Fashion and the Steal

A Look at the Designers in the 'A La Mode' Catwalk Show - Part Two

Here's a look at the second group of designers presenting at the February 2011 'A La Mode' catwalk Show:

RumpleMunkeh

RumpleMunkeh is also the UsTrendy Guest designer

What drew you to fashion?
I love clothes plain and simple. I got kinda tired of never really finding that "perfect" outfit, so I decided to try making my own clothes. Then one thing led to another....

What's your favorite material(s)?
Silk chiffons, anything sparkly, feathers, knits

What/who inspires you?
I draw inspiration from everything around me. It sounds cheesy but it's true. One day a really great building could inspire me, then the next day it's a pile of pebbles. I also love anything vintage. My husband inspires me everyday.

What five words would you use to describe your collection?
girly, fun, flirty, elegant, classy

birthday suits

What drew you to fashion?
The ideas and products of birthday suits develop in a trans-disciplinary space between fashion, art and research. 3- dimensional statements are made , based on periodic changing concepts. The progress of translation from the current state of a shape into another state is the design method to overcome borders between fashion, art and research.

birthday suits – Concept Fashion / Bodyextensions / Installation

Creative Head : Louise Walleneit Spinnereistr. 7 D - 04179 Leipzig Germany

website blog

What's your favorite material(s)?
Silk and Latex

What/who inspires you?
Gaps and hiccups

What five words would you use to describe your collection?
Between/Timeless/ Interdisciplinary/ Profound/ Body extensions

Belinda Liu

What drew you to fashion?
In a certain way I have always been preoccupied with fashion. At most events I was attending I felt the need to have the appearance to live up to my own perception of that event. While on some occasion I felt like playing the role of innocent Lolita, at the other I was the "depraved". And there have been quite some occasions to attend to in my earlier years. But I could not always procure the proper outfit. Not the way I really meant them to be. Since I was never afraid of using scissors on fabrics and I always felt the need to adapt and adjust clothing I soon started to make outfits for myself. To suit some special occasion. I liked doing it, people around me liked the result and then I started to think of doing it for others. While observing others, I disliked many outfits on peers, particularly young women, I hated widely used trends of my generation and I was sure I could easily make women look better.

what's your favourite material?
I can not say there is one material I would absolutely chose over the others. Using materials depends on the garment, its design but also on the particular mood I am in a given period of time. I would say I incline to use more often tweed and lace. Both of these materials are distinctive and powerful. They provide a trustful basis for a lot of concepts.

What/Who inspires you?
A collection is a concept about women. And women have a lot to express. I can be inspired from probably anything. Mostly sex. Or something related to it. I need to get the expression of sexuality in every collection. This is my personal imprint over garments and generally, in every thing I do or create.

What five words would you use to describe your collection?
Sober but yet luxurious, sumptuous, rich and romantic

Fashion News & Events

Global Fashion Brands.com Sale

February 8th until February 10th

Shop the Flash Sale ... Get 40% - 50% off hot items by Sonia Rykiel, Gibellieri, Geradine, Prada, Enzo Di Siena with Mini Centro Shoes

For more info or to shop, go to: Global Fashion Brands Sale

London Fashion Week Exhibition

For autumn/winter 2011, London Fashion Week teamed up with Rubbish Ink to produce a Preview Guide to the Exhibition - it's the insider's guide to what's inside the LFW Exhibition this coming season, with a handy A-Z (featuring everything from A for accessories to I for individuality and M for music...).

"With 170 stands, keep your eyes wide and invest in flat footwear," advises Vogue's Emma Elwick-Bates who has aided the BFC on the vetting panel for LFW this season. "Edited with even greater oomph, the Exhibition is creating a buzz of its own. The look is now product focused, like a parade of gorgeous new fashion boutiques."

For more info, go to London Fashion Week Exhibition

Check out these nice treats, just in time for Valentine's Day.

DANNIJO is having a sample sale:

Dalish Cosmetics and Jessica Jensen Pair Up

Get Their Sweet Valentine’s Gift

DaLish Cosmetics and Jessica Jensen are pleased to announce their first collaborative Valentine's Day promotion.

The sets are available online both at Jessica Jensen and Dalish Cosmetics, and can be purchased as of January 20th. Priced at $48.00, these fashionable kits are the perfect Valentine’s Day Gift.

Choose from 5 limited edition cosmetic kits, including an array of Dalish glosses, balms, lipsticks and foundations, stylishly packed in a Jessica Jensen pink embossed ostrich leather cosmetic bag.

A Look at the Designers in the 'A La Mode' Catwalk Show - Part One

'A La Mode' International showcase, hosted by UK event management firm, La Geneve North Events, features shows from emerging designers annually in February and September.

Below is a look at the three of the designers:

MAJINJOO

What drew you to fashion?
Weirdly, I’ve been thinking fashion is just me since childhood. It is kind of my responsibility and what is the most important thing is that it brings me the moments the most alive and happy in my heart. Following the success at the prestigious London College of Fashion press show, I am returning to London for my debut at London Fashion Week with the label, MAJINJOO.

