True to his core aesthetic, the Rick Owens store on Hudson Street in
Soho was not at all a surprise. With chalk white walls, a very high
ceiling, floor to ceiling mirrors and intermittent instrumental music,
the store resembled what one would imagine to be Rick’s wardrobe. The
day of my trip being a “snow day”, the store was bare of customers and
the stark contrast between the Soho vibe and the store wasn’t evident. The store’s décor included a white table/platform with an exclusive
coffee table book of Rick’s interviews and another larger white centre
table/platform showcasing gothic inspired skull and bone pieces.

While the clothes were neatly hung on elevated movable racks (to
emphasize the silhouette of the clothes), the shoes were displayed on a
pyramidal staircase next to the main window. The collection on display
was the Spring/Summer 2010 collection, however, not all the merchandise
from the collection had arrived. On comparison from the runway show in
Paris, it was evident that while the more familiar Rick Owens pieces
like the Jersey separates, leather jackets and drop crotch pants/shorts
had arrived, the newly introduced pieces like the patch denim jackets,
sheer tops and trench coats were still missing. Most of the merchandise
was made in Italy and the prices ranged from $245 for trademark slouchy
men’s top to $2900 for a biker style leather jacket. The quality of the
fabric was evident in its drape, silhouette and suppleness of the
leather products. My favourite pieces certainly were the re-shaped and
re-introduced cape, the drop crotch pants and the beige tops. Another
interesting men’s piece that was available in multiple fabrics and
colours was a shorter version of the Marc Jacobs kilt (I refuse to call
it a mini skirt), which was seen worn over the drop crotch pants in some
of his presentations. Lastly, the colour palette only extended to beige
and maybe some shades of blue in denim over the standard Rick Owens
white and black (of which there were multiple shades).

However, the most interesting fact was the absence of mannequins in the
store. There were no typical window displays and absolutely no
mannequins anywhere in the store.

Also, any form of photo or note taking in the store was strictly disallowed and enforced by the Rick
Owens-esque staff.

In summary, despite the fact that my purple scarf and tan gloves were
the most colour in the store, I would have to agree with New York
Magazine on the store being more contemporary and sleek rather than
gothic.

-Agyesh

"Now, that seems like a big claim for a magazine only 22 issues old", I
thought. Having seen the current cover of Gisele Bundchen in an
Alexander Wang creation online, I feared the worst, as it only seemed as
far away from independent and original as possible.

I procured the magazine from Universal News, some wine from Trader Joe’s
and decided to give it one hour of my undivided attention. The first
segment had me on the fence again, as they tried an informal parody of a
particular Anna and Co. incident from The September Issue. The casual
writing failed to impress, however, I certainly admired the research and
careful attention to detail.

Now, like any fashion geek, I can safely say that I am magazine junky.
However, I only subscribe to a magazine if it fulfills two of the
following three criteria.
- It has inspirational or extremely well executed editorials.
- It showcases some exceptional and inspirational writing.
- It is a great source of accurate information or some extremely unique
content.
So far, DANSK had missed its mark on the writing, the editorials looked
average on first glance and I was pretty sure that DANSK was going to
miss the mark on the MAPS* exam.

The next major segment was an ode to Rick Owens, with a small
introduction and an interview. The introduction was short, to the point
and as elegant as one of Rick Owens' creations. The interview too
comprised of thoughtful and unique questions and had me yearning for
more. Although, the piece opened with an open disclaimer of a bias
towards Rick, it ended interestingly with Rick Owens' thoughts on
Michael Jackson's style legacy.

This ended up being the perfect set up for the segment to follow, which
was a tribute to the man himself: Michael Jackson. An extremely well
researched, informative article that for once did justice to the genius
that was and will always be, Michael Jackson. Accompanied by an image
from his 1994 HIStory teaser shoot, this article had me going through my
old youtube favorites and bookmarks on Michael Jackson.

It turned out to be the peak of this issue of DANSK as what followed was a
series of editorials, most nondescript. The only editorial that I really
loved was titled Men At Work as it juxtaposed elements of contemporary
men's sophisticated work wear silhouettes over an old-school office
environment. It reminded me of the Thom Browne’s Pitti Uomo presentation
and is certainly going into my favorites. (Images Below)

On the whole the issue maintained a dark, grayscale and edgy aesthetic,
which may be because of the Rick Owens influence or their interpretation
of A/W 2009. Another interesting feature of their core aesthetic was the
lack of text/blurbs on the cover or the back of the magazine.

All in all, it is an easy read with some very interesting segments and
I believe that I would certainly browse through and maybe buy the next
issue, before declaring their MAPS result.

