DFR: DAILY FASHION REPORT - by lookonline.com

Saturday, December 28, 2002

Marilyn's Letter to the Editors of The New York Times:

'Clothes for Our Times'

I agree that many of today's young fashion designers are lazily evoking the past, and are simply not thinking hard enough about the way in which fashion relates to the times ("Designers, Forget Vreeland. Look at Your Own World," Fashion page, Dec. 24).

As we head into a new year, with the fall-winter 2003 collections upon us, this observation is timely and valid.

But fashion designers can only propose. It is up to informed, imaginative customers to take the next step and transform the clothing they buy and wear into something modern, appropriate and relevant to their world and times � in short, to make it their own.

The article asks fashion designers to "think hard." The consumer should heed this request as well.

MARILYN KIRSCHNER
New York, Dec. 24, 2002

(This letter appeared December 28th on the editorial page. It is sort of sad that The New York Times editors decided it was necessary for them to remove Marilyn reference that she was editor-in-chief of lookonline and was writing to them in that capacity.)

+ 12/28/2002; Ernest and Permalink | 0 comments

Friday, December 20, 2002

'Vogue' or 'Lucky'?

It's nice to know that Vogue's editors are ''Lucky' enough to be able to afford such lavish lifestyles. I just finished looking through their January issue, where I was treated to Andre Leon Talley's column. The 'style faxer' listed his 10 New Year's resolutions. It began with a notation to "wear diamonds everywhere", which was accompanied by a large picture of the Fred Leighton Diamond quill pin covered with 100 carats and topped with a 5.5 carat sapphire, that has become his newest object of affection. His 3rd resolution was to "relax at home'' while wearing his new Gucci kimono, # 4 was ''appreciate the arts'' by having his likeness sculpted while fully decked out in custom tailored pinstripes, a white shirt, Charvet tie, and Manolo Blahnik court shoes (which he points out were "inspired by paintings in Versailles, by Hyacinthe Rigaud, of Louis XIV himself"). Resolution # 5 was to "be punctual" - which was predicated on wearing his new multi- diamond encrusted Jacob & Co. sports chronometer. To his credit, he ended the list with the idea of 'giving back'. And that's not all, in the page entitled, 'Vogue Contributors', there was a paragraph describing Vogue European Editor at Large "and resident jet setter" Hamish Bowles, who "keeps apartments in New York, London, and Paris- for his clothes." Is this too much information??

Speaking of Vogue, I can't imagine that Anna Wintour is too pleased with January cover girl- Sandra Bullock's- terrible movie reviews. 'Two Week's Notice' which just opened today, was dubbed "brain dead" by The New York Post, and "vague and sadly undernourished" by The New York Times's Stephen Holden.

+ 12/20/2002; marilyn and Permalink | 0 comments

Tuesday, December 17, 2002

IMG Starts Selling tickets to the Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Shows

We wrote an editorial several years back saying some day 7thonsixth would sell tickets to the shows. Well that time is now here. The New York Times reported today that American Express is offering via newsletter to their Platinum card holders a package of "high-end fashion shows, backstage tours, chic receptions, V.I.P. gift bags and meet-and-greets with designers, models, fashion stylists, and editors" to the upcoming February shows all for $2,300. A total of 40 these packages will be made available for purchase and though details of what exactly is going to offered - like which designers are going to give this group V.I.P. seating is still up in the air - confirmed is a night of shopping at Valentino, a reception with Angela Cummings a jewelry designer, and dinner with Fern Mallis.

Watch, this is just the beginning. Next season IMG might bring up the old idea of charging licensing & broadcasting fees to specific media accessing the shows. Of course we all already have to pay registration fees if we want to be on the official 7thonsixth press list. - a list that many in our industry consider of dubious value at best.

+ 12/17/2002; Ernest and Permalink | 0 comments

Thursday, December 12, 2002

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery"

You can say that again! And nowhere is this more true than in the fashion biz...In what seemed to be only a matter of time, Bonnie Fuller's wildly popular, talked about, and successful US Weekly Fashion Week edition, which was launched at the September New York Collections, is soon to have a counterpart. I was not alone in observing that this entertaining and colorful free read, was one of the highlights of Fashion Week, providing us with something to do while waiting (and waiting, and waiting) for the shows to begin.

According to the New York Post's Lisa Marsh, "IMG's FAshion Week production division is launching a publication to go head to head" with Fuller's brainchild. Called The Daily, it will be distributed at the fall/winter 2003 shows running February 7-15, and will be edited by none other than Brandusa Niro (who was fired from her post as editor in chief of Fashion Wire Daily). With Niro at the helm, one can only wonder just how low they will go in order to be sensational....hmmmmmm

+ 12/12/2002; marilyn and Permalink | 0 comments

WWD Goes Up On-Line with a New Website:

Fairchild is now offering access to the complete daily WWD on-line for a subscription price of $99 a year. Last year it was reported that WWD was within days of launching their site at a subscription rate of about $900 per year when they decided that "economic conditions were not right" to launch the site then.

