Ralph Lauren Blog

What’s the next big thing in fashion? Lately, signs are pointing to Africa. For starters, Franca Sozzani dedicated the entire May issue of L’Uomo Vogue to celebrating the continent’s intrinsic allure and creativity. This year’s International Herald Tribune Luxury conference will examine the growing African middle class as an emerging consumer as well as the region’s potential for manufacturing. And last night, Essence editor in chief Constance White led a panel discussion entitled Design Africa, where she and political journalist Chika Oduah held forth with Rogan and Loomstate co-founder Scott Hahn, Suno head of production Nadiyah Bradshaw, and Bantu swimwear designer Yodit Eklund about the future of design on the continent.

The consensus: There’s plenty to be done, but the potential is great. “China did not become China overnight,” Bradshaw said, going on to explain how at Suno, she helps Max Osterweis and Erin Beatty find ethical workshops and factories and effectively create needed job opportunities in places like Kenya. Panelists mused on the potential of African manufacturing and hoped that one day, a “Made in Nigeria” tag would be as highly regarded as a “Made in Italy” or a “Made in France” one.

In the meantime, people like panelist Enyinne Owunwanne (the founder of online African fashion retailer Heritage 1960) are working to promote Africa’s rising design stars. Owunwanne works with promising up-and-coming designers including Jewel By Lisa and The Summit, as well as artisans in South Africa, Nigeria, and Rwanda, which she features on her site. “Until recently, Africa has largely been underserved within the global fashion and design scene, but the continent has always been chock-full of amazingly talented designers and artists,” Owunwanne told Style.com. “It was only a matter of time before the world stage started to give due recognition to the talent stemming from Africa. Diasporan trailblazers such as Duro Olowu and Ozwald Boateng set the stage for an appreciation of African designers. The fashion industry has barely tipped the iceberg with African designers and inspiration coming from the continent, though. There is so much more to discover—this is truly just the beginning!”
—Brittany Adams

Photos: Courtesy of Passion Projects NYC

I like the color and the pockets on this Go Jane version. I also like how it works alone or with a lighweight cardigan or denim jacket. You can wear it jazzed up for evening with a high heel and some jewelry or during the day. It’s the perfect little uniform for hot summer days.

Strapless floral print romper with four pockets and elastic stretch smocking at the neckline and waistline. Finished with a hidden zipper closure at the side. Length of Small romper: 24 inches, Inseam: 2.5 inches, Waist: 22 inches. 100% Rayon. Hand wash cold, hang dry. Imported. $29.40

Go Jane Strapless Floral Print Romper, $29.40

Call this silhouette the hottest thing since leggings. The floral romper is on fire. From Audrina Patridge to Jessica Simpson, all the girls in Hollywood are mad for these light and delicate florals splashed onto a cute summer weight romper.

Buyer beware: not everyone can wear this shape. Make sure you get your proper size and that it doesn’t gather or stretch too tight across the back, the waist. I wish I had long legs, a flat belly and a smaller derriere but the reality is, I don’t. However, what I would opt for in this shape though would be a solid in gauze or cotton.

By Sasha Charnin Morrison for UsMagazine.com. To read more of the Recessionista blog, click here

Photos: Monica Feudi / GoRunway.com (Stella McCartney); Yannis Vlamos / GoRunway.com (Louis Vuitton)

For the full Spring runway analysis, click here.

You wouldn’t know it by looking outside—NYC got another six inches last night—but spring is here. The styles last seen on the runway (remember September, back when it was warm?) are landing in stores now, and, with ease of shopping in mind, we’ve compiled an in-depth report on the trends worth braving the snow for. From prints good enough to eat to a gorgeously glam seventies revival, there’s plenty to fall for. Whether the new mid-calf length warrants a one-night stand or a full-on romance is up to you.

Jo-Ann Furniss reports on the highs and lows of London fashion week’s dedicated menswear day.

Fat Tuesday swiftly followed by Ash Wednesday, excess followed by penance. London fashion week’s MAN Day had the luck to fall on the latter this season. After the heady womenswear week closing on Tuesday, was it the turn of the sackcloth and ashes of menswear for Wednesday? Not quite; there were still some traces of carnival in the first day of Lent, even if at times they looked like the discarded remnants.

