Newbark:
Sister design duo Maryam and Marjan Malakpour are no strangers to the world of rock ’n’ roll, having styled the Stones in the Nineties. This season, they channeled a different type of rocker: the Sixties and Seventies French rock star variety. They introduced a studded Chelsea boot this season and, shown here, mod updates of their classic loafers.
M2Malletier:
Designers Melissa Losada and Marcela Velez have refined their signature hardware for fall, adding a slimmer double bar to the top handle as well as introducing the oversize push, which fast becoming a wardrobe staple.
Edie Parker:
Brett Heyman celebrated all things Art Deco, a favorite house reference for her Edie Parker handbag collection. Heyman looked to the designs of master jeweler Suzanne Belperron and the jeweled Deco-era compacts she created, adding fun “gemstones” and a new wide strap to her signature Lucite bags.
Gemfields, the mining company, wants to ensure the fashion business shares its love of color, so this season it joined the roster of New York Fashion Week sponsors for the first time. To mark the occasion, the company enlisted a group of jewelers to create a collection that builds upon its current product, exclusive to Bergdorf Goodman. With rubies as the theme, designers Kimberly McDonald and Stephen Webster offered their takes on the red gem just in time for Valentine’s Day.
Chloe Gosselin has expanded her collection to include this chunky heel boot, shown among watercolor paintings of the line, which were created by an artist during the presentation.
Chloe Gosselin has taken to Instagram with #inbedwithheels, implying that wearing shoes all around the house is a sign of personal empowerment, not seduction. Gosselin re-created the mood at her presentation Sunday in Chelsea.
Paul Andrew continued to work his pre-fall Turkish-influence in the fall lineup he showed Saturday. Here, an open-cut bootie takes its cues from beading on an Ottoman Empire-style pillow.
Paul Andrew, seen here with Caroline Issa, discusses the Turkish tulip and flag as inspiration for these open-toe booties, just right to wear at the end of the summer when fall deliveries hit retailers.
Columbia-based handbag line Hunting Season got a jump-start on fashion week with a breakfast hosted by founder Danielle Corona, previewing her new collection at Café Clover Monday. She introduced a new shape — a saddle bag that stands on its own in all crocodile and a suede-croc combo — in keeping with the brand’s ethos of a more youthful take on exotics.
Brazilian jeweler Ara Vartanian hosted a cocktail party Monday night at the Mercer Hotel to introduce his latest collection of one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces. Highlights included a torque-style choker in 18-karat white gold and diamond flanked by two stunning tanzanites; a large emerald and black diamond double pendant, and a gold cuff with rubies, black diamond with kunzite center stone. All will be showcased in his new Mayfair boutique opening in London this May.
Referencing the famous Seven Sisters of the constellation Pleiades, the Lulu Frost presentation showed models adorned in designer Lisa Salazer’s Frequency collection, such as the gold-tone group with labroradite, sapphire, peridot and moonstones worked in a twisted ribbon shape. The models donned tights with hand-embroidered crystals in the shapes of constellations.
Lisa Salazer of Lulu Frost explored the universe for her latest collection, called “Frequency.” Not only did she reference constellations, but also the equipment and machinery used in orbit, such as space stations, radio towers and beacons, like this pavé crystal group, reminiscent of satellite solar panels.
The color and textures of a fairy-tale forest, home to damsels in distress, was the thought behind Jill Haber’s fall collection. Who needs a prince, though, when you can fend off dragons with a fierce bag — suede and furs, patchwork exotics, felt-embroidered paisleys and even a magic mirror detail adorned her rich bags, which built upon shapes introduced for spring while adding a new tote shape.
There’s a lot of buzz around Brother Vellies designer Aurora James, whose African-sourced and made collections champion sustainability and employing native craftsmen. For fall, Ethiopia and the body art of indigenous women were a source of subtle reference for the collection, which focused on boots — especially granny and over-the-knee styles in suede and Springbox, a fur by-product — as well as a boxy shoulder bag.
Demonstrating her no-waste approach, Aurora James commissioned this one-of-a-kind fur poncho that also utilized leftover shoelaces from previous production. She intends to sell it in her Brother Vellies flagship. The presentation also hosted a bevy of live butterflies flown in from Michigan by a handler — some of which were visibly struggling with flight, an interesting choice for the environmentally focused designer.