Take the Challenge: NextTribe’s Closet Cleansuary

New Year, New You. If you don’t use it, lose it. If it doesn’t spark joy, toss it out. Yes. All of those sweepingly simple platitudes about kicking off a new year with a clean slate. Which work for your closet, too. Because. Aging. Which means we accumulate a lot of…stuff. And sometimes, we just have to get down and dirty, get in there and get rid of said stuff.

That said, I have a somewhat softened take on the KonMari method and starting the year with a clean closet up on NextTribe, now!

Let It Go: 9 Easy Ways to Streamline Your Wardrobe

NYFW S/S ’19: Taoray Wang

Power play. Taoray Wang worked with strong silhouettes, luxurious fabrics and a focused design direction. Asymmetry, pagoda shoulders, jewel tones, grommet belts, obi sashes and cinched boyfriend jackets were just some of the ’80s sensibility saturating this gorgeous collection.

At times exaggerated in silhouette, intensely sexy and driven, Taoray proved you can bank on her being a fashion force to be reckoned with these days.

NYFW S/S 2019: Trail of Tiers at Vivienne Hu

One of the more luscious collections I was able to attend, designer Vivienne Hu belies the banking-based business she turned her back on before turning her hand to crafting beautiful clothing that this season were the perfect foil for a midsummer’s eve garden party. 

Hers was a trail of tiers. Soft ruffles, flounces and fringes were set off by just the right mixes of metallic materials and patterns that might make one think of a little bit country by way of Gunne Sax, just a little bit kid in a candy store via the amazing cornucopia of color, texture and wild fabric juxtapositioning.

Enjoy a few of this Whirled’s faves!

NYFW S/S 2019 : Ozlana

Pretty. Strong. Soft. Flowy. Pagoda shouldered. Asymmetrical. Pastel. Brights. Long. Short. Spring 2019 New York Fashion Week seems to have it all, acting a little like the recent New York City weather. Wait a minute and it’ll change, as long as you can maneuver around the city in time to catch it on the runway!

Ozlana

The spring collection from Ozlana, an Australian design house, started out prettily enough. Pink fluffy clouds adorned the “sky” of a runway punctuated with faux fur bear rugs, dried flowers and patches of pink. Pastels, especially Millenial Blush, figured heavily in the first part of the show. 

But then came fur parkas. And I convinced myself that the ice cream-hued fur vests, parkas, pocketbooks and trim on polos were faux. Sadly, it was not.

I hate to get political in a fashion post, but this is more of a matter of, hey, this is spring, why do you even need ANYTHING to be fur-like and also, hey, there is so much great faux fur out there now, WHY would you need to create anything for spring out of real fur.

These days, I’d rather walk a fur piece (hello: doggie) than wear one.

New York Fashion Week: Women’s Spring/Summer ’19

Yes, fashion IS changing. Always.

Of course, that’s what one expects. That every season hemlines will shift and realign, silhouettes fatten up or slim down, hues brighten or lighten on the color palette, models morph from celebrity super star to all-inclusive age- and size-wise. That another new inspiration will direct the zeitgeist of design down a new path of enlightenment or illumination, grabbing design by the hand and walking it out on a ledge of next-level-ism.

Change this season is a little different. There’s a lot to look back at. Ralph Lauren fêted 50 years in the business with a show and black tie gala dinner at Central Park’s Bethesda Fountain that included Oprah and Steven Spielberg, among other luminaries. Badgley Mischka celebrated 30 years with an intimate garden tea party/runway presentation. Escada flexed its 40 year old heritage, tapping into its 80s’ power woman reputation yesterday.

Photo: Jeffrey Banks

Creating just a little bit of stress and angst, most shows have scattered to the winds in New York City, presenting at venues hither and yon, with no centralized location to speak of. While some designers decamped for Brooklyn (Ulla Johnson, for one), others scheduled at the popular-this-season Pier 59 Studios at Chelsea Piers, Spring Studios and Industria Super Studio.  Angel Orensanz Foundation has been home base for Art Hearts Fashion runways, while the Manhattan Center set up for Style Week shows. Editors are running back and forth all over the city. At least, Uber and Yellow Taxis seem to be doing quite well this show week!

Kicking off last Wednesday, New York Fashion Week led with Tom Ford’s super sexy slay. The NYFW shows will reach a pivotal peak with Marc Jacobs tomorrow night, the evening of the 12th, with all shows wrapping Thursday. Fashion is fashion, though, and I think the coolest, most up-to-date trend is the forward-movement of technology. From vending machine purveyors peddling pocketbooks by Neely and Chloe, bracelets by Venessa Arizona or T-shirts by Rebecca Minkoff at Spring Studios lounge sponsored by Visa, the new Payment Technology Partner of the shows, to the ready-to-really-wear runway looks instantly shoppable at the “Fashion Delivered” show by Cotton Incorporated x Amazon Fashion’s at Angel Orensanz, the “see now/buy now”technological advances are the best new spring trends.

Check back for more Spring 2019 reportage from the runways, as always with “My Style, My Spin!” xokim

Mmm Mmm, Good Times with
The MensWearNetwork at M Bar

Last night the Mansfield Hotel’s M Bar served as a new venue for the summer edition of The MensWearNetwork, hosting a friendly cluster of menswear executives, designers, buyers, press, bloggers, stylists and fashion entrepreneurs toasting the heat and the hot new products from the Liberty, Project and MRket menswear trade shows taking place this week.

Business convo highlights surrounded tidbits about a new film and television series written by a longtime industry insider being shopped around, the traffic at the Javits, potential new retail solutions, and, of course, what vacation plans many were entertaining for the rest of the summer season.

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Menswear’s Tailored Touches – NYFW:Men’s SS19

Tailored touches abound for guys this upcoming Spring/Summer 2019, as evidenced by designers showing during the recent CFDA New York Fashion Week: Men’s and New York Men’s Day earlier this month. Find a few of FW’s favorites featured here:

Carlos Campos combined architectural lines with clean tailoring, a bold palette and Reebok sneaks. Vanessa Zhang Fashion Incubator also used color blocking to a tailored advantage, accented with coordinating colorful bags. David Hart took men back to the ’70s, with ruffled shirts, bow ties and brocade jackets, not only inspired by Watergate days but the sumptuous Italian fabrics of Albini. Krammer and Stoudt, always pushing the envelope, found menswear balanced between Tokyo and tailoring, inspired by designer Mike Rubin’s first-ever travel to Japan earlier this year.

CFDA’s New York Fashion Week: Men’s

Carlos Campos bold color block

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Sleek + Chic: Seeing Clearly at NYMD SS19

New York Men’s Day Spring/Summer 2019 kicked off in style this past Monday with much fanfare and fantastic fashions. The best? Clear and present…the rain slicker, as designers permutated the look of the standard nasty elements style into something chic, sleek and as wearable as a shirt.

Maybe it was waterproof, maybe it wasn’t. Who cares? These unmistakable winners take transparency to a whole next level of dressing. Clearly.

Clearly, the coolest, at sundae school SS19

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