Opera Carolina Presents a Recycled Runway Show at Paris Fashion Week

Opera Carolina’s Opera Recycles sustainable couture program will show at Paris Fashion Week on March 4.

Opera Carolina will travel over 4,000 miles to Paris to present “Opera Recycles,” an eco-couture fashion show at Paris Fashion Week on March 4 at the InterContinental Paris - Le Grand. This unique opportunity will showcase the art of opera and environmental conservation on an international scale.

Opera Recycles is a program that promotes environmental awareness by creating couture fashion using recycled printed materials. In the four years since it launched, more than 36,000 pieces of marketing materials, such as old playbills and postcards, have been used to create couture gowns and fashionable statement pieces. This program is a part of Opera Carolina’s initiative to encourage sustainability efforts amongst the community. No other for-profit company or non-profit organization uses its printed material to create couture fashion, making Opera Carolina unique in the Carolinas region.

“This has exceeded my expectations,” said Megan Miller, Opera Carolina’s marketing director. “Not only has this initiative help promote the importance of sustainably and environmental conservation but we also showcased our local models and designers to bring a piece of Charlotte to New York.”

Opera Carolina is presenting eight recycled dresses created by six local designers; Lyndsee Hairston, Malou Tabada Cordery, Sarah Danee, Itala Flores, Rocio Llusca and Edelweiss De Guzman. Opera Carolina is representing the city of Charlotte while promoting the importance of environmental conservation.

Oxford Fashion Studio Showcase produces 100+ runway shows across all fashion capitals showing 600+ designers from over 70 countries.

Opera Carolina promotes the Opera Recycles program around the city of Charlotte, and on a national and international stage as a way to introduce opera to new audiences all while promoting sustainability effort.

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HAKAN AKKAYA’S GLAM ROCK COLLECTION – NYFW FALL/WINTER 2019

Was it a 1970’s “Glam Rock” concert or the Hakan Akkaya Fall 2019 collection?  That was the question on everyone’s mind as they sat along the U-shaped runway at Spring Studios on Sunday.  The Istanbul based designer presented his 3rd collection as part of NYFW in the cavernous Gallery I.  The massive space was filled to the brim with an audience dressed to impress, perfectly complementing the show-stopping looks that walked.

 Black, White & Metallic Silver, with a small dash of Metallic Pinks thrown in as an accent, made up every look of the collection of a Women’s & Men’s full designer range.  The cameras & phones went a-flutter when the key looks appeared.  The various looks in Black with Silver studs & spikes for Women proved to be audience favorites as did the range of inventive, body-con dresses, some with incredible sleeve and super strong shoulder details.  A range of Black & White, bold-striped faux furs for both Men & Women had every person in the room taking notice. 

 As the finale walk-around commenced, the entire audience shrieked their approval, only to ramp it up even more when designer himself, Hakan Akkaya, walked the entire runway, nearly floating with pride as he blew kisses to his legions of fans, new & old alike.

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Lela Rose Fall 2019 Ready-To-Wear

Lela Rose’s fashion week presentations (and Resort presentations, and bridal presentations) can make your day. It doesn’t matter how stressed out or sleep-deprived you are; you can always expect to feel fairly revived by the good vibes, great music, delicious treats, and even better cocktails at her shows. The waiters at today’s unveiling were passing out greyhounds—i.e., grapefruit and vodka over ice—and it was the first of many puns related to the main event.

The runway was covered in artificial turf, with a low picket fence around the perimeter and a series of pedestals. It was also the first time this reviewer has ever been asked if I was “okay with dogs” before going backstage. We all had an inkling there’d be something particularly cute about this show, of course: The invitation was a blue first-place ribbon with “Roseminster Dog Show” printed in gold. The official Westminster Dog Show happened in New York tonight, as luck would have it, and as a lifelong dog lover, Rose decided to host her own version. Along with a dozen models, she cast a variety of pups—some show dogs and some who are famous, like Riley Bean, an orange Brittany with 33,000 Instagram followers.

If you’ve frequented Rose’s shows, it wasn’t a huge surprise to see beagles mingling with Dalmatian minis backstage. She’s done garden parties, boat parties, and even a “Tribeca takeover” back in June, which was essentially a parade on the streets of downtown New York. If today’s campy setup distracted from the clothes at times—a few pups were too excited to sit still, and Jenna Bush Hager and Robert Verdi were on hand to deliver witty commentary—a closer look revealed some charming touches. Rose’s fellow dog lovers won’t be able to resist the navy dress with canine cameos for buttons, and there was a black-and-ivory “man’s best friend” print illustrated with bulldogs, Yorkshire terriers, and dachshunds. On a long-sleeve silk dress with pearl smocking along the bust, it looked surprisingly elegant, sort of like toile.

Subtler nods were the coats and box-pleated dresses in multicolored “King Charles” plaids. Silhouette-wise, Rose is feeling for higher necklines, longer sleeves, and leaner, more body-conscious silhouettes, like a slim camel wool dress and a cherry-red pouf-sleeve blouse with matching high-rise trousers. That look was part of the “Non-Working Group,” announced by a model holding a giant placard (a funny riff on the categories in a dog show: working, toy, hound, non-sporting, et al). Earlier in the show, there was a “Ladies Who Lunch” group, and the finale looks were “Cocktail Companions.” Told you it was campy! Rose’s customer will shop from all of those groups, but the best-in-show award goes to the knife-pleated midi dresses and column gowns with peaked pearl edges; they were at once vintage and modern.