My designs have attracted a lot of press and I have received many proposals from stylists and photographers, but I think that it is more crucial for people to relate to my designs because I am a designer who makes people feel desire to wear mine. So, it would be the very first step to work out my signature design and how to communicate with customers.

What's your favorite material(s)?

Materials change what they are used for and it is fascinating as I can experiment with them and get unexpected result. And the making big contrast between the texture and materials is my favorite work. I have made the fabric covering with plastic on the surface of the wrinkled leather for the last collection and I’ve been using a sparkling stone powdered fabric with different thickness.

What/who inspires you?
I always try to get inspiration from anywhere and anything. But it seems to be a much more powerful effect on design when I experience an unexpected situation, for example, I have stumbled upon unique pleats in crumpled tissue paper in a trash basket.

What I have been impressed by lately is the people in Elliot Erwitt and Charles Freger’s photographs. It is enjoyable work for me to combine images from the outside with my imagination.

Tilda Swinton and Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg inspire me. Both of them are actresses who I have loved for a long time and are my muses. They are born to be elegant and humorous at the same time. She doesn’t wear too many trends but knows what the chic is. And the most essential thing is that they are wise with a truly sweet heart.

What five words would you use to describe your collection?
It is feminine, chic, cool and dignified humour

Vjera Vilicnik

What drew you to fashion?
My dad is a carpenter and my grandmother a croche needle expert, and since young age I was surrounded with creativity and I found fashion as my own outlet to express my emotions, to tell those little stories that inspire me.

Fashion is not just clothes, for me its a way to connect, to whisper and to shout.

What's your favourite material?
I have a very passionate relationship with silk. We love each other, we hate each other.

The balance keeps shifting. Silk understand if you are gentle, if you are raw, and reacts to your touch.

But I am also in love with ribbons, crystals, pallets and feathers. All my embellishing ingredients.

What/who inspires you?
Surrounding life.art.music.movies.people that in some way catch my imagination.

I have to be emotionally involved with the theme, with what pushes the collection forward in order to fully dedicate myself to the story.

Every collection is a love story, a poem, not written, but created, and each collection is handed out to the public as a bit of me. Every season I fall in love with a muse,song,colour or shape, and the collection tells the story of my relationship with the inspiration from wonderful beginning, through raw passion, to the saddest end.

I create for a muse, for a real woman, and when my sister is happy wearing my designs, that is the biggest achievement.

What five words would you use to describe your collection?
lovingly hand-made, fragile, wearable, soft, long-lasting

Gloria Wavamunno

What drew you to fashion?
I believe it defiantly started with my mum and aunts, they own a tailoring company in Uganda and growing up, rather than playing outside, I would go with my mum to the factories and go through the fabrics and watch them create these garments.

I would also sit with my mum in the mornings and watch her get dressed, she had and has a amazing eye for what she dresses herself in and I found myself falling in love with clothes, how they expressed someone's character and could make someone feel about themselves.

What's your favorite material(s)?
This is a hard question to answer, because there are different levels to how I love materials. From the texture with some to the color and then the pattern, and sometimes of all that in one. But at this moment African materials have my attention, which are mainly in cotton. Their colors and patterns on the fabrics seem to always have a story which fascinates me.

What/who inspires you?
This may sound cliche but the women in my family inspire me. My mother the most, because they are strong women, who through many obstacles stand firm in who they are. They are the women I make my clothes for. The individual woman, who is just that individual. She wears what she wears for herself, to express herself, not because she has to or is told to, or is expected to. She feels beautiful, no matter what.

What five words would you use to describe your collection?
Not a Dream, my soulmate

February's 'A La Mode" will take place on 18-19 February. For more info, or to purchase a ticket, go to: Tickets.

Treat Yourself to Nolcha's Fashion Lounge - Just Across from MBNY Fashion Week

Nolcha Fashion Week: New York, now in its ninth season, will host the Nolcha Fashion Lounge, a pop-up showroom exhibiting independent fashion designers; including complimentary pampering for fashion week-goers and an industry networking party.

The showroom setting will offer editors, buyers and stylists the option to browse the designers at their leisure or to book a Nolcha Style Tour, hosted by celebrity stylist, Jess Zaino, fashion expert for Style Network, TV Guide Network, VH1 and many more.

On the Style Tours, Zaino will provide direct introductions to each brand and pull various looks, demonstrating how to mix and match within the collections while discussing fabrics, price points, and what’s on trend. “The Style Tour is like a one-stop shop for what’s hot on the independent fashion scene, highlighting what’s in theme with what you’ll be seeing on the runway this season,” says Zaino.

In conjunction, The Beauty Oasis will be a relaxing haven away from the hectic New York Fashion Week schedule; allowing guests to freshen up their look with make-up and hair touch ups by the Paul Mitchell team plus complimentary manicures and lashes by Kiss.

