début daily

Burberry's Baubles

Burberry débuted pieces from its fine jewelry collection at their spring 2008 runway show. Eschewing traditional jewelry design, designer Christopher Bailey followed the “luxury warrior” theme he honed for spring- transforming the stately Burberry lady into a rock n roll, tough luxe, simmering sexpot. The jewelry was the icing on the cake. The collection comprises necklaces, cuffs, bangles, and rings in geometric shapes with metal stud details and multi-chains fashioned out of black lacquer, dark nickel, and a brass palette. Bailey perfectly marries English sensibility with punk appeal in the brand’s first foray into jewelry. The coveted pieces are now available in flagship boutiques. Prices range from $195 to $1,595.

Attention to detail. Metal studs embellish a gunmetal leather coat are prominent on a bracelet from the jewelry collection.

 

Photo credit: Burberry; Style.com

Natalie Portman & Té Casan Launch Shoe Line

Actress Natalie Portman is launching an animal free shoe line in collaboration with té casan. té casan, Gaelic in origin, pronounced (tae-ca-sahn), translates to “A Women’s Path", representing unity among all women and strength. Shooting under the public radar, té casan is a limited edition shoe collection that approaches design in an original and artistic demeanor with fine craftsmanship and handcrafted materials. Each shoe has an engraved numbered imprint on the sole.

With a team of seven up-&-coming designers designing under the brand, each shoe has the inherent design sensibilities of its creator giving the collections a distinct, yet unifying appeal. The company's CEO and Founder, Yaron Kopel, describes the line as “well-constructed objects d’art." té casan is known for supporting new talent, hand-selects designers from behind the scenes at houses such as Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood and Versace. The collaboration with Portman is the company's first foray into the celebrity designer arena. The line débuts in February- online pre-order starts January 15 with 5% of the profits going to charity.   

Box Steps

Roger Vivier shoe designer, Bruno Frisoni, follows in the sculptural footsteps of the house with the Roger Vivier Haute Couture Box sandal. Hand-finished at Paris’ Lemarié atelier with glossy cubistic block heels, a metallic sole and silk leg straps. Definitely not for the demure at heart.

Fashion on Call

The Armani luxury lifestyle encompasses fashion, home design, and signature hotels. Now you can add mobile technology to the lineup. Not to be outdone by his Italian design peers (Prada, Versace, and Dolce & Gabbana), Mr. Armani has collaborated with Samsung to create the Armani-Samsung phone ($950). Deliciously sleek and thin, measuring 10.5 mm in thickness, roughly the size of a credit card with a 3-megapixel camera, music player, bluetooth stereo headset, and internet browser. The Armani phone comes with a specially designed Armani leather case for the ultimate protection and style. Available at Giorgio Armani boutiques worldwide.

Geisha Beauté

Legendary makeup artist François Nars melds traditional Japanese beauty rituals from Geiko and Kabuki theater with modernity with his Kabuki Artisan brush collection. The engraved logo brushes are fashioned out of super black goat hair, known for its extraordinary softness and strength. The Ita brush ($38.50) is flat and angular, ideal for blending, contouring, and highlighting the complexion; the Botan brush ($75) has a large, dense dome shape suitable for loose powder application and buffs the skin to a smooth overall texture; the Yachiyo brush ($50) has a spiral dome head that perfect for application of powder and color. The NARS Kabuki Artisan brush collection expertly blends tradition to create a versatile everyday makeup brush collection.

Tools of the Trade (l to r): Yachiyo, Ita, and Botan brush. (Top left) François Nars courtesy of NARS Cosmetics.

Kiss On My Lips

Famed makeup artist AJ Crimson and ex-model Keisha Whitaker (wife of Oscar-winning actor, Forest Whitaker) have developed Kissable Couture, an oh-so-kissable line of lip glosses. Created in remembrance of the unforgettable experience of your first kiss, Whitaker names each color after her smooch-worthy partners, namely her husband Forest, which translates into a lush burgundy shade. The gloss is lightweight, buildable, and goes on sensuously smooth with a velveteen wand applicator. If you find yourself under the mistletoe this holiday, you’ll be pucker-worthy. Available at www.kissablecouture.com and Apothia at Fred Segal.

Lip-tastic: Keisha Whitaker and AJ Crimson at the launch of Kissable Couture in Los Angeles.

