Katharine Zarrella

AF Vandevorst and Stephen Jones on Top

October 3, 2012

The designers had a little help creating their Belle Époque Rocker Dandy vibe, as sheer, oversized black or white fedoras, crafted by the one and only Stephen Jones, topped every outfit.

Meadham Kirchhoff Gets Disneyfied

September 19, 2012

Edward Meadham and Benjamin Kirchhoff have, perhaps subconsciously, long injected elements of Miss Minnie into their collections.

Acne in the Wild West

September 18, 2012

“Yee-Haw!” is the spirit sought this season by Acne’s Johhny Johansson. Or at least, those were the yelps heard over the speakers during his Spring 2013 show in London on Sunday. The designer explained that his inspiration involved collage (“I always collage. It’s very important to me to have contrast and to turn that into something really interesting,” he said backstage) as well as music, specifically Emmylou Harris’s 1995 ditty, “Wrecking Ball.”

Jessica Chastain and Anna Dello Russo Do Joseph Altuzarra

September 10, 2012

“Oh my God. This is a problem,” said Anna Dello Russo at Saturday night’s Altuzarra show. Naturally, she was referring to the torrential downpour that had much of the fashion set in a huff. “I went to the hairdresser today but it doesn’t look like it. Humidity? Hurricane? Oh no! Terrible!” she went on before taking her front-row seat.

Wes Gordon Warns You About His Woman

September 7, 2012

“She could beat you up,” says 25-year-old Wes Gordon of his spring 2013 woman. “There’s still something feminine there, something quite chic and elegant, but she has kind of an icy-ness to her.”

Edun’s Sharon Wauchob Has Got the Beats for Spring

September 6, 2012

Sharon Wauchob has a lot on her plate. On Saturday, the Irish designer will send her spring 2013 womenswear collection for ethical fashion line Edun down the runway.

Foot Fetish

September 5, 2012

At some point within the last decade, shoes went from being an obsessed-over fashion accessory to a conspicuous form of art. Here we present four master designers who are helping the slinky, sexy business of creating footwear achieve new, imaginative heights.

Jill-of-All-Trades Mandy Coon Previews Her Spring Music

September 4, 2012

Model, DJ, and downtown designer darling: there’s not much in the realm of “cool” that Mandy Coon hasn’t conquered.

Duckie Brown Gets Classic with Perry Ellis

August 28, 2012

While their CFDA-nominated menswear collection, Duckie Brown, is cheeky and often eccentric, designers Steven Cox and Daniel Silver live by a no-nonsense ethos. “What you see is what you get!” quipped the British-born Cox, playfully gesturing to the workout garb he donned while chatting with Interview in his West Village studio. This straightforward attitude is the driving force behind the duo’s latest project, Perry Ellis by Duckie Brown.

Step by Step with Charlie Le Mindu

August 21, 2012

Hairstylist-cum-designer Charlie le Mindu has built his career on all that is shocking, outrageous and beautifully bizarre (perhaps you’ve seen the giant bow wig or fall/winter 2012 collection of human hair frocks and hats donned by Lady Gaga, or his spring/summer 2012 looks, which featured dresses, gowns, and a cobra turban made out of custom Minx synthetic nails). So it may seem strange that, as he sits on the porch of his fifth-floor Dalston flat, the Bordeaux-born, London-based 26-year-old calls for a return to classic hair; done-up, blown-out, drop-dead-gorgeous vintage hair.

The Royal Ascot is a Milliner’s Tale

June 25, 2012

“Hats and gloves. What else do you need?” quipped charismatic milliner Stephen Jones at England’s Royal Ascot horse races last Thursday. Held outside London, the annual meet founded by Queen Anne in 1711, which this year ran June 19–23, is Britain’s premier sporting event. But it’s not just the ponies that are competing—the fashion stakes are high for ladies and gents alike.

The Princes of London

June 19, 2012

This past weekend marked London’s inaugural men’s fashion week. The three-day event was a much-welcomed step forward for Britain’s growing group of menswear designers, who were formerly made to pack their presentations into one day at the tail end of the womenswear shows. The festivities kicked off Thursday evening with an intimate cocktail party hosted by British fashion’s newest ambassador, Prince Charles, who ironically invests in a new look about once every 25 years.