The $99 a year subscription rate is the same as - you guessed it - Fashionwiredaily. It will be interesting to see if the new WWD site does news updates throughout the day rather than just remaining a static online copy or the print version. If WWD does real time updates on the new site it spells serious if not fatal trouble for FWD.

It is also going to be interesting to see how much of what runs on the new WWD website will appear on, or duplicate with, what is on the free Style.com site. And finally will WWD try to syndicate this online content to other sites in the same way FWD has done with limited success. All we can say is what took WWD so long?

+ 12/12/2002; Ernest and Permalink | 0 comments

Sunday, December 08, 2002

From Michael Gross's December 8th 'The Word' Column:

Casanova goes a-courting

Beauty may fade, but modeling sex scandals endure. Tomorrow morning, the past will bite John Casablancas, the founder of Elite Models and, arguably, the man who has bedded more of them than anyone on Earth.

The Word has heard from the plaintiff's lawyer that papers will be filed in
California in a suit - Jane Doe v. John Casablancas and Elite Model
Management - charging that in 1988, he seduced the plaintiff when she was a 15-year-old aspiring model, impregnated her, and then manipulated her into having an abortion. The suit will seek "substantial" damages.

According to the lawyer, the suit alleges that Casablancas, then 45, invited
the girl to his hotel room during an Elite model competition in Japan.
There, she found him wearing nothing but a robe and let him have sex with
her several times. Then he gave her a kimono, T-shirt and jean jacket. After
a second tryst in Brazil, she became pregnant, and another Elite official
arranged and paid for an abortion.

"The b---- deserves to have his dirty laundry out there for the whole world
to see," the alleged victim told The Word.

The name of the model, now 30, married with two children and living in San
Diego, is being withheld. "The law protects victims," explains one of her
lawyers, Jeffrey R. Anderson, who's been suing Catholic dioceses and
officials over the sexual abuse of children by priests for 20 years, winning
judgments he estimates to be in excess of $60 million. He also helped draft
the new California statute that lets victims sue years after alleged abuse.

"I have proof," the plaintiff wrote to The Word. "I can name names, dates,
places and every single person that covered up his behavior. The doctor I
was sent to is still in business."

Casablancas calls the allegations "very disturbing," adding that he believes
they're designed "to exploit" the new California law "directed at the
Catholic Church scandals" and has "nothing in common with the modeling
profession or with anything related to me." He also maintains that
California has no legal jurisdiction in the matter and charges that the
allegations are fabricated and "driven by greed."

+ 12/08/2002; Ernest and Permalink | 0 comments

Tuesday, December 03, 2002

This past weekend's Manhattan Vintage Clothing Show, held at the Metropolitan Pavilion, was decidedly scheduled at a rather strange time (right after the Thanksgiving holiday). And while I did not find it to be the most exciting vintage show I can remember, camera crews from Channel 2 were there, as was reporter Christie Ferrer, and attendance was good (not great).

It was also a great opportunity to pick up some cold weather accessories- which we all need right now- and buy into some of the season's hottest trends. And no discussion of winter trends would be complete without mentioning the word- shearling. Standouts included the shearling coat at Just Say When, the shearling 60's hat and bag at La Vie En Rose, and a faux shearling duffle coat (that mixed two hot trends in one) that was nabbed for well under $200 at Angela's Vintage Boutique by Mary McFadden, who was there making the rounds.

By the way, the next show is scheduled for Friday, January 31st and Saturday, February 1st 2003....mark your calendar

+ 12/03/2002; marilyn and Permalink | 0 comments

Monday, December 02, 2002

Lookonline.com Celebrates 8 Years On-line

(Invitation to December 1 1994 Launch/Benefit Party)

Since the official launch on December 1, 1994 as a BBS dial-up service, the Lookonline has been on-line for over 8 years. In fact, we were a BBS service by subscription first beginning in late 1993 and in March of 1995 we began a website (under another domain name) in addition to our BBS site. Later in 1995 we discontinued our BBS service and concentrated on developing our website using our own domain name lookonline.

Our official launch was a party/benefit called "CyberTaste" for the "Charge Against Hunger" program from American Express and Share Our Strength on December 1, 1994 (see above invitation) The event was held at Sony Plaza at 550 Madison Avenue in New York. Over 850 members of the press & public attended the opening that featured 13 chefs from top New York Restaurants serving their signature dishes; a designer auction, wine tasting, desserts, and a live Jazz orchestra. According to officials at Sony, it was one of the largest, if not the largest event ever held to this day at the Sony Plaza's Atrium. Major Sponsors for the event included American Express, Food & Wine Magazine, Tourneau, Romana Sambuca, Coca Cola Bottling Company of NY, Georgette Klinger, Colorite, and Sony Plaza.

Lookonline.com is probably the longest running on-line fashion publication in the world. We have not always gained the attention or notoriety of some other sites, but those in the industry who have followed our development over the years know we helped pioneer the use of the internet in providing real time coverage of fashion events, regularly scheduled video reports, market reports, editorial cartoons and original runway and event photography long before there were sites like Style.com or Fashionwiredaily.

We want to thank all of our many contributors who over the past 8 years have helped our site grow and prosper. We will continue to work hard at improving the site.

+ 12/02/2002; Ernest and Permalink | 0 comments