Dualité

A little something to tide you over while I’m working my little fingers on getting a new layout for the blog

Introducing Business of Fashion‘s first ever video interview with London designer Giles Deacon. To be honest, I’m quite excited for BoF, it’s a great experience to contribute to such a well-respected site and I can only hope for bigger and better things. Not to mention that I’m always deeply honored to be part of the team even if my contributions are rare gems

Here’s the teaser trailer below:

It’s been about 4-5 months since I’ve bought my first Mackage wool coat. I am crestfallen like a child whose lollipop suddenly fell to ground because the stick wasn’t properly attached to the candy.

This goes the same for the beautiful buttons who are unraveling before my eyes at lightning pace.

Is it too much to ask to have properly sewn buttons? How many more dollars can you save on having poorly sewn buttons, because I would like to know. How many more dollars do we need to spend to have buttons that will stay on forever with high quality threads? $100? $200?

Do I really have to reach for $1000+ coats just to get a button fix?

Next time you’re looking for a coat with buttons, pull on them. If you’re too afraid of testing them on the spot, then you know your confidence on those buttons isn’t very high, nor would it be worth your money to spend no matter how nice they are. Unless you don’t mind sewing the buttons back on once in a while.

Image credit: Mackage Isa wool coat

Isn’t it a little early to announce yet another designer collaboration with H&M? I mean didn’t they want Rei Kawakubo to bask in the glory of her collection? It seems like the announcement of Matthew Williamson coming onboard for a Summer collection seems to sort of eclipse or steal her thunder. Her collection did go on sale only a couple of weeks ago. Btw, there are still some pieces left at the downtown Montreal location if you’re still vying for a piece.

Not to say I’m not excited for Williamson, in fact, I’m very thrilled to learn this news. I’ve been watching his collections for a couple of seasons now, and what I love about this British designer is his mosaics of color in his work. Not to say all of his clothes are great, but I certainly think his attention to detail and color coordination are to be admired. I’ve been eyeing this royal purple (blue?) cashmere sweater on Net-a-porter since the fall, but can’t find a good reason to spend over $1000 to acquire it. I’ve also been fancying his rainbow colored Chapelle weave coat. I would certainly wear it on bright occasions and the colors make me smile. But because he works with such detail, most of his pieces run far over $1000, hardly affordable to collect.

I see him as a spring/summer designer anyway, vivid colors always make me think of warmer days. So I definitely expect to see an array of colorful silk dresses, and hopefully a few embroidered pieces.

Williamson’s collection will arrive at H&M stores on April 23rd, 2009. Though Williamson may gain a few more fans of his work, they will have to save all their pennies to purchase one his regular pieces, and in this economic slump, they will certainly be a hard sell.

Image credits: Style.com

Whatever accolades Ms. Kawakubo has garnered over the last 20 years, the word “deconstructive” is what has been chosen to describe her approach to fashion design. It is indeed an approach that the few and eclectic seem to appreciate.

But let’s be frank. Comme des Garcons is a label for the eclectic, for those want something different and who don’t follow any trend in fashion. H&M is a brand that sells fashionable clothing. The kind that women stand in line for up to an hour to try on 10 different outfits and walk away with 8. H&M sells it fast and cheap and always on trend.

So, it has been puzzling to many fashion writers as to what has pushed Kawakubo to agree (or even H&M to pursue) to create a collection for the masses. There hasn’t really been a distinctive answer. But I think most of us have felt skeptical as to what would be the end result.

Wait no further. You don’t have to wait until Nov. 13th to see the collection in stores. You can preview the entire collection online at H&M official website. There you will see the complete men, women and accessory collection of Rei Kawakubo’s line. A collection made mostly of black apparel with a sprinkle of polka dots here and there. There are a couple of winners such as the trench coat or jodhpur-like pants (if one can pull it off). But there are some very questionable pieces such as the half finished blazer that looks normal on one side but looks like it’s missing a piece on the other side. I’m not too keen on the dropped crotched trousers either, and don’t care much for the polka dots.

The men’s end look a little more reasonable and might score better for the men this time around. Loose fittings with somewhat structured jackets (how come these don’t have the missing pieces?).

The accessories are nothing to be too excited about either, the shoes look like regular black and white Keds and polka dot high tops.

Is it a winner?

