As an individual who makes my bread and butter in the digital spectrum, today is a very important, very noteworthy day. Wikipedia, Reddit and several other large online media outlets have volunteered to go black to oppose the proposed SOPA and PIPA laws, which in a nutshell would leverage heavy penalties on resources that link (beknowst or unbeknowst) to copyrighted content online (you can find out more about the proposed law here.

If implemented, these laws could permanently change the way the internet is used, by both ourselves and our clients.

I would encourage all of you to take a couple of minutes today to call your state representatives and senators, tell them that you are a constituent and ask them to please oppose these laws. And then maybe even ask your friends, family, and work associates to do the same.

Wikipedia has made this incredibly easy to do today. Just enter your zip code on their website, and they will provide you with all the numbers you need.

Let’s tell our government that we do not wish our freedom to create, learn and share on the world wide web to be taken away from us.

Thanks,
Cyn~

February 11, 2010, New York City Independent designers can always find a home at Nolcha during fashion week, and this year was no exception during Nolcha’s 2010 Style Tour, held at the aesthetic playground that is the Bo Concept Studio, 144 West 18th Street. A hand-picked and diverse community of talented designers from all over the world were in attendance at the event, and Nolcha staff travelled throughout the space presenting “tours” of the showcase, offering unique information and insight regarding the collections featured.

Photos and video after the cut…

Dora Abodi is a graduate of the French MODART International Art and Fashion Academy Budapest. Influenced by literature, old tales, comics, music videos, and science fiction to name a few, her newest collection, entitled “David Bowie In Atlantis,” taps into the realms of fantasy and ultra-pop culture. Bursting with hyper-color, space age fabrics and gaudy embellishment, Dora’s work truly feels like something out of this world.

Whether it’s a dress bursting with jewels, to accessories that glitter and gleam like dragon scales, Dora’s collection bridges that gap between childhood delights and grown sensibility, creating a collection that will transform you into a shining star for a night on the town.

Here’s Dora, discussing her motivations and inspirations for this collection:

To see more of Dora Abodi’s work, visit doraabodi.com.

February 15, 2010 – Independent Fashion Bloggers (IFB) broke a significant amount of ground during the most recent fashion week. Not only did they receive unprecedented access to the tents, and an interview with the founder of New York fashion week, but also inaugurated their very first conference regarding blogging, and its increasing, evolving influence in the fashion culture.

Jennine Jacob, founder of IFB and her personal style blog, The Coveted, hosted the conference. As usual, Jennine looked fab, rocking a lovely summer dress, and a pair of sky-high silver shoes I and several other members of the first-row conspired to steal from her at the first opportunity.

The conference consisted of several events occurring throughout the day. I attended “Fashion Blog Marketing Workshop,” a panel discussion that included well-established blogs and experts in the field of online marketing and SEO/SEM (search engine marketing/search engine management). Panel members included: Corinne Leigh (Threadbanger, Erika Miller (Elle.com), Pamela Castillo 9Market Publique), Nichelle Pace (StyleMom), Melody Biringer (The CRAVE Company), and Shubhankar Ray (G Star). The panel was moderated by Jordana Bruner.

The panelists came from very difference, and diverse areas of the blogoshpere, which lent to an extremely unique and engaging discussion. Erika Miller offered a cornucopia of instruction regarding successfully having your web properties rank high in search engines; Nichelle Pace offered insight from a niche-marketing spectrum; Shubhankar Ray peppered the dialog with anecdotes, and comparisons of today’s blogging movement with the diy punk and alternative movements of the late eighties/early nineties.

Altogether, a truly enlightening, engaging and fun event. It really is an exciting time to be active in the arena of blogging today, and events like these offer a wealth of inspiration and insight. Can’t wait to see more of this fantastic work from IFB!

February 25, 2010 In the midst of a messy wintry mix pelting Manhattan, industry professionals and celebrities dashed nimbly from their cars and taxis into the inviting arms of the IAC Building, the location playing host to the second annual USA Network’s Character Approved Awards. Meant to honor individuals in the arts whose work has influenced and inspired our world and culture, the awards presentation was a lively, opulent affair that drew a remarkably large and impressive crowd despite the bad weather.