Fashion Blogging at The Met

The Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute enters the cyber-world of fashion with the new exhibit, blog. mode: addressing fashion. Today, everyone has an opinion on fashion. The democratization of fashion has paved the way for millions of self-proclaimed fashion critiques and shaken the authoritarian fashion editor mandates. Harold Koda, Curator in Charge of The Costume Institute, explains, “Fashion, both a reflection and an expression of the zeitgeist, is open to a wide range of interpretations. While painting and sculpture can sometimes seem to be at an intimidating conceptual remove, fashion is so familiar, so ubiquitous to our experience that it is inherently and immediately accessible. Individuals who might shy away from commenting on the merits of a Juan Gris or Henry Moore will readily disclose their thoughts on a gown by John Galliano or a mule by Manolo Blahnik. Unlike its 'high art' siblings, fashion, even in its most extreme and avant-gardist expression, draws us in with its personal relevance."

The exhibit includes 65 costumes and accessories dating from the 18^th century to the present. Recent garment acquisitions from the past seven years - from a 2005 John Galliano for Christian Dior deconstructed ball gown to Miguel Adrover’s 2001 transformation of neighbor and writer Quentin Crisp’s old mattress into a overcoat. Other notable acquisitions hail from top houses as Azzedine Alaïa, Manolo Blahnik, Jean Paul Gaultier, Junya Watanabe, Rodarte, Charles Frederick Worth, and Madame Grès to name a few. The exhibit invites debate from the public on the oeuvre  and dissemination of the fashion and society with curators Harold Koda and Andrew Bolton at the museum’s blog, http://blog.metmuseum.org/blogmode/. Visitors to the exhibit can respond at the “blogbar”, a terminal of computers in the exhibit’s gallery. A book, blog. mode: addressing fashion, featuring photographs of all the garments and accessories, along with curatorial commentary and blog excerpts will be published upon the closing of the exhibit. On view December 18- April 13, 2008.

 

On view (l to r): Vivienne Westwood, silk dress ,Propaganda, 2005-200,6; Elsa Schiaparelli, coat, 1938, polychrome wool felt; Jean Paul Gaultier, Des Robes Qui Se Rerobent, evening ensemble, spring/summer 2001, beaded pink silk with overlay of silk tulle.

Angel Redux

Thierry Mugler celebrates the 15^th anniversary of his best-selling fragrance Angel. In celebration, as in fashion, Mugler doesn’t hold back in extravagance category. Mugler introduces La Parte des Anges ($220), a concentrated perfume extract of Angel, aged in the manner of a fine cognac, in a cherry wood cast for 23 weeks. The seductive scent is placed in a Swarovski crystal star-topped flacon engraved with its individual number (only 4,742 produced).

Haute Watch

Internationally acclaimed, industrial designer Marc Newson launched his original POD watch design in 1986. Twenty-years later would herald the return of the timepiece in its current metamorphosis called the IKEPOD. The timepiece achieves a daring, forward-moving, radical design aesthetic that’s making waves in the watch industry. Void of the obvious accoutrements of diamonds and jewels, the IKEPOD is a sensual, austerely modern timepiece. Available in three styles: the Hemipode, Megapode, and the Horizon.

The Horizon style references the astrophysicial “event horizon”- the moment when gravity becomes infinite, when both time and space disappear. The lofty influence of time and space produce a unique dial that creates an optical allusion of appearing convex. Produced in the IKEPOD Ateliers in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, the Horizon is suited on a rubber strap with a nipple closure, sapphire crystal front and porthole back in platinum, red gold and titanium. At a whopping $24,000 the Horizon is for the true timepiece aficionado.

Modern Time (clockwise): IKEPOD Horizon watches in red gold, platinum, gold/white ($24,000). Available at Westime (Beverly Hills), Moss Gallery (NYC), Hochfield (Aspen), and Berger Joyerios (Mexico City). Designer Mark Newson.

Bangled Gems

Cara Couture metallic leather bangles ($78) look a little juvenile at first-glance- which is why I have a nagging sweet spot for them. The irresistibly chic 2 ¼ inch wide bangles come in vivacious hues of fuchsia, bronze, mint, gold, violet, turquoise, cobalt blue, silver, and royal purple are perfect for spring’s return to color. Available at Henri Bendel.

High-wattage color was a trend on the spring ruways at Burberry, Emilo Pucci, and Chloe.