ART AND FASHION: Brian Wolk and Claude Morais of Ruffian have figured out a way around the current sluggish retail environment: make your collection look like a bargain by juxtaposing it with expensive antiques. The duo have set up a booth at the Park Avenue Armory as part of the Westchester Enterprises New York Art and Design Fair, and their fall collection is selling like hotcakes. "We don't have any price resistance," said Morais at a luncheon he and Wolk hosted on Friday. "The paintings here sell for $160,000." In contrast, a Ruffian coat is a mere $2,995.
The only drawback of not being in an actual store is the lack of changing rooms — as lunch guest Poppy de Villeneuve found out. The brave fashion fan resorted to hiding behind the booth to change from her street clothes into a printed Ruffian dress before sitting down to eat.
A GOOD CAUSE: Style.com's party to celebrate Laird Borrelli-Persson's book "Fashion Illustrations by Fashion Designers" last Thursday also served as a kickoff of sorts. On Friday, eBay started an online auction of 10 illustrations from the book, including ones from Christian Lacroix, Doo.Ri, 3.1 Phillip Lim, Badgley Mischka, Isaac Mizrahi, Peter Som, Betsey Johnson, Giambattista Valli, Sonia Rykiel and Rodarte. All proceeds from the auction, which will go through April 18, will benefit the Council of Fashion Designers of America's Fashion Targets Breast Cancer initiative.
RUNNING FAST: Having just celebrated their 10-year anniversary, it's turning out to be an eventful year for DDC Lab's Savania Davies-Keiller and Roberto Crivello. The New York-based duo opened the doors to their Melrose Heights shop recently to present their latest collection, full of skinny stretch leathers and nubby wool knits trimmed with vintage ribbons from Rajasthan. Also on display was their newest footwear collaboration with New Balance called NB, part of which will debut at retail in their new 3,000-square-foot SoHo store, set to open in early August.
OH, OSCAR: It seems that when winning Hollywood's top prize, actresses should start thanking Chopard in addition to their laundry list of agents, producers, directors and family. The jewelry firm, which has dressed either a best actress or best supporting actress every consecutive year since 2004, is showing off its Oscar gems in its Madison Avenue windows this week. Blow-ups of the actresses on their winning nights accompany a selection of impressive jewelry, which each of them wore. Helen Mirren's $4 million, 62-carat cognac diamond brooch is on display. She wore the brooch to accept the Oscar for "The Queen," while Marion Cotillard's $2.6 million champagne diamond briolette pendant is on display, still warm from her win for best actress in "La Vie En Rose" last month. "We always have requests after a big red-carpet season and Chopard was certainly successful in that aspect this year," said Marc Hruschka, president and chief executive officer of Chopard USA. "Dressing celebrities certainly has an indirect effect on sales, through the increase of brand awareness overall combined with the exposure of our unique and special creations." Hruschka declined to divulge exactly what has been sold, but confirmed that the interest to buy was there.
The only drawback of not being in an actual store is the lack of changing rooms — as lunch guest Poppy de Villeneuve found out. The brave fashion fan resorted to hiding behind the booth to change from her street clothes into a printed Ruffian dress before sitting down to eat.
A GOOD CAUSE: Style.com's party to celebrate Laird Borrelli-Persson's book "Fashion Illustrations by Fashion Designers" last Thursday also served as a kickoff of sorts. On Friday, eBay started an online auction of 10 illustrations from the book, including ones from Christian Lacroix, Doo.Ri, 3.1 Phillip Lim, Badgley Mischka, Isaac Mizrahi, Peter Som, Betsey Johnson, Giambattista Valli, Sonia Rykiel and Rodarte. All proceeds from the auction, which will go through April 18, will benefit the Council of Fashion Designers of America's Fashion Targets Breast Cancer initiative.
RUNNING FAST: Having just celebrated their 10-year anniversary, it's turning out to be an eventful year for DDC Lab's Savania Davies-Keiller and Roberto Crivello. The New York-based duo opened the doors to their Melrose Heights shop recently to present their latest collection, full of skinny stretch leathers and nubby wool knits trimmed with vintage ribbons from Rajasthan. Also on display was their newest footwear collaboration with New Balance called NB, part of which will debut at retail in their new 3,000-square-foot SoHo store, set to open in early August.
OH, OSCAR: It seems that when winning Hollywood's top prize, actresses should start thanking Chopard in addition to their laundry list of agents, producers, directors and family. The jewelry firm, which has dressed either a best actress or best supporting actress every consecutive year since 2004, is showing off its Oscar gems in its Madison Avenue windows this week. Blow-ups of the actresses on their winning nights accompany a selection of impressive jewelry, which each of them wore. Helen Mirren's $4 million, 62-carat cognac diamond brooch is on display. She wore the brooch to accept the Oscar for "The Queen," while Marion Cotillard's $2.6 million champagne diamond briolette pendant is on display, still warm from her win for best actress in "La Vie En Rose" last month. "We always have requests after a big red-carpet season and Chopard was certainly successful in that aspect this year," said Marc Hruschka, president and chief executive officer of Chopard USA. "Dressing celebrities certainly has an indirect effect on sales, through the increase of brand awareness overall combined with the exposure of our unique and special creations." Hruschka declined to divulge exactly what has been sold, but confirmed that the interest to buy was there.
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