*Make Agyesh Pay for a Subscription

 

-Agyesh

Looking through my inspirational pictures for my personal page and past
pictures I’ve taken on trend spotting assignments, I have noticed my
fondness for studs, leather, boots, and black. For our final assignment
I decided to seek out rockers around the city. The original plan was to
go throughout the week and take a picture whenever I found someone
fitting the Rock N Roll theme. However, the first neighborhood I went
to, SOHO, was like a beautiful band of Rock n Roll. I was so pleasantly
surprised because I had a difficult time finding trends when we had our
SOHO assignment. Also great was that my rockers were everywhere
Starbucks to boot. Some of the pictures I especially like – one girl was
wearing a large silver metallic belt she got from Argentina, a boy who
made flannel rock and roll, and a girl wearing a short too-too (sp?)
skirt that looked very Rihanna. I also found that even the stores were
rock and roll – now Channel to boot. Its windows displayed pumps adorned
with metal and a wonderful chain woven necklace. Finally, we have seen
the killer Balmain military jacket on celebs and the Sartorialist, and
at Intermix SOHO it rocker cousin sat, white leather and studs in all
its glory.

  An impressive venue for world-class collections and a true landmark for shoe lovers.’ Let’s count the ways how: There is a VIP room for private shopping. There are refreshments. There is an expert shoe repair and refurbishing service on hand. There are instant updates on shoe inventories through state of the art computer terminals, and best of all, there are wonderful, exquisite, beautiful shoes everywhere.  I think I know what my next address and new home will be. Please send all correspondence to Shoesense, Saks Fifth Avenue, NY, 10022-SHOE. Because there is no place like home :)

by Joie Reinstein
 
Meels (aka Men in heels)
 
I cannot take credit for this label, someone in the blogosphere already
cleverly coined it. The trend is all about men integrating heels into
their outfits in a sexy, quirky way. It is by no means akin to wearing
drag. After all, high heels were popular with both women AND men in the
French court during the 16th century. This further justifies my
suspicion that we will see men continue to gravite towards more
colorful, exuberant and daring fashions in the not so far future. Marc
Jacobs, never a shrinking violet, has added to his collection of man
skirts a set of meels. The pair he is seen sporting in the picture
actually are men shoes but with higher than usual heels.
 
Breakfast Wear
 
I really have no explanation for this trend other than that there is a
graphic and color appeal of wearing fried eggs on your outfit. Yellow
seems to becoming more and more prominent and this is a fun way of using
this color. Could it also be because an egg has symbolic value: new
beginnings... a new day, new breakfast? I don't know, but Agatha Ruiz de
la Prada felt it even deserved a baguette (excellent for Oeufs à la
Coque).
 
Marbleized
 
This trend is slowly but surely creeping in. It's funny because no one
would have thought that tie dye effects could be high fashion, but new
techniques are creating beautifully engineered, sophisticated marbleized
patterns. These are being produced with actual tie dye, special ink jet
printers that can give intricate effects on textile (see Michael Kors
dress) or acid washes on jeans. I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot
of this this summer, but the style is such that it can be carried into
fall as they make nice accent pieces that are easily integrated into a
wardrobe.

With the freedom to report on our favorite trend spotting method and
"hot spot", I quickly turned to my personal network. I always love
looking at runway shows and “the innovators” spotted on the street for
inspiration. But like most people, I frequently look to my friends and
various reference groups to see what they are wearing. I am constantly
inspired by my friends…in fashion and in life. Though many of them are
not working in fashion or perhaps even setting new trends, they have a
great sense of style that expresses a part of their personality. Thus,
I carefully selected three friends, talked them about their tastes and
created a profile for each “real” girl and their stylish ways! From
photos I have taken to those pulled off their Facebook page, Hannah,
Laura and Abbey are worth checking out!

 Profile #1: Hannah
Occupation: Fashion Design Student at Parsons
Interests: Cheap food, painting, knitting, “boys named Tom”
Shops: Vintage stores in Brooklyn and the East Village
Look: Very vintage and ‘grandma chic’

 Profile #2: Laura
Occupation: Interior Architect
Interests: Art + Design + Pinkberry + Travel
Shops: “I want everything in Urban Outfitters”
Look: fun and playful with layers and bold punches of color

 Profile #3: Abbey
Occupation: Currently in Culinary School
Interest: cooking (obviously), making jewelry, old classic films
Shops: Usually department stores or small specialty boutiques
Look: “My look is a bit girlie-girl but with a modern sensibility. Soft
and clean.”

Anna Castro
May 7, 2009
 
The Mac is Back...
 
It’s been a rainy spring week for the whole of NY since the weekend. And
I have discovered now that it is difficult to spot trends when it’s
raining because everybody pretty much wears the same thing…rain boots,
toting an umbrella, large tote bags so that their gorgeous designer bags
don’t get wet and lastly..the raincoat! More specifically, the mac or
trench coat – the ladies don’t want their outfits to get wet! I saw
several in the safest of shades – navy, black and the popular beige
mac/trench coat. There were some girls who wanted that pop of color so I
saw some green, yellow and even red ones. But the most popular shades
for the trench coat were the beige ones, as seen in the picture that I
have attached of ladies walking all around the city in this rainy
Manhattan weather.