Monday, August 16, 2010

Jumpin' on the tabloid bandwagon!

Check this out...  I'm sure you've heard of Steven Slater, the wing-nut flight attendant that told off the unruly passenger on JetBlue, grabbed some beers and slid down the inflatable emergency exit slide.  Who hasn't?  All of last week, in NYC, at least, the story was getting as much press as the Tiger Woods debacle.


On Wednesday, I got a call routed from the Arbitrage office to my cell phone at 6:30 pm.  Nothing unusual here.  But when it announced the caller, I heard "Um, hi, this is Sheila, I'm a reporter fo-" and it cut out.

So anyway, I accept the call and we start talking and she tells me she's a reporter for the AM New York.  She's like "Does the name Steven Slater ring a bell?"

I recount what I remember from the story and she's excited I'm familiar.

I have no idea where this is going, but she's got a fun energy and... whatever.  I wasn't doing anything at the moment anyway so I just let her lead things.

Well, supposedly his dream job is to work in fashion.  She asks if I think he has a chance and what kind of advice I could give to him to help him out.


I tell her how most people that are fashion designers don't actually have formal training in apparel; Tom Ford has an Architecture degree, Kenneth Cole has a Law degree.  You don't need a degree to be in fashion, as the proliferation of celebrity fashion designers proves.  It's so prevalent, it's gotten to be a huge cliché.  I mean JWoww from Jersey Shore just launched her own label, Filthy Couture (actually I think a lot of her dresses are really sexy and it's totally my girlfriend's style, so no hate).


I said, basically, like so many things in the world, the people with a compelling idea or vision hire people with the technical skills to execute their ideas.  So I don't know what kind of unique perspective Steven Slater has, but yeah, I think he could succeed if he has something interesting to contribute to the landscape.

She asks me if he has any personality traits that would help him.  Of course, considering the context, it's a hilariously leading question haha...  Apparently I said, "He's got some spunk, and people in fashion like attitude... I'd rather work with him than a 'yes man.'"  I kind of was going for the idea of him sticking up for himself being a valuable trait.  Click on the image to read the little blurb:


And just because it's the diva-licious world of fashion, for every Naomi Campbell (who was banned from British Airways in 2008 for physically assaulting and spitting on a police officer and a flight attendant over lost baggage at Heathrow Airport), there are a ton of other kind-hearted, emotionally-stable people who are tearing things up as well (in the good way).


So while I appreciate and am entertained by the movie-like plot line of the story, I certainly don't think his temperament is an asset.  But it's such a freakin' hilarious series of events, I almost don't give a hoot.  Whether he goes into fashion or not, he's got options.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

It may not Bryant Park but...

Last night I got invited to show some clothes at the Pearl Studios.  I had no idea what to expect but figured nothing bad could come from it, so, what the heck...

I made my way over to the 8th and 35th and didn't see where the address was so I called the number I stored in my phone of the hostess.

Disconnected.


"Oh my God, really?" I laughed.  After I looked around me, I spotted the address.  I kind of wandered the building for about 10 minutes, then finally saw a computer to use and pulled up my Facebook messages.  I checked the phone number and saw I accidently put the digits in wrong!  So I called her up and she told me the room it was in, 1212.

I go in and NO ONE was there.  So much for "Meet at 6pm sharp for preparation."  It was all good though...

I laughed, sat down at the table in the middle of the room and called my friend Luis, who was coming too.  "On my way," sweet.

After a little bit models, started coming into the room, and I found out they were actually in the hallway seemingly just not wanting to be the first to go in, I guess.

I picked out which outfits went on which guys.  The guy wearing my Poker shirt was supposed to rock a pair of blue wool Arbitrage pants.  They were unhemmed at like 36" and the model's legs looked like a Shar Pei's.


So when Luis got to the studio, like the future master tailor he is, he hemmed them up... with NO pins and using WHITE thread.  Totally flawless looking, too.


Our stuff went on at about 8:45 PM, I think.  The people liked it, it looked pretty good and everyone was having a great time!


Things were kind of delayed and but I got to see some fun designs, listen to to cool music, watch some sweet dance routines and even got to talk to the crowd a bit :)




Here's a few of my favorites from other designers:


Unfortunately, all the flashes I was firing drained my battery so I didn't get pictures of the last designer's stuff or the last rapper.  The last guy to perform came in from The Bronx with a belt dripping in rhinestones (think punk rock but jewels instead of studs and spikes) with his manager (maybe?) in a suit, Gucci belt buckle and Fendi shades.

I'll be straight up, when he started rapping about driving Lamborghinis and it raining money, I thought back to earlier in my day... On my way back from an appointment, I was walking down Park Ave, saw the Ferrari North America showroom and stopped in to do a little dream-building.


In the back, I saw a group of customers in a glass room that they were giving a presentation to...  I imagined the guy rapping, in that meeting, and started grinning and laughing to myself.  I just couldn't see it.  But you gotta picture it in your mind before you have it, right?? I mean, I'm all over the Spyker C8... only 2 years old for $159,990.  By the time I'm 35, a Spyker will be mine.