Lila Horn FW '12

Lila Horn FW 2012 Presentation -  Designers Lillian Barry and Helen Millson bonded as Yale students during their travels to India and their mutual love of Indian textiles.  This season, they were particularly inspired by the "patterns that contour Indian temples".  The color palette was rich in "hues of orchid purple, raspberry and neon blue that many of the women adorn" while worshiping in the temples.

There were lots of contrasting bold colors with zig zag, polka dot and ikat prints in feminine silhouettes.  Some of the designs were on the prim side, such as silk tops with peter pan collars and silk tees with modest necklines.

But there were also some outfits that were more sensual, such as the plumberry Ikat Zig Zag silk dress with a plunging V-back and a blue printed skirt with a center zip. 

The clothes were accessorized by chunky and colorful bracelets and necklaces by Erickson Beamon.  This was my first time attending a presentation for the label Lilan Horn and I found the designs to be fun and wearable.

J Song...Way: Songs For Nature - Fall/Winter 2012

Fall/Winter 2012 JSONG... Way's Songs for Nature,  Designer Way Zen, was inspired during a walk in a city park during a snowy day when she "was drunk by the snow and dreaming of snow angels".  The collection reflected her winter dreams in the feminine and lady-like pieces and beautiful embroidery that JSong is known for. 

White cashmere coat, black cotton embroidered leggings.

The opening outfit was a white cashmere coat with a dramatic collar and detachable arms that doubled as arm warmers.   More coats followed, including an elegant camel cashmere kimono coat with stripes, and  a slimming earth brown wool embroidered snow flake coat and embroidered abstract floral coat.  I was a fan of the gray wool cardigan paired with an ivory camisole and the intricately embroidered diamond skirt in gray yarn. The rest of the collection continued to adhere to the theme of nature with plenty of winter blooms, flora, and petals in embroidered dresses and suits.

Camel Cashmere Kimono coat

In the program notes, JSONG... Way encouraged guests to "take a moment to experience and to be gentle with the beauty of nature, and to share our planet with all beings because we are a part of all of it".  JSONG... Way also celebrated its 15th anniversary, and invited guests to participate in designing a special coat with each person's favorite word.  In the fickle fashion world, it was so pleasant to receive a gentle reminder that we're here to enjoy fashion, but in a thoughtful and heartfelt way...with J Song.

Gray wool cardigan, ivory camisole and gray yarn embroidered diamond skirt.

Blue denim embroidered suit

Lavender shantung embroidered petal sleeveless dress

Left to Right - Alice , Way Zen (Designer), Diana Lee (founder, AsianinNY.com)

Bergdorf Goodman Fashion Spring Preview

I recently attended an amazing event at Bergdorf Goodman for Dragon Week with Linda Fargo, Bergdorf's senior vice president and their principal tastemaker, introducing some fun spring looks!  I know we're in the middle of mild winter, but the looks certainly made me look forward to warmer weather with lots of bright pops of colors, which created a joyful mood.  It also looks like prints will still be popular, whether they're animal print or floral.  My favorites were a sparkling yellow flapper dress by Naeem Khan and a slinky mermaid gown with burnt pailettes by CD Greene.

Coat by Burberry

Dress by Fendi

Dress by Dolce and Gabanna

Dress by Naem Khan

Lovely Miss China in CD Greene Mermaid Gown with Burnt Pailettes

Black Diamond Earrings by G International

Judith Leiber Clutch

Afterwards I attended a cocktail hour, where I got to mingle with some fashion royalty! You could feel the excitement of the crowd when famed designer Diane Von Furstenberg and the legendary Oscar de la Renta walked in!

Legendary!

With Linda Fargo and Designer Zac Posen

An inspiring person -Yue Sai Kan,  the most famous woman in China!