Story continued and photos after the cut…

Mark Feuerstein kicked off the event by introducing the honorees, a collection of individuals from a myriad of industries:

Art: Kehinde Wiley, revolutionary urban arts painter
Architecture: Angela Brooks, groundbreaking sustainable architect, principal of Pugh + Scarpa Architects
Design: Yves Behar, innovative industrial designer of the Jawbone Bluetooth headset and the $100 XO laptop
Fashion: Narciso Rodriguez, multiple award-winning American fashion designer
Film: Kathryn Bigelow, Academy Award-winning film director, “The Hurt Locker”
Food: Dan Barber, renowned restaurateur, Blue Hill and Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture
Giving: Jessica Jackley, social entrepreneur and microfinancier, co-founder Kiva.org
Music: Green Day, Grammy Award-winning rock band
New Media: Alex Rigopulos & Eran Egozy, game creators of Guitar Hero & Rock Band
Writing: Nora Ephron, best-selling novelist, Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and playwright

After a video presentation celebrating the honorees, screened on enormous wall-screens throughout the room, the crowd was treated to a special treat as the cast of Green Day’s new “American Idiot” musical performed live for the first time in New York City. All in all, a truly glamorous, star-studded affair.

February 12, 2010 Ok, I’ll admit it: I kind of boycotted the MBFW this season. There are numerous reasons why, but specifically, I basically felt (and still feel) like the tents don’t really do anything to support the blogger movement. I will probably go on about my reasoning in a future article. Regardless, I had a plan. However, just as every good plan is wont to do, this plan went awry. For what should arrive in my inbox during fashion week than an invitation from IFB to join in a “Tweet Up” in the American Express Lobby Lounge at the park. Well, drats. So much for that idea. Where did I put my nice shoes…

More photos, and video after the cut…

I have been to several shows in the actual tents prior to this occasion, but this was my first experience in the VIP area reserved for American Express ticket holders. Seeing as I don’t normally shell out $400 or so to see a fashion show, and having noticed the dark windows of the lobby above me at these said shows, I must admit I was incredibly curious to see what this place was all about. I was anticipating some posh little nightclub-esque room, resplendent with soft light, comfortable seating and a wet bar – and I did not know whether to feel chagrin or pride that I was right in all these presumptions. It was plush, make no mistake. I think it would be most accurately described as the Skybox of the fashion world.

Sadly, they didn’t have the windows open, so no peeking on any fun shows. However, it didn’t take long for the place to begin filling up with the finest bloggers New York has to offer (sadly no Susie Bubble, I passed her leaving as I entered the tents). Hostess and IFB Founder Jennine Jacob was there of course, looking adorable as always, and I chatted it up with her, Deanne Yee of Dream Sequins and Jillian Hobbs of Nova Style as we waited for the talk to begin. I had to grab a shot of Jennine, because she is always just as cute as a button. Love the layering…

One thing that was totally neat was that American Express had set up a special twitter hatch code that was delivering all tweets containing it to a huge screen in the main tent – hence, the “Tweet Up.” We in the audience were encouraged to use it as the event took place. Rather cutting edge, if I do say so myself.

Fern Mallis, vice president of IMG Fashion organizer of the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, was the guest speaker. I was extremely curious to hear what she had to say regarding blogging, particularly for the reasons and my opinion of the shows that I stated earlier. She actually had some very interesting things to say around these subjects, most specifically how IMG and MBFW are trying to accommodate this rising community of bloggers, even if at times those attempts seem slow in coming and not optimal solutions.

I was able to capture a good portion of the discussion on video, though sadly I discovered my video camera was broken and only holding about twelve minutes of video, when it is supposed to film an hour. Se la vie. Here’s ten minutes of Fern Mallis on blogging and fashion…

Altogether, some fascinating stuff. Bloggers unionize? Hmm…

On my way out of the tents, I was also lucky enough to run into the illustrious Rosemary Ponzo. I love Rosemary – her appearance at any event always puts a smile on my face. She was kind enough to pose for a photo. What a gal.

With an aim to highlight the emerging and independent fashion designer market, Nolcha shows are always a special treat for me each season. Though this show was marked with some general confusion (the show began late, and there was some confusion with seating), it seems that the Nolcha events get better and better every year, and this set of shows did not fail to impress.

Seeking inspiration from style icon Marilyn Monroe, the show began with the work of Milan-based designer Christina Crawford, whose Spring/Summer 2010 collection taps into soft forms, a sensual palette and streamlined femininity.

I particularly liked this collection for its ability to merge modern elements with more delicate, feminine aspects. It seems far too often modern influences turn all too quickly into something more masculine and strong. It was nice to see the frills and soft edges remain, but made significantly less saccharine by being combined with strong lines, and a minimalist sense of proportion.

I had special love for the pleated vest (above), and the cowl neck halter top (below). While I don’t get any “Marilyn” vibes from the vest, it’s incredibly beautiful, strong piece, that would be a valuable asset in a closet – my minds spins with the potential outfits one could whip up with it. The cowl reminds me extremely of Monroe; I love it’s soft structure, and perfectly summarizes the play on feminine/modern I like so much in this collection.