I’m trying to like it. But if I have to force myself to like a collection…I don’t think it’s worth it. I just don’t get it. But we’ll see soon enough how sales and crowds will react to this. Let’s not also forget that putting out somewhat pricey pieces at H&M in this economic slump doesn’t bode well for the company or the designer.

Image credit: H&M

Everyone knows the bad economy is driving shoppers away from store retailers and into the arms of the internet to seek the best deals on clothes. As such, wealthy shoppers, who used to have lots of liquid money to play with, are now more guarded than ever and will only choose to splurge on the pieces that are worth the price.

However, every time I grace the pages of Net-a-porter, perhaps the most successful eluxury commerce site today, high end shoes like Christian Louboutin‘s $1500 bootie or a cute Oscar De La Renta sweater, sell out immediately (at least in my size). They’ve also broken ground on pushing the online experience by collaborating with designers to be the first to exclusively sell pieces from runway shows before any other retailer can get their grubby little hands on. Last season it was Halston. This season it’s Alexander McQueen, with a sneak peak look at his collection, behind-the-scenes videos, and yes, be the first to shop 8 exclusive looks from his Pre-Spring 2009 collection right there on the site.

It would seem that designers these days are willing to take a risks in collaborating with non-typical retailers. H&M set the example by having a well-known designer (or at least bleeping on our fashion radars) create a collection exclusively for H&M for November. It’s been a smashing success and the crowds can’t get enough. Target and Gap did the same with Izaac Mizrahi and Roland Mouret. And now, Net-a-porter is boosting its profile as a premiere eluxury commerce site by featuring exclusive pieces from runway collections. Like H&M, I get the impression that perhaps brands like Alexander McQueen and Halston needed some of the publicity to boost up sales, especially with such a current economical meltdown Americans are having. The unique take on this is that neither brand had to resort to designing an affordable collection for the public, they are selling high end collections right off the bat – and they’re flying off the virtual shelves.

Net-a-porter has crafted a great presentation of videos, with an informative and attractive narrative describing the clothes (albeit sometimes a lil too promo for my taste). But it’s great to see the clothes in movement without the “noise” of media people crowding on the benches. There are also bits of slow motion, which is great to really analyze and see how the clothes shift (an option you’ll never get by being at a live show or by watching tv).

Were it not for the fact that money would be an issue, I would’ve definitely snatched up the Column Dress (with removabe shoulder pads!) and the white tuxedo jumpsuit. Hats off to Net-a-porter!

Image credits: Net-a-porter

It’s The Itchy Season

Bedo is a Canadian-based brand since 1975, offering 6 trend induced collections a year. Style-wise, I don’t have much to say about the brand, other than that it does well for itself as far a trends go, but I thought I should have a look and check out the quality of their clothing.

It’s Fall, so the entire collection has a lot of wool blends. Unfortunately, being that they’re all about “affordable” prices, they don’t use good wool blends. They use the super itchy kind, as I’ve learned at my time at Pellegrino, itchy wool are threads of yarn made of the shortest wool hair (from the back of the neck of the sheep), thus when twisted together, the short end hairs stick out, giving you that itchy feeling. Over time, your itchy wool yarns will tear because the short hairs can’t hold together. High quality wool are made of long hair taken from the back of the sheep, thus feel silky and smooth to the touch. They’re also the most expensive, especially the worsted (tightly twisted) kind.

That being said, I touched nearly the entire Fall collection by hand. All of it felt surprisingly itchy. If I touched anything smooth it was probably of cotton blend and or didn’t use wool at all. So their website and lookbooks may look really nice on paper, but go and touch for yourself, you’ll be sorely disappointed.

Andy The-Anh – Made in Poland

I must admit that this is a disappointment coming from a man who has such a great sense of design and style. I have much respect for Andy The-Anh, but unfortunately, he’s lost some brownie points on quality.

I recently bought a white pencil skirt from his store from his Spring 2008 collection, and it was delightfully on sale for $170, originally priced at $300. I checked it (or thought I did), tried it on, loved it, bought it, end of story right?

I showed the skirt to my boyfriend, proud that I bought something so nice at a discount. He immediately checked the bottom hems and already found a hanging thread that threatened to unravel the hemline. Apparently, the stitching of the lining and the skirt has been shoddily done. Supposedly this hemline should be solid, but because of the stitching method (which leaves faint stitching traces on the surface), it barely kept both the main fabric and lining together. My boyfriend suspects it was a way to cut cost by choosing to use this cheap stitching method (who knew?). He suggested that I should cut the thread before it unraveled any further, and there’s really no method of repairing this at home and would have to seek professional help to get it fixed.

