These were my favorite dresses:
(Photos: GoRunway/Vogue.it)
~Leigh
My favorite show of fashion week is Vivienne Tam. Her clothes are absolutely beautiful and the show draws a great diverse crowd.
The Spring 2013 collection was inspired by the five elements of Chinese cosmology: metal, wood, water, fire and earth. From the organza sheath to the cutwork tee, the collection was filled with geometric shapes in warm hues of red, gray and green. Every piece was gorgeous. I want the entire collection.
The jewelry the models wore is a collaboration with TSL Jewellery and will be sold with the Spring collection.The pieces were stunning!
You can view the full collection here.
Here are more of my favorites from the collection:
(Photos: Alessandro Luciori/Elle.com)
The after party was held at Hakkasan and it should be said that it probably was the best party I've been to in New York. From the gorgeous Chinese influenced setting to the strawberry martinis to the dumplings and fabulous crowd. What an incredible night!
~Leigh
By Leigh Ferreira
Project Runway season 9 winner Anya Ayoung-Chee presented her Spring/Summer 2013 collection Carnival of Colour at a lunch at Morimoto hosted by HP.
I loved Anya's colorful island style on Project Runway, so I was excited to see her collection. It was full of vibrant colors, flowy dresses, beach wear and beautiful prints, as you would expect.
You can see the full collection and pics of the event here.
My favorite pieces were this romper and blazer.
(Photo: Anya Ayoung-Chee)
I got the chance to meet Anya and talk to her about her design process and use of technology. She started as a graphic designer so feels at ease designing on the computer and said she really loves the flexibility of designing and modifying digitally. She also enjoys using Facebook and Twitter to promote her work and connect with her fans too.
As part of the event, we also did two DIY projects:
The first was create a Polyvore set with Anya's collection. This was really fun!
What do you think of the Coquette set?
Anya is going to choose a winner from the submissions.
The second project we were able to use the HP TouchSmart and design software to create our own patterns like they did on Project Runway. I luved this marriage of design and technology. Plus, it was so easy to use. We then printed our designs out to make customized mugs. You can see all the designs here along with pics of us designing.
Take a look at the one I designed for Coquette and if you like it, please cast a vote for us by liking it on facebook. The design with the most facebook likes wins!
~Leigh
By Leigh Ferreira
DL1961 presented their first runway show at New York Fashion Week in a big way!
Set on a pier along the Hudson River, the show kicked off with performance dance IN THEIR JEANS, followed by models in acid washed, distressed, prints, textured, hand embroidered and leather accented jeans, and ended with and after party featuring Mia Moretti spinning along with electric violinist Caitlin Moe. DL1961 vodka lemonades were served with grilled cheese and tater tots from Gorilla Cheese truck. Yum! It truly was an amazing show and after party. You can catch the full video of the fashion show above.
DL1961 jeans really are the perfect fitting jean. I can't say enough about the fit and comfort. I live in mine. I'm happy that the colored jean trend is continuing in to next Spring, but really excited for the new prints, metallics and the hand embroidered jeans.
Here are a few of my favorites from the Spring/Summer 2013 collection:
(Photos: DL1961)
It was amazing to see the audience filled with smartphones or iPads taking pictures and videos. I was surprised to see everyone around me instagramming once they had the perfect shot. EVERYONE! I'm guessing that fashion folks must be Instagram's largest group of users. Luv the fashion + tech!
~Leigh
By Leigh Ferreira
My favorite night of the year is Fashion's Night Out (FNO)!
FNO is the official kick-off to New York Fashion Week. But unlike Fashion Week, FNO is for everyone and encourages consumers to hit the stores, meet designers and have a fun night out. The event was originally started by Anna Wintour of Vogue during the recession of 2009 to encourage people to get out and shop in New York City. Now on its fourth year, FNO is happening all over the world.
There were 800+ events that happened in NYC and it is logistically challenging to go uptown, downtown and from the eastside to the westside, but in typical New York fashion we tried to do it all.
Here are the spots I hit:
As you can see from the photo above at DVF, the MPD was CRAZY crowded!
Vogue.com put together a great highlights video:
The Fashion's Night Out team did a fantastic job listing out the events and details on their site and app, tweeted highlights of events leading up to FNO and encouraged people to take photos and tag them on Instagram to show FNO happening live the world over. It was fun to see the sightings, giveaways and event details filling up my twitter timeline throughout the night too.
FNO 2013 can't come soon enough!
~Leigh
