New York Fashion Week: Michael Kors at 30

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A who's who of New York turned out for Michael Kors anniversary show. There was the Hollywood contingent (Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta Jones, Emma Roberts); the Broadway contingent (Bette Midler) and the socialite contingent (Aerin Lauder, Marjorie Gubelmann).

On the show invitation, there was a funny photo of the designer, back when his hair was long and lustrous. But that was the extent of the reminiscing. Kors is secure enough with his place in the industry that he doesn't need a step-and-repeat photo op or a sizzle reel.

But the collection he showed was a perfect example of the confidence that comes from working hard and staying true to yourself for three decades.

The clothes were all about sporty decadence, with the strictest of lines. “Polished, yet easy,” read the show notes.

For Kors, there must be 100 shades of neutral, and a lot of them were in this collection. A blush-colored knitted fox fur bathrobe coat, worn over a blush silk charmeuse blouse and gabardine trousers, with a sleek silver collar, was textbook Kors elegance. While the ginormous fur crossbody bag, worn over a “suntan” turtleneck sweater as thick as a winter blanket, and matching silk charmeuse pajama pants, showed the designer's tongue-in-cheek approach to luxury.

Speaking of suntans, skirts were designed with slits high enough to show off a toned and tanned thigh. A black viscose bodysuit (they're baaack!) worn with a wide belt over a long black slit-front pleated georgette skirt was a hot look.

As for trends, well, after 30 years, you don't much need 'em. But the monochrome dressing seen at Kors has been all over the runways this week, as has the dress over pants look. One of Kors' best versions involved a nude crystal georgette toga worn over matching pajama pants.

Or you could be your own Wonder Woman and stop traffic in a billowy crimson toga gown with a hammered silver collar.

Something tells me Kors would like nothing more.

Michael Kors fall-winter 2011 runway collection photo gallery

–Booth Moore in New York

Photos: Looks from the Michael Kors fall-winter 2011 runway collection shown during New York Fashion Week. Credit: Jonas Gustavsson and Peter Stigter / For The Times.

NY Fashion Week Day 7: Vanessa Hudgens, Rodarte and More!

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Fashion Week is winding down in New York, but there’s still plenty of fabulous fashion and celebrity sightings. Vanessa Hudgens kept up her Fashion Week rounds, sitting front row at Yigal Azrouel, Diesel Black Gold and Tibi. Meanwhile, Rodarte took us through the plains of the midwest, buckwheat prints and all, with a collection that climaxed with two ruby-slipper-inspired dresses (shown). Marc Jacobs also showed a very “deer” collection for his Marc by Marc Jacobs line, with the animal featured on dresses, accessories and shoes. And that's not all! Click through to find out what happened on day seven of New York Fashion Week.

— Heather Viggiani, with reporting by Caitlin Donovan and Nakisha Williams

Film-focused Imagine Fashion website launches

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Imagine Fashion, a new website that spotlights fashion, beauty, art and commerce through film, officially launched Tuesday morning — and last night its founders celebrated with a party at Bar Basque in New York.

The site, which was designed as a monthly publication, uses the medium of film to, ultimately, sell things. But the driving concept is that the films on the site will be so art-house cool, you won't even know you're being propositioned. 

Imagine Fashion plans to tap edgy, stylish talent to create its content and already names electroclash musician Casey Spooner, filmmaker Zach Gold, stylish Patti Wilson and fashion journalist Godfrey Deeny among its contributors. (Deeny's prose can be inspiring, if a bit unweildy; a sample opening sentence: “It was luxury's quiet but deadly culling of the ranks. With the whittling down-size of companies, houses and brands went the quiet ejection of a phalanx of executives, designers, and influence makers.”)

Although there are a number of featurettes already posted, the site is scheduled to launch with a short fashion feature, “A Letter,” directed by Francesco Carrozzini, featuring “It” girls Elisa Sednaoui, Paz de la Huerta, Poppy Delevigne and Zoe le Ber. But as of recently, we have only glimpsed the trailer.

Still, it's looking decidedly cool and noir. We can't wait to see the entire package.

–Emili Vesilind

Film clip: “String Theory” by Zach Gold. Credit: Imagine Fashion

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Gold, Silver Prices Stall Out TheStreet.com The gold price Wednesday has traded in a tight range as high as $1378.50 and as low as $1370.50. The spot gold price was relatively flat, according to Kitco's gold index. Silver prices were adding 7 cents to $30.77. The future contracts were struggling ... See all stories on this topic »

FOCUS: Speculators Return As Buyers To Gold Market – CFTC NASDAQ (Kitco News) - After fleeing the gold market for several weeks, speculators returned as buyers to gold, adding to their net-long futures and options combined positions, according to US government data released late Friday. Speculators continued to add ... See all stories on this topic »

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Rin Tanaka's Inspiration vintage clothing fair in Long Beach inspires brands, collectors

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On Saturday, I checked out the second annual Inspiration Los Angeles vintage clothing fair held at the Queen Mary in Long Beach. Inspiration Los Angeles is the brainchild of Rin Tanaka, a fashion journalist who publishes the cult “My Freedamn” book series that meticulously catalogs a wide range of mainly American-made menswear including jeans, biker jackets and surfer T-shirts culled from flea market and antique dealers across the country.

The year's Inspiration Los Angeles was scheduled to take place the same weekend as the Pasadena Rose Bowl flea market and drew about 2,500 international visitors, according to Tanaka, including industry names such as Diesel's Renzo Rosso, en route to the Diesel Black Gold New York Fashion Week show, and a design team from Amsterdam-based G-Star. Levi's also used the fair to showcase its $250 U.S.-made 501 Levi's XX collection, constructed with Cone Denim fabric from North Carolina.

"We have no men's vintage show in the world — more women's or costumes," said Tanaka, who splits his time between Japan and his home in San Clemente, explaining what germinated the fair.

Rosso said he heard from his design team that Inspiration Los Angeles was "unbelievably nice, very cool.  The best items are very expensive but they are interesting for our museum. Vintage always inspires collections not only for Diesel, but, in general, for all fashion giants."

But what determines what vintage is collectible and what isn't? Feal Mor owner JP Plunier, who displayed his brand's trademark French sailor sweaters, offered this explanation: "Vintage is stuff that works after the trend's over."

The big trend revival that I witnessed at the fair was Native American-style prints and clothing from makers ranging from Pendleton and Ralph Lauren, including a denim wrap skirt for about $800 featuring an embroidered leather rustic tableau. But the real visual draw was the crowd pimped out in their finds, including a woman wearing a Raggedy Ann and Andy apron and a man with a handlebar mustache who looked like he could have worked on the crew that built the 75-year-old cruise liner.

– Max Padilla

 Top photos: Attendees at Inspiration vintage fair. Credit: Summer Browner / Feal Mor

Bottom photo: Rin Tanaka, left, and Max Padilla.