Rodarte

Every year people look forward to seeing red carpet glam at the Grammy’s and especially the Oscars, but this is the show of all shows.  The CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) Awards are finally here!!!  The awards are being held on June 15th at the Alice Tully Hall in New York City with a special tribute to the modern-day Jackie O., Michelle Obama.  Without further adieu, the nominees are…

*Our bets are on the bold print.

Womenswear Designer of the Year:
Marc Jacobs
Narciso Rodriguez
Rodarte

Menswear Designer of the Year:
Italo Zucchelli, Calvin Klein
Michael Bastian and Scott Sternberg, Band of Outsiders


Accessory Designer of the Year:

Marc Jacobs
Vera Wang
Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, Proenza Schouler 

Swarovski Award for Womenswear:
Thakoon Panichgul
Alexander Wang
Jason Wu

Swarovski Award for Accessory Design:
Albertus Q. Swanepoel
Alejandro Ingelmo
Justin Giunta for Subversive Jewelry 

And a couple of no contest tributes…

International Award:
Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton

Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award:

Anna Sui

Eugenia Sheppard Award:
Edward Nardoza, WWD

Eleanor Lambert Award:
Jim Moore, GQ

We wish everyone the best of luck, but for a few who have already won us over…

Rodarte

Rodarte

The Mulleavy sisters, Kate and Laura have no shortage of imagination.  Straying away from their robotic look, and instead focusing on more organic inspirations during the Spring 2009 collection. A violet orange, white, and blue palette makes the Garcian dresses spectacular, and the knitwear made with the melange of materials takes the entire show to heavenly heights.  Sticking with the same organic though, the girls outdid themselves for fall.  “We were interested int eh building and taking apart of homes, and then an image of Boris Karloff as Fankenstien magically popped into our minds,” Laura said.  Translation:  beautiful silk screen printed chiffon, to die for hip boots, and even and emerald green mini-skirt.

Alexander Wang

Wang

Alexander Wang’s efforlessly cool look in Spring 2009 added color and lots of it (at least for him). Using an imaginary muse, who he says was a sexy, devil-may-care sort who would play basketball in a dress, the young designer reigned supreme on his rendition of a jersey dress.  Growing more into the Fall collection, Wang combines a tailored attribute to his more structured pieces. Dark but never drab, this young mastermind of a designer always keeps us on our toes.

 

Band of Outsiders

Band of outsiders

Band of Outsiders designers, Michael Bastian and Scott Sternberg deliver their twist of a rebel prep in both the Spring and Fall 2009 seasons.  The Spring collection was inspired by the old public access show, TV Party, hosted by Glenn O’Brien in the 70s where he featured visionary guests like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Debbie Harry.  The Fall collection was dreamed up after seeing the movie La Chinoise (1967), about a geek with a major alter-ego.  Both collections offer a put together look; always done up without looking like it.  The pieces are all relaxed and look natural; polished and relaxed.  Spring brought us a mix of shorts with basic tees and jackets that looked meant to be, and Fall introduced a collection of suits in various fabrication ranging from a corduroy to tweed, and even a suit made of nylon.  Men can now be dressy without the hassles of the conventional suit; Band of Outsiders introduced tuxedo sweatpants and embellished with all clip-on bowties.  Welcome to the idea of the modern man.  Though the nod is for menswear, did we mention our love for their girls’ collection Boy by Band of Outsiders… if you don’t know, you better ask somebody…