Earlier in the week, knit line Sibling’s carnival-referencing women’s collection, Sister, had been presented, alongside a few looks from the men’s—it made their best outing yet. But for the full men’s presentation on MAN Day, the party was over: Designers Joe Bates, Sid Bryan, and Cozette McCreery created an installation (pictured, above) in the form of a prison visiting room with a clever film by Sam Renwick and Thomas Bryant. It was in the shape of a triptych echoing the visiting booths, complete with telephone connections to the sound. “It’s where a matriarch might visit a son. Or vice versa,” Bates said. Yet the clothes were still their bright, excessive selves even behind bars. Called Marked Man, with designs based partly on prison tattoos, there was as much of the matriarch in the collection as there was the jailbird. An institutional bright orange was combined with pink ocelot spots in a men’s twinset. Their signature Fair Isle knits were further warped with the seamless addition of a skull with pompom ears blended into the traditional patterns. (It reflected the pompom-decorated full face masks and beanies also on view.) At once sinister and sweet, carnivalesque and penitential, there was something quite Leigh Bowery and Trojan in these proceedings that felt very true to the spirit of London. At the same time, Sibling’s output is so accomplished as to hold a global audience with ease.

Christopher Shannon’s catwalk was the first thing you noticed at his show. The brilliant backdrop was by the all-round creative and too-many-credits-to-mention Julie Verhoeven. “Creatively, I trust her implicitly,” said Shannon backstage. “I did want that inside of a Hoover bag vibe.” That’s certainly what he got. The set featured old tires, strewn pink net curtains with bricks caught in them, abandoned foil balloons in the shape of love hearts, and the bottom half of a female shop dummy, among other violent after-party detritus. At their best, the clothes and accessories had something of this random perversity, too; a broderie anglaise shirt with a ruffled back, a jacket covered in the designer’s swing tags, and a rucksack decorated with innumerable key rings. “We started excessive and pared back,” said the designer, yet there was maybe a bit too much paring back or, ultimately, the simple color palette of navy, white, sand, and black was a little too conservative or too flat to really help make some of the interesting points he was driving at.

On the other hand, the standout clothes in the MAN show reveled in a particular kind of vulgarity. Shaun Samson also had a restrained color palette and used stock conservative menswear fabrics perversely, such as a coat-length, gray flannel bomber jacket with cropped flannel dungarees. The big silhouette of this Californian’s background helped; big just seems better in menswear shapes at the moment, and the stock slouch of American-style clothes works. As did the play of artificial and real in fur and hair on the garments: “That’s real hair weave on fake fur,” Samson announced proudly. Shaved into the garments were also Mexican tribal-style patterns of faces with protruding tongues, another cheekily vulgar aside that seemed fitting.

Astrid Andersen, too, used a play on bad taste in sportswear to make her point in her show. A vivid fuchsia pink puffa with dark brown fur sleeves, inset with baby pink fur stripes? Quite purposefully horrible clothes—in a good way—such as these might provide a get-out clause from all the trite “gentleman’s wardrobe” fodder that has been dominating menswear. But they do have to toe the line lest they fall into the category of “scally drag,” that other great horror in London menswear.

Finally, to Topman Design (pictured, left). On first sight, this collection might have looked like the most sackcloth and ashes of the lot—dominated as it was by black, black, and more black—and yet underneath was one of the most decadent reference points of all: the life and work of Robert Mapplethorpe. Topman didn’t go as far as men exposing themselves in nylon suits or using strategically placed whips, but this was a quietly perverse collection and very in keeping with the mood now. Mapplethorpe flower print shirts protruded and westernwear boots had that hint of degeneracy. Mohair overcoats added a sensuous feel to the tone-on-tone proceedings and were belted with studded leather. It all added up to an unrepentant Ash Wednesday.
—Jo-Ann Furniss

Photos: Courtesy of Sibling; Samir Hussein / Getty Images (Topman)

Photo: Dominique Charriau / Getty Images

Ever since Diego Della Valle bought the name and the archive of Elsa Schiaparelli’s legendary house, he’s kept his plans for its future mum. But the opening of the Schiaparelli/Prada show at the Met and tonight’s Costume Institute Gala made the timing perfect for a big announcement: Schiaparelli is coming back. (Della Valle was on hand this morning for the exhibition’s press conference.) The revived label has no designer yet attached, but it does have a spokeswoman: Farida Khelfa (pictured), muse to Azzedine Alaïa and Jean Paul Gaultier, who will reportedly wear vintage Schiaparelli to tonight’s gala.

