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 BY JENE LUCIANI | | |
Here in the city, few can find a more active scene than during New York’s Fall/Winter Fashion Week at Bryant Park. As the catwalks heat up with fashions to-die-for, front-row fashionistas are even hotter. And the parties? Let’s just say when the week is done, your stilettos feel like they’re glued to your feet and you’re dizzy from all the champagne and show-hopping.
While the fashion-starved are getting their fix, there are aspiring designers yearning for their big break and a chance at Marc Jacobs-like stardom. And, lest we forget, we are in the midst of award season. It’s true, the Emmy’s, Oscars and Grammy’s take place on that “other” coast, but here in NYC, we have the Femmy Awards - the bra industry’s biggest honor.
Fashion Week Frenzy…
While the number of fashion shows that is crammed into one week here in New York is enough to make your head spin, I’m always focusing on more than just the next season’s fashions – like, who’s in the front row. Many A-listers attend to scout out their next red carpet frock. At the Adam Adam Lippes Show, amidst the gorgeous, ethereal, whimsical, yet wearable fashions that paraded down the runway, were the gals from MTV’s The City, along with gorgeous actress Jennifer Love Hewitt (who complimented me on my dress!) A certain 90210 star was a no-show. | |
Jennifer Love Hewitt
and Jené Luciani
at Adam Adam Lippes | | |  | | | | | 
Heidi Klum Backstage
| | While some designers, like Vera Wang and Carmen Marc Valvo opted not to show in the tents this year, other new favorites emerged, like Project Runway’s fierce fan-favorite Christian Siriano and Justin Timberlake, who debuted his William Rast collection in front of a packed house that included girlfriend Jessica Biel.
While Adam Adam Lippes was one of my favorite collections, the highlight of the week had to be the BARBIE 50th anniversary show. If you were fortunate enough to get in as I was (hundreds were left standing in the lobby to watch the show on monitors), nearly every designer under the sun crafted a frilly frock for the iconic doll and each one that waltzed down the runway was better than the next. Real-life Barbies Heidi Klum and Kimora Lee Simmons graced the front row, as well as some of my favorite ladies from The Real Housewives of NYC.
Much to my surprise, the designer's choices for Barbie weren't as pink and glittery as one would think - I loved Catherine Malandrino's "Americana" Barbie as well as Kenneth Cole's super cool leather clad Barbie and Ken duo. It certainly helped lighten up the more subdued mood under the tents this year. | | | | | | | | I also spent some time backstage at Duckie Brown, and chatted with the menswear label’s designing duo Steven Cox and Daniel Silver. They presented a tongue-in-cheek collection of pom-pon hats and oversized scarves that could literally swallow a person up. The duo were thrilled to have their show sponsored by McDonald’s new couture coffee line, McCafe, which fashion-show goers like America’s Next Top Model Yoanna House and TV hosts James Aguilar and Lauren Ezersky enjoyed all week long in the McCafe Lounge in the tent’s lobby.
Supima Design Contest…
From the established designers to the aspiring ones, wanna-be’s from Brooklyn to Bangkok showed their wares in Supima Cotton’s Competition for Emerging Designers. In front of a who’s who in the fashion crowd (including Carmen Marc Valvo and 30 Rock actress Katrina Bowden), 20 designers vied for the title of hottest emerging talent at New York’s Gotham Hall. Several winners were chosen and will be featured in a special publication distributed by Supima at upcoming industry events in Paris and Shanghai. | |  Supima Front Row Crowd | | | | | | | | 
FEMMY Awards Honorees | | The FEMMY Awards…
Speaking of industry events, we all know of the EMMY’S and the OSCAR’S, but…the FEMMY’S? The FEMMY awards are an annual gathering and recognition of some of the top performers in the bra and undergarment industry. This year, they were held at the swanky Cipriani’s on 42nd street in Manhattan, in the midst of a snowstorm no less (perhaps thermals would have been the best undergarment choice for the evening).
Hosted by Melissa Rivers, award recipients included Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx and Ann Deal, the CEO of Fashion Forms, who was given the Lifetime Achievement Award. | | | | | | | | She graciously invited me to attend and sit at her table! Other than being credited as the creator of The Original Water Bra, Ms. Deal is also the corporate partner for my book, The Bra Book, which is being released this year in bookstores as well as many of Fashion Form’s retail outlets. The FEMMY awards also featured a student design competition and Vanity Fair Brands donated $5,000 to the winner. Despite the weather, it was a very “uplifting” evening for all involved! | | | | | |
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