Day Two

Atil Kutoglu named his 56 piece collection ‘Ottomania’, integrating a line up of fabrics from the top mills of Turkey, Austria, France, Switzerland, and Italy. And he enlisted the runway talents of Naomi Campbell and Theodora Richards (Keith’s daughter) to add (or try to add) some star power to the proceedings. Unfortunately, it didn’t really work. Though interjecting elements of menswear is always welcome, the Turkish designer always seems to always oversized and padded shoulders ( a la the 80’s) which render the blazers ill fitting, not to mention unflattering even on the models. More successful was the groups of silk chiffon stripes (often in bold colors), which were translated into asymmetrical caftans, hooded tops, short and long dresses. Better yet was the crisp lavender cotton pique grouping which included an architectural squared lapel fitted short jacket over corset waisted cropped pants and a midcalf sleeveless coat worn over white brushed cotton Bermudas which looked fresh and modern. Too bad there weren’t more items like these.

This was followed by the much hyped and publicized Project Alabama show which was certainly and charming, and probably as far from say, Baby Phat (showing later that evening) in mood and philosophy, as could be. The approximately 37 piece collection done in shades of garnet, gold, amber, navy, and white featured feminine, graceful lines, fitted and cropped cardigans, narrow coats, sweet petticoated camisole dresses and circle skirts. Almost everything was hand piped, hand beaded, hand stitched, and/or hand sequined and as Cathy Horyn noted in her pre show review in the Thursday ‘Style’ section of The New York Times, some of the made the trip to New York from Alabama (an area that thankfully was NOT hit by Katrina) to see the show and to hold court at Jeffrey New York where they will demonstrate their techniques. Program notes confirmed that “a portion of Project Alabama’s proceeds from the sales will be donated to benefit Hurricane Katrina victims”.

By the way, as if to inject some local color (no Toto, you’re NOT in Kansas, you’re in Alabama), we were treated to the down home Blue Grass music of Ruby Jane Smith and The Rare Jewels, a trio comprised of two men playing guitar and bass, and a darling 10 year old prodigy (Ruby Jane) playing fiddle and mandolin.

-Marilyn Kirschner

Fashion Group International Presents: The Great Divide

The Retail World Continues To Polarize With Mega-Stores & Niche Enterprises. How Do The Davids Succeed In A World Of Goliaths?

NY Hilton, 1335 Avenue of the Americas, at 53rd Street
Thursday September 15th: 11:15am Networking Reception 12:00 – 2:00pm Luncheon and Presentation
For Reservations and Information 212.302.5533

The 21st century retail and manufacturing environment is filled with merger and consolidation stories. The niche market specialty store is now being touted as the one area in retail experiencing growth in market share at a faster pace than the traditional department store. Our panel of experts will discuss how to win the endgame with customers in a retail world polarized with mega-stores and niche
enterprises.

Marilyn Kirschner

I am a long time fashion editor with 40+ years of experience. As senior market of Harper's Bazaar for 21 years I met and worked with every major fashion designer in the world and covered all of the collections in Paris, London, Milan and New York. I was responsible for overall content, finding and pulling in the best clothes out there, and for formulating ideas and stories.