CFDAmazing

The nominees for the CFDA awards, "Fashion's Oscars", were released this week, generating, like always, buzz and rumors throughout the industry. The particular standouts were Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough of Proenza Schouler, nominated for Womenswear Designers of the year, along with Marc Jacobs, and Francisco Costa of Calvin Klein.

The nod to Proenza is especially interesting, as they received the Perry Ellis Award for being 'new talent' only in 2003, and the CFDA/VOGUE fashion fund award a year later. But given the fact their work critically and commercially stands out amongst young designer crops that are only getting bigger, it comes as no surprise. And having Anna Wintour and Carine Roitfield personally hail your genius doesn't hurt your chances of getting places.

The duo is also the subject of a new documentary called "Seamless", made by the same crew that brought you fashionista cult classic "Unzipped" back in the 90s. It follows three competitors for the above mentioned CFDA/VOGUE award, Alexandre Plokhov of menswear label CLOAK, Geoffrey Beene protege Doo-ri Chung, and of course, Proenza Schouler. I (shockingly, shamefully) have yet to see the film, but it's only a matter of hours before it's Netflixed and sitting on my coffee table for a sit-in wine and movie weekend. Any excuse to see Lazaro Hernandez on film. Sigh.

A Complete Look

It was reported this week in WWD that Nicholas Ghesquiere, the brilliant mind behind Balenciaga, made known to all fashion publications worldwide that the clothes from his fabulous Fall 2006 Collection will not be sent out for editoral as pieces-- meaning that if Vogue wants to photograph Gemma & Sasha in any of next season's clothes, they have to use the ENTIRE look, no styling, no separates. Even if they want to photograph a bag, it has to be shown with a COMPLETE ensemble from the "reference" collection, or only with other accessories from the line. It seems a little snobbish, but the clothes are so hot, I really can't disagree. I mean, can you imagine one of those fabulous hats paired with an ugly Chloe dress? Please. A big merci to Monsieur Ghesquiere for taking a stand against the paradigm that is the Fashion Industry.

Staten Island Fairy

When my green haired roommate, Kirsten, told me Staten Island was actually New York's landfill of the old days turned suburb, I was shocked. Shocked I didn't know. Because I should have known. Peter, my Bostonite buddy, was in town to welcome me back to the East Coast, and we all decided it was such a beautiful day last Friday that we simply had to walk from the Lower East Side, to Battery Park, to catch the free ferry of Staten Island. And of course, in New York, getting there is half the fun.

First, we wandered through Chinatown, where Kirsten directed us to an ice cream parlor, the first and original of its kind, uniquely titled The Original Chinatown Ice Cream. The flavors were all those we Asians adore, green tea, lychee, taro bean, red bean, ginger, and much much more. Tasty delight.



Eventually, and I mean eventually...it was a long walk, we made it to the South Street Seaport, where Kirsten and I unsuccessfully tried to board a ship on it's way to Peking. I guess they didn't let us on because the thing's a relic and doesn't actually move.

Finally aboard the ferry, a lot of wind and dramatic hair was going on, which I loved. If you have hair as fabulous as mine, wouldn't you love being windblown? We decided to get off at the landfill, and explored until we discovered a thrift store Everything Goes. I was going mad for their eighties dresses, until I got my hands on a MIU MIU trench, for 15$. Maybe you can find treasure in a landfill.