Further investigation has also led me to discover some crooked stitching of the lining and a few end threads sticking out.

Granted, I know I didn’t pay $1000 for this skirt and could probably forgive the crooked stitching, but the loose bottom thread is a real disappointment. This comes from a store that sells $1000 cashmere knit coats, so I was expecting better. So lesson learned: when buying skirts try to get past how gorgeous it looks and check the insides more thoroughly.

Now that shoppers can snap up the latest fashionables with a click of a mouse or browse through endless specialized boutiques – what’s left for them to experience?

Customization of course. I’m talking a little more than Carrie’s gold name plate frenzy back in the 90s (and I can attest that this was very popular in New Orleans back then), or having your name spelled out in beads on a string necklacle. In 2008, custom-made apparels are popping up in the accessories at affordable prices.

First there were shoes. Vans, Nike, and Converse are perhaps the most well-known companies who have prided themselves in offering their clientele a choice for self-expression. For the ladies, it was Steve Madden, who back in 2007, had the internet crowd a buzz with it’s new service of customizing over 45 different styles of shoes in your own colors and trimmings. Sadly, as I looked at the site recently – customize thy shoes no more. It appears that this gold mine service is no longer in service on Steve Madden’s website. Maybe they didn’t anticipate the high demand for customizable heels?

Second, there are hats. Specifically baseball caps. In Montreal’s underground shopping mall there’s a highly successful small booth (yes booth, they don’t even have store) which attracts teenage boys like moths to its fiery needle that stitches original graphics onto blank baseball caps. A computer is set up to program the stitching machine, as well as implement any new designs the makers come up with. You can flip through an album with hundreds of premade designs like a tattoo example album.

Thirdly, underwear. Stores like Bang-On adds a personal touch to your daily undies by transferring graphics onto them by hot press. You might remember this as high school homework for Generation Y people. They mostly use American Apparel’s er, apparels, as they’re a perfect canvas to work on. Think CafePress, but cooler and in a retro 80s store.

Finally, we have sunglasses. Perhaps geared towards the more affluent clientele, sunglasses are just another new addition to the mix. “With custom glasses, you can choose not only the frame but also other components, such as the bridge — the piece that rests on the upper part of the nose — and the temples — the arms that go along the sides of the head,” according to the Wall Street Journal. Therefore, creating your own specs at your own specifications, much like custom made clothing.

As shoppers are given more and more choices, it’s only obvious that to stand out from the crowd, we must express our individualistic style. By that, other than dressing differently, how about adding your own personal touch by having someone else do it for you without breaking the bank? As the rich turn to bespoke clothing, the mass consumer will turn to customizing entities. While the likelihood of getting your apparels Gucci-fied is no longer possible due to trademark laws, getting custom made clothing at an affordable price could be a new luxury market that remains untapped. Surely it would be difficult to maintain every single individual style, but given a proper organized system, the idea can surely fly. If we can deck out our iPods, we can surely deck out our closet.

Call it Tailoring 2.0.

If there’s one thing I love about the fashion industry are the fashion shows. It’s fun, it’s exciting, you get free swag, the atmosphere is engaging, and it’s more fun when it’s people you know who invite you to these fun events.

Unfortunately I had to turn down one of these events since I’m simultaneously involved in the local Japanese cultural side of things.

However, if you want to attend the event, feel free to go! The event I’m missing is a fashion show thrown by “Only” a Danish Denim brand at the Miss Swiss boutique on St-Denis, Aug. 13th @ 6pm. You can have a taste of what their clothing looks like by watching their videos on their website.

Here’s what’s written on the Facebook event page:

Hello everyone!

Danish female denim brand ONLY will present a new Fall 2008 collection at the Miss Swiss boutique on Wednesday August 13, 2008 at 4271 Rue Saint Denis. The highly anticipated fashion show will start at 6:00 p.m. The concept of the fashion show is inspired by nature and the latest trend of being environmentally responsible.

Invited VIP guests and the first 50 customers that make a purchase will receive exclusive gifts from ONLY, NARS Cosmetics and DaLish Cosmetics. Along with the runway show, guests will enjoy an exclusive night of ultimate shopping, refreshments and musical entertainment by the fantastic DJ Joey Dalleva.

