After the Versace Spring 2010 show I went backstage to speak to Donatella Versace.

She was very happy and excited about her presentation.

It was the same kind of excitement I would expect to see from someone presenting their first collection, so it was great to see that enthusiasm for what you are passionate for never dies.

I was dying to know what was her inspiration behind the collection and the reason why she always modifies her runway pieces when she wears then.

“My body is not a models body, I like to dress for my body.” Which I had always assumed.

Donatella told me that for her Spring 2010 collection she was inspired by Tim Burton’s upcoming film version of Alice in Wonderland.

“I loved the colours, the patterns. It’s how I see Alice in the Versace world, with the fairytale and the prince.”

“I used all the Versace elegance in a modern way, and tried to evoke emotion, because passion is love.”

Later on that evening I was invited to the Versace after show party which was held at the Versace residence.

It was there I saw Janet Jackson with Jermaine Dupri -yes I guess they are back together- and my other heroine Pat MCGrath who is such a sweet person.

Click here to see some pictures from the party.

Credit: Style.com

After the Antonio Berardi Spring 2010 presentation I went backstage to meet the designer.

He seemed very relaxed sipping on his Peroni beer as he was interviewed by several people before me.

In between interviews many people would give him a congratulatory hugs and kisses.

There were many kids backstage, who I guessed were family. These wide-eyed kids were totally in awe of Berardi, it was very touching to see.

Maybe he has inspired them to be designers of the future.

It’s obvious the type of woman Berardi designs for, but I wanted to hear him describe ‘her’ in his own words.

“She’s sexy and sensual and she’s feminine and at the same time she wears the pants.”

“I come from a Sicilian background and the women are ultra feminine, but at the same time they are strong. I like strong women, I like women who are in control. I like women with power and sense of humour and a sense of themselves.”

For this collection Berardi started off looking at underwear, and under dressing. He had an idea that if it was nude, it would be three dimensional as he wanted the pieces to feel exquisite, but at the same time he wanted the collection to still feel powerful.

As a result the tailoring is much stronger.

With regards to showing in London next season Berardi is unsure, as his return to London was very much a last minute decision and only possible with the help of Peroni.

Berardi gave thanks to the British Fashion Council for inviting him to show in London, the British press and celebrities wearing his clothes who he said, “let the world know I exist.”

With regards to Megan Fox wearing two of his pieces back to back he said, “I love her because she is the new Angelina. She’s hot, she’s strong and she’s sexy and I like that.”

Credit: Style.com & Wireimage

Backstage at the Brian Reyes Spring 2010 presentation I introduced myself to Becki Newton.

Her eyes widen as she asked “You’re the one who shows everyone one the red carpet That’s you? Oh my god.”

I started to search through my memory bank wondering if I had said anything bad about Becki, but I assured myself that I hadn’t and she continued, “Oh my god, you do such a great job.”

She introduced me to her stylist Annie, who also works at Elle, as Becki informed me that she introduced Annie to my blog. Annie told me that everyone in her office reads my blog.

Wow. My mind was blown. It was a real OMG moment.

Becki had said to Annie that my blog is a good way of tracking what everyone else is wearing.

Just when I thought she couldn’t compliment me anymore Becki said, “We love you. Do you understand that it’s the go to reference, you do an absolutely great job.”

“It’s dignified, but it still has humour which I really like because it’s funny, you don’t take it too seriously.”

With a twinkle in her eye she said, “Even when you’re not feeling it, you’re usually right…even when it’s me, so great job.

Read more…

A few weeks ago, I interviewed Mr Elie Saab.

It’s stunning Couture gowns, like the ones he creates, which inspired me to start this blog.

The Lebanese designer most recently dressed Robin Wright Penn and Elsa Pataky for Cannes Film Festival, and continues to dress some of the most glamourous women in the world.

How would you describe the ‘Elie Saab’ Woman?
Elegant and glamorous.

What are your basic design principles?
To get the right cut of dress in order to highlight the woman’s figure at best, the woman should wear the dress and not the dress wears her.

Where do you seek inspiration?
It depends, anywhere I feel it, it could be a trip I make, an era in time, a movie..really anything can inspire me.

Do you have a muse?
Always the woman, an elegant woman with character.

Read more…

When I was invited by Net-A-Porter to view Jason Wu’s Fall 2009 collection, I was honoured to have a one-on-one with the 26 year old designer.

As I introduced myself, Jason told me that he loved my blog. Surely he doesn’t have time to read blogs, when he’s dressing the First Lady, and producing collections.

He told me that a friend had forwarded the link of Katie Holmes wearing his Fall 2009 strapless dress, after he had trouble finding a full-length picture.

I was curious to know what had inspired Jason’s Fall 2009 collection. “Arthur Rackham; (think Alice in Wonderland and Tinkerbell) this is because his illustrations were very whimsical and fairytale like, yet mature and diverse”.

After Jason’s Fall 2009 presentation, some journalists had said Jason was deliberately moving away from his uptown aesthetic. “It wasn’t deliberate,” he said “but a natural progression. As I grow as a designer, so do my collections. If I kept to the same formula, I wouldn’t be challenging myself as a designer. But I’m a girlie girl designer, that will never change.”

I asked Jason which season he prefers to design for. “I find myself producing collections that are almost seasonless. When my Fall 2009 collection arrives at Net-A-Porter in August, customers will want to wear the clothes now. So I’m mindful of this when I design, producing pieces in a mix of fabrics.”

