Hernan Lander Fall/Winter 2010

I must admit, I love supporting young hispanic entrepreneurs, I do! So, I must also be honest is saying that what made me want to learn more about this young designer is the fact that he is Dominican.

With that said, I'm so glad I went to see Hernan Lander's fall/winter 2010 presentation this past Friday, February 12th (I'll keep this brief because I'm totally late for work). He did not disappoint, I absolutely love the collection. My favorite piece is a white blouse he paired with a fantastic jacket and skirt. There is a lot of black in this collection, but it's fine with me; I don't mind the black at all and it's a fall/winter collection.

I really think Hernan Lander is off to a good start and I would love to see more of the young designer in the future.

Bijules Fall/Winter 2010 Preview + Ruvan Exhibition

On Thursday, February 11th I had the great pleasure of attending the Bijules Fall/Winter 2010 preview and Ruvan Exhibition at Eva NY Boutique. The presentation was a joint collaboration with fashion photographer Ruvan featuring Jules Kim, designer for Bijules, and the "Scream and Spirit" collection.

New York Fashion Week 2010

Today is the first day of New York Fashion Week. Yesterday's snow storm didn't stop the masses from beginning their fashion week endevors. Twitter was a buzz yesterday -- difficulty wearing stilletos, many wardrobe changes, OH NO! can't get to NYC - but that didn't stop many from going out and looking fab trading in stilletos for rain boots and beautiful coats for parkas.



Here are some images from Women's Mafia fashion Show on Tuesday, February 9th featuring designers Jonathan Kayne, Shauntele, and Ardistia.

On a sad note, The Daily Mail is reporting that Alexander McQueen committed suicide last night. A source at McQueen's office confirmed the suicide saying "It's a tragic loss."

And so another season starts, while a fashion icon's life ends. The show must go on............

NYC Milliners Guild celebrates the savvy of the chapeau during NYC Fashion Week

Heads up for the hat lovers! On Wednesday, February 17th the NYC Milliners Guild and Anastasia Andino, designer for La China Loca, are celebrating the return of the hat with Hothouse Flowers in the New Decade, a runway show and cocktail event celebrating the savvy of the chapeau!

Hothouse Flowers invites you into the world of the rare, exotic, delicate, and luxurious at the Roommate Grace Hotel Pool Lounge, NYC from 7pm – 11pm. Everyone is promised a memorable experience with the one accessory that can truly transform an outfit/vibe; whose sole reason for existence is to give pleasure to those who behold it.

Be sure to RSVP to EVENTS@ROOM-MATEHOTELS.COM

Multi-Designer Sale for Charity

APEX (http://apex-ny.org), a nonprofit that provides educational mentoring services to inner city youth has organized a multi-designer sale at the Tribeca Grand on Friday Jan 29th with an online pre-sale through Cutdrop (http://cutdrop.com) starting Wednesday Jan 27th.

The participating designers include Bliss Lau, Doo.Ri, H Frederiksson, Ideeen, Mary Meyer, Risto, Secta, Tara by St. James and more. 20% of sales will go to APEX!

Supima Design Competition

For the past two years, the luxury cotton company Supima has emerging designers with a fashion competition. Yesterday morning I thought I would be sharing with you photos and comments from last night’s Supima Design Competition. I was wrong. Sadly, I didn’t get to attend the event. I wanted to and had heard about the competition for some time now, plus someone I actually know was in the competition. When my friend and I arrived at The Times Center we checked in and were told to go down the stairs. Little did we know that even though you received a RSVP confirmation, that didn’t necessarily mean you were getting to see the show. Needless to say, after the hour of confusion (confusion on both attendees and people working the show); when the dust settled we were one of the people that didn’t go in to the auditorium to see the show.

Before this turns into a bitter post (bitter is never a good look), I will say that I’m happy to announce that designer Gina De Silva was the grand prize winner in the third annual Supima Design Competition (I heard the news right after the show from my client/friend designer May Kosaka). I had the pleasure of meeting Gina through Showroom New York, a showroom based in NYC whose aim is to incubate and nurture young designers that manufacture in New York City, and working with her and several other designers from the showroom (Mothe, Hatting by La China Loca, Manisse, Shauntele, and Keruvim) in their PR efforts for the “I Wear NY” fashion show last September.

Gina De Silva graduated from NYU with a degree in Studio Art in 2001. She learned her craft in her family's bridal salon and custom eveningwear business. DeSilva was one of six finalists to show her designs at the live runway finale held at The Times Center in The New York Times Building. At the conclusion of the runway presentation, the judges' verdict was announced.

Once again disappointed I wasn’t able to attend, but a big congratulation to Gina De Silva!!!!

Showroom New York Holding Showroom Designer Jury

Showroom New York, a showroom funded by the state of New York whose aim is to nurture and incubate young designers who manufacture in New York , is holding their Showroom Designer Jury today, January 14^th at Stoll Fashion & Technology Center. The Showroom is seeking contemporary ready-to-wear and accessory designers to join the showroom for the fall/winter 2010 season.

The designers will be judged based on quality, innovation and marketability. Collections of a selection of pre-screened New York City designers, both designers currently housed at the showroom and new designers hoping to join, will be reviewed by a panel of industry professional including Tanama Besosa Castillo Market Editor of Allure Magazine and Joseph Ferrara of Garment Center Supplier Association of New York.

Acceptance into the showroom includes sales representation through the fall/winter 2010 season amongst other networking opportunities. In addition to representation, Showroom New York offers business and marketing support as well as sourcing referrals for local production.

Last September, several designers at Showroom New York (Mothe, Shauntele, Manisse, Francoise Olivas, and Keruvim) were invited to showcase their spring/summer 2010 collection at the Showroom New York booth at Coterie trade show in New York City.

For more information on the Designer Jury and Showroom New York , please visit www.showroomnewyork.org.

Help Haiti

The people of Haiti need all the help they can get right now. Thousands have died, thousands still missing.

If you'd like to help out you can start by simply texting "HAITI" to "90999" and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill. For a list of organizations that are offering help to Haiti visit www.ramons-team.com.

Take a few minutes to think about someone other than yourself. Anything helps right now. Visit http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1242929/Haiti-earthquake-pictures-How-natural-disaster-ripped-island-apart.html just to get a sense of the destruction in Haiti.

Wordless Wednesday: View from the top

Love this view from the Empire Hotel rooftop in NYC.

Welcome 2010!!

I’m a tad late but, Happy New Year! Wishing you a happy and successful New Year and luck with all your resolutions. On the top of my resolution list is to stay active with my blog. It’s been a couple of months since I posted anything, it’s time to get back on the ball!!

Feeling extremely good about the upcoming year. Can't wait to see what 2010 brings...Bring it on!