With Designer CD Greene

Me with Diane Von Furstenberg

With Designer Naem Khan

With Miss China, Luo Zilin or Roseline Luo

With Yue Sai Kan and Miss Univers, Leila Lopes

With Deisgner Bruce Hoeksema of VBH (Described by Linda Fargo as the "New Hermes")

With Designer Peter Som

American Couture Fashion Superstar Rodarte

Originally published on NewYorkGirlStyle.com

This February 2012 Vogue shows the tall and lithe country singer Taylor Swift lounging on a sofa dressed in a flowing Rodarte floral print dress. When you flip through the rest of the pictures of Swift by Mario Testino, you realize that all the outfits she’s wearing is by Rodarte. Even if you haven’t heard of Rodarte, you’ve probably seen their designs. Their fantastic creations have become popular on the red carpet; and they have many fans among beautiful celebrities, including Natalie Portman, Kirsten Dunst, and Dakota Fanning. It’s fascinating to realize that only 7 years ago, sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy, who have no formal fashion training, had just launched their line, which was named after their mother’s maiden name.
Since 2005, Rodarte has won awards for their unique designs and known for their innovative fabrics. In 2008, they became the first women and first Americans to win the Swiss Textiles Award, one of fashion’s biggest monetary awards, worth 100,000 euros. In 2010, we saw Rodarte’s collaboration with the giant retailer, Target, sell out within days. Last year, Rodarte ventured into cinema, designing the costumes for the Oscar award winning movie starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis, “Black Swan”. The sisters get their influences from different subjects in the arts. One season their inspiration was Japanese horror films and their latest collection was inspired by Van Gogh. The Mulleavys have changed the face of American couture fashion. They’ve been able to do what few have been able to do in a fickle industry. Rodarte designs have managed to reach a broad audience and remain the darling of fashion editors.

Yunnan Photo Diary - Dali

China's most popular tourist destinations include Beijing, Shanghai, XiAn, which I've already visited.  So last winter, I explored the province of Yunnan in Southwest China with my mom and brother. Yunnan is a province with many ethnic minorities of China.  Although westerners think of China as one homogenous people, the population is actually made up of many different peoples.  I've always thought of myself as Chinese American, but when I visited Yunnan, I realized I'm considered part of the "Han" majority.  In the different cities we visited, we were met with tour guides from different ethnic groups.  Our first guide in the city of Dali, was from the Bai minority (or white, because of their fondness of the color white) , the city of Li Jiang was the NaXi (which means black in the Naxi language) minority, and in Shangra-La, our guide was Tibetan. Each of the minorities have their own language and traditional dress.  There was even a tourist attraction called "minority village" in the province of Kunming introducing all the minorities.

Butterfly Springs in Dali

I found Yunnan to be clean compared to the more urban Shanghai and Beijing. The Butterfly Springs in Dali, had such clear water, I could see the bottom of the springs. Of course, like the rest of the world, they are feeling the effects of pollution. The Jade Dragon Mountains in LiJiang, which are the southernmost glaciers in the northern hemisphere used to have snowy peaks all year round, but now it's only during the winter season.

The Three pagodas of Dali

Performance by minority people

The sign says Yunnan's 18 strange/unique items - Yunnan is known for 18 interesting foods including fried cheese (below the sign and bottom right)

I decided to visit a Walmart in Yunnan - they had a whole section devoted to chilli peppers!

A savory "cake" made from beans which was spiced with chilli, garlic, soy sauce.  I didn't try it, but it looked good!

A Tibetan Prayer wheel

Beautiful minority traditional dress, with silver headdress

Artistry Beauty Event

Artistry Beauty held a party at Bar Basque at the Eventi Hotel in Manhattan to introduce their latest products. It was a relaxing event with moisturizing paraffin hand treatments and makeup applications of their spring color line.  I tried their new intensive skincare anti-wrinkle firming serum, which is made with retinol and vitamin C, and made my skin feel quenched and smooth, but did not feel heavy and was easily absorbed into my skin.  Artistry was kind enough to provide guest with samples of their new line along with a gorgeous Michael Kors handbag.  I'm looking forward to trying their products!  I also got to meet and take a photo with the face of Artistry, the newly crowned, Miss America!  You can check out the video to learn more about Artistry's innovative products.