The pop-up showroom will take place on February 10th. You'll want to check out the 12 womenswear, jewelry and handbag designers. Newcomers include: Eva Evanovich, Chabahll, Abreu Rios, Daniela Vlad, Ricki L Jewelry, Ailin and Rudy Wolff. Returning this season to showcase their Autumn/Winter 2011 collections include House of Tammam, Room to Roam, Alberto Parada Fine Jewelry and Ola.

Care for Kenya and Project Migration join the roster as causes that use fashion to raise awareness and growth for women in Kenya and East Africa.

In the evening, the space will open up to all in the fashion industry for networking and cocktails ... just across from the Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week headquarters.

For more information on Nolcha, visit Nolcha Fashion Week.

Exclusive Consumer Show at London Fashion Week

Jaeger and Vodafone UK will present Jaeger London's current Spring/Summer 2011 collection in an exclusive catwalk show during the February 2011 London Fashion Week.

Jaeger and Vodafone UK have joined forces to offer Vodafone customers unprecedented access to London Fashion Week. Vodafone UK has 200 pairs of tickets to the exclusive Jaeger London catwalk show featuring Jaeger London's current Spring/Summer 2011 collection.

200 pairs of tickets to a one-off catwalk show featuring Jaeger London's current Spring/Summer 2011 collection will be available for Vodafone customers exclusively.

The show will take place on Sunday 20th February 2011 at Somerset House, London. Vodafone customers can sign-up at: vodafone

Jaeger London's Autumn/Winter 2011 show takes place at 1pm on Saturday 19th February 2011 at the BFC Catwalk Show Space, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA.

Home Design in Miami

MIYO Home has expanded its doors to now feature two large showrooms and a stunning Zen garden, each specifically dedicated to either indoor or outdoor furnishings to limited edition items and décor. The new 15,000 square foot showroom is fully stocked with a large selection of one-of-a-kind, high-design pieces from around the world including authentic finds such as Asian sculptures, all weather furniture, basins and pottery to glassware, paintings, planters, foreign artifacts and more.

The outdoor Zen Garden, a novel concept, will serve as an outdoor showroom space and relaxation lounge where designers and clientele alike can enjoy the calming atmosphere and gather inspiration for their own home or project.

Debuting in 2011, MIYO Home’s e-commerce website will allow customers anywhere to shop from home, view the latest finds and receive weekly tips on saving and living well. Check out the lookbooks below.

Open publication - Free publishing - More home design

New York Sample Sale

Hot Fashion News, Events Plus Extra Savings for Fashion Steals Readers

It's always a busy week in fashion, this week is a little busier than normal with the Golden Globes yesterday and Men's Fashion Week in Milan. Prada and Dolce & Gabbana were yesterday. D&G and Gucci were today.

Salvatore Ferragamo released a behind the scenes video of it's SS11 ad campaign. Click on the image below to view it.

Additional News & Events

Beatrix Ong receives honour from the Queen

Beatrix Ong, the global luxury accessories designer, has been bestowed the honour, Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) on Her Majesty The Queen's 2011 New Year's Honours List for services to the fashion industry.

“I feel delighted and humbled to be recognised for this honour. I love what I do, and this has come as such a lovely surprise and a wonderful start to the year!” says Ong.

View her SS11 Collection below.

Open publication - Free publishing - More shoes

Judith Ripka NYC Sample Sale

Beginning January 20, 2011

Judith Ripka, known for her 18K gold and sterling silver luxury jewelry, is offering 50 to 70% off and sample sale prices starting at $250.

Thursday, January 20
10am- 8pm

Friday, January 21- Sunday, January 23
10am- 6pm

Doubletree Metropolitan Hotel
569 Lexington Avenue
Between 50th and 51st Streets

Cash and Major Credit Cards Accepted*

*Special offer for Fashion Steals readers: Mention Fashion Steals to automatically receive $50 off of purchases of $250 or more

Lewis Cho Sample Sale

It's time for their 2011 semi-annual warehouse sale.
Sale starts Monday, January 17th until Wednesday January 19th.
Prices up to 80% off retail.

STUDIO SALE
Monday January 17th & Tuesday January 18th
11AM to 8PM

Wednesday January 19th
11AM to 7PM

LEWIS CHO
225 W. 36th Street, Suite 702
between 7th & 8th Aves
212.629.9329

* * * ALL CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED * * *

Lucky Brand's True to Blue. True to You

"Find Your Perfect Fit"
Meet their denim specialists and discover the Lucky Brand Jeans that suit you Plus get a voucher for complimentary expert tailoring, if you need them hemmed.

Friday, January 21 - Sunday, January 23 at the following Lucky Brand Stores:

Houston Galleria, Houston, TX.
Westfield Century City, Los Angeles, CA.
Oakbrook Center, Oakbrook/Chicago, IL.
Somerset Collection, Troy, MI.
Bellevue Square, Bellevue, WA.