“The idea with Schiaparelli is to propose the brand with all its modernity, and represent dreams, art, and all the most sophisticated things we can do,” says Della Valle. “This brand doesn’t have to get involved in the frenetic world of numbers, accounts, and dimensions, but it just has to express itself at its best. The heart of this project will be the Parisian maison in Place Vendôme, in the original location where the first atelier was.” Issuing from that atelier will be “accessories, fragrances, and cosmetics, along with some clothing” beginning February. Rumors that John Galliano would helm the label were denied by his spokesperson as well as one for Tod’s Group, Della Valle’s company. The designer is expected to be announced in October in Paris.

Eddie Borgo may be showing his Fall 2012 jewelry collection in Paris this week, but the downtown designer is in a perpetual New York state of mind. As are his baubles, which, this season, were inspired by Gotham’s underground metropolis. “There’s this subterranean landscape beneath major cities like New York, from subways to waterways to sewage tunnels. It’s almost the real skeleton of every major metropolis,” Borgo tells Style.com. After studying these intricate systems, the designer turned out a sophisticated range of gold and gunmetal accessories that balance literal translations of his influences with strong, fluid lines and sharp geometry. NYC’s industrial underground appears on a cuff finished with a textured gunmetal plate that resembles a manhole, bracelets garnished with lava rock (which the designer intended to mimic asphalt), screw and mallet earrings, and a necklace crafted to look like a spouting pair of drainpipes.

Borgo notes that this is his most technically complicated collection to date, which is apparent in the assembly of both his Mainline bangle, a sewage pipe-inspired piece that’s fused together with hand-cut pavé crystal rings, and his Expansion Joint cuff (pictured), a mammoth piece of hardware that, bound with rows of raw nuts and bolts, looks as though it was pulled right out of New York’s netherworld.

“Grates, sewage pipes, joint connectors, and coils may be familiar to our eyes but there’s a way to make these sculptural things that are such a part of our daily lives beautiful,” says Borgo, who revealed that he plans to take a tour of New York’s subterrestrial maze when he returns next week. Of course, a bit of bling always helps, too. Nevertheless Borgo succeeds in making the mundane, and even the ugly, into covetable pieces of hardware.
—Katharine K. Zarrella

Photo: Courtesy of Eddie Borgo

Thankfully, Old Navy steps in and has made the celeb staple available in 12 colors, including blue moon, purple velvet, blink pink and urban dwelling grey — that are perfect to coordinate with every look in your summer wardrobe while still allowing you to have some change left to purchase a slushie.

Old Navy’s Women’s fringed gauze scarf measures approximately 72″L x 23 1/2″W with 3″ fringed ends. 100% rayon.

You can thank the myriad of celebrities whose only shot of color and texture in their day-to-day looks come from wrapping an oversized scarf around a neutral tee and destroyed denim. But sometimes the prices of a yard of fabric around their necks come at a step price.

Scarves have really come into their own this year.

Purchase info: Buy it here.

This post has been corrected. See note at the bottom for details.

Paul Li is a Bay Area doctor whose show business experience is mostly limited to visiting the multiplex. Yet Li, through the website Kickstarter, managed to help underwrite the coming theatrical release of the Chinese adoption documentary “Somewhere Between.”

Li joined with about 1,400 other donors to raise more than $100,000 to finance “Somewhere Between's” U.S. distribution. “It really struck a very emotionally resonant chord,” said Li, who with his wife is raising an adopted Chinese-born daughter. “It really connected with me on a personal level.”

Increasingly, outfits such as Kickstarter and its chief rival, Indiegogo, are helping ultra-low-budget productions make their way into movie theaters.

Looking to raise money to finance a movie's production or distribution, a filmmaker will take his or her project to the Internet, pitching not only its premise but also a specific fundraising goal and deadline. There's no chance that the donors will make any monetary return on their gifts, but they can receive plenty of perks — from free DVDs to invitations to movie premieres — to encourage contributions.

“The kind of art and culture that we like are things that tend to be more on the margins and aren't easily funded,” said Kickstarter co-founder Yancey Strickler. “Normally, people put money into things because they're gonna make money and that's a primary motivation. But the kinds of things that we like … they just want to exist and to be heard.”

It's called crowd-funding — the fundraising campaigns usually entail hundreds of small contributions rather than a handful of large gifts — and Kickstarter and Indiegogo are being used to finance all manner of creative endeavors, but they are particularly addressing a perilous bottleneck in the independent film world.

