Nolcha Fashion Lounge

Stopped by Nolcha Fashion Lounge for a preview of their global fashion designers at the Empire Hotel!  I also got some pampering done by Paul Mitchell Salon for Makeup and Kiss provided lashand nail service.  Check out the pics!

I loved the glamorous Ricki L jewelry by artist Erica Levine.  The necklaces made of beautiful precious stones woven in to14 karat gold were breath-taking!  They were pieces of art that I couldn't stop looking at!

The ruby was hand selected by Ricki from Cambodia!

Leather Cravats - hot!

Paul Mitchell Stylist

Getting made up!

From Runway Passport.com

Norwegian Designer Rudy Wolff

The magic of makeup by Paul Mitchell Salon!

Kevin Ross, Pitusa, Check out theLuxurious Alpalca hat! Soo soft!

Backstage at AsianinNY's Lunar New Year Celebration Fashion Shows

This weekend, I helped out  at the AsianinNY.com Lunar New Year Celebration as one of the fashion show directors.   It was a lot of fun working with a great group of people.  Co-director, Xing Xu, designer of Kallisti, and and I worked with J Song Designer Way Zen to cast models and choose designs for the show.  Haruo Noro Salon stylists did a beautiful job with hair and makeup.  Jade Chiu Accessories put finishing touches.  JSong and Janet Zheng Menswear showed amazing collections.  Check out the backstage pics!

 YiLin Hsu, Xing Xu, Way Zen, and Alice

Everyone loves Happy Models

So Graceful

Janet Zheng Shoes

Janet Zheng's Men

 

Haruo Noro Salon Stylist working on model's hair

Models in JSong (L to R: Shirley Tan and Danni Wang)

Designer Janet Zheng putting last minute touches on model.

L to R: Karen Cheung, Way Zen, Louise Shull

Designer Janet Zheng and her men.  Truly Fierce!

Sights and Sounds at Lincoln Chinese New Year Concert

At Lincoln Center, The Shen Zhen Golden Bell Youth Choir from China performed a special Chinese New Year Concert organized by CCSANY . The talented young men and women sang in four different languages and with voices of angels. I loved the festive outfits in bright yellow, orange, green, blue, and red.   Thanks to beautiful host and journalist Li Jing for inviting me.  She and co-host Tina Wan both looked specatular in fantastic Zang Toi gowns.

L to R: Tina Wan, Li Jing, Hong Wen Zhu

Nigel Barker at 21 Club

I'm a huge fan of America's Next Top Model, so when my friend Melodie surprised me with a Christmas gift to hear ANTM judge, Fashion photographer, and author Nigel Barker speak at the 21 Club Breakfast -  I was ecstatic!  Nigel promoted his new book "Beauty Equation" and talked about the meaning of beauty.  As a judge on a modeling show, he received questions daily from people asking him if they were beautiful or model-worthy.  Even his young son asked him "What is beautiful?".  He wisely answered "Your mother is beautiful", but realized he needed a more concrete answer and started writing down his thoughts. 

Nigel talked about a young 14 year old girl who he felt had true beauty and confidence.  He was photographing Nicole who had cancer.  She  had bad scarring down her arm, yet she angled the scarred side toward Nigel.  He asked her if she wanted to turn her good side to the camera and she said "I want to be photographed this way.  This is me.  This is my life".   Of course, in reality, appearances do matter.  But, allure, humor, compassion also play a part.   Nigel said all the models on ANTM are pretty.  But do they have that magnetism or bring excitement to the table? "People judge books by the cover, but make sure that the book is worth reading!" said Nigel.

Mr. Barker showed his compassionate side by also talking about UN Foundation organization Girl Up that lets American girls raise money to assist adolescent girls from third world countries.  I think Nigel has a great message that could help a lot of people with their self confidence and look forward to reading the book!

Yes, I like to take pictures of food!

Inside the gorgeous 21Club in midtown NYC

Evelyn Claude Accessories: Paper accessories using ancient Japanese Maki-e technique

I stopped by the NYC Gift market week to attend the ribbon cutting and launch for  Evélyn Claude in the US.  The collection of beautiful feather-light, eco-friendly and water resistant paper accessories are crafted using Kin-Maki-E, a thousand year old Japanese process that involves paper that is dusted with gold powder and lacquered.  The designer, Evelyn Teploff-Mugii is a native New Yorker who resides in Kanazawa, Japan where the technique originated.  Evelyn uses her background in graphic design and her love of photography to create her designs. Evelyn incorporates modern touches such as using photographs and silk screening instead of the traditional way of handpainting and glue.  The designs are a wonderful melding of ancient and new artistic methods and uses.  The pieces are also unique because when the sheets are spinning, the digital cutting is done randomly!  My favorite is the "Puzzle" piece where the earrings are cut out from the bracelet, and the pendant is made up of several pieces that fit into each other.

 

Designer Evelyn Teploff-Mugii and Kenji Yoshii (President of Cooperative Association for Promotion of Kanazawa Kaga Mki-e)

From L to R, Marian Goldberg, Evelyn Teploff-Mugii, Kenji Yoshi, Takashi Arai

 

Designer Evelyn and I holding one of her "Puzzle" pieces.

Pins

Precision cut by computer in Japan.

Evelyn also has a line of luxury paper products.  Check out these beautiful bookmarks!

I love these paper stickers that you can stick on your phone. Unfortunately, not available yet in the US.  But Evelyn tells me soon!

Paper Sticker demonstration

The lovely result!

Bernstein Display

A few weeks ago, I visited Bernstein Display Showroom.  The Mannequin showroom which is typically only available for retailers, was open to the public for a few days in the beginning of December. It was really interesting to see the the fun clothes, accessories, and wigs that adorned the mannequins.  Ronald Knoth, a professor at LIM College told me how the showrooms predict trends for the next season to remain competitive in the retail market.  I also met Jonathon Baker of RetailStoreWindows.com who traveled from London to visit the different mannequin showrooms.  At Bernstein Display,  female mannequins were dressed in sequined dresses and wore short bob wigs.  The venue was really elegant and a great place for Threads of Color  to hold their Fundraiser on January 11, 2011.  The Mannequin and Informal Fashion Presentation will  raise scholarship funds for fashion students and promote the global diversity of American Fashion Designers.  Some of the designers that will be represented include Tommy Hilfiger, Adrienne Landau, Tracey Reese, Carmen Marc Valvo and many more!

Want to see Bernstein Display Showroom in person?  Then you should attend the Fundraiser -
it's only $20 for general admission! You can buy tickets at the Threads of Color site.