It Could Be Your Lucky Day!!

Hello gorgeous!

This little number from my fall 2011 "French Resistance" collection has been quite popular.  So, I decided to offer two of these in neoprene to my Kickstarter supporters who sponsored $500 toward my spring 2012 "Biohazard" collection.  They were scooped up so quickly, I thought I had better add ONE MORE!

If you love this style and you love me and want to support the collection, you can have this chic, little motorcycle jacket in a light weight, supple neoprene... custom fit for you!  I'm only offering ONE, so if you want it, get it now!  Time is running out, the Kickstarter funraising ends soon.

If this tough, sexy jacket is a too rich for your blood, you can still get some really cool prizes for donating to my project.  Any amount is helpful and always appreciated.  It's getting close to the end and I still need to raise quite a bit of captial to cover the show costs.  And with Kickstarter, it's "all or nothing," so if I come up even one dollar short, the project ends with a big zero.  That's just not acceptable, so let's make this spring line happen!

Thanks to all of my taffetadarlings!

Incredible Cardin

A couple of months ago, I posted about the legendary designer, Pierre Cardin.  I felt that most "non-fashion" people only recognized him for luggage and fragrance (for shame!).  Well, that may soon change.  Friday evening, I was lucky enough to not only attend Mr. Cardin's showing of his Spring 2011 collection, but I also met the extraordinary designer!  If my fifteen year old self could only have imagined that one day, I'd shake his hand and he would compliment my dress...!  What?  Yes, HE complimented MY dress!  Surreal.

in the original, gold "Elizabeth" dress

Photo: Richard Renda

The dress in question?  The original "Elizabeth" dress from my Spring line.  Yep, it's short, no doubt about it, but I managed.  Cardin actually touched the fabric and asked if it had metal in it... the man knows his stuff!  "It's beautiful," he said.  OK, I can die happy now.  I thanked him and told him that he was a very big influence on me growing up and that I was honored to be there to witness his unbelievable show (comprising of 200+ looks!!).  Very humbly, the white-haired man asked me, "Do they like it?  What are they saying?"
Just like an artist.  I guess it doesn't matter how successful or how experienced we become, there will always be that teeny weeny bit of self-doubt and that nagging urge to impress.

Pierre Cardin chats with Marisa Berenson after the show

I covered the show for the online fashion publication, "Lookonline" -- click here to read my article and to view some runway pictures from Cardin's show shot by the incomparable fashion photographer (a.k.a. my house photographer!), Randy Brooke.

Elizabeth

Don't they say that good things come in threes?  Or, maybe that's good things come in small packages?  Well, whatever.  I think that good things do, in fact, come in threes and right now, "Elizabeth" is a very good thing!

Most of you know Elizabeth Coyne, the author of the blog, "Observation Mode" and I'm guessing that most of you know that Elizabeth was one of my Angels dress sponsors.  The sexy California girl chose an appropriately sexy little gold number from my Spring collection.

The "original" Elizabeth

Well, the daring dress may have pushed the envelope a bit too much for Elizabeth as I pushed up the hemline for the runway!  Yowza!  So, after discussing some options and mailing fabric swatches, Elizabeth and I came up with a "new Elizabeth" for her personal wardrobe.  We settled on a shimmery black (always a great choice) fabric and we decided to allow the hemline to creep down a few inches.

Elizabeth II -- new version in black

*It would be nice to show you vertically, but even though the photo is saved that way, Blogger refuses to post it correctly.  Yet another reason to move onto Word Press, I think.

While working on "Elizabeth II" this weekend, I realized I had a Net Flix lying around that I never got a chance to watch.  Ironic that it was "Elizabeth: The Golden Age."  I'm not making this up!  And that makes three!

Cate Blanchett as Queen Elizabeth I

To Cool For School

Tomorrow morning, I will be speaking in front of a class of fashion marketing students and I'm hoping they'll actually learn something from me!  My very good friend, Adrienne, thinks it will be a tremendous opportunity for these kids to hear how I put my show and my collection together for Spring Fashion Week.  She bent my arm and I complied.  I'm more than happy to do it, I guess I'm just a little worried something like this will unfold...

classic Ferris Bueller scene

Hopefully nobody will drool!!  And I do think my discussion will be a bit more interesting and entertaining than Ben Steins' lesson on "Voodoo economics!"  I plan to tell these impressionable students how difficult this industry is, but how wonderful it can be as well.  I'm anxious to share with them how many generous people out there got behind me and supported me (mentally and financially) to help make my dream come true of putting on a show during NY Fashion Week.  Sometimes I still can't even wrap my head around it...

Don't Be A Haider

Ah those Belgains, they really know fashion.  Though technically Haider Ackermann is not Belgian (as he was born in Colombia), he studied his craft at the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts.  Ackermann stole my heart with his Fall 2007 collection and I've been a fan ever since.  His Spring 2011 line just graced the runway in Paris yesterday and Ackermann did not disappoint.

The look was relaxed, refined, glamorous, sexy and edgy all wrapped up in one.  It was kind of like Rick Owens meets Ann Demeulemeester meets .... Donna Karan...meets YSL... if you can imagine that!  And Ackermann used quite a bit of color this season -- more than ever before.  He kept black as a staple, but livened it up with bright yellow, teal, red and cobalt.  It was the most color Ackermann has ever used in a collection.  And stripes!  He incorporated stripes in such a fresh and luxurious way, it makes me want to pull out my silk pajamas and walk down the street... but that wouldn't be so odd in NYC!

So, what do you think of Ackermann's Spring show?  Are you a lover or Haider?

All photos: Firstview (Style.com)