by Editorial Televisa in Collaboration with Maybelline and Garnier featured two talented Hispanic designers: Gustavo Cadile and Rafael Cennamo (photos below) In the photo on the left, Argentinean designer Gustavo Cadile showed glamorous, red-carpet worthy dresses such as this red showstopper, which reminds me of something a modern Juliette just waiting for her Romeo, would wear. Rafael Cennamo, a Venezuelan native, also had a show with a show-stopping final ball gown that was so opulent. Any woman would turn heads in this romantic gown, even if she couldn't turn around in it (without some help from her entourage, anyway).

Two shows that I attended, but wasn't able to photograph, include Alice Ritter and Akiko Ogawa.

Ms. Ritter's show was held at the fashionable Players Club in Gramercy Park.  I struggled for a view of the long runway, but from what I could see, the clothes were very Edwardian-inspired. Many of the fashions were special-event oriented, designed to turn heads with lots and lots and lots romantic ruffles, rich fabrics, but not a sequin or bead in view. I loved a "dandy's" outfit, mixing a feminine, white blouse with a huge ruffled front and collar of crystal pleats, black pants and a more masculine, fitted jacket. I also loved two luxe coats:  a mid-length, boxy, black and white tweed with a very large, shawl color, and the other, a creamy ivory wool with a funnel neck and large button reminiscent of what Audrey Hepburn wore in the movie, "Charade." The talented James Boehmer for NARS did the makeup, Takamichi Hair designed messy half-buns that looks perfect with the clothes.

Akiko Ogawa's show at the tents, was to quote the season theme printed on the program: "the masculine look of a British rock star softened into feminine forms and laced with elements of 'wabi sabi," the distinctly Japanese aesthetic of refined rusticity and elegant simplicity considered the highly prized qualities in the traditional arts."  To sum that up, the clothes are a youthful, slightly quirky blend of punk bluntness with the softness of a soft silk kimono..a perfect fusion of Japanese downtown girls, with geisha elements.  Noda Norikata at MAO did strong, smoky eyes and pale faces for the makeup, and the hair by Dennis Lanni for Bumble & Bumble was reminiscent of a modern Louise Brooks short black bob with thick bangs (for most of the models) that added a definite rock-star-meets-the-East vibe that worked well with the clothes. The tailored jackets with skinny pants and the micro-minis with low-slung, Swarovski crystal-studded belts, are for trendsetters and those who love unique looks. There was a lot of tartan (mostly with green and blue) in pleated skirts, paired with rock-star black, but there was also a lot of charcoal and ebony--a nod to Japanese ink drawings.  Hits of pink were inspired by peony flowers.  The collection was amusing, innovative, with beautiful touches. It would be a lot of fun to wear!

For more information about Fashion Week Visit: http://www.mbfashionweek.com/newyork/  for more AdviceSisters Photo Features on Fashion Week, CLICK HERE

*all text and photos by Alison Blackman Dunham --  copyright © 2007 all rights reserved by Alison Blackman Dunham of THE ADVICE SISTERS®  No portion of this web site, including illustrations,  may be copied or used in any without written permission. Please do not take my work! If you want to use text or photo (with proper credit) please ask for permission first at: advicesisters@advicesisters.net. The Advice Sisters is a registered United States trademark.