Name: Cassie Ventura
Age: 22
Status: Singer/Model (signed to 1 Model Management, NY)
# of yrs. in the Spotlight: 3
I love the way this girl dresses. She is always on point. You can always tell the celebrities that love fashion vs. the ones that don’t.
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Thursday November 13th, Comme des Garçons for H&M hit stores. LA Times’ Max Padilla calls it “avant garde for the masses”, and that’s exactly what it is. Why is this collaboration so awesome? Because Rei Kawakubo, design director of the high-end Comme des Garçons collections, is infamously anti-fashion and has made her collections to symbolize just that. If it’s trendy, popular, in high-demand, or up-and-coming, she is not into it. Padilla says, “She’s known for head-scratching runway shows, the kind that make you feel like you’re the only one not in on the joke (women in hunchback pillow dresses and men in skirts), as well as for opening temporary “guerrilla stores” in gritty neighborhoods such as downtown L.A.”
What category of fashion design does Comme des Garçons fall into, you ask? Deconstructed shapes and nontraditional lines and techniques. Stuff that you just don’t understand, and shouldn’t even try. Rei Kawakubo prefers to consider her designs as conceptual art rather than practical pieces. So how would she manage to mesh the impracticality of Comme des Garçons with fast-fashion powerhouse H&M? Behold:
See the full mens and womens collections here .
See how supermodel and Cali girl Erin Wasson styled herself in the November 2008 issue of Nippon Vogue in pieces from the Comme des Garçons for H&M collection here.
Tommy Perse, co-owner of Maxfield boutique, has moved in next door to his son, well-known knit designer James Perse here in Beverly Hills. Maxfield is undoubtedly one of the most avantgarde, statement-making stores on the West Coast. Now, its “on-sale version”- Maxfield Bleu, has moved to Canon Drive in Beverly Hills! Maxfield Bleu houses designers like Rick Owens, Comme des Garçons, Yohji, Stella McCartney, and Libertine. And while it may be a bit limiting, it conveniently carries some of the most hard to find must-haves you won’t see anywhere else. I am thoroughly excited that my hometown of Beverly Hills is finally making a shift towards more avant garde stores such as this, Taschen Books, and the gorgeous Maison Martin Margiela store now open on Little Santa Monica. Out with the old, in with the new!
Entrance of Maxfield, West Hollywood
I was recently introduced to Grai, a phenomenal brand by head designer Maya Yogev, an Otis ‘02 alum and former Rick Owens designer. I’ve fallen in love with the aesthetic of this brand and the execution of its draped design. Those who design know that leather is an extremely bold medium to work with. Yogev’s designs for Grai make a striking statement but are careful not to cross the line of being overly designed. Her gritty silhouettes are eye-catching but manage to remain in the realm of wearable, “real” clothes. She also manages to (surprisingly) successfully blend the lines between Victorian and goth, giving her customers a taste for her idea of the aristocratic punk rocker.
Vogue’s fashion editor Carine Roitfeld teamed with famed fashion photographer Mario Testino in the October issue of Vogue Paris to shoot an amazing spread called “Afrodisiaque.” The statuesque models and illustrative silhouettes of this spread are pure genius! Not to mention that amazing record top by Belgian engineering genius Maison Martin Margiela.
Models: Lakshmi Menon and Yasmin Warsame
More photos from this spread here.
While flipping through the pages of New York Magazine’s 40th Anniversary Issue, I found myself inspired page after page by garments worn by musicians, stars, and artists in the party scene of New York from four decades ago. Matter of fact, I spotted a couple of pieces that are almost duplicates of pieces I own myself. It is true that fashion has projected itself forward through rethought-out designs and re conceptualization but some key pieces never seem to change. Have they been redesigned to come full circle, or have they been absent awaiting their triumphant return?
Cher and Bill Butler at a Casablanca Records party at Empire rink, 1979
American Apparel, 2008
Halston, Bianca Jagger, Jack Haley Jr., Liza Minnelli, and Michael Jackson at Studio 54, 1978
Grace Jones at a dinner party in her honor, 1986.
Janet Jackson in Dior’s metallic hooded dress by John Galliano, W magazine Oct 2006
Debbie Harry, 1981
Kate Moss, 2007
Marc Jacobs and Elizabeth Saltzman, disguised as Linda Evangelista, 1991.
American Apparel mesh top and shiny leggings, 2008
Paper Magazine opened up its new department store in the heart of the Sunset Strip with a kick this Friday. The store, designed my architectural designer Johnston Marklee, stayed open for a straight 24-hour shopping experience upon opening weekend, featuring 17 live bands which helped to duplicate the magazine’s oh-so ecclectic tone. The store features a “black market meets high street” approach with artist vendors anywhere from high-fashion to low-fashion and anywhere in-between, in the true spirit of the magazine itself. Artists and designers include Rodarte, Band of Outsiders, Libertine, Henry Holland, Jeremy Scott, and Slow and Steady Wins The Race, some of which are personal favorites of mine, mainly stemming out of L.A. Paper Magazine’s co-founder and editor-in-chief Kim Hastreiter, graduate of CalArts, tapped into Los Angeles’ pop art scene quite successfully with the opening of the Paper store, the fourth arrival of Paper to the Westcoast. Passing by its doors, located across from the Viper Room on Sunset Blvd. at 2 a.m. on Friday night, the crowd was still thriving and the music, still blaring. Stores like this go to show that no matter how terrible the economy might show itself to be, there is still a huge market base in Los Angeles of ever-trend-chasing, fashionista-aspiring kids looking to spend some cash. As it turns out, Hastreiter’s opening of the Paper Magazine department store on Sunset is exactly what Los Angeles needs, an opportunity to show just how well L.A. could compete with - or compliment - the New York fashion scene. I have great confidence that pop-up stores like this will continue to do well regardless the economy. And frankly, I was pretty excited to explore its booths myself.