Totokaelo Rocks Seattle

June 11, 2012

Since 2003, Jill Wenger has catered to Seattle’s fashion savvy with her forward thinking clothing store, Totokaelo. “Totokaelo is a tightly curated selection of what I believe to be the most honest, beautiful, and interesting fashion… in the world right now,” explains Wenger. And considering she carries the likes of Maison Martin Margiela, Ann Demeulemeester, Mary Katrantzou, and Damir Doma, her summation seems on point.

Nobel Laureates Take Hong Kong

May 4, 2012

What do you get when you put a Nobel Prize-winning author, a rapper, an eccentric Spanish actress and a slew of artists, music moguls and filmmakers in the same room? 28-year-old Pablo Ganguli’s Liberatum Hong Kong, of course.

Hong Kong Nights

April 26, 2012

Hong Kong may be known as an Eastern capital of business and commerce, but this week, thanks to 28-year-old Pablo Ganguli and his Liberatum festival, the city will play host to an impressive array of cultural events. Liberatum Hong Kong, a free, three-day public festival that will bring together creative minds from across the globe to participate in dialogues about arcitecture, design, art, film, and fashion with music and art performances, opens April 27–29, with a conversation between its headliner Pharrell Williams and music producer Will Orbits (best known for working with Madonna).

Over the Mountains With Louis Vuitton

April 24, 2012

Yesterday, Louis Vuitton commenced its Serenissima Run, a classic car rally celebrating the history shared by the evolution of motoring and the creation of the house’s first automobile trunk in 1897. The seventh such rally organized by the prestigious fashion house since 1993, the five-day event features 43 vintage cars from across five continents, which will make a scenic journey from Monte Carlo through Switzerland, France, and Italy, and finally arrive in Venice on Apr. 27. The cars will remain on display in Venice’s Piazza San Giorgio until Apr. 28.

SW1 Shows Off Some Skin

March 28, 2012

“I always like to draw attention to the back of a shoe,” says Alvaro Gonzalez, the creative director of Stuart Weitzman’s new luxury shoe and handbag line, SW1. “When a woman leaves the room, it’s more important than when she enters. Boys, girls, they always look at a woman from behind. It’s the most interesting part!” Gonzalez’s philosophy reigns in SW1’s debut range of shoes, which includes jewel-toned suede pumps with handmade resin mosaic heels, spiraling stilettoes, and satin Mary Janes that reveal a hint of the wearer’s leg via slit petal detailing above the heel. “I’m always trying to show off skin,” says Gonzalez, adding that the shoes are “very naughty, but very sweet at the same time.”

Glenn Martens Is Primitive, Not Simple

March 26, 2012

“There’s nothing simple about my clothes,” says Glenn Martens, the 28-year-old Belgian designer who launched his eponymous line of womenswear this year during Paris Fashion Week. “But when you wear them, you won’t look like some kind of crazy person,” he laughs. The designer’s architectural breakout collection may be devoid of frills and thrills, but there’s indeed nothing simple about the intricate pleats, strong lines or cleverly placed zippers on Martens’ voluminous jackets, skirts and trousers.

Una Burke Is No Girly Girl

March 19, 2012

Burke creates handcrafted grommeted leather body armor and accessories out of her London studio. She’s positively pint-sized, cute as a button and has the sunniest disposition imaginable. So the subject of her work—trauma, deformity, death rituals, you get the idea—coupled with her creations, like a flesh-toned body cast crafted from leather strips, or a hunchback jacket, may seem surprising. However, her wearable sculptures feature impeccable structure and soft, feminine lines, are delicately elegant, rather than startling.

Nicholas Kirkwood’s Lost Generation

March 9, 2012

Nicholas Kirkwood’s collection of fall shoes is a nostalgic, ’20s Parisian fantasy. “It’s about the characters of the period, like Coco Chanel, Jean Cocteau and Picasso. We didn’t want to do a collection that exactly depicted that era, so it’s more how you’d imagine it,” explains Kirkwood.