Come see the new collection and join us for celebrations!
RSVP before August 11, 2008!

For more info missswiss@rapidweb.ca or onlyfashionshow@hotmail.com, tel: 514-281-8461

Miss Swiss is a store that carries a mix of European brands for trendy 20-somethings, and “Only” is going to be trumpeted in with much fanfare in a couple of weeks. This is also a good opportunity to come and show support for the people who actually organize the event (any kind of event planning is a huge endeavour to take on). Also, it gives a chance for people who aren’t in the industry to make some connections for beginners. I know it’s tough out there and you often don’t know where to start, but I would say events like these will help you expose to the environment a little, so get out there!

Image credits: Only

Every so often at my blog, I get requests in writing about a new designer for sake of promotions. But as I’m still in the course of developing a certain point of view, I decided to put one of them to the test by asking some more serious questions. I get tired of run of the mill “So what’s the name of your brand? How did you become a designer?” yadda yadda, they can sum that up in a nice little biography for all I care.

After being happy to find out about my Ecco sandals’ provenance, I wanted to know if clothing brands would do the same in revealing where their clothes were made and what were their ethical standards.

Well, Toronto-based JUZD (pronounced “joost”) Bamboo is a particular case – it’s an unknown urban street wear designer that has been recently picked up by Holt Renfrew. I asked them a couple of serious questions and I was surprised by the thorough responses and learned a thing or two, it gave me some hope that there are brands out there who aren’t afraid of answering questions that are really relevant to the fashion industry. Jing Liu, Chief Designer of JUZD, happily answered my questions. Read on:

Q: Where are the clothes made (in Canada? China? India?)? And if you’re outsourcing overseas, is JUZD upkeeping labor law standards and why not keep jobs (and quality control) here in Canada?

It is made in China. China has the most advance textile technology and spends a lot on research and development. In addition the supply and qualityof bamboo is plentiful in China. It is made in a city that is rated as one of the ten best cities in China. However a lot of the assembly is here in Canada and  all the staff and contractors (excluding some designers) are here in Canada.

Read the rest of this entry »

That once in a blue moon when the local English newspaper publishes a meaningful fashion article is indeed a special occasion.

Flattery or Fakery? talks about the dicey situations about the knock off industry and how legal pursuits in Canada are long and drawn out processes. Here’s an excerpt of what Daniel Drapeau, a lawyer for Ogilvy’s, said about companies profiteering of the knock offs:

What he doesn’t like about the “cheap chic merchants” is that “these guys kill true innovators,” he said, citing Montreal’s Salvatore Parasuco as a design innovator. “The Zaras of the world are killing that. Should we be encouraging people like that? What are they contributing to society?”

Though knock offs have propelled some fashions to spin out into their own subculture (like Hip Hop/urban fashion), very few actually become cult-like and command a loyal following.

There is something you can spot especially on the Bape hoody with diamonds. Look carefully and you will see the difference. Take a close look at how the diamonds are placed. The real Bapes have the diamonds “on” the letter. The fake ones have it “around” the letters. Also the quality of the material of the real Bapes does make a difference. The designs look cleaner and clear, while the fakes ones look slightly faded or a little lighter than the real ones. Take a close look at the diamonds!

Here’s a useful site for any of you Bape aka A Bathing Ape fans out there looking for the real deal. How to spot a fake Bape gives you image references as to what makes a piece real or a fake. After being thoroughly brainwashed by a single request from a cousin of mine to purchase a Bape hoodie in Tokyo (where the brand originates from), I’ve come to believe that high end urban apparel do exist. Perhaps it may not be that they’re made of cashmere, but the Japanese know how to package and execute their products flawlessly. My experience at the Bape store in Tokyo was so entrancing, I’m seeing Bape stars and camouflage when I think of urban apparel. If I had to say so myself, if I were to wear urban streetwear, it’d be Bape.

Btw, I’ve actually seen Bape apparel in Chinatown right next to La Maison Kam Fung restaurant in the shopping mall. Most likely they’re fakes, but I haven’t had time to go look and see. If they are, please don’t support the fakes and buy them. Authentic clothing always feels better on you if they’re real right? Why spoil the fun?

Image and text credits: nigobape.com