When I asked Jason who was his muse, I was expecting him to say an actress or old Hollywood legend, but he said “Chanel Iman. She’ such a sweetheart. She’s very elegant and tall. I also love Jourdan Dunn, and Karlie Kloss”.

With celebrities forming alliances with designers, I asked him how he felt about giving/loaning celebrities his clothes. “When it’s right, it’s right. I don’t feel the need to do this in order to promote the brand. Once a celebrity is loaned a dress, that dress will not be loaned out to anyone else”.

So we shouldn’t expect to see any celebs on my Who Wore It Better? polls I asked him. “Not unless the other person has brought it,” he laughed.

I didn’t want to spend the whole interview talking about Michelle Obama, but I had to get one question in, so I asked him how felt when he saw Michelle wearing his dress at the inauguration ball.

“I was amazed and awestruck. I had no idea. I found out with everyone else. It was the same with the Vogue cover.”

“She’s an amazing woman, and it’s fantastic that she’s the first First Lady to have supported new designers the way she does.”

The floor-length, one-of-a-kind ivory silk chiffon dress with organza flowers and Swarovski crystal rhinestones, is at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. Jason has no plans to recreate the dress.

Jason Wu is now available on Net-A-Porter.com, but this is a partnership that had been in the works for a while. Net-A-Porter.com is known for adding new designers to their roster of international brands often, so they aren’t trying to jump on any bandwagon.

Check out Jason Wu’s current collection at Net-A-Porter.com.

Source & Source

Eric Daman has a great job as the costume stylist for the cast of Gossip Girl.

Everything you see on Gossip Girl cast and in candids on my blog, has been hand-picked by Eric.

Eric has worked as a buyer at Magic Circle, a high-end Parisian boutique. Modeled for Calvin Klein in a campaign shot by Steven Meisel. Appeared in editorials for magazines such as The Face, Visionnaire, Spin and Rolling Stone.

It was a chance meeting with stylist Patricia Field that saw him hired to assist her on the set of Sex and the City. Together, they won an Emmy Award for their work on the show and Daman has been in demand since.

Here is his interview with online fashion magazine WWD.

WWD: When you are dressing the characters for the show, do you think it’s more important to make their looks approachable or aspirational?

Eric Daman: It should be a little bit of both, really. I always make sure I mix some of the higher-end looks with something from a less expensive brand. I use stuff from Forever 21 and H&M all the time. I always want to make kids feel like they can look at what the characters are wearing and they can afford to go out and buy something for themselves. I strive to inspire the watchers, but it’s also important to have fun with clothing. Clothing can be fun and glamorous without making you feel alienated — that’s what I want to get across. You will always see someone wearing a $5,000 dress with a pair of Nine West shoes. That is how people dress today anyway — they are always mixing high and low.

WWD: Do the actors have a say in how their characters dress?

Eric Daman: Of course they do; I’m not a fashion Nazi or anything. Blake [Lively] and Leighton [Meester] love to give their input, but they understand that I am there to help them create and develop their characters. I think they all have a lot of trust in me, but they all do give their opinions.

WWD: How have you seen their individual styles develop over the past year?

Eric Daman: It’s funny because they came into this as these fashion-naïve kids from L.A. who moved to New York in order to portray these true New Yorkers. In the beginning I wasn’t sure how it was going to go, but they caught on so quickly. They are like New Yorkers now — real, fashionable New Yorkers.

WWD: Have you ever thought of doing your own apparel line?

Eric Daman: Yes. I’ve thought about this a lot, actually. I would want to do a mass line, like something for Kohl’s, Target, Charlotte Russe — something along those lines. Then I would like to do a higher-end, capsule collection for a store like Bendel’s or Barneys. Again, it’s all about accessible fashion and mixing it up.

WWD: Is the Henri Bendel window the first one you’ve done?

Eric Daman: No, I actually did the Neiman Marcus windows in Los Angeles when I was working on “Sex and the City.” It was a similar concept, but that was L.A., this is better because it’s New York.

WWD: How did you come up with the ideas for the “Gossip Girl” window at Henri Bendel?

Eric Daman: It really wasn’t much different than when I shop the store for the show, which I do a lot. For the window, I met with Ann [Watson, Bendel’s fashion director], and we walked through to see what we can use in order to transform the mannequins into the four girls from the show. Then I came up with this idea to flank the mannequins with the New York skyline in the background, red brick walls and text phrases and symbols that teens use today. So stuck on the window, you will see something like “U KNO U LOVE ME”

WWD: Why text phrases?

Eric Daman: It just makes the look more teen. It’s mind boggling to see how kids use technology these days. Kids actually have texting relationships and it’s become this whole new language between them. When I was a kid, I used to watch TV on the television set. Today, kids are actually downloading episodes of the show and watching them on their iPods on their way to school. They don’t have the time to watch them when they air, they are too busy on MySpace and Facebook.

WWD: Who is your favorite character to dress?

Eric Daman: I love dressing Chuck Bass (played by Ed Westwick). I think we’ve worked to make his character dress really well. I want to try and pioneer a movement where straight men dress better. Girls do it, so now it’s time for the guys to step up and get rid of those ugly T-shirts and square-toe shoes.

Gossip Girl Season 2 starts in the US tonight.

Source

They asked me many questions like:

You can ID almost every dress celebs wear. How can you do that?

What is the most popular brand, celebs are wearing this season on the red carpet?

If you were given a chance to step on the red carpet, what designer’s dress would you choose?

It was great fun to do, and even better to see the it on Fashion Time Magazine’s website which you can read here.