Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Coachella. Ella Ella Ella


For those of us who grew up in southern California, nothing signifies the beginning of summer quite like the Coachella Valley Music Festival, with the chance to see so many of favorite bands in one place: the Strokes and Robyn to Animal Collective and Odd Future. . . and of course, Kanye West!

Street Art Meets High Art


Leave it to Los Angeles to find a creative way to turn a little controversy into a lot of fun. Museum of Contemporary Art Director Jeffrey Deitch’s decision to whitewash Italian street artist Blu’s mural commissioned for the side of the museum sparked a lively debate. Was the removal of the antiwar painting of coffins draped in dollar bills censorship or justifiable social sensitivity? Hoping to fan the flames and generate public dialogue about art, a private group called MOCA-latte launched its inaugural Red Sticker Campaign and last Thursday invited Los Angeles to “play Deitch for a day” by pasting “Approved” and “Disapproved” decals on the city’s street art. A hipster crowd answered the call, and at MOCA’s artists’ opening of “Art in the Streets” at the museum’s Geffen Contemporary location downtown, Drew Barrymore, Gwen Stefani, Gavin Rossdale, and Shepard Fairey arrived to lend a discerning eye and get a sneak peek at the graffiti art in the exhibition, which is on view to the public through August 8.

Source: Vogue

Street Style The Scene at Coachella 2011


Revellers descended on the Palm Springs desert in droves for this year's Coachella Valley Music Festival. Decked out in the essential—a pair of sunglasses, light and airy clothes, and concert-ready cross-body bags—the crowds enjoyed live music from Arcade Fire, Cults, The Strokes, and more, while also partaking in the many weekend after-parties, including Mulberry's barberque bash and Phillip Lim's poolside party. As usual, the California sunshine led to fun and a fuss-free, bohemian style prevailed. From knit dresses to vintage T-shirts to studded sandals, above are the hits from Coachella.


Photographed by Cara Stricker

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Toronto Fashion Week: LINE Knitwear Fall 2011


There is always such a cool vibe to a LINE Knitwear show. Being the last runway event of Toronto Fashion Week, the room was literally filled with excitement and anticipation.

LINE Knitwear, known for their superb craftsmanship of, well, knitwear, really brought their A-game for their Fall 2011 collection. Design duo John Muscat and Jennifer Well put together an earthy and ethereal collection full of warm, easy and unintimidating but uber fashionable pieces for everyone. Heavy cable knit cardigans and sweaters, knit maxi dresses, tops and accessories like scarves and wraps all made their way down the runway in a to-the-T Bohemian, New York City, SoHo kinda downtown girl look. A plus to the collection, some new additions and unexpected materials incorporated like fur trims and stoles, leather a-cut shearling jackets, super-chic trousers and equally super easy flowing skirts.

As the high-energy music played, amazingly styled layers of knits were belted, cinched, accessorized and color-combo'd in perfect harmony with the Fall 2011 LINE knitwear girl. Everything worked so well together and definitely set a tone for the Fall look this year with some serious staple pieces in this collection. Congratulations again on another hit to the Line Knitwear team!

Photos via: Jesse Hodson

Get to Know the Young Designer Behind Charles Henry


For most recent graduates, the idea of launching their own collection is a distant and seemingly impossible dream. But Meredith Fisher is one to defy the odds: at 23 years old, she's talking to buyers and editors in preparation for the launch of her second collection, Charles Henry. A sort of Jenny Humphrey minus the crazy, Fisher's earliest designs were picked up by beloved LA boutique Satine when she was just 17 and working as an intern at the locally based label Jennifer Nicholson. It was there that frequent shopper and fashion icon Rachel Zoe first saw Fisher's work: to put it simply, she died.

Soon enough the young designer's signature color-blocked dresses were spotted on the Olsen twins, and world renowned department stores like Barney's and Harvey Nichols were calling her, desperate to carry her line. Such buzz led to the release of her first line WAYF (an acronym for "where are you from?") during Fisher's senior year of high school. The SoCal via Kentucky designer graduated from USC last year, shortly before diving headfirst into her latest project: designing the Fall/Winter collection for her new label. Taking the design philosophies which formed the core of WAYF and working them into a modern, more sophisticated setting, Fisher presents a more mature collection that is charismatic, cool and undeniably chic.