Source: VogueRunway

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Theory Fall 2019 Menswear

As luxury houses commit anew to tailoring and champion a certain masculine elegance, contemporary brands that tend to traffic in more casual fare face a quandary: to follow suit or not. Theory, a brand with its roots in officewear, back when offices required suiting, would seem to be better positioned than many other labels to succeed in 2019. Indeed, the company’s menswear designer Martin Andersson noted a behind-the-scenes focus on improving fabric quality. It was noticeable in a pair of suits, one black, the other a deep shade of burgundy. He showed layered knits, crewneck on top of mock-neck. The label isn’t giving up on that casual fare entirely.

Design and art world names both relatively unfamiliar and famous were among Andersson’s references for Fall. Faye Toogood’s Roly Poly fiberglass chairs, with their scooped seats and thick legs, seemed to inform his tailoring. A bonded twill duffle coat was cut with rounded kimono sleeves, and an unlined wool jersey blazer was constructed with raw edges. The results in both cases were clean and structured yet yielding—easy to wear. The painters Soulages and Rothko, meanwhile, informed the palette, with its understated emphasis on black layers and varying shades of red. All around, this Theory collection felt in step with the season’s dominant themes and talking points.

Source: VogueRunway

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Palomo Spain Fall 2019 Menswear

Palomo Spain has returned to New York City, with designer Alejandro Gómez Palomo revealing his Fall collection on Manhattan’s West Side early this afternoon. There was a reason, besides his love of Gotham (he showed here circa Fall 2017), for the decision: “This season is called ‘1916,’ ” he said. “It’s about the moment that the Ballet Russes went from Russia to Spain, and Sergei Diaghilev and the Spanish avant-garde got together and created these mixed, unconventional pieces. Ballet has a lot to do with traveling around, going around in a caravan. We carry on with this attitude.”

There’s no arguing that Palomo Spain emits nomadic feedback: Palomo’s group, his tribe, is both dedicatedly fierce and fiercely dedicated. They go where he goes, whether that’s Andalucía or the Big Apple. This inherent tight-knitted-ness, plus his narratives—always strong when it comes to research and personality—are what make this brand so unique. And while the rearview abstraction of Diaghilev in the Iberian Peninsula initially felt a little dated, Palomo was able to entwine in it a modern heat.

That came with an expanded accessories roster (including sharp new slip-on shoes and doctor bags) and new textiles, like nylon. “My take on sportswear, taken into my universe,” said the designer. See: a wide-collared, short-sleeved optic white anorak, cinched at the waist, and styled over a netted dress. Another parka was done in velvet and finished with a massive bow. And yet another was made again in nylon, this time salmon-hued, curving from the shoulders to the hem in what had to have been a wink to Spain’s most famous designer, Cristóbal Balenciaga.

Palomo’s variety here was wide but calibrated; a polka-dot motif, which deteriorated into melted bubbles, shone through with a Pop Art aestheticism, while elsewhere structured and tailored trenches nodded to the original designs of the clothing type conceived by Thomas Burberry. On top of that, there were sequined bodysuits, sheer slip dresses worn over underwear made in collaboration with the Spanish lingerie brand Andres Sarda, and a raven-feathered closing dress duo. The show’s soundtrack switched from orchestral strings to a gritty techno for the finale lap; it was a smart idea, as it placed these clothes, at least spatially, in a more contemporary zone.

If Palomo Spain sometimes feels repetitive, or if it still seems, at times, like too much visual reverie and not enough of an exercise in commercial practicality, it’s a forgivable charge. Palomo should be praised for the message he sings; his casts are always diverse, and they always include openly gay male models (being an out model can still hamper one’s chances at certain jobs). And with the weather vane turning in terms of male dressing—no matter how one identifies or what one’s sexuality is—the distinction of what is the norm will eventually be redefined. But in Palomo’s world, this freedom, this openness, this love—it’s all already deeply entrenched and steeped in irresistible appeal.

SOURCE VogueRunway

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Destination Skypointe Takes Flight in Atlanta

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the busiest airport in the world, came in for a landing just long enough to produce a sleek & glossy print publication. The inaugural issue, which I am honored to be on the cover of and featured in its pages along with my (almost) husband Alex Page, highlights all the wonderfulness that is Atlanta. From dining to shopping and all things to do during your stay, Destination Skypointe delivers first class service all the way.

E. Vincent Martinez + Alex Page

Destination Skypointe will be available at every concourse at the airport starting February 1st, just in time for the Super Bowl! Pick a few copies up during your next travel date OR enjoy the digital version HERE!

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Introducing the All-Black Monsieur de CHANEL Watch

Turning its focus back to its Monsieur de CHANEL watch, Chanel recently unveiled a new all-black take on its flagship watch.

Set to officially launch at Baselworld 2019, the Monsieur de CHANEL Édition Noire features a 42mm matte black ceramic case paired with a matching grained dial. Markings on the dial are raised and done in a silver tone for a classic look.

The watch utilizes Chanel’s proprietary movement developed by independent watchmaker Romain Gauthier, expressed via a 240-degree retrograde minute scale and accompanying hour window. A sapphire window on the steel case back spotlights the Caliber 1 hand-wound movement, which features twin barrels and a 72-hour power reserve.

No official pricing details just yet, but Chanel’s Monsieur de CHANEL Edition Noire watch is set for a 55 unit limited release sometime in September.

SOURCE WATCHES BY SJX

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