Last year, 469 independent films were released theatrically, a huge increase from 2002's total of 270 titles. The most prominent art house distributors — companies such as Fox Searchlight and Sony Pictures Classics — typically handle only a dozen or so movies a year each. Although million-dollar sales deals generate film festival headlines, the vast majority of movies receive puny distribution offers (or none at all), leaving their backers swimming in red ink with little chance at breaking even.

After premiering at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, “On the Ice” received good reviews and a couple of distribution nibbles, but none that would cover more than a fraction of the Alaskan coming-of-age drama's $1-million budget.

So, the film's makers decided to fund their own distribution and turned to Kickstarter to raise $80,000. The campaign succeeded, and “On the Ice” rolled into a handful of theaters this February, where it has grossed more than $70,000 to date. While those sales still leave “On the Ice” well short of making a profit, the theatrical release should boost DVD sales.

“The Kickstarter money allowed us to hire a public relations firm, to make a trailer, to have posters — all the things you need to do to put your movies into theaters,” said Lynette Howell, one of the film's producers. “And it's still in theaters. It just keeps going.”

Kickstarter campaigns must reach their funding goal by a deadline set by the project's creators, or all funds go back to donors. On Indiegogo, filmmakers who come up short can return funds to donors or pay a 9% fee to keep the balance. For projects that reach their goals, Indiegogo charges a 4% fee, while Kickstarter levies a 5% charge. Furthermore, Kickstarter accepts donations from all around the world,  but the recipient of any donation must have a U.S. bank account.

Linda Goldstein Knowlton, the director and producer of “Somewhere Between,” said she wasn't sure her $800,000 film should try for a theatrical release until it started winning festival prizes, including the people's choice award at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. “It's really hard to distribute a documentary theatrically if you're not Michael Moore,” she said. “But the response to the film was beyond our dreams. It plays well with a crowd.”

All the same, the reaction from potential distributors was muted. “Even without seeing it, they feel it's a very niche thing,” Goldstein Knowlton said.

Photo: Billy Farrell / BFAnyc.com

There was plenty of Chanel on hand at last night’s Tribeca Film Festival dinner, sponsored by Lagerfeld’s label. But among the star-studded guests, we couldn’t take our eyes off of Vanessa Traina, wearing Spring ‘11 Celine. The newly minted designer/muse (of French label Maje) arrived on the arm of her mother, Danielle Steel, wearing a full runway look. The woven vest, which Nicole Phelps picked out as one of the strongest pieces in the entire Spring collection, and Phoebe Philo’s commitment to artisanal work, isn’t cheap, but neither is looking good—if you want to look good in silks hand-woven by an elderly Frenchwoman. And if Traina gets bored of the vest and wants to trade, she’s only got to call up Kanye.

—Matthew Schneier

With his Spring ‘09 menswear collection, Alexander McQueen helped kick-start a trend for skulls and skeletons. (Ed Hardy and Christian Audigier kept skulls top of mind for those tracking a different fashion demographic.) And then, as with all gluts, it seemed that the moment had passed—we’d seen just one memento mori too many. Who needed to be reminded, after all?

But it looks like we called it too early. Bones are back, baby—and not just on scrawny models. (Hold the jokes and the harangues, please.) At the Couture shows, Riccardo Tisci was thinking of “a romantic way to see death”—hence the bone-shaped zipper pulls, the skeletal jewelry, a tiny skull nestled in the back of a satin jacket (left; check out our slideshow for a closer look). Jean Paul Gaultier was on the same page. He spoke of a bare-bones approach to couture, and then, the final look: Dita Von Teese in a barely-there corset resembling nothing so much as a glittering ribcage. For a gala of ghouls, you could pair it with Dsquared²’s spinal-column heels from Fall ‘10—or, for a little more coverage, one of the skull instarsia knits from Lucien Pellat-Finet, whom you might call the elder statesman of the trend. He’s been playing with skulls for more than a decade.

At her Paris men’s shows, Rei Kawakubo dedicated nearly her entire collection for Comme des Garçons to the theme. Skull-laden lads (with heads painted to suggest the craniums beneath) wore suits, shirts, shoes, and even dresses printed with the motif. And from the arena of pop—literally—Lady Gaga had her finger on the (undead) pulse last night for her first-ever show at Madison Square Garden. She donned a bone-fingered glove during one of her many costume changes.

Skeletons—back into the closet? Click here for our slideshow of bony looks.

Photo: Courtesy of Givenchy