ANTONIO LOPEZ - Book Signing and Exhibit

reporter: Miguel Dominguez

On September 13th, Roger Padilha and Mauricio Padilha had a book signing of their latest book Antonio Fashion, Art, Sex & Disco at the Bernarducci. Meisel. Gallery, which was exhibiting Antonio's Illustrations as well. It was the first complete monograph on Antonio Lopez, the influential Warholian fashion illustrator of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.

Best known for dazzling illustrations in Women’s Wear Daily, Vogue, the New York Times, Interview, and also for high fashion labels, Antonio Lopez (1943–1987) was a force majeur in the fashion world for three decades. In the ‘60s, Lopez’s vibrant illustrations helped usher youth culture into the pages of magazines, setting a new, free-flowing, sexually liberated standard for fashion imagery. Living in Paris during the 70s with his creative partner Juan Ramos, Lopez launched the modeling careers of Jerry Hall, Grace Jones, and Jessica Lange among others, worked with design royalty like Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent, and cultivated a soigné nightlife persona in the blistering-hot underground clubs of Paris. Returning to New York City in 1976, Antonio documented the sexy influence of athletic-wear, puffy, down coats, and break-dancing style, inspiring such designers as Norma Kamali and Anna Sui.

Roger and Mauricio Padilha, Authors of the much ballyhooed, and much coveted book

Designers Collective - Spring 2013: NICCI HOU (NICOLE HOUSTON)

reporter: Miguel Dominguez

Nicole Houston was born into a family of master seamstresses and designers. Maturing in a family of creative minds, it was only natural for Nicole to gravitate towards fashion. As a military child, she spent most of her life traveling and observing unique cultures of the world. From the age of 7, her common child’s play included sketching designs, creating doll clothes, and styling clothes. As a teenager, she studied patterns and refined her style techniques by creating original designs for clients and local dance teams. With her love for all things fashion, she went on to graduate, in 2009, from Alabama A&M University with a degree in Apparel Merchandising and Design. Two years prior to graduating, she launched her own line, Nicci Hou Collection.Her designs are creative, edgy, glamorous, sophisticated, unique, classy, and made for the elite woman. Nicci Hou not only is a couture line of clothing geared towards high fashion editorial photography, but also allows her to showcase her interpretation of Fashion Art. The Nicci Hou Collection reflects her continual inspiration from art, fashion editorials, and her deeply rooted passion for self-expression.

To see the more recent article of her Fall/Winter 2013 collection, click here.

Nicole with friend Rebecca Wright

Designers Collective - Spring 2013: BENITO ANTONIO

reporter: Miguel Dominguez

The Designers Collective had a four men show (actually one man, three women) at the Hellen Mills Event Space around the corner from the Fashion Institute of Technology on September 9th.

The Designers Collective Four: L Nicole Houston, Kristalos, Benito Antonio and Lucrecia A. de Blasser

Couture Fashion Week "Jewel of India": PARNA GHOSE

reporter: Miguel Dominguez

Fashion designer Parna Ghose presented the latest collection under her “Pure Elegance” label as part of the “Jewel of India” collective fashion show at the Couture Fashion Week in New York City, taking place on September 16th, in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2013: STACI SHERRI

reporter: Miguel Dominguez

Staci Sherri

DREAM CATCHER was the name of the collection Staci showed for Spring/Summer 2013 at the Hellen Mills Event Space on September 8th.

It all had to do with Staci’s goal in outfitting women in her brand is to enhance outer beauty while fostering inner beauty. She believes that every woman should love, cherish and celebrate exactly who she is and how she impacts the earth. From childhood, Staci has taken great pride in living by her manta, “When I grow up, I want to be just like me.”

Couture Fashion Week "Jewel of India": MADHU MUNYAL

reporter: Miguel Dominguez

New York-based fashion designer Madhu Munyal  presented her latest collection at the Couture Fashion Week in New York, as part of the “Jewel of India” collective. The fashion show was held on September 16, 2012 in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria.

Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2013: KATYA LEONOVICH

reporter: Miguel Dominguez

Past winner of the Mittelmodal Prize, the Smirnoff International Competition, the Nadejda Lamanova Prize of the Russian Federation and Supima’s inaugural Competition for Emerging Designers, Katya Leonovich developed her techniques in couture design while in Paris, Rome and her hometown of Moscow.

Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2013: TUAN TRAN

reporter: Miguel Dominguez

While covering the Angel Sanchez event at the Lincoln Center tents, I came across Tuan Tran and his lovely models who were wearing three samples of his custom hand woven (no cutting or sawing involved) wearable Art.

Needless to say, they were the sight to see and photograph all over the Lincoln Center grounds.

Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2013: ANGEL SANCHEZ

reporter: Miguel Dominguez

Angel has plenty of reasons for such a broad smile, as the reader will ascertain from the images below

Angel Sanchez developed an appreciation for fashion at a young age surrounded by dress forms and fabrics in his mother’s Venezuelan atelier. His first love was architecture, which he studied and practiced professionally for many years, but he soon found himself drawn to back to his mother’s work. Armed with the knowledge of form and structure from his architectural work, Sanchez founded his fashion house and quickly rose to fame throughout Latin America, and expanded internationally when the company headquartered in New York City.

Today, Angel is renowned worldwide for eveningwear designs as well as an acclaimed bridal line and is a proud member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA).

Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2013: ERIN BARR

reporter: Miguel Dominguez

Erin Barr, a Wisconsin native, began her career in fashion as a hair and make-up artist. After graduating from the Aveda Institute in Minneapolis, Barr was offered a job in New York where she remained for three years. Although working at top salons, garnering a celebrity clientele, and working on editorial shoots, Barr yearned to design a more complete vision. She moved to London to study fashion design at Central Saint Martin’s college of Art and Design. After a year, Barr returned to the States to complete her studies at Parson’s School of Design, which she followed up with an internship at Alexander Wang and a job as a design assistant at Cushnie Et Ochs before establishing her own label.

To see the recent article on Erin's Fall/ 2013 collection, click here