See more pictures from this show, here.

Monday I headed over to IFB Dress Up Soireé, hosted by Independent Fashion Bloggers. Talk about a healthy turn out – the line to get in extended practically the entire block. Yeesh. I knida wondered what kind of magical New York venue was going to be able to hold all these folks.

When I got inside, I discovered it really couldn’t. It was packed – so much so that a majority of attendees had to linger downstairs whilst the panel went on. I got in about halfway through Susie Bubble’s piece. I was kinda wedged behind the panel for the first half – hence the back shots. It did offer nice audience shots, though. Man, what a stylish crowd.

Due to the large crowd lingering downstairs, there was a lot of “shushing” occurring from those within earshot of the panel, as the bloggers speaking began to get drowned by the party breaking out below them. Add to that some microphone problems that cropped up several times during the event, and it was rather tricky to hear several parts of the panel. That’s saying a lot, since I was right behind them.

Space and technical issues aside, the parts of the panel discussion I was able to catch was great. It was wonderful to hear so much about the blogosphere and fashion straight from some of the most respected names in the biz. The discussion was broken up into two parts, and took a lot of questions from the audience. Topics were as varied as to where the panelists get their inspiration from, to how to handle PR agencies and copyright rules, to little things, like what kind of blog reader Susie uses (“Blog Lines,” I think).

By the second part of the panel, I was able to cram into the actual room the panel was being held in, which made it much easier to enjoy the speakers. I was especially stoked to hear from Helen Zhu of Chictopia, and Tricia Royal of Wardrobe Remix fame.

Unfortunately, due to the throng downstairs, much of the speaking in the second half was cut rather short. However, once the talk stopped, the party began! There was a heck of a lot of photographing and mingling occurring. However, I being the delicate, 9-to-6 flower, I didn’t stick around to long. Also, it’s a little mind-bending to see that many bloggers in such a contained, non-internet space.

All in all, quite a time!

Yesterday I kicked off New York fashion week by attending Nolcha Ethical Fashion Preview. It was a great gathering of eco-conscious independent fashion and accessory labels, set in the intimate environment of the Carlton Hotel.

Beauty VT was on hand, providing free self-applied makeovers using their interactive platform.

Sweet bloomers, a la Rene Geneva Design.

There were many designers there, but most notably were those with Bel Esprit, a company “committed to promoting new and emerging designers and helping retailers discover new collections and established brands not shown in their regional market.” This coat by Van Markoviec is everything I idealize in my clothing: well structured, a piece that adopts and embraces the draping of the material, rather than constraining it to its will. Simply stunning.

I particularly liked the work of Elena Garcia, whose separates in this collection were inspired by Queen Victoria and socialite Daphne Guinness. I just adore rumpled elegance.

Love the detailing in this lovely dress by Tammam.

This coat by Emesha is super-structured, but soft. Soft-structured?

All in all, a great little event.

Last week, my friend Yael and I attended Leaps and Bounds, Fits and Starts: The Evolution of a Children’s Book Writer, a panel discussion featuring acclaimed children’s book writers Neil Gaiman, Mariken Jongman, and Shaun Tan, hosted by the PEN World Voices Festival.

The event was a panel discussion about what it means to be a children’s book writer: where to find inspiration, why we write for children, and what goes into writing material for children. But the talk was so much more than that: it quickly became an intense look at the minds behind some of the best and most challenging children’s literature being created today.

Neil Gaiman was particularly engaging. He discussed topics as varied as nightmares to beekeeping, speaking in depth not only about his work in children’s literature, but it’s relation to his more varied body of work: specifically, how he balances both being a writer for children and adults.

I was fortunate enough to capture much of Neil’s always witty dialog on my Vimeo, as well as several excerpts from the other writers in the panel (sadly, only an hour’s worth of recording forces one to be picky). Anyway, Enjoy!

To learn more about the panel authors, please visit their sites:

Neil Gaiman
Mariken Jongman
Shaun Tan

Last night I attended,New York Girls Night Out in Manhattan. NYGNO brings together the public with trendsetting independent vendors and designers from around the area. This was my first time attending one of their events, and I had a great time!

Excellent merchandise was on display, as well as all sorts of fantastic freebies. Free manicures, makeovers, baked goods, drinks and photo sessions were just a few of the available services.

I couldn’t resist nabbing something for myself – a gorgeous necklace, created by Brooklyn-based jewelry designer Laura Burnham. I didn’t nab pictures of it yet, but will do so shortly – it’s the bee’s knees. In the meantime, here’s a pic of Lauren with some of her awesome creations:

To learn more about New York Girls Night Out events, click here.